<p>I don’t love any of the Common App prompts. But then, I doubt that the adcom of the schools that use the Common App spend much of their time or the faculty’s time devising writing prompts.</p>
<p>My favorite essay prompt is for the Ole Miss Honors College: “What is the last thing you read that unsettled you? Why was it unsettling?” It has so much potential to reveal the student’s personality or lack thereof.</p>
<p>* “What is the last thing you read that unsettled you? Why was it unsettling?”*</p>
<p>And if the answer is a thread on CC, you know you’re in trouble.</p>
<p>Well, I for one have enjoyed reading this thread. I think most of the perspectives have merit and it’s fascinating to see how the prompts, their meaning, and/or lack therof, are being interpreted. </p>
<p>My daughter hardly knew anything about Chicago except that she really liked their marketing materials. Amid tossing all of the mailers from schools in which she had no interest, she’d always stop and read anything that came in from Chicago. She is not someone I’d describe as a “quirky intellectual” though. She’s just a smart kid who appreciates schools that seem to have a sense of humor. </p>
<p>That’s pretty much the long and short of why she eventually decided to apply. When she saw the essay prompts she got a kick out of them. When I saw them I thought to myself “Ugh! good luck kiddo!” But her take on it was different. She sensed Chicago’s approach to whatever she wrote was going to be different. So, she let herself have fun doing them. I think it was even a stress reliever - being able to write without taking every word so insanely serious for a change. </p>
<p>So although this is just anecdotal, I think some of you are definitely onto something about target marketing. The essay prompts reinforced her impressions from the mailers. It was seamless actually – and it worked very well. We still don’t know if Chicago is a good fit, haven’t even visited yet – but the marketing definitely worked.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd was a school whose marketing I enjoyed - their application wasn’t memorable though. Tufts has some nice essay prompts this year. (They are just optional though.) One is to write on the Kermit quote “It isn’t easy being green.” Obviously many directions to go there depending on what meaning of “green” you want to run with. My son wrote responding to the prompt asking you to imagine the history of the United States if we had lost at Yorktown. (It wasn’t pretty!)</p>
<p>My daughter also enjoyed the Tufts’ essay prompts, especially the one entitled OMG, LOL, since she hates abbreviations and shortcuts in written communication (and is anti-Twitter as well) and loved having a chance to vent. As far as marketing materials go, however, she thought Brandeis crossed over to stalkerish territory – but she still would have applied had she not gotten into her ED school.</p>
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<p>You had me at “I’m sorry!”</p>
<p>I forgive you.</p>
<p>Please continue. This thread is the bee’s knees. It has everything: Condescension, indignation, misrepresentation. I only leave to get more popcorn.</p>
<p>OMG, LOL. That’s in response to the prompt provided by mantori.suzuki above, not Tufts. :)</p>
<p>I agree with the theory proposed a few pages back that the essay prompts evoke a strong reaction in some folks because there is an equivalency being made between liking UofC / their prompts, and being a true intellectual. And I don’t mean that’s an idea only advanced on this thread–I’ve seen versions of the assertion in various other threads too.</p>
<p>I know this thread is moving in a different direction now, but after trying to catch up, I’m stuck on the revelation that Chicago doesn’t have as many English majors as you’d think they would given their marketing strategy. </p>
<p>Also, I resent the assumption that smart, intellectual people will enjoy creative writing and will likely excel at it. I also think that the ability to answer most of those prompts well probably has very little to do with predicting academic success. However, I confess I’ve become antagonistic toward “creative writing” in academic settings after seeing elementary and middle school teachers continually assign these “creative” writing projects disproportionately more often than analytical topics requiring logical argumentation. Why does it bother me? Because I can count on one hand the number of times either of my older children (one at an Ivy and the other on her way to HYPS) has had to complete anything even remotely resembling that type of writing for a college course, or even in high school for that matter. The overused “What is your favorite ________ and why?” and “Look at this drawing below and write a story about what you think is happening in the picture.” prompts are out of touch IMO as a means of preparing kids for high school and beyond. So, I ask: do the courses at Chicago require writing similar to the writing required to apply there?</p>
<p>^I doubt it, but I don’t think any of the college prompts are going to elicit anything that remotely resembles writing one might do for class, unless you count colleges that invite you to send in a graded paper.</p>
<p>This was the Why Chicago? essay, not their extended prompt which typically requires a much more analytical essay. Here is what one Chicago student posted as to the writing requirements in the College:</p>
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Doesn’t sound too “fluffy” to me.</p>
<p>No, it does not. Nor does it sound different from the guidelines provided for expository writing at other colleges.
Would one deduce from the “love letter” that launched this thread that the author would follow these guidelines? Or try to subvert them?</p>
<p>Just because someone can write in a creative way doesn’t mean that they lack the ability to write in an expository way. Often it’s the people who know the rules best who also can be most creative at breaking them.</p>
<p>S1 has only let me see one of the papers he has written while at Chicago; I wouldn’t call it creative writing, but he did apply some interesting analyses to some literature he had read in his HUM class. He was never expected to write in that manner at his HS, but I was happy to see he picked it up quickly. He did say over winter break that his SOSC course is less free-wheeling and that he needed to play it straighter. I suspect that has as much to do with who’s teaching the course as anything else.</p>
<p>I expect that S2’s analysis skills from IB English would prove to be excellent preparation for Chicago’s Core.</p>
<p>Will also say that neither of my kids wrote wildly creative admissions essays for Chicago. They were funny in spots, serious in others, and really reflected who they are and why the school appealed to them. And lemme tell ya, my two guys are about as different as brothers can get, yet the place sings to both of them.</p>
<p>We had a pretty vigorous discussion at our house over the holidays about Nondorf’s email with that essay. General consensus was that 1) one did not need to write something that far out of the box to be admitted; 2) the timing was not great, in that some applicants might freak out/rewrite essays, etc.; 3) and that by publishing an essay, students may be more likely to write to the sample than writing honestly in their own voices. </p>
<p>Other schools have published sample student essays, but those have a range of approaches/voices and are on the school’s website in the admissions section, so if you want to click on the link, fine. If not, fine. To me, that’s a better way to post samples, if a school is inclined to do so. </p>
<p>However, I’m of the opinion that the PROCESS of exposing oneself is an essential part of writing an application essay. It’s not just about putting words on paper: it’s about the introspection that should be taking place as a 17 yo starts contemplating his/her future. What are my goals? What are my MY values? How will I function without my parents’ guidance? Can I get my butt out of bed and get to class every day? That is an important part of getting ready for college, and essays can help expose the strengths and weaknesses that a student must consider.</p>
<p>marite: Good question. But I was most interested in the last 5 words, “will all be treated mercilessly.” I think there is a certain Chicago pride showing through in that. </p>
<p>One sees a similar observation in this excerpt from an interview with Hugo Sonnenschein past Chicago president about his first week as president:
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<p>Yes, I picked up on that, too. It’s in the same spirit as “where the fun comes to die.” Some students would lap it up; others would be deterred.</p>
<p>The interesting thing is that the emphasis on logic and evidence is rather contrary to the more creative style one would expect from some of the writing prompts. I’m still puzzled by the low percentage of English and history majors at Chicago, considering the importance given to writing there.</p>
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<p>With the caveat that things may have changed since my days there, you don’t have to be a great writer to do well at U Chicago, particularly if you are among the majority not in Eng/Hum. Many science/math/econ majors got through the Core classes (with B’s) with mediocre writing. I started as a lousy writer and progressed to mediocre writer by the time I got my BA in a science field, then an MA in Art History. And I would add that I got mostly A’s despite my writing handicap.</p>
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<p>Exactly. I don’t see anything unique or special in the guidelines. Frankly if those guidelines are not required at colleges where students’ families are shelling out upwards of $25K - 50K, students are not getting their money’s worth. It has certainly been, and is being, required by my 2 D’s’ separate U’s. I don’t get why Chicago applicants assume that there’s something exceptional in such thought processes & expression. </p>
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<p>I agree with that. Where some posters differ is whether Chicago applicants have any greater claim to creativity than applicants to other U’s.</p>
<p>Perhaps a combination of Humanities majors would be more informative. Another perspective is that even the most dedicated science kids know going in that they will get a big dose of Humanities, Civilizations, and Social Sciences, and likewise the Humanities and Social Science kids know they will get a sizable dose of life sciences, physical sciences, and mathematics. Chicago is known to be very strong in Mathematics, Physics, and Economics so it doesn’t surprise me many choose to major in those areas. But even so they will be writing all those Hum papers just like everyone else.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone has claimed that Chicago applicants are more creative, smarter, more clever, or you name it, than other students. It is just that there are different cultures that attracts subgroups of these students, and that, thankfully, there appears not to be one path a smart, creative, clever, hardworking student has to follow.</p>
<p>As for the guidelines, no one said they were different, only that they were not fluffy. The one difference perhaps (at least according to S1) is that they often tend to govern conversations one has at parties as well.</p>