Schools Essays for university applications

AI Thread Summary
Universities in the United States seek to understand the authentic voice of applicants through their essays, emphasizing the importance of personal storytelling over mere academic achievements. Applicants should focus on "show vs. tell," using vivid imagery and experiences to convey their passions and personality. It's crucial to illustrate personal growth and resilience, demonstrating how challenges have shaped them. Additionally, attention to detail in spelling, punctuation, and grammar is essential, so proofreading is advised to ensure clarity and professionalism in the writing.
crazco
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
what do they generally look for? i need to write about how one of my hobbies and what i learned from it. english is not my first language so any tips and strategy could be useful.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Im going to assume that you are applying to an undergraduate university in the United States.

One big thing that they want to hear is your voice. They want to get a sense of who you really are. Dont just rattle off your gpa and extracirriculars, they already know this stuff from your application. Try to get in something that makes you feel real rather just some name on a paper. One big thing that I was always taught was this "show vs tell" mentality. You do not simply want to your essay to tell them what your life is like, you want to show them. For instance, as opposed to "I have always been interested in outerspace. Because of this, I like to look at the stars at night" you want something like "As I laid on my lawn, looking into the endless abyss that is outerspace I could not help but wonder..."
 
DR13 said:
They want to get a sense of who you really are
They also tend to want to see growth and struggle and all that shiny stuff, 'cause they want some indications that you don't break when things get hard. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar also count, so get your essays proofread.
 
thank you, i will consider those points when i write!
 
I’ve been looking through the curricula of several European theoretical/mathematical physics MSc programs (ETH, Oxford, Cambridge, LMU, ENS Paris, etc), and I’m struck by how little emphasis they place on advanced fundamental courses. Nearly everything seems to be research-adjacent: string theory, quantum field theory, quantum optics, cosmology, soft matter physics, black hole radiation, etc. What I don’t see are the kinds of “second-pass fundamentals” I was hoping for, things like...
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...

Similar threads

Replies
32
Views
3K
Replies
3
Views
3K
Replies
4
Views
3K
Replies
12
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
2K
Back
Top