<p>So before even considering Columbia, I wrote an essay on the dichotomy of reason and romanticism, using my experiences as the child of Voltaire and Allen Ginsberg as anecdotal evidence.</p>
<p>Since Allen Ginsberg attended Columbia, will this be seen as a cheap attempt to butter up the admissions commitee, or is it safe to send?</p>
<p>I have a second essay, but I don’t like it as much.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I don’t think so. Writing about Voltaire and Ginsberg just shows how intellectual you are. If you’re limited from writing about people who went to Columbia, how many people would you have to avoid writing about? Just don’t refer specifically to the fact that they went to Columbia.</p>
<p>Hey I wrote about classes that I took at their Science Honors Program. I didn’t specifically talk about the campus and got away with it.</p>
<p>i think if you wrote an essay that was like “omg, i love allen ginsberg, i want to be just like him and that’s why i’m applying to columbia,” that would be weird. but what you want to write sounds fine.</p>
<p>I can honestly say that I have no idea what you mean by “an essay on the dichotomy of reason and romanticism, using my experiences as the child of Voltaire and Allen Ginsberg as anecdotal evidence.”</p>
<p>If you like the first essay better, then use it.</p>
<p>I second the post above. I don’t mean to attack you, or imply that you are doing this, but few things are more obnoxious than someone who is talking out of their ass to try and convey the impression that they are an intellectual. Don’t run the risk of sounding like you are doing that.</p>
<p>If you really like the essay, use it.</p>
<p>Brilliantly said, dmurphy.</p>