<p>I will say something like “the professors were excited about what they were teaching” and my mom says I should be more direct and word it using the “I” and such. “I loved how the professors …” </p>
<p>Another thing is, when asked why I want to go to a particular school, I started by talking about how much I like their honor code, because the school made such a huge issue of the honor code. Then my mom says most schools have honor codes so she would not really made any issue of that being a reason to go to that school. She says I can mention it, but it should maybe be one of two sentences, rather than the majority of my reason.</p>
<p>mom is correct. I am also having second thoughts with my essays. I have received countless "use active over passive, save words, be concise, keeps sentences short’ from my english teacher :)</p>
<p>Always go with what something meant to you, there should be a lot of “I” in your sentences. Colleges care about how that teacher/experience/club/whatever affected you, not just what it is on it’s own. </p>
<p>In regards to the honor code, is there something unique about this school’s? Somewhere like Caltech allows take-home exams because of their honor code, and it’s more important to that school then it may be to others. It’s worth mentioning, maybe up to 3 or even 4 (short) sentences. But make sure you talk about extremely school specific things as well, and not just what you could google. Get at the core of what the school’s teaching philosophy is, and what kind of student goes there. </p>
<p>Just sayin’: ime, it’s your hs (and college) teachers who try so hard to get you to polish your style and who fret over this sort of detail. Yes, good writing skills matter to adcoms- but what they can glean about your personal attributes and strengths, what makes you compelling for their freshman class, is far more important than re-writing a line about profs.</p>
<p>As for the honor code, agree with neuro. But, depending on the college, is this the best way you can find to “match” yourself? Not a program or opportunity or some element not found elsewhere that will empower you? </p>
<p>(And how much do you really now about how their honor code succeeds? Do you really know enough to make this your main reason?)</p>
<p>This actually has nothing to do with “passive vs. direct” (or “passive vs. active”). Both of the sentences you quoted use active verbs (“the professors were” and “I loved”). Neither of them uses the passive (e.g. “the book was recommended” vs. “he recommended the book”).</p>
<p>Either of the two sentences you mentioned would be fine. My question would be how often you’re using the pronoun “I” in your essay. If you hardly use it at all, then it’s okay to say “I loved . . .” But if every other sentence starts with “I,” then you can probably afford to give it a rest, and just say “the professors were excited . . .” It’s pretty obvious that this is something that was important to you, since you’re the one writing the essay and you decided it was worth mentioning.</p>
<p>Regarding the honor code - as mentioned above, if there’s something about it that’s distinctive, then why not write about it?</p>