Amser- non Amser US class' 09, Application essay
- Bắt đầu 2H4ever
- Ngày bắt đầu
K0 biết bạn (Lan) có nộp Wesleyan k0? Nếu có chắc bạn cũng đang vật vã với cái limit 350 words của nó 
nhưng sau một vài lần "vật vã" như thế, Nhi "khám phá" ra rằng một bài 300 và 1 bài 600 (từ) chưa chắc "mèo nào cắn mỉu nào", với đk bài 300 bạn diễn đạt đầy đủ ý bằng những câu súc tích nhất. Lan thử cách này xem: thử bỏ 1 câu nào đó đi, xem w/o it, bài có khác gì k0? (nếu k0 thì bỏ luôn đi là vừa ^^) rồi rephrase lại những câu dài, thay đồi cấu trúc những câu quá phức tạp (vốn chỉ làm cho bài mình nặng nề)...vân vân. Nhi thấy bài của bạn cỡ 600, nhưng còn có thể rút lại được (ví dụ đoạn cuối: dù nHi chưa hình dung có thể sửa thế nào nhưng Nhi nghĩ bạn k0 nhất thiết phải lặp đi lặp lại là bạn đã trưởng thành từ những thất bại đó. Có thể tóm gọn nội dung phần trên bằng một câu, rồi gợi mở ra tương lai (với tính cách này tôi sẽ làm được gì nữa?) bằng 1 câu nữa, và kết đẹp bằng 1 câu ngắn Nhi nghĩ bài của bạn đã rất hay rồi, nhưng ca91t bớt phần "tell" để tô đậm phần "show" thì còn hay hơn nữa )
nhưng sau một vài lần "vật vã" như thế, Nhi "khám phá" ra rằng một bài 300 và 1 bài 600 (từ) chưa chắc "mèo nào cắn mỉu nào", với đk bài 300 bạn diễn đạt đầy đủ ý bằng những câu súc tích nhất. Lan thử cách này xem: thử bỏ 1 câu nào đó đi, xem w/o it, bài có khác gì k0? (nếu k0 thì bỏ luôn đi là vừa ^^) rồi rephrase lại những câu dài, thay đồi cấu trúc những câu quá phức tạp (vốn chỉ làm cho bài mình nặng nề)...vân vân. Nhi thấy bài của bạn cỡ 600, nhưng còn có thể rút lại được (ví dụ đoạn cuối: dù nHi chưa hình dung có thể sửa thế nào nhưng Nhi nghĩ bạn k0 nhất thiết phải lặp đi lặp lại là bạn đã trưởng thành từ những thất bại đó. Có thể tóm gọn nội dung phần trên bằng một câu, rồi gợi mở ra tương lai (với tính cách này tôi sẽ làm được gì nữa?) bằng 1 câu nữa, và kết đẹp bằng 1 câu ngắn Nhi nghĩ bài của bạn đã rất hay rồi, nhưng ca91t bớt phần "tell" để tô đậm phần "show" thì còn hay hơn nữa )bằng cách...sửa bài mình không dưới 4 lần, từ 500+ xuống còn 300 ) mà thấy cái trước dở hơn mới lạ chứ ^^
nói chứ, k0 biết Mai đã đọc qua bài của chị Khanh, đàn chị của Mai, hiện học Wes chưa? Chị ấy viết ngắn mà không thừa câu nào cả, hay thật.
Bạn của Nhi cũng nói, dân VN ta quen viết dài, chứ nó (học bên Sing) cũng toàn viết ngắn ngắn thế thôi. Nó khuyên Nhi với bài ngắn thì cắt bớt mấy cái râu ria đi, chỉ nên viết về 1 ý cho nổi bật và viết câu thì đừng chen quá nhiều adverb...
Nhưng đó chỉ là lời khuyên của bạn Nhi thôi, còn nếu cảm thấy viết dài mà vẫn hay thì càng tuyệt, as I've read somewhere in thís forum, "600 is the norm in "100 successful essays"?
Mà sao bạn Mai lại hỏi thế nhỉ?^^
) mà thấy cái trước dở hơn mới lạ chứ ^^nói chứ, k0 biết Mai đã đọc qua bài của chị Khanh, đàn chị của Mai, hiện học Wes chưa? Chị ấy viết ngắn mà không thừa câu nào cả, hay thật.
Bạn của Nhi cũng nói, dân VN ta quen viết dài, chứ nó (học bên Sing) cũng toàn viết ngắn ngắn thế thôi. Nó khuyên Nhi với bài ngắn thì cắt bớt mấy cái râu ria đi, chỉ nên viết về 1 ý cho nổi bật và viết câu thì đừng chen quá nhiều adverb...
Nhưng đó chỉ là lời khuyên của bạn Nhi thôi, còn nếu cảm thấy viết dài mà vẫn hay thì càng tuyệt, as I've read somewhere in thís forum, "600 is the norm in "100 successful essays"?
Mà sao bạn Mai lại hỏi thế nhỉ?^^
Nhi đã nghe qua thành tích của 2 bạn và cảm thấy...thiếu tự tin khi pót bài của mình lên đây ? k0 biết 2 bạn đã đọc bài của chị KHanh chưa ? (Nhi chưa thấy có pót bên này)Bài đó mới đáng học hỏi á, bài của Nhi mà làm gì?
Please tell us how you would use the Wesleyan education to make a contribution to your home country.
By Thuy Khanh
My father passed away when I was only two. One year later, I accompanied my mother to Bangkok, Thailand and then to UC Berkeley to do her masters in Environment and Public Policy. In 1995, we returned to Vietnam and my mother started working in the environmental field. As a single mom, she has always tried to provide me with the best education and all the love she could give. Therefore, she has had great impact on my way of thinking and personalities.
Working on environment, she always reminds me to protect it. At first, they were only small things that I thought were obliged, like throwing trash in the right place, or using water/electricity economically. But later on, from our everyday conversations and from traveling quite a lot around the country, I realized how important the environment is to us. I began to care more about nature and especially about what we can do to protect our environment. Vietnam is a beautiful country with rich natural resources and wonderful bio-diversity. However, environmental protection is now one of the most important things here since the country is heavily dependent on natural resources for its economy growth and poverty reduction. The air, water and soil are getting more polluted and if we do nothing, our future generations will not sustain their living or have the chance to contemplate our country’s beauty.
I am applying to Wesleyan University with the hope to have better education and the chance to meet new people to learn and exchange ideas on how to build a better environment while we are developing. Although it is only my view on the environment, I wish to share a part of developing countries’ current difficulties and believe that by learning different nations’ measures to protect the environment, we could find solutions to save our earth. Most of all, I would like to bring the knowledge and experience from studying at your university and from friends back to Vietnam to contribute to the development of my country, to protect the environment and overcome the difficulties Vietnam has been facing in protecting its environment.
("chôm" từ vietabroader.org)
và cảm thấy...thiếu tự tin khi pót bài của mình lên đây ? k0 biết 2 bạn đã đọc bài của chị KHanh chưa ? (Nhi chưa thấy có pót bên này)Bài đó mới đáng học hỏi á, bài của Nhi mà làm gì?Please tell us how you would use the Wesleyan education to make a contribution to your home country.
By Thuy Khanh
My father passed away when I was only two. One year later, I accompanied my mother to Bangkok, Thailand and then to UC Berkeley to do her masters in Environment and Public Policy. In 1995, we returned to Vietnam and my mother started working in the environmental field. As a single mom, she has always tried to provide me with the best education and all the love she could give. Therefore, she has had great impact on my way of thinking and personalities.
Working on environment, she always reminds me to protect it. At first, they were only small things that I thought were obliged, like throwing trash in the right place, or using water/electricity economically. But later on, from our everyday conversations and from traveling quite a lot around the country, I realized how important the environment is to us. I began to care more about nature and especially about what we can do to protect our environment. Vietnam is a beautiful country with rich natural resources and wonderful bio-diversity. However, environmental protection is now one of the most important things here since the country is heavily dependent on natural resources for its economy growth and poverty reduction. The air, water and soil are getting more polluted and if we do nothing, our future generations will not sustain their living or have the chance to contemplate our country’s beauty.
I am applying to Wesleyan University with the hope to have better education and the chance to meet new people to learn and exchange ideas on how to build a better environment while we are developing. Although it is only my view on the environment, I wish to share a part of developing countries’ current difficulties and believe that by learning different nations’ measures to protect the environment, we could find solutions to save our earth. Most of all, I would like to bring the knowledge and experience from studying at your university and from friends back to Vietnam to contribute to the development of my country, to protect the environment and overcome the difficulties Vietnam has been facing in protecting its environment.
("chôm" từ vietabroader.org)
Nguyen Khac Son
(blackmind)
New Member
Mind you, but I beg to differ.
IMHO, economy may help, yeah, but that's no magic word. I am one of those ppl that believe 500 words, or 1000 words for that matter, would never be able to depict one's character with all its complexities. Yet, an application essay should serve as an opportunity to analyze oneself and sincerely express yourself on paper, often slightly exaggerated
. Heck, that alone deserves another topic, too bad I keep straying away from what I want to say .Anyway, my point is, an application essay need not a word limit, as one should have the freedom to reflect his/her own unique self. A limit of any kind may severely restrain one's creavity. Again, discipline or economy in this case is good, but it gets kind of boring as everyone goes around preaching them on HAO lately, you know. :mrgreen:
BTW, if you care to have a look at track records of recent posters, you know what I mean.:mrgreen: It's not like they are going to put a chockful or crap and fillers into their mega-long essays, right?
FYI, I said '1000', not '600'. That's a lot to be confused.
All in all, what I heard a lot are praises on the need of simplicity: "merit lies on the content", "substance over style" blah blah... That may work for some, but, IMO, not all of us have stories compelling enough to stand out on its own. Hence, even the best essays I have read leave effects on reader by metaphors and unique writing styles. Also, true simplicity and effectiveness at the same time ( in English writing ) is extremely hard to achieve, even for the most skilled writers. A formula for success this way is beyond our knowledge, I guess.
the quote above is from sis Nguyen Thu Trang ( musketeerlady- Vietabroader ). Too bad I have not asked for her consent
. But you get the idea.P.S: Dont take my word too seriously.
After all, I'm just another kid lost in this maze.
Chỉnh sửa lần cuối:
những trường ai nộp cũng đòi topic như trên à? à, sao Mai k0 chọn topic 1/2 ? Nhi chọn 2 nè
Ừm, Nhi đã bảo ngay từ đầu, đó là ý của Nhi, k0 áp dụng cho tất cả các bạn cho nên Nhi cũng k0 tranh cãi về vấn đề đó ^^ Nhi chỉ thử tưởng tượng, mình là 1 officer, sau 1 ngày mệt mỏi, lại gặp một bài dài ngoằng (mà wordy, chứ bài dài mà hay ai nói làm gì ) thì có điên lên mất ^^. Với common app Nhi k0 biết nha (dù nó cũng bào 500+ là bị cắt) nhưng với Wesleyan Nhi nghĩ là k0 phải vô cớ mà nó "hành hạ" mình như vậy.
Bạn bảo dont take my words seriouly, nhưng bạn đã mất công "phản pháo" = 1 bài dài như thế nên ...^^ À, btw, khó thì khó đấy, nhưng beyond knowledge? Anyway, your opinion is very interesting.
PS: Nhi post bài này của chị Khanh vì personally, Nhi thấy bài kia (academic experience) chị viết cũng bình thường bài này chị viết hiệu quả mà k0 khô, lại gọn
à, sao Mai k0 chọn topic 1/2 ? Nhi chọn 2 nè Ừm, Nhi đã bảo ngay từ đầu, đó là ý của Nhi, k0 áp dụng cho tất cả các bạn
cho nên Nhi cũng k0 tranh cãi về vấn đề đó ^^ Nhi chỉ thử tưởng tượng, mình là 1 officer, sau 1 ngày mệt mỏi, lại gặp một bài dài ngoằng (mà wordy, chứ bài dài mà hay ai nói làm gì ) thì có điên lên mất ^^. Với common app Nhi k0 biết nha (dù nó cũng bào 500+ là bị cắt) nhưng với Wesleyan Nhi nghĩ là k0 phải vô cớ mà nó "hành hạ" mình như vậy.Bạn bảo dont take my words seriouly, nhưng bạn đã mất công "phản pháo" = 1 bài dài như thế
nên ...^^ À, btw, khó thì khó đấy, nhưng beyond knowledge? Anyway, your opinion is very interesting.PS: Nhi post bài này của chị Khanh vì personally, Nhi thấy bài kia (academic experience) chị viết cũng bình thường
bài này chị viết hiệu quả mà k0 khô, lại gọn
Chỉnh sửa lần cuối:
Nguyễn Quỳnh My
(nguyenquynhmy)
Thành viên danh dự
Nguyen Khac Son đã viết:Mind you, but I beg to differ.
IMHO, economy may help, yeah, but that's no magic word. I am one of those ppl that believe 500 words, or 1000 words for that matter, would never be able to depict one's character with all its complexities. Yet, an application essay should serve as an opportunity to analyze oneself and sincerely express yourself on paper, often slightly exaggerated
Anyway, my point is, an application essay need not a word limit, as one should have the freedom to reflect his/her own unique self. A limit of any kind may severely restrain one's creavity. Again, discipline or economy in this case is good, but it gets kind of boring as everyone goes around preaching them on HAO lately, you know. :mrgreen:
BTW, if you care to have a look at track records of recent posters, you know what I mean.:mrgreen: It's not like they are going to put a chockful or crap and fillers into their mega-long essays, right?
FYI, I said '1000', not '600'. That's a lot to be confused.
All in all, what I heard a lot are praises on the need of simplicity: "merit lies on the content", "substance over style" blah blah... That may work for some, but, IMO, not all of us have stories compelling enough to stand out on its own. Hence, even the best essays I have read leave effects on reader by metaphors and unique writing styles. Also, true simplicity and effectiveness at the same time ( in English writing ) is extremely hard to achieve, even for the most skilled writers. A formula for success this way is beyond our knowledge, I guess.
the quote above is from sis Nguyen Thu Trang ( musketeerlady- Vietabroader ). Too bad I have not asked for her consent
P.S: Dont take my word too seriously.
That's y it takes you that many paragraphs to prove ur point
Think how much an admissions officer has to read if word limit is got rid of. And hell, most of us ask for fee waiver. Man, if I were one of them, i'd throw any essays (unnecessarily) longer than 2 pages to the ... recycle. And hell yeah, once you get in, you can write at length for your term paper.
Pham Anh Khoa
(Khoa Pham)
New Member
1. Part of a liberal arts education is following directions and learning to be concise.
2. Since admissions officers do not have a lot of time fooling around with essays, I believe that each essay, regardless of its length, receives a fair share of time allocation. By that logic, if your essay is lengthy and not interesting enough, you will be in deep trouble.
Good luck ^_^
2. Since admissions officers do not have a lot of time fooling around with essays, I believe that each essay, regardless of its length, receives a fair share of time allocation. By that logic, if your essay is lengthy and not interesting enough, you will be in deep trouble.
Good luck ^_^
Nguyễn Diệu Hương
(dieuhautotbung)
Thành viên danh dự
It also depends on the admission officer. Some "Ivy" essays are pretty sophisticated though.
Hoàng Chi Mai
(lablugirl)
Thành viên danh dự
I wouldn't want to get into any school that rejects an essay for being too long. How do you define 'too long' anyway? Given the kind of topics we're dealing with in college essays, it's hardly possible to write much more than 1-2 pages. Writing is very objective. It pretty much depends on the writer to determine which formula works for them, right? Writing college essays is such a tedious process that once it's done, I feel the essays are like my babies. And word limits are like... shoes? ) If my babies are into combat boots, then combat boots I shall give them, nothing to do with those prim and proper pretty shoes, no ma'm. If you insist on shortening your essay just to please the officers, without really knowing what they're looking for, you might end up with an essay that's just... well, not you. Think about it...
According to CommonApp FAQ, most of the word limits act more as guidelines, so I think it's relatively reasonable to say that there is no real importance in the number of words. Relative is the key word, BTW. And I am also godlessly biased, so take everything I say with a grain of salt, k?) I'll say this though: commonapp allows any essay that can be fitted into two pages of paper. That should take the weight off those being traumatized by the truncation monstrosity
Since we're all Vietnamese, this may not ever occur to any of us, but some people actually find it hard to write long essays. It's only the Vnamsese philosophy that says "Thừa còn hơn thiếu", no?>-
) If my babies are into combat boots, then combat boots I shall give them, nothing to do with those prim and proper pretty shoes, no ma'm. If you insist on shortening your essay just to please the officers, without really knowing what they're looking for, you might end up with an essay that's just... well, not you. Think about it... According to CommonApp FAQ, most of the word limits act more as guidelines, so I think it's relatively reasonable to say that there is no real importance in the number of words. Relative is the key word, BTW. And I am also godlessly biased, so take everything I say with a grain of salt, k?
) I'll say this though: commonapp allows any essay that can be fitted into two pages of paper. That should take the weight off those being traumatized by the truncation monstrosity Since we're all Vietnamese, this may not ever occur to any of us, but some people actually find it hard to write long essays. It's only the Vnamsese philosophy that says "Thừa còn hơn thiếu", no?
>-
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