Bamboozler

Well--sufjan mentioned making this topic. So I did.
I'm still waiting expectantly for that e-mail telling us what's next, what our essay topics are going to be, etc., etc.

[I'm also wondering if Princeton wouldn't mind something like...

http://admissions.tufts.edu/download...imeMachine.pdf

for their "What else would you like to know?" supplementary form.

@_@]

A List of Round II Applicants:
bbear
sufjanfan46
Bamboozler
iforgot
shindig
anothermom3's son
Phaedrus1
tcmits
jacobg
bdmoore
...and more, perhaps, lurking in the shadows? We comprise 25% of their Round II base. Ha.

sufjanfan46

If sheep can be herded across the fields of Austria, why not across millenia?

Bamboozler

It's brilliant and hilarious -- at least, to me.
But, of course, it does fit one of Tufts' optional essay prompts (Take a page and do whatever with it). I don't know if Princeton's "If you believe that there is some fact, experience, talent, thought, or quality that didn’t fit into our application but which you’d like us to take into consideration" is the same...

Aultaforte

"We comprise 25% of their Round II base." Please consider "We constitute 25%..." and "25% of their Round II base comprises us." The latter sounds stilted, but it is gramatically correct. Add my name on the list for good measure and toss the monicker. My name is Alexander.

sufjanfan46

Ah, Alex, another perfectly literary introduction. Your words are pure poetry.

sufjanfan46

Alright, I made the Facebook group: Facebook | Welcome to Facebook

Everyone join wooo

Bamboozler

Oops.
Sorry. I guess my topic post just sucked. (I have to correct myself and say that bdmoore isn't going on to Round 2, sadly enough >_<)

deepspringer

This a well-known thread and is sometimes read by Deep Springs students and alumni. I would caution you not to write anything on these message boards that you would not want to be seen by members of ApCom. It's great that you are getting to know one another, but keep in mind that this thread can be read by absolutely anyone.

Bamboozler

Well, now I'm going to get paranoid... >_< ha. Ah well, what's said is said.
Speaking of the Internet---how is the Internet used at Deep Springs? I was thinking, especially for papers, if the connection there was used a lot... or if good ol' books are serviceable.

bbear

My name is Stephen.

Has anyone run into the predicament of gaining the approval of his parent's to attend Deep Springs?

Up until the day I received the call, my parents had vague notions of my wanting to attend an alternative school such as Deep Springs, but now that a four day visit to the campus is scheduled, they have become kind of involved, even wanting to come with me on the four day trip, which, although not explicitly said, is not expected (nor approved I would guess). Initially, I had flashbacks of being the only kid in elementary school whose mother chaperoned for field trips, but then I stopped and reflected. It's their way of showing they care, I suppose. Not to say I want it to happen, of course. Time to dissuade their worry.

So that's my little story about how some people in my life reacted to Deep Springs. Friends are split; most worry about the reclusive nature of the college while others support the alternative education route. How about anyone else? I'd venture that almost everyone has their own stories, trying to explain Deep Springs to counselors and such.

Bamboozler

My mom did ask if parents could come. And I'm not sure if they totally realize it's an all-males college, that might be the part that'd disturb them most... ha.

moewb

Add my son. He's going to Round II too.

albathon

Add me too. Just got the phone call today!

albathon

My name's Alex, too.

tcmits

So most of our round II discussion has moved to facebook, but I think we should return the favor our predecessors did us and post the round II prompts here. Last year's app made for entertaining thought during the awkward waiting period between making round two and reading the prompts.

So, here is what we were asked to submit:

1. Two teacher recommendations.
2. Updated transcripts and official standardized test score reports.
3. A term paper or essay that you submitted for a class, with teacher comments
attached. Please find something under seven pages.
4. Any creative work of your own that would allow the committee to get a better idea
of who you are—in past years, applicants have submitted visual artwork, music CD’s,
writing samples, baked goods, and more. This is completely optional. Think carefully
before submitting supplementary material, as there are cases in which mediocre
submissions can work against a candidate. Many successful applicants submit only
the items that we require.
5. Thoughtful and concise responses to each of the following prompts. The total word
count of your three essays combined should not exceed 2500 words. We ask that
you respect this limit and let it guide you towards economy of expression.

A. Choose a virtue that is popularly misunderstood, describe this misunderstanding, and
argue on behalf of a better conception.

B. Respond to one of the following quotations, with particular attention to the notion
of service. Please consider only the text we have given you, without regard for
context—except in the case of #4, which refers to Genesis 22 in the Old Testament.
We’re less concerned with your conclusion than with your ability to take a stance and
thoughtfully defend your argument.

1. "Peace and even death are dearer to man than free choice in the knowledge of
good and evil…There is nothing more seductive for man than the freedom of his
conscience, but there is nothing more tormenting either."

2. "Anyone who involves himself with mankind and does not occasionally glisten in
all the colors of distress, green and gray with disgust, satiety, sympathy,
gloominess, and loneliness, is certainly not a man of elevated tastes; supposing,
however, that he does not take all this burden and disgust upon himself
voluntarily, that he persistently avoids it, and remains, as I said, quietly and
proudly hidden in his citadel, one thing is certain: he was not made, he was not
predestined for knowledge."

3. "Do you suppose, then, that I would have survived so many years if I had been
publicly active and had acted in a manner worthy of a good man, coming to the
aid of the just things, and, as one ought, regarding this as most important? Far
from it, nor would any other human being.”

4. “Should we not reinterpret the entire story and say that actually Abraham failed
the test, that an amazed and horrified God mercifully stopped him from carrying
out the despicable act and then punished Abraham and all his descendants by
laying on them the curse of Abraham’s faith, under the yoke of which we have
been sacrificing our parents, children, brothers, sisters, and comrades to the
State, the Party, the True Religion, and other Higher Causes ever since?”

5. “The ultimate purpose of every intelligent free moral agent is either loyalty to
moral government under which he was born or rebellion against that
government by supreme devotion to his own self-interests.”

C. Examine an academic or creative discipline about which you are passionate. How
does it offer insight into the condition of man and the world?