Trouble with the supplement essay question!

limetime · 12-07-2008, 01:10 PM

So, the supplement essay question says to imagine looking out a window at an environment that is particularly significant to us.

I'm having a lot of trouble with this question -- I get the feeling that we are supposed to take the question figuratively, but exactly WHAT are we supposed to write about? hobbies/activities we like? A significant past experience? Where I'm from, ethnically and culturally?

ugh, I am so confused. I can't even start this question. Help please?

It would really help if alums/current students/parents can tell me the general gist of what they/their child wrote about. I am NOT trying to steal ideas, I'm just trying to get a sense of what to talk about. Did you/your child talk about your/his/her cultural background? Activities? etc.

grc061390 · 12-07-2008, 02:25 PM

an admissions counselor from Williams who came to our school said the question is really open ended and can be interpreted any way you want. You can describe a specific environment, or think of it like a window into a memory, etc. etc. Really you can write about anything.

blondeisbetter · 12-07-2008, 02:52 PM

I wrote it at 11:30 pm one night and barely changed it.
I would just write what feels right. (at least that's what I did)

buibui · 12-07-2008, 04:58 PM

they just want to know you more so just write about anything that is meaningful to you

interesteddad · 12-07-2008, 07:21 PM

Write about anything you want to write about and then wrap it up with a picture window bow in the first and last paragraphs. It's a really dumb essay prompt, IMO, because it simply duplicates the Common App essay where, presumably, you've already taken your best shot at an open-ended essay.

You could take it one of two ways: What is it about you that you want to pitch to Williams that you haven't highlighted elsewhere? Paint us a picture.

Or, turn it into a "Why Williams?" essay and look thru windows on campus, like the dance studio window overlooking the mountains in the new arts center or whatever.

Grace · 12-12-2008, 05:38 PM

I think that the idea of adding the extra essay was to keep people from just lightly clicking off another copy of the Common Application. Williams wants to be accepting people who want to come to Williams, not people who are gaming the admissions process and who are applying because it's easy to add one more college.

Use the essay as an opportunity. Don't be trying to give them what you think they want. Give them, instead, a better view of who you are and what you care about.

62n · 12-14-2008, 12:58 PM

Actually Grace, as far as there well being is concerned, they would like to have it be another essay to "just lightly click off another copy" on. As far as rankings goes, the more people that apply, the more people they can reject, and the more selective they seem. The easier a supplement is, the more likely someone is to apply (if they don't care much about the school), so I doubt that's the reason for it.

HaoJin · 12-14-2008, 01:26 PM

Here's a little explanation of why they added the supplement essay this year:
The Williams Record - Archives-Articles

BB012 · 12-15-2008, 01:03 PM

I can't keep it below 300 words. It is around 370 words. Will that be a big problem?

interesteddad · 12-15-2008, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Due to the flexibility of common application prompts, “you would get students writing on topics that really didn’t tell us much about themselves,” Nesbitt said.

There's a simple way to deal with applicants who send boring common app essays: don't mail them acceptance letters! It's not the fault of the common app prompts if a dull applicant can't manage to write something interesting in response to a totally open prompt.

Quote:

The additional personal statement is meant to change this. “The idea is really to see what students value and what’s important to them,” he said.

No problem. Just give a prompt that different than the Common App prompts. As it stands now, a Williams applicant was to write Open Ended Prompt Esssay #1 for the Common App and Open Ended Prompt Essay #2 for the Supplement.

They thought they were being cute with a UChicago-style prompt; however, they failed to take into consideration the common app prompts.

interesteddad · 12-15-2008, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Williams wants to be accepting people who want to come to Williams, not people who are gaming the admissions process and who are applying because it's easy to add one more college.

If that were the case, they would ask the "Why Williams?" question. That is an essay prompt that really separates the wheat from the chaff in terms of applicants who have researched the college, learned what makes it tick, and considered why it is a specifically good fit (as opposed to some other top LAC).

lauraluisa · 12-16-2008, 11:15 AM

wait can someone help me out??

I just wrote my supplement...and I did not write about Williams at all...I wrote about one of my passions and why I love that passion instead....

is it really supposed to be about williams??

teamam · 12-16-2008, 11:24 AM

BB, 70 words might be a little too much over, but in any case, it shouldn't hurt. Either way, I would not expect a school like Williams to make a big deal out of extra words.

461662 · 12-16-2008, 03:14 PM

I got in, and my supplement had nothing to do with williams

BleedingBlue · 12-20-2008, 12:30 PM

I have never enjoyed writing an essay as much as I enjoyed writing the Williams supplement.

I took a bizarre approach that I could not have been more happy with...

blondeisbetter said this:
"I wrote it at 11:30 pm one night and barely changed it.
I would just write what feels right. (at least that's what I did)"

I agree completely. Mine only took me an hour. A friend suggested moving a few sentences around, but other than that... let it flow, baby. haha