Common App Essay - Self Chosen Topic

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
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<p>I basically took an essay I had already written for my UNCG app and expanded it a bit. The prompt was “How have your past experiences and interests influenced your choice of an academic major?” My intended major is Computer Science. It isn’t really in a standard essay format, but I think it works. </p>

<p>I’ve been interested in computers almost as long as I could type and move a mouse. Although I’d guess that every boy has a nerdy phase when he’s young. As well, I think the fact that my dad had a BS in Computer Science and 30 years of IT experience was a major factor, due to the whole “I’m going to grow up and do what my father/mother does” thing that happens when children are very little. I lost interest from about 7 to 12. But ever since the age of 13 my love of computers and technology in general has continued to grow. When my parents finally got me my own laptop, I would spend hours tweaking file systems, exploring every nook and cranny of my hard drive, and in general acting like a computer geek. When I got an iPhone, I jailbroke it and spent hours combing through it’s file systems, just trying to find what crazy stuff I could do to it. One of my favorite experiences with computers was taking apart an old desktop PC when I was 14. I spent about a week and a half in my garage dissecting the thing. When the old family desktop finally died, I did the same with that (the guts of it are still in my garage). And this past summer, I began planning out the spec for a custom, self-built desktop PC. Through this process and the research that went into it, I learned so much about the technology behind modern computers and about computer hardware in general. I think its probably the best example of my passion for computers, as well as my drive to learn more and more about them.</p>

<p>It seems only natural to me that I get a degree in Computer Science, or some sort of computer technology related major. I can expand my knowledge and passion for computers, and hopefully be able to pursue a career in an industry that I love.
How have your past experiences and interests influenced your choice of an academic major</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

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<p>Bump for critique</p>

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<p>You talk about tinkering but not what you want to do with all this. I do not know you from this.</p>

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<p>Agree that this could be a good topic, but I think you need to find ways to use it to reveal more about yourself than just that you like tech and tinkering. More personal is better…</p>

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<p>You may find more essay readers in the [College</a> Essays](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/]College”>College Essays - College Confidential Forums) section.</p>

<p>Rather than a historical recap, you might be able to focus on a single anecdote (perhaps, dis-assembling your old desktop) and provide more commentary on how the episode influenced you. The advice is to show rather than tell. </p>

<p>Also, it is just a matter of opinion, but 330 is on the short side of the word count and gives you quite a bit of room to expand. </p>

<p>Good Luck! :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice, guys!!</p>

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<p>If this is the big essay for the common app, it still feels like “why I chose this major.” The big essay is supposed to be a nice tale that shows the strengths the colleges want to see- sure, that includes curiosity, but also more.<br>
And, you want to remember the wisdom: show, not tell. As you adapted it, this is still a lot of telling, not much to engage the readers. So, see what you can do with it.</p>