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My Harvard Application (Essay)

Blogs > Saracen
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-02-15 09:20:19
November 30 2008 22:12 GMT
#1
EDIT: Submitted

*
koreakool
Profile Joined January 2008
United States334 Posts
November 30 2008 22:18 GMT
#2
calvin and hobbes isn't TOO obscure
but then again should you really write about a comic strip character?
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
November 30 2008 22:19 GMT
#3
These books have shaped my outlook on life; I have learned to cherish creativity and approach problems with a nonconventional mindset – to employ for the daunting task of cerebral enhancement none other than a metal colander and to eke a profit by selling a product of only the highest quality and demand, a “frank appraisal of your looks.”

I'd say this sentence is a little over-the-top.
Do you really want chat rooms?
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
November 30 2008 22:20 GMT
#4
On December 01 2008 07:18 koreakool wrote:
calvin and hobbes isn't TOO obscure
but then again should you really write about a comic strip character?

idk, for my common app essay, i wrote about how i "overcame a traumatic and life-changing illness", so i sort of wanted to offset it
plus, i was hoping to get in more sarcasm, but that didn't really come off very well
Equinox_kr
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States7395 Posts
November 30 2008 22:20 GMT
#5
I'm a really bad analyst on college essays but sounds like a really unique topic about
^-^
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
November 30 2008 22:21 GMT
#6
On December 01 2008 07:19 fight_or_flight wrote:
Show nested quote +
These books have shaped my outlook on life; I have learned to cherish creativity and approach problems with a nonconventional mindset – to employ for the daunting task of cerebral enhancement none other than a metal colander and to eke a profit by selling a product of only the highest quality and demand, a “frank appraisal of your looks.”

I'd say this sentence is a little over-the-top.

so i should just cut the references? (for this sentence)
Xenocide_Knight
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Korea (South)2625 Posts
November 30 2008 22:21 GMT
#7
too many big words
sounds like ur trying too hard
just write from the heart
Shine[Kal] #1 fan
thunk
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States6233 Posts
November 30 2008 22:23 GMT
#8
It sounds like you used a thesaurus as your bible. I actually really like the ideas behind the essay, it's just it doesn't sound like anyone I know.
Every time Jung Myung Hoon builds a vulture, two probes die. || My post count was a palindrome and I was never posting again.
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
November 30 2008 22:25 GMT
#9
On December 01 2008 07:21 Saracen wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 01 2008 07:19 fight_or_flight wrote:
These books have shaped my outlook on life; I have learned to cherish creativity and approach problems with a nonconventional mindset – to employ for the daunting task of cerebral enhancement none other than a metal colander and to eke a profit by selling a product of only the highest quality and demand, a “frank appraisal of your looks.”

I'd say this sentence is a little over-the-top.

so i should just cut the references? (for this sentence)

I didn't even realize it had references in it, I was just talking about the verbiage.
Do you really want chat rooms?
DamageControL
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States4222 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-11-30 22:28:37
November 30 2008 22:28 GMT
#10
Everything I say comes with a grain of salt; I do not claim to be the best writer. Reject everything i have to say if you want, these are my humble views on how you can improve your essay
Okay, maybe he’s not technically a man, and perhaps he’s not as infallible as I previously professed

I think you can fix this, to sound a bit more...college level? I understand this is the most formal of formal essays, but this just sounds messy.
...“progeny”; he is, indeed, a man among men. Okay, maybe he’s not technically a man, and perhaps he’s not as infallible as I previously professed; however,...

To be perfectly honest, i like semi-colons, but using them two sentences in a row seems a little much.
I became acquainted with Calvin and his quirky feline counterpart in 1998 when I received a copy of Watterson’s The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes for my eighth birthday.
I'd insert Hobbes' name. "...Calvin and his quirky feline counterpart, Hobbes, in 1998, when I received...
...both completely bogus, and completely entertaining...
I know repetition is a common literary device, but here, I don't feel it helps. Just use another word.
Calvin introduced me to the most unfamiliar frontiers; I’ve followed him from the fringes of the Yukon

Semicolon again! Although I guess its just fine fine if you take out one of the earlier ones.
And then you go on to use it twice more...um definitely cut down on the use of the semicolon i think.
Liquid | SKT
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
November 30 2008 22:30 GMT
#11
On December 01 2008 07:21 Xenocide_Knight wrote:
too many big words
sounds like ur trying too hard
just write from the heart

mkay i'll dumb down the first few sentences for you:

I started reading Calvin and Hobbes in 1998 when I got a copy of The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes for my eighth birthday. Since then, I've gotten tons more books that say how completely badass he is; I've seen him own up an army of "deranged mutant killer monster snow goons" and give bogus test answers, which was pretty funny because they were just so bogus.

better?

honestly, though, it's how calvin talks, so i thought it would be appropriate
and, incidentally, it's how i write
usually, though, i'm way more sarcastic (way less heartfelt), so i don't sound like i'm "us[ing] a thesaurus as [my] bible"
Exousia
Profile Joined November 2008
United States38 Posts
November 30 2008 22:31 GMT
#12
Do you really write like that? Doesn't convince me that it's written in your own voice.
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
November 30 2008 22:34 GMT
#13
On December 01 2008 07:28 DamageControL wrote:
Everything I say comes with a grain of salt; I do not claim to be the best writer. Reject everything i have to say if you want, these are my humble views on how you can improve your essay
Show nested quote +
Okay, maybe he’s not technically a man, and perhaps he’s not as infallible as I previously professed

I think you can fix this, to sound a bit more...college level? I understand this is the most formal of formal essays, but this just sounds messy.
Show nested quote +
...“progeny”; he is, indeed, a man among men. Okay, maybe he’s not technically a man, and perhaps he’s not as infallible as I previously professed; however,...

To be perfectly honest, i like semi-colons, but using them two sentences in a row seems a little much.
Show nested quote +
I became acquainted with Calvin and his quirky feline counterpart in 1998 when I received a copy of Watterson’s The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes for my eighth birthday.
I'd insert Hobbes' name. "...Calvin and his quirky feline counterpart, Hobbes, in 1998, when I received...
Show nested quote +
...both completely bogus, and completely entertaining...
I know repetition is a common literary device, but here, I don't feel it helps. Just use another word.
Show nested quote +
Calvin introduced me to the most unfamiliar frontiers; I’ve followed him from the fringes of the Yukon

Semicolon again! Although I guess its just fine fine if you take out one of the earlier ones.
And then you go on to use it twice more...um definitely cut down on the use of the semicolon i think.


cool thanks
Show nested quote +
Okay, maybe he’s not technically a man, and perhaps he’s not as infallible as I previously professed

I think you can fix this, to sound a bit more...college level? I understand this is the most formal of formal essays, but this just sounds messy.

yeah i agree, but i can't really think of any good transitions atm
Show nested quote +
I became acquainted with Calvin and his quirky feline counterpart in 1998 when I received a copy of Watterson’s The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes for my eighth birthday.
I'd insert Hobbes' name. "...Calvin and his quirky feline counterpart, Hobbes, in 1998, when I received...

it's because i never really mention hobbes in my essay ,,, maybe i'll just get rid of "quirky feline counterpart"

and stfu i love semicolons >_<
jellyfish
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States149 Posts
November 30 2008 22:35 GMT
#14
I agree with what was said before, that this essay seems a bit over-embellished...though being rather wordy myself, I can hardly say that it's due to your word choices. Instead, what seems to me to be missing is a depth of exploration. You describe at length the exploits of Calvin, and you gush and enthuse over their charming unconventionality, but we readers are left to assume their direct impact on your life. In other words, we only see the effects Calvin and Hobbes had on your life through the indirect lens of your confessions. Give us more concrete examples; it is, as a rule, better to show us than to tell us. Your essay will be more powerful if you let us discover for ourselves the place Calvin and Hobbes has in your heart. As it is, trying to empathize through your words alone is difficult.
Mastermind
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada7096 Posts
November 30 2008 22:36 GMT
#15
On December 01 2008 07:21 Xenocide_Knight wrote:
too many big words
sounds like ur trying too hard
just write from the heart

I agree with this. It came of like you were trying to use to many big words.
jellyfish
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States149 Posts
November 30 2008 22:36 GMT
#16
oh, and btw it's "prodigy", not progeny.
DamageControL
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States4222 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-11-30 22:40:11
November 30 2008 22:36 GMT
#17
Yeah but you can't use them like every line!
And I'm not sure about the last sentence either.
Overall I really like the essay (Perhaps because of arrogance, because you write similarly to me)
EDIT: The weakness with your writing, like mine, is it sounds like you over-embellish (although for me, that comes naturally) and you need to vary sentence structure a bit more
Liquid | SKT
DamageControL
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States4222 Posts
November 30 2008 22:38 GMT
#18
On December 01 2008 07:36 jellyfish wrote:
oh, and btw it's "prodigy", not progeny.

Its a calvin and hobbes reference he says progeny rather then prodigy (and were ALL child progeny...which is the joke)
Liquid | SKT
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
November 30 2008 22:39 GMT
#19
On December 01 2008 07:25 fight_or_flight wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 01 2008 07:21 Saracen wrote:
On December 01 2008 07:19 fight_or_flight wrote:
These books have shaped my outlook on life; I have learned to cherish creativity and approach problems with a nonconventional mindset – to employ for the daunting task of cerebral enhancement none other than a metal colander and to eke a profit by selling a product of only the highest quality and demand, a “frank appraisal of your looks.”

I'd say this sentence is a little over-the-top.

so i should just cut the references? (for this sentence)

I didn't even realize it had references in it, I was just talking about the verbiage.

yeah, there are some phrases that i don't really like in my essay
such as:
"he’s not as infallible as I previously professed"
"I’ve watched him valiantly vanquish"
they just sound so noob
but if i were to change them, i would have to go to the taboo thesaurus.com
and i could never do that! :O

On December 01 2008 07:31 Exousia wrote:
Do you really write like that? Doesn't convince me that it's written in your own voice.

no, but i'm going to submit it as mine anyways
jellyfish
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States149 Posts
November 30 2008 22:41 GMT
#20
On December 01 2008 07:38 DamageControL wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 01 2008 07:36 jellyfish wrote:
oh, and btw it's "prodigy", not progeny.

Its a calvin and hobbes reference he says progeny rather then prodigy (and were ALL child progeny...which is the joke)


oh damn my bad...guess I need to re-visit my Calvin and Hobbes >_>
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