<p>"Public restrooms are the perfect illustration of why communism is unviable. For some reason, other people immediately gain the coordination of a concussed drunk when entering these and leave them utterly disgusting. Walking on wet floors is bad enough, but actually having to venture into a stall is downright harrowing. Every time, without fail, the seat is somehow covered in urine. Apparently, there are people in this world too stupid to lift the seat up. </p>
<p>Perhaps even more disconcerting is that some people actually desecrate the bathrooms deliberately to repulse others. Fecal matter smeared all over the walls? That simply has to be intentional. Worse still is when some Neanderthal leaves his copious excrement in the bowl without flushing, as if in some primitive display of bravado. For me, public restrooms are not only cesspools of immitigable squalor but a testament to the inconsideration and irresponsibility that humans will take when they are not held accountable. </p>
<p>People besides me wash their hands for like five to ten seconds or not at all. Or maybe theyll wash decently and then open the bathroom door with their hands, thus negating any cleansing which they may have accomplished. </p>
<pre><code>It is a small wonder that one of my greatest fears is being forced to defecate in one of the abhorrent abysses known as public bathrooms, a fear only exacerbated by a traumatizing childhood experience. While I was in class during second grade, I had the misfortune of suffering the ramifications of consumption of food from Taco Bell. Rather than journey into the depths of hell, I opted to instead endure in my seat in unremitting agony. Eventually, my fortitude shattered, and I gave birth in my pants. To my further misfortune, I was sitting directly beside the air vent, and the fetid stench pervaded the room almost instantly. Nobody else ever deduced who the culprit was.
</code></pre>
<p>Since I have to share a bathroom with you, I implore you to be sanitary."</p>
<p>I wrote in a similar style (albeit on topics much more presentable at a dinner table) for my common app essay. So I think that’s probably okay depending on the reader.</p>
<p>I think the bigger problem is that this essay doesn’t really highlight anything that interesting about you. I mean it would make sense if the roommate essay were actually meant for your future roommate, but it’s not. It’s meant to show the admission officer some part of your personality. I am not sure if you are trying to say that you are really particular about hygiene or trying to be funny.</p>
<p>The tone is cutting but it managed to make me smile in the end. You could have also written something like ‘Considering the state of hygiene some modern teens have, I want a single’ :D</p>
<p>Demanding a single in a roommate essay. That would have been legendarily gutsy. </p>
<p>This is good too. It could either make or break the rest of your app. Hope for the former ;)</p>
<p>It sounds like you have a phobia or anxiety problem. While fairly common, I’m not sure why this was the topic you decided to share. The essay is unique and memorable, however. What topic did you write about for the What Matters essay?</p>
<p>^
I took that one seriously and wrote about discrimination I felt as a child, and how I ultimately overcame it. Then I quickly concluded by saying it was my self-respect that mattered.</p>
<p>For intellectual development, I talked about how grades and SAT scores were not measures of intelligence so much as measures of ability to endure tedium.</p>