The brevity, it's concise kid applied many years ago and we still talk about that essay because it was authentic. Unfortunately, i've seen plenty of people who have tried to be similarly quirky, but have wound up giving us contrived, cheesy essays that don't sound sincere. This is purported to be an actual college essay, but even if it's just a joke, i really like it.

Definitely creative: gt my deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in gt international botany circles. I once read paradise lost, moby dick, and gt david copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an gt entire dining room that evening. I sleep once a week when i do posted by thom on friday, september 12, 2008 we talked yesterday about the importance of voice in your college application essay. today lets discuss the second insight your college application gives our admission officers, specifically, how you put your thoughts together to convey a point.

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In college a buddy of mine introduced me to a friend of his at a party like this, hey man, i want you to meet thom. motioning to me and continuing to his friend hes like really funny. the yoke of funny was unexpected and darn heavy. trying to tell us youre a leader for example in a college essay, versus showing us, is a lot like that. There is a truism in life that in our haste, wed rather tell others something than have to show others something. you may well be a leader, but just like your calc teacher, were going to ask that you show your work. in the essay, this means paying particular attention to the details of how you write. beyond the basics covered yesterday grammar and diction the order and organization of your essay, the words you choose, and the depth of your description of your topic all speak to how you make sense of the world around you.

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Here are a couple of real examples, with my general take a ways from reading it: during that mission trip to kenya i was struck by how the villagers went about their days in such happiness even though they had very little. this is a common sentiment, intended to contrast cultures and depict the perception that people of greater means have more troubles while those with less means lead simpler lives. however, it conveys an overly simplistic worldview, and makes me worry about the commitment that individual has to deeply understanding social and human conditions. a kind of oxymoron if you think about it, in that the phrase is a very common cliché, and challenges how out of the box the writer really is. being an unconventional thinker is more clearly conveyed by unique descriptions and word choice. Reflecting back on it, winning that big game for our team changed me in immeasurable ways.

a fine sentiment so long as the next sentence ushers in a reflection on how that event changed you. its not enough to recount an event and just say that it changed you, let us in on your introspection on that event. Saying that it changed you because you experienced for the first time the inter dependence of a true team environment conveys that your worldview includes those around you, not just you. The reason your ap english teacher tells you to write succinctly is because the practice of doing so forces your mind to first focus on an argument, and then support that argument with relevant evidence, the true mark of an educated mind.

the reason we ask you to do that in your college essay is to show us the culmination of this practice. were looking to understand how you think, how you engage concepts and ideas as a projection of your fit with our intellectual community i.e. It goes beyond the ocd see yesterdays post gimmicks like having a hook or some odd essay format like a second person account of a conversation between the applicant and god a topic listed as cant miss in one of those guidebooks at the mega bookstore. simple right? the pros and cons of showing a college your 'wacky side' while other high school seniors were probably spending their november afternoons studying or writing essays for their college applications, tyler mcniven mounted a campaign to become a stanford freshman next fall.

And campaign is exactly the word to describe the woodside high school senior's strategy to impress stanford's admissions committee. Concerned that his application alone would not get him into the school of his dreams, mcniven, a self described oval office aspirant, took the political route, holding press conferences, passing fliers that detail his qualifications and engaging in marathon handshaking. Driving around campus with a red car and a white bullhorn stanford's colors and with a small tree the university's mascot strapped to the top of the car, mcniven discussed his strategy with a reporter via cell phone. Mcniven's campaign raises questions many college applicants have probably asked themselves: how much of a risk should i take to get noticed? or is it better to play it safe and risk appearing boring? though mcniven's actions probably fall into the extreme category of application gimmicks, college admissions offices do receive a fair share of gifts and unusual gestures, all designed to demonstrate an applicant's affinity with the school. Frankly, gimmicks don't work, said joe case, interim dean of admission at amherst college in massachusetts. When the students' qualifications come up for final review, case said, nothing substitutes for good old fashioned book learning.

Basically, you're going to have to back it up with secondary preparation and test scores, case said. Christoph gutentag, duke university's director of admissions, said he hasn't seen too many outrageous stunts in his 15 years of working in college admissions. Not to say duke doesn't receive its fair share of mementos every application season. The list of gifts received by gutentag's office reads like a mail order catalog: 4 foot greeting cards, life preservers with duke emblazoned on them, prescription bottles bearing cutesy messages, cookies and more cookies. Both admissions officers agreed that gimmicks usually suffer by failing to have much of a point.

Gutentag said applicants should find better modes of self expression, whether through the application essay or by sending bona fide support materials, such as a sample of the student's artwork or a tape of a musical performance. Applicants should be their best selves and think about the best ways to have that manifest itself, gutentag said. Gutentag said that while gimmicks rarely hurt a candidate's prospects, an occasional one has been known to backfire.

In the case of mcniven's campaign, his chances depend on whether the admissions committee finds him amusing or immature, gutentag said. It all depends whether they see him as being creative or harassing, gutentag said. Jean dawes, a guidance counselor at palo alto high school, said she wasn't aware of paly students participating in application ploys. She said she doesn't advise her students to send items along with their applications unless they reflect talents or accomplishments.

But i don't know if it ever gets written on an applicant's file that 'mom makes great cookies,' dawes said. As for mcniven, who applied for early decision, he may hear as soon as this month about his collegiate fate. Stanford's dean of undergraduate admissions did not return a phone call about mcniven's application or stanford's admission process.