To me, the college application process is more than just a process. It's a battle. Every time I log into my Common Application account, I get so lazy that I end up staring at the screen for thirty minutes. Whenever I'm not doing something college-related, I feel anxious and guilty because I feel like I'm neglecting it. Right now, for example, I was in the middle of writing one of my essays when poof! I started writing this blog. Kudos to the application for inspiring me to write this but it's not helping me finish my essay!
I know that a lot of people feel this way, but I really just need to vent about it (mostly because my parents are probably tired of hearing me complain, and my sister is in college so I can't complain to her). So here goes.
Until just a few minutes ago, applying to college didn't seem that bad. I even made a schedule for myself to plan out which scholarship applications to do when so that it wouldn't seem so overwhelming. But what really grinds my gears the most about it are the essays. Apparently, they are supposed to help us become better writers in the future. I can guarantee that these college essays aren't helping me in English class, and I don't see how they are supposed to help in the future. Some of my friends say that a prompt for a supplement essay was: "Where is Waldo?" I'm glad I'm not applying to that college.
Another thing: the word limit. It's seem confusing to me. At the end of every prompt, there is always something to the effect of "Please limit your response to no more than 500 words." Are we supposed to use 500 words exactly, and if we have 520 words will our response get cut off? If we only use 300 words, is that insufficient?
So that's pretty much it about college apps. What do you guys think? Am I exaggerating or are my complaints actually logical?
I completely agree with the monotony of supplement essays. Sure, they give insight into a person's character, but I feel like that fact is so well known that people now create fake personas just to be unique. So now, those essays are just a matter of how creatively you can write. Btw, the "Where is Waldo" essay is one of UChicago's essays, right? (I think it's the only college that asks such questions lol)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about people creating fake personas. It makes it so hard for us to compete with that because we don't want to lie, but we still must manage to blow the admissions counselors away. Either way, it's a tough balance.
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