UC prompt discussion

ApTester
Thu, 25 Nov 2010 22:39:51 +0000

Freshman Applicant prompt: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

To you guys that have read others essays, do you think that most students write a very generic overview of how they want to change the world? I get the impression that most students attempt to talk about a ‘negative’, such as growing up in a bad community, then using that to explain that they want to ‘change the community for the better’.

My question is do admission readers find these ‘giving’ back to the community topics disingenuous, especially since over half of the essays I’ve read on this prompt basically say the same thing, “I grew up in a bad environment, I want to be superman, I want to change the community for the better.”

Would it be better to write on a topic that is more specific about your major, such as psychology, or should we try to write an over-arching “I want to save the world” essay?

Obviously, I’m slanted towards writing on a specific dream/aspiration, but am worried that I would come off as a person who doesn’t care for others.

Opinions?