<p>“Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs,school,community,city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?”</p>
<p>Should I pick one thing and describe it (for example, AcaDeca or my family) or provide a general overview of my world?</p>
<p>Edit:
250 words is the limit</p>
<p>It’s better to be specific; don’t take the prompt too literally. General ideas don’t reveal much about you. Try not to explain; rather show something about yourself and your world. A well-known example is the applicant who wrote about baking a cake; another one was about being a thief (a softball player stealing bases).</p>
<p>I talked about humor in my life. I guess don’t overthink the question too much.</p>
<p>The MIT app was my first-ever collge application, which might have been a good thing and might have been a bad thing. When I approached the essays I really tried to avoid a “formal essay” approach, because I figured that maybe that was a big reason they did away with the long essay. Instead I just said “the heck with it” and used a conversational approach, so to speak. I don’t know if it will make me stand out and help in the long run, or if it will hurt me, or if other people did the same thing and it won’t help or hurt in either direction. Be honest, I suppose. If an anecdote is the most natural way for you to express yourself in the essay context, use that. If a slightly broader but still representative perspective is YOU, use that. Go with your strenghths. The admissions officers don’t want to see cookie cutter stuff.</p>