carrie wrote the following college admissions personal essay for question 5 on the common application: 34 a range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you. 34 once you 39 ve read the essay, be sure to read the critique. note that carrie wrote the essay before 2011 when the 500 word length limit was implemented. when i sat down to write this essay, i tried, as my high school english teacher always instructed, to imagine the audience for my writing. The more i thought about it, the more i pitied the college admissions screeners who would be reading a thousand essays on diversity. Along with the expected takes on race and ethnicity, how many of those essays would present their authors as outcasts, loners, kids who didn’t fit in at his or her school? how could i present myself as someone unique and interesting strange, even without falling prey to the cliché of the self pitying social misfit? let me be direct: in some ways, i am the antithesis of what one might picture as a student who contributes to campus diversity. I am white, middle class, and heterosexual i have no physical handicaps or mental challenges apart from a tendency towards sarcasm. But when i receive college brochures picturing smiling, clean cut teens dressed in the latest from abercrombie amp fitch and lounging on a blanket in the sun, i think, those people are not like me.

My hair, naturally the same sandy blonde that the rest of my family shares, is dyed jet, sometimes highlighted in streaks of purple or scarlet. If i were inserted into those brochure photographs of typical college students, i would look like a vampire stalking her wholesome prey. Again, i am imagining my reading audience, and i can almost see my readers’ eyes roll. How does that contribute to campus diversity? well, i think i contribute plenty. Diversity goes beyond the physical race or ethnicity might be the first things one thinks of, but really, it is a question of what makes someone the person that he or she is. Diversity might be considered in terms of economic or geographical background, life experiences, religion, sexual orientation, and even personal interests and general outlook.

In this respect, my goth identity contributes a perspective that is far different from the mainstream. Being goth isn’t just about physical appearance it’s a way of life that, like any other, includes not only individual tastes in music, literature, and popular culture, but also particular beliefs about philosophy, spirituality, and a range of other human issues. To give just one specific example, i am planning to major in environmental studies, and while it might seem odd to picture a ghoulishly dressed girl who adores the natural world, it was my goth outlook that led me to this academic interest. I read voraciously, and am drawn to subject matter that is somewhat dark the more i read about humanity’s impact on the planet and the near apocalyptic dangers posed by global climate change, pollution, overpopulation, the manipulation of the food supply and other environmental threats, the more interested i became, and the more determined that i should become involved.

Dissertation Topics Environmental Science

I, along with other members of my school’s environmental club, started a campus recycling program, and lobbied our superintendent to install in all classrooms power strips that are used to easily shut down equipment such as printers and computers at the end of the day, thereby conserving energy and generating significant savings for our school. I was drawn to this dark subject matter of environmental crisis, not to wallow in it or savor the schadenfreude, but to change it and make the world a better place. I know goths look a little funny, as we wear our ebony trenchcoats in seventy degree weather. I know we seem a little odd as we gather in shady nooks to discuss the latest episode of true blood.

I know professors may sigh as we swell the enrollments of poetry and art classes. For these questions, remember that diversity is about more than differences between races and cultures it is about each person’s unique traits, experiences, and the resulting influence on one’s perspective. Universities value diversity in their admitted students because diversity outside of the classroom can broaden your perspective on the world and increase your contribution both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. For example, someone very different from you might share a viewpoint or experience in a class discussion that is new to you.

These unique contributions add depth to each student’s individual educational experience. The proper way to answer a question about a situation involving diversity is to tell about a time when you learned something about yourself or another culture from someone very different from you. Instead of talking about going out for chinese or indian food, explain how you were changed by your exposure to new experiences or helped change the perspective of someone else.

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This type of response will allow admissions officers to see the impact you will have if admitted. One way to imagine diversity is to see the undergraduate student body as a puzzle with thousands of pieces, and yourself as one of those unique pieces. What strengths do you bring to the college and your fellow students? how can you help the university complete the picture, and what qualities do you possess that can add depth to the on campus experience? need more assistance with writing your story or your college application essay? write [email protected]. I'm not diverse, i'm a middle class suburban white girl, so clearly it will have to be about an encounter with diversity. I am having a hard time coming up with topics, but i was wondering if anyone could share with me if they think these are really cliche and i should keep looking, or just settle for them. My oldest friend since i was 2 is persian, her parents came here from iran, and since i was always at her house, things like speaking a different language at home, celebrating ramadan, etc. I could talk about some time i realized how i was more accepting of others because i had been exposed to diversity, but that's not really an encounter, is it? 2.

I did an exchange to spain this summer so i could write about that, just picking some event b/c there were lots. Seems really cliche though, and also my best friend who applied to whitman ed also did an exchange to spain this past summer and wrote about it for her essay. Thanks! editor 39 s note: since this article was re posted several days ago, we have learned that our description of yale 39 s common application form is not accurate: it does not contain the diversity question attributed to it in our original piece. Instead, as pointed out to us by jeffrey brenzel, dean of undergraduate admissions at yale, the question is actually one among several options used in a supplementary scholarship application which select schools sometimes administer to low income applicants. It is not, however, part of yale 39 s regular undergraduate common application form. Nas regrets the error, and we are grateful to dean brenzel for bringing it to our attention.