<p>Now that we’re all done with applications for this year, I’m putting this up here so that I could get comments while waiting (very long) to hear back from Cornell. Be brutal if you have to, and bear in mind that I can’t change anything at this point.</p>
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<p>I don’t think it was too smart to post your essay here. There are some lame people who would want to steal your idea/concept. Even if its too late for someone to submit their app, who’s to say that a junior wouldn’t decide to use this essay for their app in the fall?</p>
<p>It seems bombastic; too many big words for what you were trying to say.</p>
<p>Take up poetry. That’s what I did 
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<p>@Haha I win:
I don’t care if they do. In the case of that hypothetical junior, it would be pretty lamentable that given one chance to say something about himself he chooses to use someone else’s idea/concept. And if they would’ve chosen it anyway, then there’s no problem to begin with is there? And lastly if it gave that hypothetical junior a nudge in the right direction, then why should I feel bad about that?</p>
<p>@mathsciencedude:
I am a poet.</p>
<p>I liked it!</p>
<p>You are a poet?
I didn’t know it,
but you definitely showed it.</p>
<p>Even by another name a rose is still a rose.
However, I still must say that poetry is not prose.</p>
<p>Every time I read your prose, I let out a large sigh.
So posters quit posting, and let this thread die.</p>
<p>By the way, I am a hippopotamonstrosesquipedaliaphobe.</p>
<p>“Please respond to the essay question below (maximum of 500 words)…”</p>
<p>677 words is notably greater than 500, but I’m not qualified to say it will actually make much of a difference.</p>
<p>Certainly a perfect piece of writing in terms of style, vocabulary, use of metaphors, etc.</p>
<p>But, honestly, I found it to be very boring (and much too long).</p>
<p>really great writing style, but I felt it was too broad (if it is possible to be that way). Cornell adcoms want to see some focus in certain activities, possibly how you came to develop those interests; you seem to say that you’re interested in everything from political science to economics to math to history and everything in between. It’s good you were specific about the A&S school, and the fact that your writing style is awesome will probably help you (ESPECIALLY imagery) but I would shorten your writing to make it a BIT less wordy and more focused on one or two areas, as well as how they connect to liberal arts.</p>
<p>The “broad” angle might work since you’re applying to a liberal arts college…adcoms want to know that you have a wide range of interests and will take advantage of the flexible curriculum, etc.</p>
<p>wow, thats sort of the angle i went with… explaining my interest in a variety of different areas and how I want to be able to learn about the world. I incorporated Ezra Cornell’s quote in there somewhere but it was a bit cheesy haha.</p>
<p>yeah I know incorporating his quote is cheesy but I think it’s a good idea - it shows the adcoms that you actually took the time to look up and learn more about Cornell rather than simply submitting the same thing that you did to other colleges…</p>
<p>I’m not saying here that you should write about one focus, but I feel like just writing how you are interested in everything isn’t a great idea either - they want to see that you have some specific interests (which you can elaborate on) and want to learn more about the world</p>
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<p>Which is all true, but considerably hard to do within 500 words (at least, it was for me).</p>
<p>Excellent essay, but one of the goals of a word limit is to show how well you can express yourself concisely. Either way, I don’t think it’ll affect you with writing of this caliber.</p>