<p>Since you all seem to be very knowledgeable with the college application process and Duke University, I would like to seek your advice on which common app essay I should submit.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>This essay is about my background, the neighborhood I grew up in and how the under-privileged area had the most privileged citizens in term of altruism. Straight-forward.</p></li>
<li><p>I wrote about my experience in learning how to play a certain game in elementary school. A little more creative, discussed how I gained my basic motivations for life, persistence, practice, etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Go creative! The last thing they want to read is another essay about how growing up in an under-privaleged area made you view the world differently! ANYONE CAN WRITE THAT! But the essay should be something only you can write! I wrote mine about not knowing what to write and so I decided to solve for myself in terms of X! My English teacher loved it because it was something he had never seen in 41 years of teaching! Something that is you stands out more and they respond better to it! Good luck!</p>
<p>Write what you think will give them the best insight to you. If you rose from financial troubles, and that effected you, and it will let them learn about you, do it. Same with the other one. </p>
<p>They don’t really care what you wrote about as long as you can make it interesting or let them learn about you. Try not to make it too cliche though.</p>
<p>I would think twice about writing something that happened in my elementary school years though. Unless it’s truly transformative, what happened when we were 6 or 7 don’t really shape us into how we are.</p>