ifax108

All the time on the Chances board, I hear people talking about their "good essays" and their "good interviews." You have to realize, these things are not so simple. Just because you think your essay was "good" doesn't make it "good." Some of my friends were talking about their "incredible essays." So, I read a few of my friend's essays. Most of them, were pretty boring. But they thought they were "incredible." And interviews are not simply "good" or "bad." I think that netoburrito's thread about interviews (It's title "My Theory on Interviews) is great. Interviews and essays are not that simple.

vivsters

haha yes i agree. same goes for 'good recommendations'.

but i wonder what exactly a 'good essay' would be like?

ifax108

@vivsters,
I bet that there some "good essays" out there. A "good essay" would just be a good piece of writing that isn't boring, is well written, and tells an interesting story. Also, I think if the essay shows some qualities that the school is looking for ("niceness", concern for others, etc) than that is a definite plus.

Katester22

I agree with vivsters, how do people know they got "good" recommendations. I sort of get it for the extra recommendation, you wouldn't get someone bad to do it. But otherwise, I don't think that you can know for sure unless you actually look at them, which we all know you can't.

pulsar

If the AO cried during the interview, that's a sign of a good moving interview.

ifax108

@Katester22,
I've seen three of mine. I put my return address on the envelopes, and the post office screwed mailing them. So, they were sent back to my house and I had to put them in a different envelope and mail them.

intrinsically

A lot of these things are really subjective, sometimes it's just a gut feeling.

ifax;
Did the recommendations say what you expected them to?

Katester22

I thought they became void as soon as you opened them. Did you get permission from a school or something to do that? But still I'm jealous of that, I would kill to see what my recs say.

ifax108

@Katester22,
That's not good if they become void. I can't get my teacher to write a new rec at this point, and already my mom has had three admission offices tell us, "please don't contact us again." Otherwise, I'd contact these schools and my teacher and get a new one right away. Damn, I feel pretty bad about this.

Katester22

It doesn't really matter though, it's not like you went storming back to the teachers to demand better recs or something, I think that's what they're worried about. You also had to do it, otherwise it wouldn't have got to them, I wouldn't worry if I were you.

neatoburrito

Wow, really? What was she doing, calling every day or something?

ifax108

@neatoburrito,
A few days before the deadline, my parents were having some trouble getting the FA stuff and the parent statements in. So, they called a ton in a fairly short period of time. So, a few offices who were already stormed, got kind of annoyed.