need some pointers on writing my college(UC) essay..

[souleman]

Prompt #1 (freshman applicants)

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Prompt #2 (all applicants)

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

This is your personal essay. Thats the more important thing to remember when you are writing it.

[untouchable]

i just finished my essay for prompt #2

does anyone mind giving it a quick proofread please?

pm me

[Saga]

you know you need to respond to both, right?

[untouchable]

yea im working on the first one right now

[Andarvi]

best thing to write about for the personal essay is some kind of hardship you had to face and you overcame it.

assuming that these actually do get read, they like to see that you can face challenges and come out on top. Exaggerate how difficult it was and how you were able to stay focused on your responsibilities without letting the hardship get the best of you.

creates sympathy and shows maturity and again if someone reads it, are two really good things in your favor.

You get a cookie of your choice, well said.

Don't "tootsie roll" these types of essays. They are to show your personality in addition to an assessment of your writing aptitude. It also depends on where you are applying, my school is really liberal artsy and put more weight on diversifying the types of people they let in. Not to mention, 1000 words is nothing, and by creating a formal introduction and conclusion that basically say the same thing is wasting precious time when you could be saying something more important.

I know that my essay played a big role in my getting into Tufts. I wrote about an experience I had in 7th grade when I attended a private middle school where all my classmates were at least 10x richer than me. I was 13 and really self concious of getting picked up in my babysitters piece of shit pinto after my friends left in beamers and benzs. We took a trip to New York as a class and I saw a homeless man playing the sax. I described in vidid detail how happy he looked just doing what he loved, despite the fact he had nothing but his music. I closed the paper by saying "A passion in life is worth more than all the money in the world." It very well may have been the most cliche thing i have ever written in my life but hey, every teacher I ever let read that essay told me it was really good.

So, in short, dont be a robot when writing. Be creative.

[ciechi]

Don't "tootsie roll" these types of essays. They are to show your personality in addition to an assessment of your writing aptitude. 1000 words is nothing, and by creating a formal introduction and conclusion that basically say the same thing is wasting precious time when you could be saying something more important.

Finally someone that actually said the same thing i said, but articulated better. NICE JOB ANDARVI. maybe this is why we were so hot on ventrillo together.

But in all seriousness, you should follow andarvi's/my personal experience with writing application's to universities/colleges. Like he said, it takes WAY too much space up if you repeat yourself, and also looks too highschoolish imo.

[Penthesilea]

my best advice is never procrastinate on essays. I have one due on monday and I've only done like 2 paragraphs.

Sitting here working on a .ppt for a seminar tomorrow. 45 minutes how? I dunno, but if anyone wants to keep me company please do!

[Plow]

Paragraph 1:

Thesis sentence. Support sentence 1 as idea. Support sentence 2 as idea. Support sentence 3 as idea. Rewording emphasis of thesis.


Paragraph 2:

Rewording of support sentence 1. Supporting (facts as) sentences x3.


Paragraph 3:

Rewording of support sentence 2. Supporting (facts as) sentences x3.


Paragraph 4:

Rewording of support sentence 3. Supporting (facts as) sentences x3.


Paragraph 5:


Another rewording of thesis statement. Rewordings of main supporting statements 1-3 as fact. Closing statement.




Follow and extend this very basic guideline and use tie-together sentences for everything from entrance essays to senior thesis and as long as you don't suck you can like never get less than a B.


As far as these 2 particular questions go, I'd try to boil the "type" of growing up you've had and who you are/something you've done down to one word if you can (you get the idea, what they want to hear) and apply the classic guidelines from there.

[Andarvi]

Don't "tootsie roll" these types of essays. They are to show your personality in addition to an assessment of your writing aptitude. 1000 words is nothing, and by creating a formal introduction and conclusion that basically say the same thing is wasting precious time when you could be saying something more important.

Finally someone that actually said the same thing i said, but articulated better. NICE JOB ANDARVI. maybe this is why we were so hot on ventrillo together.

But in all seriousness, you should follow andarvi's/my personal experience with writing application's to universities/colleges. Like he said, it takes WAY too much space up if you repeat yourself, and also looks too highschoolish imo.

SPIDER WEBBBBBBBS!

i miss you, wenis.