<p>I got deferred from Harvard during Early Action partially because of my essay. I want to rewrite my essay for the other universities that I’m applying to. I have 2 topics right now and I’m not sure which one I should choose:</p>
<p>Topic #1 (background central to identity): Curiosity. I am a very curious person; I like to experiment and learn stuff by myself. I learned how to make websites when I was in grade 5 because I was curious how websites work. I like to experiment with new technologies like motion controllers. I also conducted a lot of small science experiments on my own.</p>
<p>Topic #2 (failure): Failure to see what’s important. At first, I wrote code to experiment and to have fun. When I entered high school, I gradually began to code just to improve my chances of getting into college. My motivation shifted from curiosity to performing well in competitions and trying to start the next Facebook. By grade 12, coding became almost a chore. When I was writing my university application, I finally realized that I should not be coding to reach an end; I should code simply because I loved to code.</p>
<p>The 2 ideas sound like they should be combined into 1 essay, but I can’t fit that much information into 650 words. Which essay topic do you think is better?
My previous essay was on my failure to start a large successful website like Facebook. Apparently it was bad because it was too conventional and shallow.</p>
<p>I can’t believe I missed the most obvious topic for me to write: my journey as a programmer and web developer. Initially, I was curious. My curiosity turned into a passion through my years of determination and perseverance.</p>
<p>Would this be too conventional? I imagine they would receive a ton of essays like this.</p>
<p>RE#2 above, I would avoid discussion of doing things for college applications, cause why plant that seed? as honest as it may be…</p>
<p>Yes your last suggestion sounds rather standard for code monkey types. determinations and persevezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. pardon me. If that skill is all over your applications, then you’d want to show that you are more than just that (as awesome as that is and all), that you have more dimension. Or just come at the subject in an unconventional way.</p>
<p>So far I like #1 because you are showing some variety and you have demonstrated ways to show curiosity. </p>
<p>Now what was wrong with your EA essay and how would you know that got you deferred?</p>
<p>I agree that essay #1 seems the more promising route. Be careful though not to spend too much time telling the reader how curious you are. Show it through the examples. You probably don’t need to use the word curious at all - although it might serve as a good title.</p>