If there is a way to write an application essay without coming off as insincere and self-aggrandizing, I haven't figured it out. Between admission, scholarships, and internships, I have had to write eight or ten such essays in the last two years. Some were successful, some were not, but they were all just awful. The worst of it is, the essays that are the most honest (in my case, these are the essays about public service, because my goal has always been to work for the state) tend to look the most sycophantic precisely because they are written with such enthusiasm. It doesn't help that I have a weakness for florid rhetoric. I hope it isn't too much in evidence in my blog entries, which I try to make as frank as possible.
Anyway, I just submitted an application essay for the Fall externship program. If I am accepted, it will not be because of my essay.
No comments:
Post a Comment