Is humor appreciated in the common app essay

[maronson]

<p>I was wondering whether or not a bit of sardonic humor in my essay would be appreciated or frowned upon, anybody know?</p>

[jazzpark]

<p>Only if it’s original, appropriate, and not insulting to anyone or anything.</p>

[digmedia]

<p>^___ I agree, and only if it’s actually humorous to a very wide audience. </p>

<p>Fortunately, the humor of most 17-year-olds widely appeals to other 17-year-olds! </p>

<p>OK - I was being sardonic. Sardonic means “skeptically mocking” (at best), but also “disdainful” or “derisively mocking,” so that - even if successful to most - would be a very risky strategy. The example I gave could have been meant to portray skepticism, but if you felt like I was being derisive to 17-year-olds, that makes my point. </p>

<p>Humor is a strange, personal thing. My favorite comedy movie of all time is loaded with F-bombs, which might put some off, but another recent movie that was a big hit to almost everyone (and made a lot of money) frankly offended me with its crudeness. You just can’t tell.</p>

<p>The other thing to keep in mind is that the essay needs to be about YOU, so concentrating on a genre might stray from that purpose of presenting a strong, wise, ready-to-learn YOU.</p>

<p>–Robert Cronk, author of Concise Advice: Jump-Starting Your College Admissions Essays [Second Edition]</p>

[Kat1applicant]

<p>As long as it is done in well thought, witty, an restrained way.</p>

[notanengineer]

<p>

You’ll hear a great deal of conflicting advice about humor. Counselors, teachers, and parents often talk about humor as if it should (and could) be confined like a noisy chicken, occasionally let out for a good squawking and then locked up again in its dingy coop while we get on with really important business. “Oh, humor has its place,” they may say, “but not in your college essay.” Or, “If you must joke, don’t try to be too funny,” they warn. “You can’t be sure admissions officers share your idea of what’s funny.”</p>

<p>Wrong.</p>

<p>Nothing very good was ever written by someone afraid to say something funny…What to do? The following rule will guide you infallibly: If you think of something funny about your topic, write it down. If you don’t, don’t.</p>

<p>It’s that simple. Trouble arises when an applicant thinks he should write something funny or clever to be “different” and then grunts out a noisy and jangling piece that doesn’t communicate but calls attention to itself, like a broken toy. Trouble also arises when an applicant thinks he should write something solemn or serious to be “safe,” and carefully extracts every trace of living tissue from an essay like some ghoulish literary surgeon…If you see things in a funny way, everything you write will be funny. You can’t help it. It’s part of you, of your voice.</p>

<p>Admissions officers, like any other readers, are suspicious of something that shows no sense of humor. Your essay should show the way you deal with the world every day; though writing can’t let someone hear your laugh, your essay should at least hint that you have one.

–Harry Bauld, author of On Writing the College Application Essay: The Key to Acceptance at the College of Your Choice</p>

<p>Basically, don’t try to be funny if you’re not, and get the opinions of other people. But if it just comes to you, see where it goes. It can always be cut out later if it doesn’t work, and a truly funny essay can be wildly appealing.</p>