Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction: "Crazy' Admission Tales

College and University Admissions: What was the craziest thing you've seen on a college application?


What follows is my answer to this this question that was posted on the website Quora.com.

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Since the word 'crazy' encompasses quite a lot of things I will list a few examples .

There was a student who, in his essay, plagiarized part of an essay I had written for the US News on writing essays. I wrote him about it and he actually tried to defend it in ways that could be construed as less than rational. I have always wondered what the odds are of having the person you plagiarized from read your essay.

Another student, with highs scores and pretty good grades, wrote an essay on the positive effects of sniffing glue. (I have kept a copy of this one.) I do not think he was trying to be funny.

Another student, back in the time when applications came on paper and so there were no cut offs that could be enforced on word count, wrote a 10 page essay on the loving relationship he had with his rabbit and how it had almost killed him when the rabbit died. It was moving but also reminiscent of Faulkner's description of Ike Snopes' love for his cow. Faulkner's words about that relationship are, in some ways, the most Romantic he ever penned about love.

In response to the essay prompt  "what is your favorite word and why" a student picked the F word. I actually think there is a way this could have been a great essay, but he just threw the word around a lot and hoped the shock value would help him stand out. It did, but not in a good way.

There have been dozens of shoes that have come in over the years, one at a time, with the note, "now that I have a foot in the door I am looking forward to getting good news" . The urban legend was this worked at some point so a lot of people tried it.

But there is good 'crazy' too.

A student who was wait listed came to campus unannounced and in the course of one day got dozens and dozens of students, staff, faculty, and support staff to write something positive about her and to say we should accept her. It was well over 100 pages and had lots of photos too. I actually had coffee with the student yesterday as she had come into town to talk to a prof she had (yes, she got in) about which of the two top 10 graduate business schools she should choose to go to next year. If you want to read more about her experiences go here.

Another student who was placed on the wait list sent in a CD of a song she wrote and then performed called 'wait list'. It is funny, smart and anything but begging. Great music. She graduated last year, and will release a 4 song EP next month. I  randomly saw her recently and she still has the song on her phone and played it for a group of us in a coffee shop and everyone agreed it was stunningly good. I hope to post an interview with her to coincide the the release of her EP and I think she will let me include a link to this song.

Here is the link to Genna's song Wait List: https://soundcloud.com/genna-matthew