Read the Controversial College Essay Yet?

By admin

A student applying to the University of Chicago wrote  a psuedo-love letter as his college essay. The dean, with the student’s permission, sent it out to applicants as a way to ‘lighten the mood.’ Controversy ensued. I heard about it on the Choice, the NYTimes blog about college admissions.

I haven’t read the whole essay, but given that Chicago has unusual prompts, it seems entirely reasonable to take a risk and write an unusual essay for that application. And in this case, the student was granted early acceptance. Ideally, an essay will let admissions committees know who the applicant is. In this case, the student struck me as someone willing to take risks, to poke fun at the whole college process. Clearly, that held some appeal at the University of Chicago.