E.g., Stanford's required essay. I am fighting for my life trying to think of a decent topic. The first thing that comes to mind is a disagreement with my roommate, but is this too personal/not viewpoint focused?
5
E.g., Stanford's required essay. I am fighting for my life trying to think of a decent topic. The first thing that comes to mind is a disagreement with my roommate, but is this too personal/not viewpoint focused?
5 comments
Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup. For what it's worth, this strikes at the heart of why I've long thought that these are bad prompts. The median age for a law school applicant is 23-24 years old. Not to paint with too broad of a brush, but most folks that age simply haven't had to "communicate constructively across differences, particularly when the stakes are high or opinions strongly conflict." Why? Because pre-college, you were probably insulated by your parents from most of the truly high stakes stuff going on in your house and then it's pretty rare in college to have a true heart-to-heart with absolutely conflicting worldviews. If I had had to write this as a 24 year old, I wouldn't have had a lot of material to draw from that wasn't personal.
But with that said, you gotta do what you gotta do. If the only thing that comes to mind are the deeply personal matters, well, it looks like Stanford Law Admissions is about to wade knee deep into your soul, right? They better put on some galoshes because it may get messy!
@JacobBaska Haha yeah... tragically I do not have a lot of experience getting into beef with people... but the roommate thing did teach me how to communicate effectively across differences so at least it fits the prompt.
@IanA #YouGottaDoWhatYouGottaDo
Good luck with your writing!
Too often we think of political behavior purely in the form of government campaigning. Out in the real world, especially in working jobs you will notice the diversity of abilities and personalities. Conflict is like the ether that the corporate universe flows by.
I like the idea you came up with, and think the more personal a subject is, the more it can say about your ethics and morals given the situation. Of course approach the situation with humility, do not assign blame, and appraise it as a neutral party. Through that scene you should be able to portray a powerful character study of someone who is competent, capable and mature enough to be among your peers in law school.
As a potential student I want to know admissions have done due diligence and is fitting the class with conducive group of peers. I sort of get the feeling that the purpose of that essay is more to expose your humility, cooperation, and ability to compromise. It would be really great if you guys came to agreements into a total 360 win-win situation that found all parties uplifted and made more whole than before. Certainly reconsider it if the scenario was we yelled and screamed at each other until one gave in and the other just finally got their way.
Best of luck! The wind of freedom blows
@NoNamed92 Thanks for such a thoughtful response! Compromise was hugely important for this scenario, so I guess I'll move ahead with it!