<p>I did scientific research on nanopores at Drexel University last summer, and did another materials science program at UPENN the summer before that. Should I simply write up a research abstract and what I did at UPENN in a detailed and technical manner, or focus more on the learning experience, and how I met new people and all that good stuff?</p>
<p>I went out for a ride in my car, ran over a few speed BUMPs.</p>
<p>Come on, Princeton people.</p>
<p>For the essay itself, I would focus more on the learning experience and how you met new people, etc etc. You can write up a research abstract and send it in as supplementary material, but for the summers essay, I would focus on how it affected you. Of course, include a brief summary of what you did, but I wouldn’t focus on writing an abstract just for the essay. That’s just my opinion, of course. Listen to what others suggest to you as well.</p>
<p>From what i remember of my application from last year (im pton '13), there really isnt that much space given to answer this question. Just give tell princeton what you did during the summer (no need to get into details about what you did your research on). As long as you dont seem like you were just sitting around doing nothing, i dont think that this question really has much bearing on the outcome of your application.</p>
<p>True, there’s a 2500-character limit, which is roughly 400 words.</p>
<p>That’s unnecessary, poke.</p>
<p>I’m confused about the summer essay also. I have about 6 sentences. This isn’t what they want right? Last summer I went to Las Vegas and LA (should I list this?) and did some science thing at a museum. This summer I did NYU Precollege, read books, magazines, exercised. Should I list the title of the books I read?</p>
<p>immortalix:
List vacations but not individual books, unless it was a novel that really touched you and you reread it multiple times or something like that. </p>
<p>Biggie_Smalls:
Don’t write a research abstract and don’t go into too much detail about the learning experience until you have listed everything else you did during those summers. Although you shouldn’t write an abstract be more specific than just saying “I did research on nanopores.” Mention your specific tasks during the research.</p>
<p>Wow, I really don’t remember the summer thing as an essay. I think all I did was make some bullets and write a sentence or two accompanying them.</p>
<p>Yeah. The prompt does not really come across as an essay. It seems more of a short answer.</p>
<p>It’s true. I took it to mean more of a list of things that you occupied your summer with…I would approach it more as a “here’s my proof that I wasn’t just sitting on my bum all summer” kind of thing than an actual essay.</p>
<p>Don’t let it agonize you.</p>
<p>^Thanks, guys! Yeah, I realized an abstract would be too much. I lessened the scientific stuff, but still wrote about the program and my experiences. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Other schools give you much less space but that Princeton has 2500 characters would only lead one to believe that they expect more for these summer essays. In my case though, summers have been when some of my best activities have taken place so I’ll have fun communicating how those experiences have contributed to my growth or changed my perspectives.</p>