3rd essay

This essay was discussed a lot when my son applied. He interpreted it to be geared to those who didn't have a strong resume. As in here was some place to demonstrate what you were dealing with at the time, and what you learned from it instead of participating in leadership and other activities. Unless the question has changed from last year?

One of the things he was concerned about was appearing as if he was trying to play the sympathy card if he answered it, or if he would be perceived as a whiner. And then of course he thought he might look bad if he asked, and it would count against him.

As an aside, I can't tell you how many kids out there struggle with knowing when it is and isn't considered a bad thing to ask a question or ask for clarity. The internet search engines can be helpful, but if not from an "official" source, the information is iffy. Also, the search engine doesn't always find the answer even if it is out there. So this can add to their dilemma.
 
MombaBomba said:
This essay was discussed a lot when my son applied. He interpreted it to be geared to those who didn't have a strong resume. As in here was some place to demonstrate what you were dealing with at the time, and what you learned from it instead of participating in leadership and other activities. Unless the question has changed from last year?

One of the things he was concerned about was appearing as if he was trying to play the sympathy card if he answered it, or if he would be perceived as a whiner. And then of course he thought he might look bad if he asked, and it would count against him.

As an aside, I can't tell you how many kids out there struggle with knowing when it is and isn't considered a bad thing to ask a question or ask for clarity. The internet search engines can be helpful, but if not from an "official" source, the information is iffy. Also, the search engine doesn't always find the answer even if it is out there. So this can add to their dilemma.
Click to expand...

Overthinking. Just write the essay.
 
payitforward said:
Overthinking. Just write the essay.
Click to expand...

Not an issue any more as my son is lucky enough to be part of the class of 2018. But I do remember that essay getting a lot of debate and discussion in our house at the time. Funny how certain things/moments stick in the memory while others don't. Ack! I am getting old!

In my family, I have observed that overthinking is directly proportional to importance.
 
I understand this is an older topic, so I apologize for making it resurface! I had a question along the same lines, and didn't want to create an entirely new topic.

For my HL Lit class, we have to write a college essay based on a prompt for the college we want to attend. I wanted to use the AFA's three questions, and from what I saw, it was pick 1 of the first 2 essay prompts, and respond to the third. Does this mean you can only respond to 2, or can you write something for all 3? I'm a Junior, so I'm basing the questions off what I've seen in this forum.

Thanks!
 
I think it was answer the first two and the third is optional. The questions were different this year than two and 4 years ago.
 
Runner2020 said:
I understand this is an older topic, so I apologize for making it resurface! I had a question along the same lines, and didn't want to create an entirely new topic.

For my HL Lit class, we have to write a college essay based on a prompt for the college we want to attend. I wanted to use the AFA's three questions, and from what I saw, it was pick 1 of the first 2 essay prompts, and respond to the third. Does this mean you can only respond to 2, or can you write something for all 3? I'm a Junior, so I'm basing the questions off what I've seen in this forum.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

From what I recall from our DS this year, there were two required essays and the third one was optional (but he did it).
 
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