<p>I personally wouldn’t apply if you knew you absolutely didn’t want to take it. (I’m sure others would beg to differ, though). If you get in, yes you’ll see what that particular professor [whose opinion doesn’t matter b/c you’re not taking his/her class] is looking for, but that doesn’t necessarily mean all faculty members are looking for the same thing. Also, you could potentially be unnecessarily taking up a spot on the class roster, thereby depriving some other kid on the waitlist that really wants the class, causing them undue stress. Also, let’s say you get into an introsem that you think is just okay and you decide to do it for lack of a better thing to do. Then maybe spring quarter the introsem you love comes around and you apply, but the system shows that you’ve already taken an introsem, so you have less of a chance of getting the one you really want. If you want practice writing introsem apps, try Hume, but I wouldn’t bombard the system just to play with it. It seems unfair to make the faculty read an app of someone who’s not really interested in taking the class, while a person that IS really interested gets shafted b/c of poor personal statement skills/space constraints/whatever.
There are other of great seminar classes you can take that aren’t introsems and don’t require application, and you can very likely take an introsem later on.</p>
<p>Earthwise: Sorry if this seems like a slightly trivial question, but how long were your introsem applications? (How many paragraphs/ how many characters?) </p>
<p>I know the character limit is 4,000 characters, but that seems like an awful lot considering that the faculty will be reading through all of them. In addition, the Hume writing center mentioned just “a paragraph or two.” I wrote ~3 paragraphs and that was only about 2k characters. I know paying attention to character count may sound slightly silly (esp since the college app season is over after all) – but do many people actually write up to 4k characters? I would hate to ramble but I would hate to write too little and thus inadvertently reflect “little interest” in the seminar.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but I don’t remember exactly how long they were. I’m assuming I just stayed within the limits. If it says 4,000 characters, I probably wrote 4,000 characters or very close to it, because I tend to write too much on those kinds of things. I think our limit was ~350 words so maybe two short paragraphs or one longer one. I’d check your word count and make sure it’s near 350 words (or whatever the limit is). They don’t want an essay - just try to express your interest sincerely even if it’s only half of the word count, and I think you’ll be okay.
I do remember going a bit over the limit on a SoCo application (similar app process), but I still got into the one I wanted so I think content matters most and the character/word count is more of a guide which you should stay within reasonable limits of.</p>
<p>But I think it’s pretty evident from my posts that I’m the “don’t worry - be happy - do your best - it’ll work out in the end and if it doesn’t oh well” - type of person so maybe take that into consideration w/ my answer.</p>
<p>Thanks earthwise! I’m still a little unsure about how to juggle the 350 word/4,000 character guideline, since the two specifications don’t seem to align. Do you think it’s okay if I have 540+ words but still <3,500 characters? I don’t think I can whittle it down much further.</p>
<p>I’ll go into this saying that I do not know how strict professors will be regarding the word limit. If they follow it strictly (which a lot of me doubts) then 540 words is obviously unacceptable.</p>
<p>But if they do not follow the word limit strictly, it is important to consider that there are two types of 540 word essays. Ones that are poorly written and drag on and on, and others that are very quick and enjoyable reads. A lot of this depends on the character count, the type of language used, the subject of the essay, and the skill of the writer. Ideally there would be a low character count, simpler language, and a vivid and entertaining subject, all penned by a fantastic writer. 540 words in that case would be nothing. </p>
<p>
That’s what they all say. Is every phrase so valuable that, if you were to take that one phrase out, your essay would considerably change its meaning? If so, is every word so valuable? For one of my introsem apps I was at 500 words and saying the same thing, except now it’s at 360. That took some hard work, and in the end cutting those words probably won’t matter, but I personally will not disobey word limits to the extent I was doing. </p>
<p>I’d be curious to see the essay if you still don’t think it can be cut down anymore.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that not all professors follow the word limit strictly (I’ve gotten away with excess a few times), but 540+ words does seem to be quite a lot… I agree that maybe it’s okay if it doesn’t drag and if EVERY SINGLE extra word is relevant, but I’d definitely seriously look into cutting it down.</p>
<p>So did you guys get in an intro sem?</p>
<p>i ended up not applying so i wouldnt be at a disadvantage later when i really want to get into one</p>