Crazy Essay prompts

Tinfoyl
Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:17:05 +0000

“How did you get lost?”

That was my UChicago prompt last year, and I must say, I probably had more fun writing that than all the monotonous drivel that every other school requested: Why do you want to go to X University? Even what seems to be a personal essay of that sort still does not really break the generic mold. A thoughtful piece that conveys even a splinter of introspection resonates more than the 500-word, self-admiring essay on the best qualities of a school that the admissions officers already know (but enjoy flattering themselves with nonetheless). Chicago also had a short “Why Us?” essay, but I would like to think that the more creative one is why they were kind enough to take notice and accept me.

I honestly wish more schools took a nonlinear approach to writing. Bring a sense of the avant-garde to college admissions, would ya?