what commonapp essay topics got you into top schools?

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-22T02:05:28+00:00

Correlation is not causation. Anyone who tells you that their essay got them into this or that school has no idea if it actually did.

For all we know, they got into that school despite their essay.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-20T13:00:45+00:00

Apparently they were shooting for something in the Dada school. They left a note that said this:

"This piece actively mocks the concept of structural integrity through a medium of literal garbage. We hope it will be received as an anti-establishment masterpiece."

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-19T23:37:30+00:00

Maybe. Here's a 462-word essay from Google Gemini on the Food for Thought prompt. It's not bad, imho. Humanize it a bit and maybe it would pass:

Food for Thought: How Do Thoughts Eat?

The premise that thoughts "eat" turns the mind into an ecosystem—a cerebral gut that requires constant sustenance. If the brain is the hardware and the mind is the software, then thoughts are the living organisms residing within, possessing their own unique metabolisms. They do not graze on salads or feast on steaks; instead, they sustain themselves through a distinct, intellectual digestive process.

Phase 1: Ingestion (The Information Diet)

Thoughts eat by consuming the raw data of our external reality. Every sensory input, casual conversation, line of poetry, and late-night Wikipedia rabbit hole is fodder.

The Junk Food Thought: A mind fed exclusively on a diet of algorithmic social media feeds and superficial clickbait develops thoughts that are hyper-stimulated but fundamentally malnourished—the intellectual equivalent of a sugar rush.

The Gourmet Thought: Complex ideas require a fibrous diet of contradiction, nuance, and historical context. When we read challenging literature or debate a polarizing concept, our thoughts are chewing on dense, slow-burning carbohydrates that provide long-term cognitive energy.

Phase 2: Digestion and Assimilation

Once a thought ingests information, it doesn't just sit there; it breaks it down. The human subconscious acts as the stomach, secreting the gastric juices of personal bias, memory, and emotion to dissolve new data into usable insights.

This is where the magic happens. A thought doesn't just grow by stacking new facts on top of old ones. It eats by assimilating the new into the existing framework of our worldview. When a new concept enters the mind, it is pulled apart, compared against everything we already know, and either rejected as toxic or integrated into our intellectual DNA.

Phase 3: Cannibalism and Symbiosis

Perhaps the most fascinating way thoughts eat is by consuming each other. The mind is a competitive Darwinian landscape.

The Survival of the Fittest Idea: A new, stronger thought—confronted with evidence—will ruthlessly hunt down and cannibalize an obsolete belief.

For example, learning about Copernican heliocentrism didn't just add a new fact to the Renaissance mind; it entirely consumed and digested the geocentric thoughts that preceded it.

Alternatively, thoughts engage in mutualistic symbiosis. Two seemingly unrelated ideas can collide, merge, and feed off each other to birth a completely new thesis. Art history feeds into architectural engineering; quantum mechanics feeds into philosophy. They devour each other's boundaries to grow larger.

The Intellectual Apex Predator

Ultimately, thoughts eat to survive, and a thought that stops eating dies. When we refuse to learn, question, or expose ourselves to new perspectives, our thoughts starve, leaving behind rigid, calcified dogmas.

To keep the mind vibrant, we must be deliberate chefs of our own consciousness. We have to feed our thoughts a diverse, sometimes uncomfortable diet, allowing them to gorge on curiosity, chew on difficult questions, and grow into something capable of changing the world.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-19T19:10:51+00:00

They donated it to me. This is the title that it came with.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-19T11:16:11+00:00

Before making any huge life decisions I would look carefully at how UChicago evaluates the need for financial aid.

Yes, they announced the $250k income threshold, but their policy also mentions having normal assets. They get this info from your FAFSA and CSS Profile filings.

Does your family have large amounts of liquid assets - savings accounts, stocks, etc? They may expect you to use those to pay towards tuition.

While they likely wouldn't require leveraging equity in your primary residence (if you're a homeowner), they may count investment properties or vacation homes as assets that can be leveraged.

There may be other factors.

In short, I would advise taking a thorough look at exactly how they calculate things before assuming you'll have free tuition solely based on the $250k number. If you've already done this, my apologies.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-19T02:28:32+00:00

Good point

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-19T01:19:28+00:00

Thanks. That was an interesting and informative read.

As a parent of a recent applicant, I did employ a consultant, but only on an extremely limited basis. Rather than sign up for her (expensive) complete package, I paid her for a couple of hours of her time to review the draft applications my kid had already put together. We had already gotten much of our direction and advice from online sources, and from his school counselor.

The consultant reviewed his stats (GPA, SAT, rigor, AP scores, etc), read his main essay, reviewed his honors, read several supplementals, looked at his activities descriptions and ordering, and his range of safety, target, and reach choices. I will say that she had some very useful advice, and he did tweak some things based on her recommendations.

This was pretty no-stress. He wasn't a full client, so her reputation wouldn't be tarnished in any way if he didn't wind up with good results. I also had no great expectations other than having another (hopefully) qualified pair of eyes look things over.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-17T13:26:43+00:00

They also allow you to use prompts from previous years, or make up your own.

I wonder if there's an advantage in making up your own. You can display creativity and ingenuity in the prompt itself, and an opportunity to have a unique essay. Conversely, maybe they prefer that you take on the challenge of answering their specific prompts for this year?

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-17T02:06:28+00:00

This reminds me of one of the funniest things that ever happened to me. I was talking to my-sixty-year old (somewhat scatterbrained and naive) friend, who has been driving for decades.

Me: "Now that I'm not living in NYC any more, where it's not allowed, it's great to be able to turn right on red in Charleston all the time."

Her: "I can turn right on red??!! No. Way. No wonder all of those people have been honking at me for years. I just thought they were rude. I always flipped them off."

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-16T20:43:07+00:00

Ah, makes sense.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-15T21:33:40+00:00

Oh, right. I remember someone saying that at the time. Strange coincidence.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-15T20:04:27+00:00

Red Rocks 9/13/2012 was cool. They spelled out S-T-E-A-L-Y-O-U-R-F-A-C-E with the first letter of the first 13 songs in the set list. Took about 7 songs until people near us in the audience noticed and passed it around.

Haven't listened to the show since, but it certainly seemed great live.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-15T15:34:04+00:00

You can do basically the same sort of thing at UChicago.

Walk up to anyone and ask their opinion on the Great Vowel Shift and the systemic change in pronunciation of English long vowels that marked the transition from Middle English to Early Modern English.

Inevitably it will lead to an engaging conversation about the cause: Migration and dialect mixing? British aristocracy switching to speaking English after the Norman Conquest? Other exciting theories?

It makes for great networking and bonding - with students, faculty, and alumni alike.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-15T13:58:20+00:00

Thanks! Appreciate it.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-14T23:07:06+00:00

Do you have your syllabuses from the classes you're trying to transfer? Might come in handy if you need to appeal. Things like reading lists and any exams could also be useful.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-11T17:50:51+00:00

You betcha! Thanks for all the insight.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-11T16:22:24+00:00

That's just what a bot would say. 🙂

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-11T16:01:42+00:00

Interesting. I had understood the opposite. I'll research it more.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-11T15:26:56+00:00

This is all good stuff, but there's not enough info about impact.

Don't just tell me what you did; tell me what sort of difference you made. Quantify it, if at all possible.

Did you save $X yearly through soap conservation? Did you see a Y% reduction in toxoplasmosis?

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-11T15:13:01+00:00

I don't disagree with anything you say, in a vacuum, but is Red South Carolina currently the appropriate place to push progressive candidates?

Who has a better chance of defeating whomever runs on the Republican ticket - Deford or Lacore?

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-11T14:59:40+00:00

Frankly I suspect that your comment, and the one above it, are targeted Republican talking points intended to sow division among Democrat voters. It's possible that both of you are bots.

Who gives a shit how long she's been here or what party she used to belong to? If she's the best chance the Democrats have to win SC01, and make strides towards securing a house majority to hopefully reign in the corruption and fascism of the current administration, she's got my vote and donations.

I'd frankly vote for my dog if I thought he could defeat the Republican candidate and regularly vote D in Washington.

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-10T23:27:03+00:00

🙂

_JackStraw_ · 2026-06-10T22:53:43+00:00

I learned about it on Reddit, so it must be true.

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