<p>Chess board and Bop It (yes I knew what it was, but I watch Gilmore Girls) carry two different connotations in this context. Chess board plus Rubik’s Cube makes you sound math geeky, Bop It plus Rubik’s Cube makes you sound quirky puzzle solverish.</p>
<p>The catapult just worries me. ;)</p>
<p>Moms of a certain age would know Bop-It.
Most annoying toy ever. We had one, but, somehow it got “broken” and thrown away 
</p>
<p>Most folks would Google stuff they didn’t know. But I’m not sure if they have time to read essays that closely.</p>
<p>Everyone knows Waterloo (wasn’t that an ABBA hit?) </p>
<p>Homestead–yes, Mystic–no.</p>
<p>I love Bop It! My kids got one years ago from their grandma for Christmas but it ended up being the adults that played with it. I got to 100 a few times and heard the victory sound. I wonder if it’s still around…</p>
<p>We hate noise toys. As geek-mom said- leave it at the relatives house to play with!</p>
<p>As for Bop-it, yes I know what it is, but if need be perhaps you could call it the Hasbro Bop-it toy or something like that, if its not too wordy or clunky sounding.</p>
<p>busdriver: Not what I meant. Stradmom got it. The image of a kid carrying a chess board is different than the image of a kid carrying a Bop-It. Which person are you, physicsnut1?</p>
<p>@fireandrain, I’m both! @stradmom, do you think math geeky is a bad thing to convey? (The catapult was a project I made for physics to experiment with trajectory) </p>
<p>But I think I may just include the chessboard. I like the Bop It better, but I don’t want to risk the adcoms not knowing. It’s not too important anyway. Thanks to everyone - I really appreciate all the input, everyone is so helpful! :D</p>
<p>I’m a mom (duh) and I know about Bop-It’s, mostly because there was one around my husband’s parents’ house that the grandkids played with. I might leave it out of the essay as maybe distracting to a reader who doesn’t know what it is and substitute something else more universally known and similar (although I’m not sure what that would be…) And, I’d say to fireandrain that I’ve known kids who like chess and Bop-Its.
Not sure if you are referring to historical events/novels/alternative history or games with the rest. I’d avoid game titles.</p>
<p>I was referencing the historical event. That sentence is (after I almost forget my wallet/ cell phone when moving in to college): “I wait for the “You-can-remember-the-day-and-month-of-the-Battle-of-Waterloo-but-you-can’t-remember-your-wallet!” lecture, but…” and so on… so thanks again</p>
<p>Stanford really reads those essays and the roommate essay is an important insight into your “persona” - -thanks for answering my question – and lots of people followed with some specifics now that we have the idea of where it belongs.
I agree with a few other posters in that the chess board in the collection of catapult and rubics cube doesn’t give the same image when you add the Bop-It to the list.
However, you can also call it by it’s real name if you have characters to spare in the space limit of the essay-- “Bop-It Extreme”. (which sounds less weird perhaps than the Bop It by itself.)
Chess-- eh-- don’t bother listing it, I hear the metre you are aiming for-- three items works-- but chess board, dull dull dull. How about Othello instead - -do you have that board game or some other more “funky” one in your collection (don’t make it up-- use something you really play and might bring - Apples to Apples,? or something that you sincerely enjoy-- not chess-- dull dull dull (did I say that)</p>
<p>Haha, okay! I do play Apples to Apples, but a parent just suggested I throw “a jar of peanut butter” in with the Rubik’s Cube and the catapult. It doesn’t really go with the theme, but it’s something I definitely will be bringing 
But if you guys think that “doesn’t fit” then I think Apples to Apples would also be a great substitute. Also, do you think “catapult” is okay? Is “mini-catapult” better?</p>
<p>I never heard of a Bop-it and didn’t recognize the picture of one either. Waterloo should be part of everyone’s cultural literacy. (For a while the year of the battle was my PIN number.) Chess seems a bit geeky - in a good way, both my kids played and were in tournaments. Only the really geeky older one had a Rubik’s Cube. BTW trebuchet>catapult. ;)</p>
<p>Okay, how’s this? </p>
<p>“…but am alone in the room. Dropping my Rubik’s Cube, homemade trebuchet, and spare jar of peanut butter onto a bed, I run back down the stairs to unpack my remaining belongings from our light blue minivan. As the final historical-fiction novel is extracted, I turn to hug my…”</p>
<p>Would you really drop a chess board onto the bed? All the pieces would go everywhere! Same for the Apples to Apples cards. Peanut butter on the bed - gross! Stick with Bop-It (I also “disappeared” this toy after it was given by an uncle who wanted to torture us. I suppose that it did teach sequencing skills!) I think that everyone will know what it is, along with the Homestead Steel Strike.</p>
<p>You really think so? What if I changed “bed” to “desk” then peanut butter would be okay, wouldn’t it? Arhhgggg… thanks though</p>
<p>I can totally see my daughter dropping everything (including the peanut butter) on her bed.</p>
<p>I know what a Bop-it is, and probably more people do than know what a trebuchet is.</p>
<p>Is trebuchet little-known? Okay, back to catapult then.</p>
<p>You are a terrific writer. Your essay will be great. I just don’t think that adcoms want to think that students would drop peanut butter on the bed or desk; even if some parents acknowledge that their kids would do this, I can guarantee that they would not be happy about it. Good luck!</p>
<p>Great paragraph. Keep the peanut butter, and I like trebuchet better than catapult.</p>
<p>I wish that my son had spent this much time working on the wording of his essay!! I like trebuchet and peanut butter and could even go with Bop It. In the context of what you are writing, I think the flow of words is more important than the actual meaning of each individual item. Too many modifiers would be distracting.</p>