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Hi
ppl i have 2 questions about essays in general and id like to run some ideas by u guys so gimme some input .

1. I am an international student with perfect SAT score ( got them in my 3rd attempt ) the thing is i hear that essays dont matter much for internationals. Do they ?

2. Another thing ...... i just gotta a very orignal idea very very orignal ( a family tragedy and trust me its orignal ). Nothing to do with my acedemics and EC's but about a lesson i learned in life ? should i go for it or do i stick with the usual sterotypes essays ?

Some plots

1 . me doing some stunts with a bike during my wild years falling down fainting waking up . parents love and stuff

2. Something about a stupid trip i took with friends

3. bungee jumping for the first time

4. Supposadely doing drugs and kicking the habit


Oh and ppl do websites like essay edge .com

do they really help or is it bacsically bull.

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 04:09 pm: Edit

Bungee jumping is the only one that strikes me as having any particular potential. If you could paint a vivid picture of the moment in time and emotions, you might have something.

You definitely do not want to write a college essay about drug use. You were kidding, right?

By Cruelfate (Cruelfate) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 04:32 pm: Edit

The Bungee jumping thing is really cool - I like it. Just make sure it isn't too cliche'. The whole point of the essay is to not only demonstrate your ability to write, but to share a little about who you are. Bungee jumping sounds adventerous. If I were writting about Bungee Jumping I would use it to illustrate something about myself, something personal, something which an admissions officer wants to read.
If you feel you need some additional help with your English, although I highly doubt it due to your perfect SAT scores, use essayedge.com - you can always choose to use only part of their corrections. However, admissions officers aren't looking for that gramatically perfect essay, although you should try to reduce your errors to as few as possible for easy reading. When one reads hundreds a day, he/she can tell if/when it's been tampered with. What they are looking for is your voice, make sure they hear it.
The best essays are always "slice of life" essays - something personal about you that you want to share. Make sure you have a clear (and clever) message and that they can tell that it's coming from you.

By Chen (Chen) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:01 pm: Edit

Family tragedies are the most NOT unique essay topics ever, lol.

1 . you don't seem too enthusiastic about this, but it seems like you can make it into something you've learned from, so it's a good choice.

2. Um, don't do this. You're don't even like it much less are passionate about it.

3. Sounds good to me too. Be descriptive.

4. The essay books always say these are bad. You could talk about peer pressure, I guess.

I recommend writing a couple of these essays this summer (keep reading books so you'll be ready to write) and see which comes out best.

By Serene (Serene) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:24 pm: Edit

I've read many friends' essays (and my friends were all admitted to the best colleges), and honestly, their topics aren't very interesting (hiking, computer, learning lesson from blind people, math competition)... so it's all about how well you can turn mundane topics into exciting essays. =)

By Pipepr (Pipepr) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:33 pm: Edit

Colleges are looking for a few important character traits in the essay: Honesty, Integrity, Maturity and Initiative. You probably can't demonstrate all of these in a single 500 word essay; your job is to show case one of them.

Once your essay is done you should allow 2-3 weeks pass to let it ripen. During that time tinker with it perfecting every sentence and word. Bottom line, your essy should sound like YOU.

By R3bell (R3bell) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 06:31 pm: Edit

Thanks ppl .. .. a lot bungee jumping it is
and plz nobody steal my ideas corny as they may be lol

i have another question ... i will prob apply to ivy league and top 20 LAC the thing is they get a lot of applications what happens if somebody has used EXACTLY the same idea as I have .... the person reading the essay would get bored or maybe turned off I d be like that if I read an essay on the same idea more than once . NO chance of avoiding this scenario

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 06:53 pm: Edit

R3Bell:

Your list of colleges where you want to apply needs some additional consideration.

To give you an example. Williams College had 875 international applicants this year. Of those, about 33 international students have been accepted and enrolled in the new class.

Of those 33, you can be pretty certain that the vast majority are paying the full freight for tuition/room/board as this is one of the attractions to the schools to international candidates.

I'm not trying to discourage you. Pursue your dream. But, as an international student applying to the Ivies and the Top-20 liberal arts colleges, you better have a very thick wallet AND be able to walk on water. Honestly, unless there is something very, very special about your application, you need to be looking at schools where your "stats" are well above the average. Take a long-shot or too, but have a realistic understanding of the odds. The discussions of the odds you see for American kids on these forums doesn't apply to your circumstances.

By Radical (Radical) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 01:26 am: Edit

is it really that much harder for international students to get into top unis as compared to american students?

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 01:49 am: Edit

I can only go by the numbers. Williams had 875 international applicants and 33 of those were accepted and enrolled. As one of the lower SAT scoring players in the NFL once said, "You do the math!"

Looks like pretty tall odds to me.

I'm sure that it varies from school to school. I would think that a lot of international students are probably making their selections straight from the US News rankings and flooding the schools at the top of the hit parade.

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 02:59 am: Edit

As long as people here are discussing essays and essay topics I have a question. Both family tragedies and essays about drugs have been frowned upon in this board. How about an essay about having an older sibling who is an addict? I know that it would be a very passionate essay if I wrote about trying to keep up the appearence of your typical 4.0 kid, then going home and trying eat a meal with someone on heroin. Is this too much of a sob-story? cause it would be from the heart

By Sandy (Sandy) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 12:20 pm: Edit

R3bell,
This has nothing to do with your post, but where are you from? (just wondering)

By R3bell (R3bell) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 03:59 pm: Edit

Pakistan

By Sandy (Sandy) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 04:39 pm: Edit

me 2

By Sandy (Sandy) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 04:43 pm: Edit

anyway, I like the bungee jumping idea as well. Who doesn't have family tragedies and drugs to talk about?
Congratulations on your 1600. How did you prepare for it and what school are you from?

By R3bell (R3bell) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 06:37 pm: Edit

thanks sandy well frankly i chilled out no one knows i got 1600 didnt tell anyone ....... parents insist on sending me to the UK ( waise if u are applying to college u might know i dont think its worth the effort going there )usa too dangerous they say ...... so i took the exam without telling them . they d kill me if they find out so i am using friends e-mail in this account gotta keep my identity secret u know how news spreads around here in the college circles .
P.s DO the barons word list for the verbal and smoke a cigar the nite d chill out before thats what i did diffrently then in my previous attempts
and a word of advice take it more than once the second of third attempt is invariably better

By Sandy (Sandy) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 06:58 pm: Edit

Thanks for the advice....As far as going to UK for college, I am not even considering that cuz I live in USA. You should tell your parents about your 1600. They should be PROUD! The Barrons list is too long(lol). I took it once and scored 1450+. Everyone says don't take it again. I dunno. And ya, what school do you go to? (pretty familiar with schools there)
"usa too dangerous " HELL NO!!!

By T0fu (T0fu) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:13 pm: Edit

Now if you could write about drug use leading to bungee jumping leading to family tragedy...

By Sandy (Sandy) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:18 pm: Edit

lol

By Sirmoreau (Sirmoreau) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:27 pm: Edit

What about helping out disable children in my spare time and the joy it brings me?

By T0fu (T0fu) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:40 pm: Edit

I hope you mean helping out disabled children. Though the process of helping to disable children would bring some a lot of sadistic joy.

Hmmm...that would be pretty unique.

By Sandy (Sandy) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 10:02 pm: Edit

lol

By R3bell (R3bell) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 04:07 pm: Edit

LAhore AC

By Sandy (Sandy) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 04:14 pm: Edit

oh ok. What happened to Waterloo?

By R3bell (R3bell) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 06:21 pm: Edit

not prestigous enough ... u followning my posts elsewhere ..... well i belive ill be better suited elsewhere their buisness program is bad

By Sandy (Sandy) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 11:30 pm: Edit

I think you will be. Another question (if you don't mind): What books did you use to get perfect scores on Writing and Math IIC?
I am taking them in October(Ahhh).

By Chen (Chen) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 11:57 pm: Edit

Jimjunior, that story sounds interesting alredy. If you canw rite, go for it! Just don't make it sound like you're asking for pity.

By R3bell (R3bell) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 09:25 am: Edit

Barons for Maths ( they dont have exact questions but it was the only one available here ) and barons for writing . BOth of them donot have an actual questions so i borrowed some previous SAT's from some guy who has ordered the papers .But i belive I didnt have to do anything since I was taking A-level maths and General Paper As( essay writing course) so i hardly did anything .

By Xtc (Xtc) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 10:11 am: Edit

Im from Lahore tooo...

another 1600 from AC...!
the last guy who got a 1600...Jazib someone...got into some big universities didnt he...so where are you applying...??

And you learnt ALL of the barrons list...?? thats way too much...isnt it...how long did you study for the verbal..?

By R3bell (R3bell) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 01:56 pm: Edit

thanks for the info ppl . ill get down to esssay now . wont be coming online for the next 3 months now going on an extended holiday hopefully with catch up with u later

XTC : hey thats what u gotta do spend the summer