smangin

Q: write about something that you find humorous or intersting.

i wrote about fannypacks, lol, but after i submitted my essay..i suddenly realized that there was indeed something else that was funnier...farting

compucomp

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Box on Caltech's application. It's a page-sized box where the applicant is direct to put down whatever he/she finds interesting. Personally that was my favorite. It didn't actually involve any essay writing at all.

Cooldude11989

U Chicago's Define a Mathematical Function that exemplifies you.
UVA's What animal would you like to be and why?

i didn't apply to either one of the schools, just thought they were interesting topics to write on ;p

aube88

i liked northwestern's what fictional character would you want as a room mate and why

FreshElephant

Penn's "Page 217 of your autobiography" essay was the most fun for me, though I did it the same day the app was due. I really liked what I came up with

DeantheMachn

what is your dream job? USC

Perplexitudinous

I had some fun with this Caltech prompt:

"Interest in math, science, or engineering manifests itself in many forms. Caltech professor and Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman [1918-1988] explained, "I'd make a motor, I'd make a gadget that would go off when something passed a photocell, I'd play around with selenium"; he was exploring his interest in science, as he put it, by "piddling around all the time." In a page, more or less, tell the Admissions Committee how you express your interest, curiosity, or excitement about math, science or engineering. Before answering this question, you might ask those around you - friends, family, or teachers - how they see you as a mathematician, scientist or engineer. They may offer insightful observations!"

I wrote in a kind of "stream of consciousness" style, recounting the first time I solved a (simple) partial differential equation in terms of elementary functions. I had one of my old notebooks out so that I could read over what I did and write my essay at the same time. My hands were actually shaking a little by the time I finished writing.

peanut_butter

for my UC 600 word essay i wrote about bhangra...

google it

ShesOnHerWay

My D wrote about being left-handed last year to answer the diversity question for Whitman College. It was extremely clever.

blackrose050

Someone upthread mentioned Caltech's Box. I didn't apply to Caltech, but Rice has a Box, too. I really enjoy that- it's like a mini art project.

proletariat2

I'm not due to fill out college apps for a few years, but I really like virtually all the UChicago questions.

ice_sickle007

Tulane has a box too.. but you don't have to fill it you just have to use it..
but my favorite was pick an issue that is important to you and why? from the International University of Bremen..

I wrote about international democracy!

hollywoodiva

Both of Northwestern's 50-word short answer "essays".
I had to get really creative with those haha. Very unique and fun though!

robbyg

UChicago's 'Mad Hatter' essay was lots of fun

schitz

I liked UChicago's essay (function one was interesting, but I wouldn't know what on earth to put), but I had the most fun writing the Penn long essay about first experiences.

The ones I hated most were the Common App topics (waaay to broad... I need something specific), and the Why this college essays... The explain-why-you're-interested-in-this-major essays were the easiest to write, but were pretty bland though...

Wasn't the USC dream job one just a one-word type of deal?