<p>I’m doing a college admissions essay, and I thought I could add some good-natured humor into my otherwise depressing piece by fabricating some events. I’m doing this in order to show my personality to the adcoms more easily. I know they won’t know whats fact or fiction, but is it still advisable to do this? </p>
<p>All opinions welcome!</p>
<p>personally, I don’t see anything wrong with maybe adding some harmless details that would make the anecdote a more lively story.
However, adding things that outright change the story or would alter the readers opinion of the situation is wrong.</p>
<p>I would not advise you to lie in your college admissions essay, no.</p>
<p>Think of it this way: If you are skimming over details in order to hide things that might hurt your chances it’s ok. If instead you are adding details to make it more interesting, how does that actually say anything about your personality? I’m sure you could come up with something better to write about if you have to add details that never happened in your original story.</p>
<p>Short answer: No, don’t do it. If you are a humorous writer, you should be able to be humorous with the facts just as they are. If you are not a humorous writer, don’t try to be by adding facts - it won’t work and your essay will not come off the way you want it to.</p>
<p>It’s kind of like creative nonfiction. I’m sure you’ve heard of the whole James Frey fiasco; if you haven’t look him up. Every creative nonfiction writer fabricates some things. </p>
<p>As a writer, I try to stick with only fabricating dialogues from the pieces I remember… but memory also distorts things. I can’t remember if my mom is really wearing lime green that day, but since that helps set the scene, it’s not a horrible thing. If I don’t remember if there were palm trees by the pool, it won’t really hurt anyone by saying there were. To say that a coconut fell on my head when it didn’t would be bad.</p>
<p>As a reader, I would have to say that I’m really disappointed when I find out that something I took for real didn’t happen, especially if I know the author or have felt some sort of connection. One of my writing teachers (I do writing camps) showed us some of her writing, and after having us read it, told us which bits she changed, and I was very very disappointed about it. </p>
<p>Especially since this is a college essay, which really really should be based on truth, I would emphasize that creative liscence should only be taken on trivial things where memory doesn’t hold.</p>
<p>Hey, this thread is now featured content. :)</p>
<p>IMO, you shouldn’t go over the limit of reasonable story-embellishment. We all know the scenario of our grandparents “walking to school in the snow, uphill both ways.” All stories tend to become more impressive and dramatic as time passes. This is acceptable as long as your prized fish was really 4 lbs after reeling it in, but in the essay it was a whopping 12 lbs. Assuming of course your main message and point remains the same. The added fluff is just insignificant and to make the reader pay close attention. What is NOT ok, is when you really go fishing for 10 minutes, get bored, and come home in reality…but write an essay about going fishing and catching the monstrous fish after an hour battle, while bonding with Aunt Suzie or w/e message you want to portray. Hope that made some sense.</p>
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<p>So, does the issue really become sounding legitimately passionate instead of falsely interested?</p>
<p>I am with the general consensus… small details and dialogue is fine to get the gist gets across, but no on the whole fake event.</p>
<p>if youre telling red lies - like you won X reward, you’re going to need a lot of luck to not be found out. 1. They can ask your guiddance counselors. 2. they can google you. 3. (lets say you claim to be writing a novel, managing stocks, playing 5 musical instruments) they can ask for samples of your art/work, or ask for you to further talk about it. 4. if youre writing about your brother who has cancer, and your brother is perfectly healthy, then you have no idea whatsoever what it is like to have a brother with cancer, so your essay will just sound phoney. </p>
<p>Interviews: they will ask about the essay, you better be a good speaker/liar. If you cant maintain eye contact while speaking your essay out to someone, thats not good. </p>
<p>White lies are fine. You can write about something that never happened, but is symbolic of something that did happen in your life.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m misreading, but the actual question posed in the OP seems to be a different matter than what the title suggests.</p>
<p>Creative, humorous exaggeration (a la Thurber, a la David Sedaris) is fine, if you’re a good enough writer to carry it off. (Not many adult writers, let alone h.s. seniors, are good enough, but that’s a different question.) “Twisting the facts” (a la James Frey), is not a good idea, regardless of the level of your writing.</p>
<p>I say, why not?.. ;)</p>
<p>^Because admins say that the essay is your opportunity to show off your authentic self.</p>
<p><em>shrugs</em> if you’re a good story-teller, then you’re a good story-teller…
;)</p>
<p>Some devil’s advocate here…</p>
<p>Sometimes, your life is just boring. Yeah, sure, there’s the argument that “everyone’s life is exciting, you just need to search your memory and pick out the events that are worth telling about”, but let’s be honest. Not everyone has that good of a memory, and it’s one heck of an assumption to just assume that everyone has something worth talking about.</p>
<p>For example, take Williams College’s supplemental essay this year. They ask you to reflect on a scene that has significance to you. Well what if you don’t have a scene that has significance to you? Sure, there’s the children’s playground across the street that you could BS your way through in an essay, or maybe you could write about the first time you ever saw snow. But what if you’re not actually passionate about those things?</p>
<p>In that situation, would it be so wrong to make up a scene that you can actually get excited about? I can’t bring myself to say that it would be. Your true self is still shining through. The scene you’re making up symbolizes what actually is important to you.</p>
<p>I don’t support lying about awards you’ve won, or claiming to be something you’re not. On the other hand, some of the best college admissions essays tell a story, and not all of us have a great story to tell. I don’t see anything wrong with making up a story if it’s something you can write passionately about. That shows more of the true you than a story that actually happened that you have to bend and twist to make fit the lesson you’re trying to portray in your essay.</p>
<p>Like I said, no lying about credentials, but telling a good story that may or may not have happened…if you can write passionately about it, I don’t see how it’s such a bad thing.</p>
<p>Harriett says it best…</p>
<p>Have you ever read Tim O’Brien’s work? Mainly, “The Things They Carried”. In it, he says that a true story doesn’t necessarily tell a story exactly as it happened. “Truth” to him is not in facts but in feelings, so if you need to twist facts to get your point across (to get the readers feeling the way you want them to) that’s fine. That’s what a story-teller does… they manipulate events to bring across a point.</p>
<p>That’s just one way of thinking about it, of course. Personally, I see nothing wrong with changing a few things in order for the essay to carry more power. Obviously the event/person/idea is powerful for you, as you’re writing about it. You want the reader to feel as passionately about it as you do, and sometimes that means you have to change something. As long as the over-all essay is still “true”, that is.</p>