<p>I would like to write a paragraph that talks briefly about biological evolution and how progress in nature inspires me to make progress in my own life. However, I fear that the subject is too controversial. Many people across the United States do not accept the theory and citing it may make me look like I advocate survival of the fittest or something of that nature. Evolution (technological as well) is something that is actually important to me because it has helped to motivate me academically but I don’t know if it’s an appropriate topic to explain to admissions officers.</p>
<p>Since it sounds like you plan to discuss technological evolution as well, you could make it a discussion of how evolving progress in many areas (medical and life span, human rights, biological, technological, etc.) inspires you to improve yourself. Also, unless you are applying to religious colleges, I believe the official stance at universities is to support and teach evolution.</p>
<p>Be sure your essay is about YOU and reveals your personality and something about yourself. Seems to me you can could spend a fair amount of that essay talking about evolution and then saying, “And I do that, too!”. I don’t see anything wrong with it if you aren’t applying to religious colleges. But though the analogy might be useful, you need to spend most of your time talking about yourself and showing something interesting about yourself to your reader. </p>
<p>I can’t think of a secular college that would reject you on those grounds. Although I think you should focus more on the kind of evolution that pertains to your major or desired career. comp sci = technological evolution, pre-med = evolution in medicine, etc</p>
<p>While likely you won’t come across an admissions officer that looks down on it, there’s a possibility that you do get the one guy that’s rubbed wrong by the essay. Take the risk if you’re comfortable articulating it in the least controversial way possible </p>
<p>I was going to say the same thing as inparent. Evolution is a known theory. It seems that in recent times it has been pitted against religious origins of man, but you can reference evolution without entering this debate. </p>
<p>The main reason not to emphasize evolution in your essay is that the reader wants to know about you, not read an essay about evolution. </p>
<p>I am only applying to secular colleges.</p>
<p>It will be explained in a way that is personal, of course. I will be talking about evolution only when it pertains to my personality and academic interests. I’m not trying to impress the admissions officers with irrelevant facts.</p>
<p>Also, there will really only be two or three sentences about evolution, at the most. I"m just talking about evolution as an inspiration for personal growth.</p>
<p>Would you really want to get an education from a college that would reject you for believing in evolution? </p>
<p>I personally like your idea. I think that you should go for it. I already want to know how your life relates to evolution!</p>
<p>Evolution is not controversial in academia. But I am afraid that you are misusing the formal concept and may not really understand evolution and survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest is not something to advocate for or against. It just is natural selection. Biological evolution is a very long and slow gradual process that happens over thousands of years. You seem to be mixing up evolutionary theory with more modern usage of the word evolution. I only mention this so you can be very clear with what you are saying and not say something that reveals your thinking to be erroneous or muddled.</p>
<p>The set of people who consider evolution controversial is probably disjoint from the set of people who read essays at non-sectarian American universities. Even so, “progress in nature” via evolution is unintentional, takes billions of years, and involves a lot of violent death. It might not be the best metaphor for progress in your life; technological advances in the past century would probably be better.</p>
<p>2-3 sentences in order to make a point about your personal growth seems like a no brainer. But you might consider staying away from phrases like “personal growth,” which are cliched. </p>
<p>I would respectfully disagree with halcyonheather about the value of the simile. The point is that you are adapting to your environment, not that you have lived long enough to experience selection pressures. </p>
<p>Yes. Adaptation is key. Biological adaptation involves organisms receiving a static collection of inherited characteristics, but culture and technology have provided us with a new way of preserving our likeness other than by simply having good genes and good fortune.</p>
<p>“Survival of the fittest is not something to advocate for or against”</p>
<p>I am not misunderstanding this concept. I am referring to the individuals who might. I know survival of the fittest is usually replaced in academia with the more formally described natural selection, but to a person uneducated on evolution, they might think that death, suffering, genetic luckiness and stereotypical “survival of the fittest” are what inspires me to get to the top. In this case, survival of the fittest would be something a layman might believe could be advocated, as it might make them thing of scientific racism and eugenics.</p>
<p>It’s not likely that I would get rejected on the basis of the essay topic. But I want to maximize my chances of getting into schools and if admission officers are deciding to let acceptance rest on the strength of my essay, it needs to be as good as possible. I thank everyone for their suggestions.</p>
<p>The concept of “survival of the fittest” is not synonymous w the " origins of Man"</p>
<p>Even the most ardent supporters of natural selection acknowledge that the dominance of a species/consumer product/corporation/nation isn’t dictated by fitness alone. There is also the dumb luck of having a random comet miss u.</p>
<p>(also worth noting that social Darwinism is widely discredited and dismissed out of hand)</p>