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on the umich app it asks to explain which activity you would want to continue if you were only able to pick one, and why...

allll input would be great!

Who invented reading? Who invented these very words that I'm typing? Whoever did, they're a genius I tell you. If everything else on my activities list disintegrated into nothing and disappeared off the face of this earth except for one, i would be most delighted if my beloved sappy romance and beach novels were preserved. Without them, I'm hopeless. Not really, but maybe close to. With reading, I'm able to partake in a whole new world, where I can face issues and problems that I have never experienced, or even came close to experiencing in my real life. I'm able to fall in love with characters that exist only in those very books. I'm able to befriend amazing people, but at the same time create negative ties with others. One of my dreams is to be able to write like one of the clever European authors, my favorite being [my fafavorite author here]. Her style of writing is so witty, yet sophisticated; so light, yet meaningful. she creates characters that experience the most extreme of some cases, but always ends up overcoming their obstacles one way or another. I lvoe the emotional and dramatic roller coasters authors take me on as they progress with their stories. Il ove the twists and turns the authors incorporate to mess with my mind, and the unexpected endings that keep me dwelling on them for horus on end. Reading is awesome. It beats television any day.

By Ahwosg (Ahwosg) on Thursday, September 02, 2004 - 05:47 pm: Edit

i'm not sure you can list "reading" as an extracurricular.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Thursday, September 02, 2004 - 06:06 pm: Edit

it doesn't say "Extracurricular" though...

it just asks
"what do you do when you're not in class"
list any sports, etc. etc... HOBBIES..

isn't reading a hobbie?

By Skulkarni1 (Skulkarni1) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 08:37 am: Edit

i thought by hobbies and stuff they meant like if you play tennis and take calsses but don't competitively play tennis then you can list it.....or if you take like indian dance but you can't competitively show how well u indian dance because their are very few competitions for it (like two a year) but its a big part of your life then you write down the time commitment. i could be wrong but thats what i interpreted it as.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 12:23 pm: Edit

Don't submit this essay. It could be to your benefit (as horrible as this sounds) to pick an activity slightly more esoteric. Besides the subject matter, the essay itself sound rather trite, shallow...and a bit boring. It doesn't really say anything that would engage a broad audience...and paraticularly not an adcom.

Note: I hope this post doesn't come off as harsh as it sounds now that I read it to myself. I wish you all the best, sincerely.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 06:20 pm: Edit

Thanks a lot everyone, for your inputs I really appreciate it...

I seem to be getting mixed messages with this essay though. As Candi1657 said, it's suggested not to be submitted. But someone else at the "College Admissions" forum said that it's good, and that it shows adcoms that there's more to me than just study-study---that i enjoy reading sappy romance/beach novels...

I don't know. So definitely don't submit it? I had another activity in mind, my going to a missionary trip with my church... But I thought it might send the wrong message- that I'm all about my religion... maybe not? More input would be greatly appreciated.

By Ahwosg (Ahwosg) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 10:30 pm: Edit

the missionary trip would be much better, i think. the college pretty muche expects you to know how to read. missionary work would show you're dedicated. they're not going to think you'll start converting the entire campus. try it out.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 10:34 pm: Edit

but the trip was in freshman year...
and i went only once- i moved after freshman yera to a new state- otherwise, i would have kept going. should i explain this if i were to write about my missions trip?

By Ella05 (Ella05) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 11:06 pm: Edit

don't. write. about. a. trip. unless you have a freshness about your writing that would make it utterly brilliant, its too cliche. This essay shows an interest of yours...but its too vague. Unless you can convey more of your passion, it seems like something you might write if you couldn't think of anything else.
Oh, and mixed messages? Of course...none of us know anything. ;-)

By Bianchi23 (Bianchi23) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 02:06 pm: Edit

Is that activity question really an essay? I thought it was more informal than that. I was just planning to use the 6 lines they give you for that one...should I write more?

By Apply85 (Apply85) on Sunday, September 05, 2004 - 11:12 pm: Edit

"and that it shows adcoms that there's more to me than just study-study"


If you want to show that you're not just study-study, wouldn't talking about reading be the wrong way to go? I'd do something exotic like going to a strip club.

Just my two cents.