Some College Essay Prompts are OTT

[Anonymous]

It's diversity virtue signaling goofiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, the last sentence alone would have been sufficient!

Haha. Yes. A windbag of a question!

[Anonymous]

How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve, the people you want to work with, and the impact you hope your work can have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole process is so skewed. Everyone is supposed to be a rock star !!! In most cases it is the parents or hired counselors writing the essays, whether they admit it or not. LIke the above poster said these are 17-18 year olds !!!! Give them a break...

At 17, my kids could answer this question, and do it themselves.

There are lots of schools for kids who aren't rock stars.

.

Congrats on being able to type, sneer, and twist your mustache simultaneously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think college essay prompts are OTT. These are 17-18 year olds! Not PhD students.
Look at the Harvey Mudd prompt:
"Scientific research is a human endeavor. The choices of topics that we research are based on our biases, our beliefs, and what we bring: our cultures and our families. The kinds of problems that people put their talents to solving depends on their values." - Dr. Clifton Poodry
HMC's collaborative community is guided by our mission statement. Through an intentional interdisciplinary curriculum our students seek to build a skillset adaptable to society's needs. How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve, the people you want to work with, and the impact you hope your work can have? (500)

The problem is that this is an instance where in fact there is a "wrong" answer to the question and that is what drives people nuts.

If your answer is that your background is living in BelAir and you have developed a radical new AI architecture to ensure the ultra-rich date and marry each other (and adequately explain why that is a problem for the jet set)....well, I gather that is the wrong answer.

That said...is Harvey Mudd known for graduating Tech Mother Teresas? I honestly don't know much about their mission.

[Anonymous]

it’s an insufferable question for an insufferable school that could have been just the last sentence.

[Anonymous]

Agree that last sentence is most important. But preamble indicates your response will reflect what your values are - and will be judged accordingly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole process is so skewed. Everyone is supposed to be a rock star !!! In most cases it is the parents or hired counselors writing the essays, whether they admit it or not. LIke the above poster said these are 17-18 year olds !!!! Give them a break...

This is not true.

Those of you writing your children's essays or allowing others to do so are unethical, and have to live with that every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THESE are OTT questions:

https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/uchicago-supplemental-essay-questions

I think these are interesting questions, and kind of fun. Plus they’re written by students.

They seem ridiculous but maybe I’m a grump? Like if I went to a job interview and someone asked “if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” Dumb and off-topic.

These questions were 💯 the reason why my kid fell in love with UChicago. He proceeded to spend weeks thinking about nothing but his essay. He has found his tribe there this year.