Authenticity = Acceptance? Kinda.
Let’s face it. Some people’s authentic selves are simply boring. My “authentic” self is 99% composed of pedagogical philosophy. Bleh. If I was my “authentic” self on my application, I’d be reciting the words of Kant and Nietzsche all over my essays, over and over again. I would, without a doubt, be like the annoying little girl who bores her friends to death by talking about her crush over and over again.
I watched a couple of YouTube videos before and while I was applying, and there was a unanimous theme to them: be authentic. So that’s what I did. In my essays, I talked about how fascinated I was with art and philosophy and introspection. But my application became…boring. Yes, I was fascinated with philosophy. Yes, I was being my authentic self. But it didn’t make me memorable or interesting. And because I was too sheltered, too naive to truly reflect on my flaws and weaknesses, I became even more boring.
My common application essay I sent to Stanford was about walking. About what I think about when I walk for thirty minutes every day, and used it as a metaphor for destination. I realized after my rejection letter that almost my whole application-- especially my common application essay-- was so freaking serious. Other than the roommate essay, I never cracked a joke or laughed or cursed or did the things that made me funny or interesting. After my rejection, I ended up rewriting my entire common application essay…on bread. Yes. Bread. I cracked three jokes in that essay. For my Princeton application, I wrote a poem about my Dad’s love of Drake. I did indeed utter the word “ass” in that poem.
So by April 1st, I’ll edit this post to update you guys if my new insight helped me get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or Dartmouth. If I got into some of them, we’ll know for sure that interesting > authenticity.
Now I know that all of you are going to say: what the hell, Robab! You’re supposed to be honest in your application! Authenticity matters more than being interesting!
Well, duh. I’m not saying lie or be fake. I’m saying highlight the small, teeny endearing parts of you that make you interesting. Ask yourself: what do you talk about with your group of friends that makes your friends laugh? What makes them deeply interested in what you have to say? In other words, talk about your love of Korean television instead of your love of Immanuel Kant. No one is really that interested in hearing you talk about the latter.