<p>Is there anything considered too radical? I’m writing some, well, interesting essays and I feel as though I ought to be trying to seem more average.</p>
<p>I would hazard to say that no one who comes across as “average” is accepted at Stanford or anyplace like it, at least not unless they have something glaringly non-average on their resume (like a place on an Olympic team). A college that takes 5% of its applicants isn’t looking for average.</p>
<p>It’s not true that you have to be superhuman to be admitted to Stanford, but I think it is true that you have to be really interesting in some way or another. Your essays are a great way of showing that about yourself. But, of course, a lot of “well, interesting” essays by 17-year-olds are anything but; they are garden-variety juvenalia, and probably similar to dozens of other essays in the Stanford admissions office’s piles. Real interest comes from the quality of your ideas and your execution, not from cheap thrills. </p>
<p>So don’t expect to get any credit at all for simply taking risks. You need to make it pay off. Take any risks you like. I wouldn’t worry about offending anyone in the admissions office, who tend to be 20-somethings in a liberal university community, charged among other things with making certain they have diversity of ideas and outlooks in the class they accept. But whatever risks you seem to take, make certain you are in control of your work and delivering the goods. In other words, don’t take any real risks at all – only make bets you know you can win.</p>