<p>How would the admins react if you decide to write that Fall Out Boy is the band that you listen to the most often?</p>
<p>How would the admins react if you decide to write that your family is like a whoopee cushion?</p>
<p>In an application, they ask you to write a brief paragraph on what you can get and give from attending their school. Is it okay to send in a 670 word essay?</p>
<p>Regarding Fall Out Boy or your whoopie cushion analogy, the adcoms aren’t looking at what you say so much as what you have to say or how you say it. They aren’t looking for a “right” answer; they want to see how your mind works. So if you have something interesting to say about why you like Fall Out Boy or something more than that your family members make farting noises when you sit on them, then I’m sure your choices will be interesting and entertaining and tell the adcoms quite a bit about you, which is what you want to accomplish.</p>
<p>As regards the 670 word essay - you really should cut in down. When they say “paragraph”, they aren’t looking for a fullblown essay. Aim for 250 or thereabouts. Too long and they will be irritated.</p>
<p>I am sensing that your appying to Hotchkiss!!! :)</p>
<p>One reason an applicant might hesitate to cutting down an answer to a question you have so much to tell the admission committee, is a fear that you will mislead them into thinking you don’t have as much offer, etc., if you don’t tell them everything. What if one of the things you cut out is the magic thing they’re looking for? What if they’re left with the impression that you don’t have much to say, when you’re on the verge of exploding because you’ve had to bottle up so much?</p>
<p>To help get past the psychological barrier that makes you want to spell out each and every facet of the essay question, why don’t you start out by telling them that it was excruciating to get your answer under 700 words? Consider something like, “I can’t possibly cover all the reasons in a brief paragraph, but I can name a few ‘all-star’ choices that come to mind.”</p>
<p>If you were to do that, would that make it easier to part company with 400-odd words from your current essay?</p>
<p>I’d say: Do it. Be yourself, be who you are. It’s not about what you want to be it’s about who you are and if the school doesn’t like it then life goes on. I know that a bunch of kids write down alot of stuff about themselves like their real hero is ACDC but they put down Albert Einstein and it’s probably going to hurt and not help them because virtually your not the person you wrote down. Plus, most schools like a sense of humor. It’s not like all of them are brainwashed academics.</p>