Patterns I've seen

[akcpup]

So I just found this thread and you all have me so nervous! Anyone wanna read my PS and give my some feedback? Not that I can do anything about it now... but I am a sucker for punishment

[Yale College Inferno]

since i got a fee waiver from yale, i went ahead and applied, even though i knew i would never get in, i figured what the hell.  they wanted a ps plus 300 words about anything.  i sent them my article 'i watched someone die today'  -- hell, if i could make an adcomm cry i figured we were even <lol>

What kind of fee waiver did Yale give you, and by 300 words are you talking about the 250-word essay?

[redemption]

So I just found this thread and you all have me so nervous! Anyone wanna read my PS and give my some feedback? Not that I can do anything about it now... but I am a sucker for punishment

Send it to me. I'll cyber-spank you if it's really bad

[redemption]

Well, it is hard to write about oneself. I had a heck of a time with my own PS. I also posted my (draft) 250 for all to read and comment on and, well... you can see for yourselves what happened..

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,50418.60.html

 

[pipskicks]

Just wanted to jump in here and give praise for Burhops. She really helped me with my PS. She has some great suggestions and helped with editing and I am still amazed at the effort I received from a (initially) complete stranger. I know myself, my PS resembled at least one of these scenarios, but she really helped me turn it around.

Thanks Dani

Ditto.

[SolarysBlue]

I agree it's quite difficult to write your own PS. I finally did one and sent it off to the EssayQueen. It's definetly easier to edit because I can read the intro and tell immediately whether it's the "Small town rebel" or the "Trip/Study abroad opened my eyes" type.

[ftball11]

Thanks for all the advice guys!

[Burhop]

no problem! And a *bump* for those currently working on their PS's, who might benefit from the notes herein.

I had another thought--this one might be nutty--but to get in the right mindframe to share life stories, would reading some quick passages out of a good memoir get one in the mood? As students, we spend a lot of time with dry subject matter--that dull tone might leak its academese into our pens and the joy out of our stories. Reading some funny/touching memoirs might amp up the writer in our heads, and get the right 'tone' in place.

I'd recommend these memoirs, should this idea strike anyone as clever. At the very least, I could see this helping those who are blocked when it comes to writing about themselves (I know I was!)

Mary Karr--The Liar's Club
Richard Feynman--Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman! (This one is my fave)
Danny Wallace--Join Me!
Dave Eggers--A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (AHWOSG, ya know.)

best,

dani

[magnumalv]

redacted

[redemption]

1. Anything at all by Janet Malcolm, or Joan Didion's non-fiction for superb use of concision.
2. Clifford Geertz  if you want to be self-consciously nuanced and yet pugnacious and direct.
3. Richard Rorty if you want to be down-home, all-american, reasonable and yet alarming.

So many ways to write well... Here's a favorite opening line of mine because you would have thought that someone would have used it before (it's so obvious) and yet no-one had thought to do so before Kate Atkinson: "My mother is a virgin (Trust Me)". Not complicated, but it's quite funny.