Has anyone read 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays?

[Eiswein]

<p>It's a great book and I was wondering if anyone wanted to talk about certain essays in it, or comment a bit.</p>

<p>I personally learnt what "unique" means. There are so many ways to stand out and this book has showed me how. </p>

<p>But I'm dumbfounded by a few essays. Has anyone read "Banana''? I completely have no idea how this essay depicts the author. Is he just showing off his writing skills?</p>

<p>Hope you guys have read this book too and if not, check it out! At the very least it's a fascinating read.</p>

[popularmom]

<p>I have read about a third of this book and found it a bit overrated. The essays were only so-so. You can do better.</p>

[superflyingllama]

<p>To be honest, I didn't think it was that great. I mean, there were some very good and creative ones, but most of them were so so and some of them, IMO, were pretty boring, generic and bad. The critique was ok, sometimes irrelevant</p>

<p>Read it for the ideas if you have absolutely no idea what a good essay looks like (there are some good ones. Note I said good, not great.) but pretty much everyone's read it because it has the words "Harvard" and "Admissions" on the cover, so don't expect to find anything really unique</p>

[Eiswein]

<p>Gosh, no one likes the book?</p>

[Laziderous]

<p>Hmm, while the book may be overrated (I just grabbed a copy from my local international bookstore), I admit I enjoyed a few of the essays from the book.</p>

<p>I like 'The Beast' in particular, mainly because it transforms a normal everyday event into something much more.</p>

<p>But obviously, as some of the other posters have mentioned, we should set our goals higher.</p>

[ehz]

<p>I read this book, and I believe that this book only provides a very narrow scope of the process of getting into Harvard is like. While essays do mean a lot in the admissions process, grades and legacy also have considerable weight. For example, the worst essay in the book may have belonged to someone whose parents both graduated from Harvard. You'd never know.</p>

[Eiswein]

<p>thats right. but the book's worth a glimpse.</p>

[Eiswein]

<p>@Laziderous: the Beast was one of those I disliked. This shows the objectivity of essay reading lol. I found it lacking in detail, unbelievable, lacking in the flow of logic and very superficial.</p>