Gorillas vs. Guerillas

DanAdmiss_Tufts
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:02:05 +0000

For a little perspective on the G vs. G question (#8) on the supplement:

That question was written with NO expectations for what answers we would get. Personally, I think there’s a lot of potential in it, but there’s also a great deal of ambiguity, which can be a liberating thing or a dangerous thing depending on the kind of writer you are. While there is no right answer to any of our supplemental questions, that question in particular represents a big question mark. In a lot of ways, that’s why we included it - to see what you, the applicants, could do with it and to capture a spark that might be captured by other questions.

In response to a query on the tone of the question posed in another thread:

pmalone224:

their questions for the optional essay seem to be somewhat sarcastic (“what is more interesting a gorilla or a guerrilla”) is it ok to be sarcastic in a witty way in my reply?

The question isn’t meant to be sarcastic, but an answer with a ‘healthy level of skepticism’ (speaking euphemistically about sarcasm) is completely fine.

One of the difficulties of creating college essay prompts is allowing for a variety of individuals to have opportunities. I know, since I was such a high school senior, that it can be difficult for ‘healthy skeptics’ to find opportunities to insert their voice in college applications. If a prompt has given you that opportunity and you want to use it - great. If it captures your voice, then break out the sarcasm. I will offer along one piece of advice with that. Be mindful that’s there’s a fine line between sarcasm and purposeless negativity, and that sort of negativity generally doesn’t play well with others.

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