NationStates Jolt Archive

Hi, I'm just finishing up my essays for my college applications and it got me wondering. What did you guys write your college essays about? Do you even remeber what you wrote your essays on?
I have always wondered what other people write for thier applications and I thought this might be a nice topic for a thread.

One of mine was about my generation having a "group-oriented, can-do ethos" and what my opinions of that generalization were, and what place I had within said generalization. I went on to note that its elders often criticize this generation as being more or less naive and too idealistic. I forget what the other prompt was about; some "name a learning experience you had" bullshit or something, IIRC.

I pointed out that [i]every goddamn generation says the same thing about preceding generations, and today's neocon politicians took part in radical socialist movements in their youth and earned the same brand from their elders--calling them hippies and draft dodgers and stuff like that. I pointed out that it's hard not to be naive when you're still in high school and college, and higher education usually promotes this stereotype anyway, being as it keeps us more or less out of the real world for another 4 years.

I got in. I really think my essays made a difference, as I never reported my SAT scores and I got a .8 GPA my last semester in my Senior Year. They afforded me the luxury of being ble to name any circumstances that may have damaged my grade, and I explained that by that point I had more or less lost all respect for public schooling on the grounds that I had been taught the same thing more than twice and spent no less than three years on long division in my grammar school years--not because my class sucked at it but because it was called for in our state-mandated syllabus. My class also made me read Gary Paulsen's Hatchet no less than twice, grading us for our reports on it in seperate years--in third and fifth grade if I recall correctly. These experiences had something of a detrimental effect on my performance especially in later years, as I felt about as intellectually stimulated in High School as one might expect from, say, being in a Jerry Springer audience.

I think that helped too.

Whoa, that's a good topic. It makes mine look like something written by a freshman.

I wrote/am writing about starting up a Philosophy Club at my school this year, why I was driven to do it, and how it changed me. Regular hack stuff with all the embellishments.

Hi, I'm just finishing up my essays for my college applications and it got me wondering. What did you guys write your college essays about? Do you even remeber what you wrote your essays on?
I have always wondered what other people write for thier applications and I thought this might be a nice topic for a thread.

I included a short story about a seabird with magical powers. I always had trouble writing non-fiction. Reality and I are not exactly on speaking terms. ;)

I've always been good with essays and that sort of thing; I scored pretty well on my SATs, not like I consider that to be the ultimate arbiter of my abilities--but it was a good indicator and I was happy with the result--at least on the verbal portion. I think my essay went a long way to showing the admissions office that I wasn't a complete idiot. I got shuffled off to a secondary campus [as a result of my subpar academic performance, I'd imagine], but I'm hoping they'll let me in on the main campus if I report my SAT scores, which I don't think they have yet. It's kind of stupid that they'd expect me to drive 30 minutes to Newark every goddamn day for my classes, especially seeing as I live less than a mile from the main campus, rent-free no less.

I just finished all mine prior to January 1st, pushing it mighty close.

As for the topics, from a damn wide variety. Most focused on me being of international background and how wonderful being international is and how much London rocks.

Mostly, just selling myself as an international lad.

Though there were a few that where quite fun that didnt have much to do with selling myself.

One, to Syracuse, was about how I viewed becoming a college-student. Literally flowed from my fingers, that one. I was sort of sad that I didn't use it as my Personal Statement, because my Personal statement is a piece of crap writing, really. Just sucks that I had this inspiration at the wrong moment.

Another, to Pomona, was about how I realised that I am not as un-biased as I thought I was, referring to an incident on the Underground when I briefly began entertaining thoughts on whether a person I saw was or was not a bomber. Won't go into detail, not very interesting for other persons, but it was quite personal to me and I liked the writing.

The other essays aren't bad, I just wished that some of the questions...okay, lots of the questions...were not so inane.

Melkor Unchained: Damn, that looks like one hell of a fun essay to write!

I don't think I even wrote one. Then again I didn't go anywhere important.

Best college essay:
3A. ESSAY:
IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets. I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four-course meals using only a Mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.
Source (http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena/user/w/c/wchuang/www/humor/college/college_essay.html)

I actually talked about active television watching.

My only interesting one had to be a reflections about my life. I "interviewed" a 40-year-old version of myself and wrote it down interview style. Pretty damn good. Got me in, but I didn't go there. (George Washington is fucking expensive.)

For Pitt, their essay was something stupid like "Why did you choose Pitt as a college you wanted to go to?" Actually a ton of schools were like that.

My only interesting one had to be a reflections about my life. I "interviewed" a 40-year-old version of myself and wrote it down interview style. Pretty damn good. Got me in, but I didn't go there. (George Washington is fucking expensive.)

For Pitt, their essay was something stupid like "Why did you choose Pitt as a college you wanted to go to?" Actually a ton of schools were like that.

Hey, I'm applying to GW. It is really expensive.

The best college essay? Most damn likely.

My god, but I wish I had done that.

To be honest, I wanted to write stories for each and every of my essays (there was one for Amherst that I thought would have made a sweet piece, if rather depressing) but my college counselor as well as my English teacher said, don't, because while some might appreciate the quirkiness, others will downright ignore it.

Now I wonder if I should have followed that advice.

I wrote like five, but the only bit I remember was the begining of the "name and describe three of your major character traits" or some such drivel. I asked my sister, parents, and best friend, and then starting from their first three suggestions, started my essay something like this:

"I am not very good at picking out three character traits for myself and describing them, so I turned to my family and friends for help. They easily came up with three traits: cynical, obnoxious and vicious.

Fortunately for them, my first trait is that I have a sense of humor..."

(note: my parents suggested cynical, my sister suggested obnoxious, and my best friend suggested vicious - all without consulting one another. The college not only accepted me, the interviewer said it was one of the best essays he'd ever read.)

I wrote mine about Sonic the Hedgehog.

I shit you not.

i wrote one of mine on the minimal role and importance of men in my life. one about my last name. one about tracey emin (a british artist). one about my love/hate relationship with andy warhol.

The best college essay? Most damn likely.

My god, but I wish I had done that.

To be honest, I wanted to write stories for each and every of my essays (there was one for Amherst that I thought would have made a sweet piece, if rather depressing) but my college counselor as well as my English teacher said, don't, because while some might appreciate the quirkiness, others will downright ignore it.

Now I wonder if I should have followed that advice.

oh man, do you go to amherst?