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<p>…then they try to separate the wheat from the curds. ;).</p>
<p>i think semicolons are fine, if they complement your style of writing (in a good way).</p>
<p>personally i used A LOT of semicolons, and it didn’t affect me at all.</p>
<p>I love semicolons. I use them all the time. I’ll be damned if the Wall Street Journal makes me stop using them.</p>
<p>Now how many of you noticed that the author used what in my humble opinion was an unnecessary semicolon. In the quote below,</p>
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</p>
<p>the semicolon could very well have been replaced with a simple period and a new sentence begun, but no, the author just had to put one in to see if we were watching carefully. </p>
<p>Do as I say, not as I do. LOL</p>
<p>Um. I used the word “heretofore” and several semicolons, and I got into Yale SCEA, so…
lookbeyond: 1.
WSJ: 0.</p>
<p>Also, I like the semicolon in the penultimate paragraph; it creates a more intimate relationship between the two clauses. Then again, I’m a semicolon freak, so…</p>
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<p>That’s my LOL of the day.</p>
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<p>fixed.</p>
<p>10char</p>
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<p>no such luck ;-)</p>
<p>;-)
;-)</p>
<p>yeahh semicolons are LAME anyways :)</p>
<p><em>starts replacing semicolons…</em> haha just kidding! i think i only used it twice :)</p>
<p>I’ve read good essays about doing mission trips in the third world and boring ones. I’ve read great sports essays and less good ones. No one should feel they have to avoid a topic, but it has to be a topic you can make interesting.</p>
<p>i use a lot of semicolons…idk why. im starting to dislike the college apps process quite a bit, it brings out the worst in people.</p>
<p>wow it’s disgusting how they look down on kids; it’s the height of stupidity. so we are NOT supposed to know how to use semicolons or big words. are we some 8 year olds?!?</p>
<p>If you’re worrying about semicolons in your essay, you’re (very likely) not being yourself enough. This is exactly what they’re talking about - applicants are nitpicking over tiny details and trying to get every possible tiny advantage, without focusing on presenting themselves in their applications. First of all, just because the WSJ says too many semicolons or the word “heretofore” might signal outside influence doesn’t mean you can’t use either of those in essays. If those (or plenty of other parts of speech, grammar, fancy words, etc.) seem out of place and unnatural or forced, then that’s going to signal that the voice behind the writing probably isn’t the actual applicant, whether they had severe external influence on their writing or the applicant isn’t being themselves. If you use “heretofore” or semicolons in everyday writing and/or talking, then you’ll probably know how to use correctly and not just throw something fancy in there to show off.</p>
<p>And yes, this is what you get from a First Year suddenly given a lot of spare time after finals ;)</p>
<p>Ironically, my S is a lover of semicolons. I am the one who tends to edit in the direction of shorter sentences. </p>
<p>But this whole “be yourself” thing is total BS. Be yourself, but be someone that appeals to ad comms is the reality. Woe betide the student who doesn’t. Remember the girls from Newton last year? Remember the negative reaction to the girl who dared to actually be herself in her essay?</p>
<p>Sincerity, as the great poet James Merrill said, is a pose like any other.</p>
<p>As great as Merrill was, George Burns said it better: “The secret of acting is sincerity. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”</p>
<p>^consolation, I’m interested in the story you mentioned about the girl who “dared to actually be herself.” Do you remember how it went/have a link? : )</p>
<p>Consolation- I disagree. An applicant SHOULD be him/herself. That “self” should be presented in the best possible way and the negative tones (that part of “self” that is a jerk etc) should be minimized. However, they really are trying to understand the essence of each applicant. My kid wrote one essay that was NOT designed to appeal to the AdComm at the particular school (Chicago)- it involved Tucker Max (who they hate). He got in- twice.</p>
<p>The reason to be yourself is so that they accept (or reject) YOU, not some ficticious person you have created. </p>
<p>This would greatly improve the odds that you will attend a college with the best fit for YOU.</p>
<p>I agree with Consolation. If you want to get into a top school, being yourself is all fine and dandy- if who you REALLY ARE is an overachiever who gets perfect grades and SAT scores while engaging in tons of extracurriculars, often including sports and volunteer work, while still having the time to have a social life and experience life enough to write a good essay. For those people, by all means, be yourself in your college applications. But for those of us who can’t survive on five minutes of sleep and/or aren’t honestly interested in some of these things adcoms want, what are we to do? Either we fake having the traits the adcoms are looking for, or we stand a much better chance of getting rejected. Now which do you think somebody aspiring to a top school will do? Admit their flawed, imperfect self to a (potentially harsh and judgemental) adcom and face probable rejection, or pretend to be the perfect applicant and stand a better chance of getting in? Hmm?
Now, obviously the process is flawed, and students shouldn’t HAVE to conform to such an insanely specific and demanding vision of a “perfect applicant” to get into top schools. But in the world we live in, this is the decision many have to make.</p>
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<p>[For</a> Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too.](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/education/01girls.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=education&pagewanted=all][b]For”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/education/01girls.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=education&pagewanted=all)</p>
<p>Here’s the [CC</a> thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/321383-ny-times-article.html?highlight=Newton+essay+kentucky][b]CC”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/321383-ny-times-article.html?highlight=Newton+essay+kentucky) about the article.</p>