Fall 2013 College Essay Prompts

List five books (with authors) that piqued your curiosity. Pick one and explain why you look forward to discussing it with your roommate over coffee at Campus Grounds.

According to author Walker Percy, “At regular intervals, poetry students should find dogfish on their desks and biology students should find Shakespeare sonnets in their dissecting trays.” Explain why you agree or disagree.

Emblazoned on our University Seal is a flaming heart which symbolizes St. Augustine’s passionate search to know God and love others. What sets your heart on fire?

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Sports, science and society are filled with rules, theories and laws like the Ninth Commandment, PV=nRT, Occam’s Razor, and The Law of Diminishing Returns. Three strikes and you’re out. In English, “I” comes before “E” except after “C.” Warm air rises. Pick one and explain its significance to you.

Who is the person you dream of becoming and how do you believe Syracuse University can help you achieve this?

In a famous quote by José Ortega y Gasset, the Spanish philosopher proclaims, “Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia” (1914). José Quintans, master of the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago, sees it another way: “Yo soy yo y mi microbioma” (2012). You are you and your..?

Every day we’re confronted by circumstances that range from the worrisome to the inspiring. What do you find most compelling in the world right now? How might this impact our future? What influence can you have on this situation?

From David McCullough’s recent commencement address at BC: “Facts alone are never enough. Facts rarely if ever have any soul. In writing or trying to understand history one may have all manner of ‘data,’ and miss the point. One can have all the facts and miss the truth. It can be like the old piano teacher’s lament to her student, ‘I hear all the notes, but I hear no music.” Tell us about a time you had all of the facts but missed the meaning.

With which literary character do you most readily identify? What traits do you share?

In his novel, Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann writes: “We seldom know what we’re hearing when we hear something for the first time, but one thing is certain: we hear it as we will never hear it again. We return to the moment to experience it, I suppose, but we can never really find it, only its memory, the faintest imprint of what it really was, what it meant.” Tell us about something you heard or experienced for the first time and how the years since have affected your perception of that moment.

The ancient Romans started it when they coined the phrase “Carpe diem.” Jonathan Larson proclaimed “No day but today!” and most recently, Drake explained You Only Live Once (YOLO). Have you ever seized the day? Lived like there was no tomorrow? Or perhaps you plan to shout YOLO while jumping into something in the future. What does #YOLO mean to you?

Ben Franklin once said, “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” Which are you? (Please answer in 300-500 words.)

Imagine looking through a window at any environment that is particularly significant to you. Reflect on the scene, paying close attention to the relation between what you are seeing and why it is meaningful to you. Please limit your statement to 300 words

A “bucket list” is a list of things that you would like to accomplish during your lifetime. Please tell us a few of the things that might be on your bucket list and explain why they are important to you to accomplish.

If you were to develop an international version of Mt. Rushmore, which four faces (past or present) would you select and why? In what part of the world would you want to create it?

Alumna and writer ______says that she “majored in unafraid” at ______. Tell us about a time when you majored in unafraid.

'People who aren't busy all the time might start to think.' - Terry Pratchett When do you stop being busy and start to think?

“Seek the fashion which truly fits and befits you. You will always be infashion if you are true to yourself, and only if you are true to yourself.You might, of course, rightly wear that style which is emblazoned on thefashion magazines of the day, or you might not.” -Maya Angelou Other thanfashion, what medium(s) do you choose for self-expression and why?

Tell us about an experience in which you left your comfort zone. How did thisexperience change you?

What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?

We are a community with quirks, both in language (we’ll welcome you to Grounds, not campus) and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.

What intrigues you? Tell us about one work of art, scientific achievement, piece of literature, method of communication, or place in the world (a film, book, performance, website, event, location, etc.), and explain its significance to you.

Imagine that you are backpacking through a country you have never been to before. You are interested in engaging with the local population and your backpack includes three items that will help them learn about your family and culture. What are those three items and how do they represent your background?

The University of Maryland is propelled by fearless ideas. Our fearlessness generates creativity, innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit with which few can compete. What ignites your spark and makes you fearless?

All first-year students at the University of Maryland read one book together as part of our First Year Book program. This year’s book is The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver. Silver asks us to consider why most predictions – even by experts – are so woefully wrong. He writes: “We can never achieve perfect objectivity, rationality, or accuracy in our beliefs. Instead, we can strive tobe less subjective, less irrational, and less wrong.” Tell us about a time when your expectations and outcomes differed. How did the lesson learned inform your future decision making?

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”‐Aristotle. Diversity is one of our core values at the University of Maryland. In order to provide a stellar education and foster outstanding research, we embrace the intellectual, social and cultural differences that are integral to the fabric of our community. The strength of the university is realized through the contributions of every member of our campus. Describe the parts that add up to the sum of you.

The best day of my life (so far) was… Please tell a story that allows us to experience your best day.

Confucius once said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Discuss one of your most significant failures and how you rose above it.

Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz once said, “Cubism is like standing at a certain point on a mountain and looking around. If you go higher, things will look different; if you go lower, again they will look different. It is a point of view.” With this in mind, describe a moment when your perspective changed.