quirky college essays reddit

12 Unforgettable College Application Essays

It's been a long time since I penned my college application essays, but that doesn't mean I don't still appreciate them. On the contrary: I think memorable college admissions essays are to be applauded. Why? Because anyone who can make theirs interesting, thus bringing a modicum of relief to those who have to actually sit there and plow through them all, definitely deserves some acknowledgment for their work. And hey, wouldn't you know it? That's the subject of today's AskReddit thread: “ College admissions counselors of Reddit , what's the weirdest/worst/most memorable essay you've read?”

As is wont to happen in an AskReddit thread, many — possibly even the majority, although I haven't actually counted them, so do with that what you will — of the responses did not come from their intended source; in this case, we're talking about college admissions officers. Some of them were submitted by the people who wrote them; others by people who knew the writers in question; and still others have the “a friend of a friend who dated my cousin's best friend” level of remove that can sometimes bring their veracity into question. Either way, though, they're all good for a laugh — and a few of them might even teach you something. Full steam ahead for a wide variety of lessons in what to do while writing your college application essays — and what not to do, too.

Here are 12 of the most notable examples; head on over to AskReddit for more . Oh, and for anyone who's waiting on their acceptance letters? Good luck! I believe in you!

1. The Theory of Cat/Toast Equilibrium

But… what does happen? I must know!

While we're on the subject, the University of Chicago seems like they've mastered the art of making college applications not boring for the people who actually have to read them. Check out some of essay prompts from this year's app:

Not going to lie: I am considering writing answers for them just for the hell of it. Because you know what? It actually sounds — dare I say it? — fun.

2. Law and Order: College Application Essays Unit

I would imagine that would be a pretty terrifying read. Quick, teach her to use her powers for the forces of good!

3. The Legendary Hugh Gallagher Essay

You may already be familiar with this one, but for the curious, here's the story behind it: Humorist, writer, and musician Hugh Gallagher penned the glorious satiric creation excerpted here for Scholastic Press' national writing contest when he was in high school. Unsurprisingly, he won. For some years, there was confusion surrounding whether or not he actually used it as his college essay; in 1998, though, Gallagher emailed University of York comp sci professor Susan Stepney , who had posted the essay on her website, noting that he did in fact send it along with his applications. For the curious, he ultimately attended NYU. Here's the permalink for the full comment — it's worth just for the final line. Trust me.

4. The Power of the Mighty Trombone

I was unable to discern whether or not this one actually happened or whether it's just an urban legend — but I'm willing to bet it's the latter. Either way, though, I think it's a terrible way to try to teach the “think outside the box” lesson; I feel like it encourages laziness more than anything else. But maybe that's just me.

5. How to Get Into Yale

That, though? That's pretty funny. Well played.

6. The Key to Effective Multitasking

Here's the thing with writing humorous college application essays: They only work if you're actually… y'know… funny. I feel like maybe the right person might have been able to make this idea work, but the execution of the idea this time around just wasn't up to par. However, this also happened:

Small world, no?

7. Art History Is Best History

Either the admissions officers loved it, or they didn't actually read it. The jury's still out on which one it is.

8. We Are Gathered Here Today…

To be fair, I'm not totally sure what's to be gained by sending your own obituary as a college essay; unless the prompt was something like, “Write whatever you want, as long as it is at least 500 words long,” it doesn't seem like it would really answer any questions the admissions committee might be relying on the essay to fill them in about. At the same time, though, clearly someone could have used a little Journalism 101.

9. An Act of Valor

This one was copied from another thread and pasted in this one , but I think it's definitely a winner.

10. The Importance of Proofreading

Ouch. Just… ouch.

11. The Legacies

Oh, come on. I wouldn't blame these two for using their legacy to help them get a leg up — but relying solely on it like this? That's cheating. Also, shame on the school that let them get away with it.

12. Hardboiled Washington

I hope this Redditor is planning on studying creative writing. You've got a great future ahead of you, kid — even if you do need a little work with your punctuation and grammar.

Images: churl /Flickr; Giphy (2); Pandawhale

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2 Great UChicago Essay Examples

UChicago is famous —or shall we say infamous—for their highly-quirky essay prompts. In previous years, students have been tasked with mind-boggling questions like “Find X,” or “A hot dog might be a sandwich, and cereal might be a soup, but is a __ a __?”

These essays may seem silly, but they invite students to share their personalities and perspectives as fully as they wish. UChicago is looking for creative thinkers, and these essays help them distinguish the “kind” of applicant they want. After all, most applicants will have stellar grades and test scores, so these essays are your chance to stand out and beat the odds of the very low acceptance rate.

UChicago requires two essays—one that is a typical “ Why This College? ” prompt, and the other, your choice among seven zany prompts. The seventh option actually allows you to make your own prompt, or pick one from previous years.

In this post, we’ll go over some strong UChicago essay examples from real applicants and share what they did well and what could be improved.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our UChicago essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. 

Essay Example #1

Prompt: “There is no such thing as a new idea” – Mark Twain. Are any pieces of art, literature, philosophy, or technology truly original, or just a different combination of old ideas? Pick something, anything (besides yourself), and explain why it is, or is not, original.

As I entered the bare-walled room, I could see the sky was painted blue through the tinted windows. It was my first day in my new high school where I’d have to spend the next two years. I wanted to make new friends.

I started walking towards a boy, introduced myself and exchanged pleasantries. After a few minutes of conversation, the topic of music came up and I introduced him to my love for the iconic classical ambient hit ‘Clair de Lune’. He put on my headphones, the song started playing, and he was amazed by the music’s ethereal, mellow, and serene chords. Or so I thought.

You know that awkward feeling when you show a funny video to your friends and nobody laughs? It was equivalent to that.

As days passed, I started noticing everyone was only listening to the loud pounds of the bass, the buzz saw synths, the crispy hi-hats, and every other element found in Electronic Dance Music, also known as EDM. Realizing that people in my school didn’t like Clair de Lune because they were emotionally invested in only the EDM genre, I had an idea– “What if I create an EDM remix of Clair de Lune to reach out to the audience of both genres?”

I tried to understand what the composer was trying to express through his composition and attempted to create an impression of the classical piece. The main challenge was to add musical elements from relatively two of the most unconventional music genres– Classical and EDM. Incorporating the rich and sometimes heart-wrenching chord structure of Clair de Lune to the multiple layers of EDM saw synths, I adjusted the volume of my instruments to the intensities with which the notes needed to be played and panned the sound in different directions to set the appropriate ambiance.

A few weeks later, I uploaded my work to the various Discord music servers that I am a part of with shaky hands. Nervous of what people might interpret my work to be, I awaited the replies I would receive. The server was filled with users from North America, and since I was in India, I realized that most people weren’t active at midnight when I uploaded my mix. I called it a night and went to sleep. When I woke up, my inbox was flooded with a mix of appreciations and suggestions. The users from the server really liked my idea and it went on to become a weekly competition where everyone would try to incorporate multiple genres into one song. I also made my classmates listen to the mix and later made friends who were interested in music production.

Music has constantly been transcending and bridging different identities cross-culturally through the fusion of genres. The key lies in capturing the emotions and the structure linked to the song, but most importantly, working to understand diverse cultures.

This raises a critical question– are the genres we listen to now truly unique on their own or just a complex amalgam of countless genres throughout history? The answer is that it depends on how experienced an artist is at the art of impression. Honoring instead of degrading, studying instead of skimming, crediting instead of plagiarizing, and transforming instead of imitating will lead an artist to a remix instead of a rip-off. As an artist keeps repeating this process, they’ll make unique decisions– maybe they’ll add an inimitable form of reverb on the synth or include a cymbal crash in their alien music structure. Regardless, those small changes and preferences– in the long run– will amount to a magnitude of alteration in style and develop a completely new identity for an artist. This is when the art practically becomes original while bearing into itself countless unoriginal remixes and impressions of different songs, artists, and genres.

What This Essay Did Well

This essay is a great example of taking a prompt that seemingly has nothing to do with the student on the surface and turning it into an exposé of the student’s personality and interests. The point of every college essay is to reveal who you are, so even when the prompt asks for something unrelated like a piece of art or technology, the ability to tie that back to you is key.

The reader is taken on a journey from seeing the defeat this student felt when no one liked their music taste, to their determination to produce a remix, to the success and positive impact caused by their creativity. Having a well-defined beginning, middle, and end creates a good pace and makes it easy to follow.

Another positive aspect of this essay is the way the student describes music and their process. When you write about your hobbies or interests in an essay, your passion, as well as your expertise, should shine through. The reader can clearly tell this student cares about musical motifs and sound mixing through their description of classical and EDM music, but they also demonstrate their knowledge in this area by explaining the steps they took to produce a remix.

What Could Be Improved

While this student did a great job of turning this prompt into a story about themselves, a definitive answer to the prompt fell through the cracks. After an entire essay focused on them, the student generalized in the last paragraph in an attempt to answer the prompt. The result was an essay that ended on a good note, but didn’t leave the reader with a final impression of the student.

To make sure the ending was as strong as other parts of the essay and that there was a concrete answer to the prompt, this student should have tied the lessons they learned through their experience into their perspective on originality.

For example, they could have decided there’s no such thing as originality because even when they were developing their remix they relied on known aspects of music to recreate genres. On the flip side, they could have concluded that of course there are new ideas because even though they had influences, the comments on the Discord server said they had created something no one had ever seen before. 

It’s okay to take a stance in a prompt like this one. You aren’t being evaluated on whether you picked the “right” answer because there is no right answer. The important part is to connect the answer back to the rest of the essay, and thus emphasize how the answer relates to you.

Essay Example #2

Prompt: Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Pundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History… a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available here. —Inspired by Josh Kaufman, AB’18 

When I shared the video of me eating fried insects in Thailand, my friends were seriously offended. Some stopped talking to me, while the rest thought I had lost my mind and recommended me the names of a few psychologists. 

A major in Gastrophysics at UChicago is not for the faint hearted. You have to have a stomach for it! I do hope I am accepted to it as it is the only University in the U.S. with this unique major. My passion for trying unique food such as fish eye has made me want to understand the complexities of how it affects our digestive system. I understand that Gastrophysics started with a big pang of food, which quickly expanded to famish. Bite years are used to measure the amount of food ingested. I look forward to asking, “How many bite years can the stomach hold?” and “How do different enzymes react with the farticles?” 

Gastrophysics truly unravels the physics of food. At UChicago I will understand the intricacies of what time to eat, how to eat and how food will be digested. Do we need to take antiparticle acid if we feel acidity is becoming a matter of concern? At what angle should the mouth be, for the best possible tasting experience? When I tried crocodile meat, I found that at a 0 degree tilt, it tasted like fish and chicken at the same time. But the same tasted more like fish at a negative angle and like chicken at a positive angle. I want to unravel these mysteries in a class by Professor Daniel Holz in gravitational gastrophysics, understanding the unseen strong and weak forces at play which attract food to our stomachs. 

I find that Gastrophysics is also important for fastronomy. I want to learn the physics of fasting. How should we fast? Hubble bubble is a good chewing gum; an appetite suppressant in case you feel pangs of hunger. I have read how the UChicago Fastronauts are stepping up to test uncharted territories. Intermittent fasting is a new method being researched, and UChicago offers the opportunity for furthering this research. Which is better: fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8, or fasting for 24 hours twice a week? It is just one of the problems that UChicago offers a chance to solve. 

I can also study the new branch it offers that uses farticle physics. It is the science of tracking farticles and how they interact with each other and chemicals in the stomach space. It could give rise to supernovae explosions, turning people into gas giants. It would also teach about the best ways to expel gas and clean the system and prevent stomach space expansion. 

I want to take Fluid dynamics 101, another important course in Gastrophysics; teaching about the importance of water and other fluids in the body, and the most important question: what happens if you try to drink superfluids? 

I hope to do interdisciplinary courses with observational gastrophysicists and work with environmental science majors to track how much methane is given by the human and animal gastrointestinal tract in the atmosphere and how much it contributes to the global climate change. I believe, with the help of courses in date science, they have been able to keep a track of how much methane is entering each day, and they found that during Dec 24-Jan 3 period, a spike in the methane and ethane levels could be seen. Accordingly, algorithms are being programmed to predict the changes all year round. I would love to use my strong mathematical background to explore these algorithms. 

These courses are specially designed by the distinguished faculty of UChicago. Doing interdisciplinary research in collaboration with biological science students to determine what aliens may eat, with fart historians to know more about the intestinal structure of medieval Italians, Japanese, Chinese, Swedish and French people to better their lives is what I look forward to. The Paris study abroad program is an immersion course into fastronomy, where I will have the opportunity to test my self-control with all the amazing French food and desserts around! 

My stomach rumbles now, so I am going out to try out new food – hopefully it will be in Chicago a few months later. 

What the Essay Did Well

This is a fun essay! This student’s voice is present and their goofy personality is especially evident. Not only did they change the name of their major, but this student incorporated word play throughout the essay to showcase their imagination. Phrases like “the big pang of food”, “bite years”, “fastronauts”, and “farticle physics” keep the tone lighthearted and amusing. 

Beyond the humor and creativity that makes the reader chuckle—always a great way to stand out—this student still manages to incorporate aspects of their real intended major that fascinate them. While it might take a little extra connecting the dots to get from gastrophysic to astrophysics courses, the reader still understands what this student wants to study at UChicago and how they might use this knowledge.

While this essay definitely takes some risks, it’s safe to say that they paid off. They are able to delve into their love for astrophysics all while maintaining vivid, engaging language. The writing style is simultaneously playful and mad-scientist-esque. Truly “geeking out” about their interests makes for a great essay.

Even extremely creative essays like this one can always be made stronger. In this case, it would have been nice to get more background on what drew this student to astrophysics (not gastrophysics). We get a sense for their love of trying new foods, but the essay is lacking an explanation that relates to astrophysics. 

Obviously, in an essay about gastrophysics, astrophysics would be out of place. But given this student’s level of creativity, they could have found a punny way to tie their interest in space into the essay. It doesn’t need to be too extensive, but since this effectively serves as UChicago’s “Why This Major?” essay, a strong essay should include more background on why the student wants to pursue their actual major (not the fake one).

Where to Get Your UChicago Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your UChicago essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Can You Answer These Bizarre (But Real) College Essay Prompts?

With the release of universities 2022-23 supplemental essay prompts, we take you through some of the most unusual and bizarre US college supplemental essay prompts of all time, featuring universities such as UChicago, Tufts University and UPenn.

To get into a top US college , you’re going to need more than stellar grades, test scores, common application and extracurricular achievements. You’ll have to demonstrate, in your supplemental essays, that you are the kind of mature, driven, interesting person that would thrive at the particular university. This is much easier said than done — standing out from the crowd with a unique college essay can be very difficult.

Luckily, over the years some colleges have given their applicants a helping hand on this point by providing some really bizarre essay prompts. These warrant truly inventive responses, and let applicants really show off their writing prowess, creativity, and individuality.

Here’s out our list of some of the most creative, unusual and bizarre supplemental essay prompts from all time. How would you have responded to these questions? Check it out below!

Bizzare Supplemental Essay Prompts in 2022

We thought that it would be a good idea to include some of the more creative supplemental essay prompts from this year’s admission cycle (2022-23). We hope that this gets the creative juices flowing and helps you get a good early start to the essays!

University of Chicago

What advice would a wisdom tooth have?

Chapman University

Name one dish you would cook for the school’s admission team.

Pomono College

Marvel or DC? Pepsi or Coke? Instagram or TikTok? What’s your favorite ‘this or that’ and which side do you choose?

University of Vermont

Which Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (real or imagined) best describes you?

In approaching these essays, it's essential to keep in mind why they are important and how they add context to your application. Admissions officers at top universities look for candidates that display creativity, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, and a unique perspective.

Interested in learning more? Attend one of our free events

Learn how to perfect your application essays for ultra-competitive colleges.

Friday, May 3, 2024 12:00 AM CUT

Discover insider tips and tricks for crafting a memorable personal essay and supplemental essays that stand out, from a Former Harvard Admissions Interviewer and a Northwestern Application Reader!

REGISTER NOW

Unusual Supplemental Essay Prompts From Previous Years

When it comes to asking creative and wacky essay prompts, the University of Chicago is the leader. To come up with the best and most creative prompts, the college takes suggestions and inspiration from their own students, who are allowed to email their ideas annually. If you look on the UChicago website you can even see who submitted each essay prompt.

UChicago also allows you to answer a past prompt making these options for you to choose.

Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Pundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History…

This prompt was an excellent opportunity for students to show their creativity and humour, as well as their academic interests. The best ideas that we could find online were probably Visual Arms (Visual Arts) and Pig Problems (Big Problems).

Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.

Have you ever written an essay about a giant jar of mustard? In 2004 UChicago applicants had their chance, and while there are absurd elements to the prompt, there are many creative and serious directions essays took.

The elusive goal of mathematics, but with no context. What is “x”, and how did prospective UChicago students find it? We’re sure the students brought in a novel discussion of a diverse array of mathematical theory, as well as philosophical and personal matters.

Elvis is alive! OK, maybe not, but here in the Office of College Admissions we are persuaded that current Elvis sightings in highway rest areas, grocery stores and Laundromats are part of a wider conspiracy involving five of the following: the metric system, the Mall of America, the crash of the Hindenburg, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, lint, J.D. Salinger and wax fruit. Help us get to the bottom of this evil plot by constructing your own theory of how and why five of these items and events are related. Your narrative may take any form you like, but try to keep your theory to under two pages.

If there were any conspiracy theorists applying to UChicago in 1999-2000, they would certainly have been in luck with this prompt. Who would have been the mastermind behind your evil plot?

Tufts University

If UChicago is the champ of creative college essay prompts, Tufts might be considered a close second. Check out their unique prompts below.

Kermit the Frog famously lamented, 'It's not easy being green.' Do you agree?

This prompt is inspired by a Muppets song, whereby Kermit laments how green seems to blend in with so many other ordinary things and how he thus fails to stand out from the crowd. Of course, many students in their essays took this quote in a totally different direction, demonstrating their critical thinking and creativity.

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?

Back when this prompt was released, Tufts’ #YOLO question caused quite a stir. Lee Coffin, the dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Tufts admitted that the question was inspired by his affinity for pop music and his desire for applicants to have some fun when they introduce themselves to Tufts.

It’s been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can cause a typhoon halfway around the world. History is filled with such linchpins – small events or decisions that have huge effects on the future. Make your own change somewhere in history and show us the effects on the world.

This is one for fans of alternative history, perhaps invoking visions of a distorted universe where life as we know it has taken a turn for the better or worse. Again, a challenge for applicants would have been how to say something about themselves and their interests in a creative way.

University of Southern California

(Short Answer) Hashtag to describe yourself

It is common for college essay prompts to have a few short answer questions to get to know the student. For a few years starting in 2017 USC adopted a unique question, making students describe themselves with a #hashtag as they would on twitter or instagram. But what a difficult task that is - how would you describe yourself with a single hashtag?

Wake Forest University

Give us your top ten list.

Many Buzzfeed enthusiasts applying to Wake Forest in 2017-18 would have enjoyed the opportunity to make a top-ten list about anything of their choosing. What topic would you have written about, and what does this say about you?

UC Berkeley

If any of these three inanimate objects could talk, how would your room, computer or car describe you?

Imagine all of the time you’ve spent in your room, at your computer or behind the wheel; these objects might be the only things in the world that know your real identity. This question would have certainly prompted some deep reflection from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business applicants.

University of Notre Dame

You have 150 words. Take a risk.

Students could have taken this anywhere - so long as what they wrote was risky. There are even reports that some students took the ultimate risk and wrote nothing at all.

University of Pennsylvania

You have just finished your 300-page autobiography. Please submit page 217.

This is an iconic prompt that UPenn asked for about 20 years. It encourages students to consider their story, and to use this to introduce themselves to UPenn. For added realism, many students liked to start their responses in the middle of a sentence.

So, How Do I Write the Essay?

Since more than three quarters of US universities no longer require students to take standardized tests, college essays are becoming increasingly important in your application.

The key piece of advice we give to our students is to start on these essays early. If you are applying to several universities, you will have many different supplemental essays to complete, as well as the common application essay . Many of our students attest that writing all of their essays is by far the most stressful part of the application, and a part of the application that is easy to neglect.

Our other key piece of advice is to make the content of each supplemental essay very specific to the university you are applying to. You need to do your research about what each university looks for in a candidate and show a clear desire to attend that particular university.

As the world’s leading university admissions support company, we at Crimson know how to approach each supplemental essay and maximise your chances of gaining admission to a top university.

If you want to feel confident when submitting your college application essay, get your essay reviewed by us at Crimson. Our experts have assisted students who have gained admission to Harvard , Yale , Princeton , Stanford , Oxford , Cambridge and many other top universities!

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How To Write: The Humorous Essay, for College Applications

There are all sorts of different essays that you can write for your college applications. The intellectual essay. The identity story. The tale of the underdog. Cardinal Education is here with a series on the different types of angles you’ll want to take in your writing. We’ll start with one of the most fun to write, yet one of the hardest to truly pull off: the humorous essay.

So, What Makes “Funny” Funny For College Admissions Officers?

There’s no doubt that funny essays can be wildly successful with admissions officers. The college application is all about showing off your personality, and what better way to show your personality off than by demonstrating that you know how to make a joke? Obviously, though, if you want to write a funny essay, it has to be funny. Here are our thoughts on how to achieve that.

Humor is so diverse and complex that there’s really no one way to define it. There’s self-deprecating humor, there’s slapstick humor, there’s wordplay, there’s satire, and more . Many will say that there’s no one formula to make something hilarious and that everyone has to find a way to be funny by themselves. While this is true to some extent, these are a few things that different styles of humor have in common:

Humor relies on the unexpected. This is the first thing that many will tell you in a how-to-be-funny guide: you can get your biggest laughs out of surprise twists and turns. Lead your audience to believe one thing will happen, then crack a joke about how the opposite actually occurred. Tell them how you expected a certain outcome, but something else happened and you couldn’t help but laugh. Or make a list where one of the items is not like the others. For example, things you learned while nature researching up North: the importance of biodiversity, the ability to work on a team, and…never leaving the house without an extra pair of socks. Think beyond simply telling a story to all the surprising things that happened along the way.

Humor is all about setup and delivery. Every punchline has a setup, and you’ll want to structure your narrative to set up for all the remarks you’re going to pepper through your piece. You don’t want to turn the whole thing into a joke after joke because then each one you write has less impact; instead, spend some time narrating the setups to your best punchlines in a way that makes them as—well—punchy as possible. Yet it’s not as though these narrations should be completely unfunny themselves. Think about the tone you’re trying to set, bring it ahead, and then yank the expectations right from under your readers’ feet.

Humor makes witty observations on the commonplace. This is part of the fact that it relies on the unexpected—it finds something new, fresh, and snappy to say about everyday things, from farming to fishing to the embarrassing moments that inevitably make up our lives. Poke some gentle fun at commonplace expectations and situations; stand-up comedians are experts at this. If you’re the type of person who can see something special in the mundane, admissions officers are sure to appreciate it.

Good humor punches up, rather than punching down. What is meant by this is that humor makes fun of those who are in a position of great power in society, rather than people who have relatively little power. You can joke about CEOs—that’s called satire—but not about janitors; that’s called classism. And you certainly can’t make jokes at the expense of students at your school that you don’t like—that’s called bullying. As you craft your essay, make sure to keep this in mind.

The Best Humor for College Essays Has a Point

Now you have a few pointers on how to write funny. You probably also have a few jokes in mind about your experiences. Once you start writing out what you’ve envisioned in your head, you then need to ask yourself: what is the overall point you’re trying to make?

This is the sort of thing that makes a lot of comedy great—it’s ultimately aimed at saying something deeper about society and about the way we do things. It would be good to learn from such comedy about how to tie your humor back to a deeper meaning behind it. Use your sense of humor to expose personal truths about what you’ve learned throughout the story of your journey. Use it to show admissions officers that you’re truly a better person, more ready for adulthood because of what you’ve discovered. If you can leave them in stitches while also leaving them with a profound takeaway, the beautiful picture you’ve created of yourself will be complete.

One Last Word of Advice: Don’t Force It

If you find yourself struggling too hard to write any of this, trying to force out jokes, then maybe the humorous essay is not your style. This essay can be a favorite at the admissions table if done right, but potentially disastrous if it’s not. Perhaps you’re not a natural comedian, and that’s perfectly fine. What matters most is that your essay reflects who you are on the page; maybe in our next installment of the How To series, you’ll find what’s best for you!

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Lessons From A 250,000-Member Student Community

With over a quarter of a million members, r/ApplyingToCollege is home to a lot of students – who flock there to talk with one another about their concerns, share memes, and ask questions about college admissions.

If you’re not familiar with Reddit, it calls itself the “front page of the internet”. Founded in 2005 – and not changing a huge amount since then – Reddit allows any user to post and share images, links and stories which other users then “upvote” and comment on. It’s like many other social networking sites – but users tend to use nicknames rather than real names, and conversations are sorted into themed “subreddits”.

With 330 million monthly users and 21 billion views per month, Reddit is “ more influential in higher ed than you think. ”

r/ApplyingToCollege  is one such subreddit. It was founded in 2013 as a place for students to discuss their college application process. For admissions professionals, it offers a unique insight into the mindset of college applicants. They declare their woes with college websites, they share the real disappointment of missing out on a place at their chosen school, they guide one another through the confusing world of college apps.

A supportive community and shitpost Wednesdays

There’s a team of 9 moderators leading the subreddit community. Some of them are college students, others are college counselors.

Mark Boerckel is the co-founder of  Better College Apps , a College Admission Counseling firm based in South Carolina. He started reading the ApplyingToCollege subreddit about 5 years ago. He soon began contributing, as one of the few admissions counselors on the subreddit he was able to be a mentor to students. Later, he applied to be a moderator and was invited to join the moderation team.

So why are so many students using the ApplyingToCollege subreddit? What are they actually asking about? “Man, there are so many things,” said Mark. “Obviously there are dozens of questions related to the details and steps of completing each section of a college application. There are also lots of questions about how the various components are evaluated or weighed against each other. Most students don’t have any meaningful experience writing expressively about themselves, so there are lots of questions about essays too.”

It’s not all about questions – though. A big part of the success of the subreddit has been its ability to give students a space to just share frustrations with the process, and laugh about the tribulations of applying to college.

On “Shitpost Wednesdays”, the subreddit is overwhelmed with memes about the college application process, the Common App, the Ivy League schools and everything in between.

“I think it’s hugely important for students to have a supportive community related to college admissions,” said Mark, “that’s evidenced by the rapid growth of both subscribers and visitors to the sub. When I joined, there were less than 15,000 subscribers and there are over 260,000 now.”

The teacher turned admissionsmom

As a teacher, Carolyn Caplan loved supporting students with their college applications. “ I loved teaching the personal essay,” she said, “and I also loved watching the growth of students as they grow to know themselves better than ever before. The personal journey that the admissions experience creates is an amazing opportunity for students.”

So she enrolled on the UCLA College Counseling program and started a private practice. “I also knew it was important to me to give back and I’ve always been a huge believer in creating college access.

“My son suggested I check out Reddit for a place where kids might need advice.So back in August 2016, I found r/ApplyingToCollege on my first time ever on Reddit. I realized I could begin to give advice – especially about the essay and dealing with stress.”

Using the name admissionsmom  (“because I wanted to be able to give mom kind of advice”), Carolyn began giving advice to students on the subreddit, and was accepted to be a moderator around a year later.

Supporting first-gen students

With students from around the world descending on the subreddit, Carolyn has noticed some trends. “Many of the students we have are first-generation and low income and don’t feel like they have the support they need at home or even sometimes in their schools.

“They often don’t recognize they have a voice, and they can and should reach out and ask questions – ask the colleges’ admissions offices and ask their school counselors and teachers for advice.I spend a lot of time encouraging students to reach out to colleges or their school counselor.”

A  2017 paper published in the Worcester Journal of Learning and Teaching  echoed this finding. It explained that: “some of the unwritten rules of how the system works appeared to be missing [for first-gen students]. Such rules would normally be available in the oral transmission from other family members. In particular, the unwritten rule that ‘it is ok to ask for help’ was not registering.”

But as much as the subreddit can support students from non-traditional learner backgrounds, students who are disengaged or lack information about college admissions might not know it exists. As Mark explained: “communities like A2C self-select for top performing, organized, engaged students. In other words, those are the types of students who generally seek out and engage a community like ours.

“Students who don’t really know much at all about college admissions and don’t have good support are likely to never find us or other assistance. So a lot of the students who are under-supported in college admissions don’t even know about resources like this, or about any of the many initiatives colleges have in place. That’s been a problem in college admissions for decades.”

Lessons for Higher Ed

Both Mark and Carolyn agree that colleges are clearly trying to support students through the admissions process.

But both also agree that there is room for improvement.

Colleges can seem out of touch with students. “We see this on A2C all the time,” said Mark, “in the form of marketing emails from college admissions offices that are lampooned for seeming desperate, lame, or insincere.”

There are also challenges around the way colleges advise students, explained Mark. “Because the colleges are also the ones making admissions decisions, they can’t share as candidly about how the process works or give specific and meaningful advice. Any specific advice they give would be misinterpreted as a mandate of what students must do to be admitted.”

Carolyn said: “Where I’d love to see changes made is in streamlining applications and websites, so they are more uniform for students to find information. I’d love for them all to move to test-optional, take self-reported test scores, and have no application fees, so that those basic barriers are removed. I’d love to see total clarity about the costs, so students know what their cost will be before applying.

“However, I see all these shifts being made and I do see colleges trying to do this kind of outreach.”

The Subreddit as a hub for practical advice and discussions

One of the standout features of r/ApplyingToCollege is its robust focus on delivering practical advice for students. This is not your run-of-the-mill online forum filled with generic platitudes. Here, you’ll find actual professionals, alumni, and even current students sharing concrete tips, do’s and don’ts, and invaluable firsthand experiences.

For example, a Reddit post by November, a former UChicago admissions reader and alumna interviewer , is an extensive guide designed to help students prepare for college interviews. Unlike many other guides, this one goes beyond merely listing questions that students might face; it dives deep into the mechanics of crafting effective responses. For instance, instead of just advising you to prepare an answer for the question “Tell me about yourself,” it instructs you to “jump straight into your passions,” possibly even highlighting a significant achievement or character trait to give depth to your answer. This nuanced approach to preparation can give interviewees the extra edge needed to stand out.

The particular post also goes beyond the theory by exploring what interviewers are generally looking to uncover during the conversation, such as a candidate’s intellectual curiosity, openness to new ideas, and suitability for the university’s community culture. The post lays out criteria against which your interview may be judged, such as “Are you deeply involved in one or more extracurricular activities?” or “Can you engage in discussion with an interviewer in a mature, self-aware, and poised manner?” This information is invaluable for students to understand the larger context of their interviews, helping them to prepare more holistically. 

This is yet another example of how student communities like this one can provide invaluable benefits, helping students find essential answers to their questions.

Above all, coming together

The ApplyingToCollege subreddit gives students a place to chat, to rant, to get ideas and advice, and – on Wednesdays – to shitpost.

Some of the posts are a heartbreaking insight into the stress of the application process, and the way it can reshape a student’s priorities. “I was hit by a car while biking,” wrote one, “and immediately started thinking how it could be a ‘quirky’ college essay.”

But others show the power of coming together. Students reassure one another, and share their experiences from every stage of the admissions cycle. Students get energy and ideas from another, motivation, a place to celebrate success and commiserate bad luck.

“The success of A2C has blown me away, and it is because of the support and genuine help they give each other,” said Carolyn.

“That’s a transformation I’ve watched before my eyes as we’ve grown. Four years ago, the feeling on the subreddit was much more competitive and not nearly as supportive. Now, we have members who go out of their way to cheer each other up and cheer each other on.”

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College Reality Check

18 Best Colleges for Quirky Nerds Students

So, many of your peers consider you socially awkward and unstylish.

Deep inside, however, they know for a fact that your intellectual abilities and technological pursuits will someday take you places — and many are secretly jealous and threatened!

As an Urban Dictionary definition of nerd puts it: a 4-letter word with a 6-figure income.

Nurturing your skills and talents and unlocking your full potential, however, is important as you try to work on the degree program of your choosing. And such is best done, of course, by attending the best-fit college or university.

On the hunt for an institution where a nerd like you is considered the big enchilada rather than a pariah?

In this post, I will talk about some of the best 4-year institutions for nerds and a few others that are normally pushed aside and tormented by the popular kids.

Attending any of these colleges will make you feel safe and at home, thus allowing you to orchestrate the best revenge for those who have tormented you all your life: being more successful than them!

Amherst College

• Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
• School type: Private liberal arts college
• Tuition and fees: $64,100
• Acceptance rate: 9%
• Population: 1,971
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 63% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 7:1
• Number of majors: 41

According to a report by the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology (CSPI), most stereotypes have been shown to be approximately correct.

And according to many attendees of Amherst College, which US News ranks #2 in National Liberal Arts Colleges, the students at the school are commonly stereotyped as rich, intellectuals, quirky and nerdy .

Some of the most popular majors at Amherst are mathematics, economics and computer science, which is why it’s no wonder that it’s a nerd-friendly institution of higher education.

California Institute of Technology

• Location: Pasadena, California
• School type: Private research university
• Tuition and fees: $60,864
• Acceptance rate: 4%
• Population: 2,397
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 71% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 3:1
• Number of majors: 28

When some of the best tech schools in the land are the ones being talked about, it’s for certain that the California Institute of Technology will roll out of people’s mouths effortlessly.

Read Also: Caltech vs Stanford

Renowned for its science and engineering programs, a quick look at some of the most sought-after majors at CIT will tell you right away that it’s a playground for nerds: chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, physics and mathematics.

College Simply says that its AI approximates the average GPA of CIT admits to being 3.97.

Carnegie Mellon University

• Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Tuition and fees: $61,344
• Acceptance rate: 14%
• Population: 15,818
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 70% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 6:1
• Number of majors: 80

The general consensus is that Carnegie Mellon University, which is considered a New Ivy and has a Carnegie R1 designation for having very high research activity, is the home of computer science nerds in the US.

It goes without saying that computer science is the top major at the selective institution, followed by all sorts of engineering and math fields.

Here are some of the most recent Niche rankings of Carnegie that solidify the fact that it tends to attract lots of nerds: #1 in Best Colleges for Information Technology in America and #4 Best Colleges for Computer Science in America.

Case Western Reserve University

• Location: Cleveland, Ohio
• Tuition and fees: $62,234
• Acceptance rate: 30%
• Population: 12,142
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 59% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 9:1
• Number of majors: 100+

According to Case Western University itself, it’s a community of innovators, knowledge-seekers and groundbreakers , which is located in the premier art district in the country. Nerd alert!

It’s no wonder why some of the most popular majors among the over a hundred options available to undergraduates are computer science, mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering.

At Case Western, which US News ranks #44 in National Universities, admits have an average GPA of 3.9 and SAT and ACT scores of 1410 to 1530 and 32 to 35, respectively.

Columbia University

• Location: New York, New York
• Tuition and fees: $65,524
• Acceptance rate: 6%
• Population: 30,135
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 37% of classes

There are all sorts of nerds, and some of them are book nerds.

And one quick look at one of the supplemental essay prompts at Columbia University, which, as everyone knows, is an Ivy League school, makes it clear that it wants to give them an edge in the admissions process:

List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during high school.

Georgia Institute of Technology

• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• School type: Public research university
• Tuition and fees: $11,764 (in-state) and $32,876 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance rate: 18%
• Population: 43,844
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 34% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 21:1
• Number of majors: 130+

In the US, the largest and some of the most highly-ranked engineering and computing colleges can be found on the 400-acre urban campus of Georgia Institute of Technology. And because of this alone, it’s a great school for nerds.

Among the wide variety of technologically focused majors available, some of the most popular at GIT include information science, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, biomedical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering and computer hardware engineering.

Harvey Mudd College

• Location: Claremont, California
• Tuition and fees: $62,817
• Acceptance rate: 10%
• Population: 905
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 58% of classes
• Number of majors: 10

Many of the students attending Harvey Mudd College, which is ranked #29 in National Liberal Arts Colleges by US News and considered a New Ivy, admit that most of them are nerds — and that each kind is represented quite well on campus.

However, they emphasize, too, that they tend to have more fun than their counterparts at other tech schools.

It is estimated that the average GPA of freshmen students admitted to Harvey Mudd is 3.96. On the other hand, their average SAT and ACT composite scores range from 1480 to 1560 and 34 to 36, respectively.

Haverford College

• Location: Haverford, Pennsylvania
• Tuition and fees: $63,348
• Population: 1,420
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 68% of classes
• Number of majors: 35

Intellectual, socially awkward, snobby, bookworms — these are how some Haverford College students describe themselves.

It isn’t surprising why the attendees of the said school, which is known for majors such as biology, chemistry, economics, information science, mathematics and political science, are stereotyped as nerds.

As a matter of fact, many say they live inside the so-called Haverbubble and refuse to acknowledge the outside world.

Johns Hopkins University

• Location: Baltimore, Maryland
• Tuition and fees: $60,480
• Acceptance rate: 8%
• Population: 32,049
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 79% of classes
• Number of majors: 52

Students at Johns Hopkins University are well aware of the fact that they are often stereotyped as cutthroat individuals who will do just about anything and everything to succeed. They also admit to being seen as nerds in general.

The highly selective institution, which is ranked by US News #7 in National Universities, #9 in Best Value Schools and #13 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, is also often seen as home to a lot of pre-med students.

True enough, some of the most popular majors at Johns Hopkins include public health, neuroscience and bioengineering.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• School type: Private land-grant research university
• Tuition and fees: $55,878
• Population: 11,254
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 25% of classes
• Number of majors: 36

Making the Massachusetts Institute of Technology popular are its programs in engineering and the physical sciences.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that computer science, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, mathematics and physics are some of the most sought-after majors among its undergraduate students.

Some of the highest-paid MIT graduates are those who majored in mathematics ($120,300 per year), computer science ($118,100 per year) and electrical engineering ($116,600 per year).

Princeton University

• Location: Princeton, New Jersey
• Tuition and fees: $57,410
• Population: 8,478
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 76% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 5:1
• Number of majors: 67

Some students attending Princeton University agree that stereotypes about the Ivy League’s attendees are mostly true. Needless to say, they themselves confirm that many of them are nerds.

Everyone knows that getting into Princeton isn’t easy. Fortunately for music nerds, they are given by the prestigious school an opportunity to make their applications a complete standout. That’s because a supplemental question goes: what song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment? But you have to make an impact in 50 words or fewer.

Rice University

• Location: Houston, Texas
• Tuition and fees: $54,960
• Population: 8,285
• Number of majors: 50+

From the outside of the campus of Rice University, attendees are widely considered, as one actual student puts it, mega-nerds . It’s not uncommon, too, for undergraduates to see one another as always studying, which is why they rarely leave their dorm rooms and the school’s library. However, some agree that, from time to time, partying is an option.

It may not be an Ivy League, but Rice is considered a New Ivy and a Southern Ivy. And to get in, it’s not enough that you are a nerd — you have to be smart as the rest of admits, whose average GPA is estimated to be 3.96.

Rochester Institute of Technology

• Location: Rochester, New York
• Tuition and fees: $54,518
• Acceptance rate: 71%
• Population: 16,790
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 50% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 13:1
• Number of majors: 148

The stereotype about the students of Rochester Institute of Technology is that they are nerdy, shy and anti-social. And the campus is dominated by males, too — only around 34% of the total attendees are females.

Primarily, RIT is popular for its expansive internship programs, cooperative education opportunities and study-abroad options. Its massive 1,300-acre suburban campus is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which was founded in the mid-1960s in order to provide technical and professional education for deaf students.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

• Location: Terre Haute, Indiana
• School type: Private university
• Tuition and fees: $52,119
• Acceptance rate: 77%
• Population: 2,101
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 48% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 11:1
• Number of majors: 18

Founded back in 1874, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is primarily known for its STEM academic programs. Engineering majors, it goes without saying, are some of the most popular and highly ranked, too. As a matter of fact, US News ranks the institution #1 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs.

Despite having awesome engineering and other STEM majors such as computer science, mathematics and physics, getting admitted to Rose-Hulman isn’t that hard — but do keep in mind that the average GPA of those who get in is 3.9.

Swarthmore College

• Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
• Tuition and fees: $59,328
• Population: 1,651
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 67% of classes
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 8:1
• Number of majors: 61

It may be a small liberal arts college alright. However, what makes Swarthmore College different from its peers is that it offers undergraduate engineering programs. In addition, its undergraduates can take some of their courses at Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College, both of which are highly-ranked and selective liberal arts institutions.

And speaking of which, the students at Swarthmore are commonly perceived as intelligent and hard-working individuals, although many immediately think that they are also ugly, weird and nerdy.

University of Chicago

• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Tuition and fees: $62,940
• Population: 16,274
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 78% of classes
• Number of majors: 53

As some students put it, the University of Chicago is where fun goes to die. The general consensus among the attendees of the elite institution, which is often mistaken as an Ivy League but is considered a Hidden Ivy and an Ivy Plus school, is that the campus is packed with ridiculously smart but boring, socially awkward, quirky and nerdy people.

What advice would a wisdom tooth have? Believe it or not, that’s one of the supplemental questions to answer!

Williams College

• Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
• Tuition and fees: $61,770
• Population: 2,216
• Students per class: Fewer than 20 students in 74% of classes

It’s true that there are plenty of nerds on campus, say the students of Williams College themselves. However, they add that it’s just that some of them are simply smart and hard-working and not necessarily nerds.

Some of the most popular majors at Williams, which is ranked #1 in National Liberal Arts Colleges by US News, are biology, chemistry, computer science and mathematics, all of which can electrify nerds. But then there are also sought-after majors that are not necessarily commonly for non-nerds. They include arts, political science and English.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Location: Worcester, Massachusetts
• Tuition and fees: $56,896
• Acceptance rate: 60%
• Population: 7,230
• Student-to-faculty ratio: 14:1
• Number of majors: 70+

Computer science and all sorts of engineering majors such as aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical, industrial and mechanical — these are the top majors at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is considered one of the country’s first engineering and technology schools as well as a global leader in project-based learning.

Students who are attending WPI agree that they are often seen as nerds and outcasts, especially back in high school. But its campus is known for being diverse, too, in terms of personality traits and backgrounds.

College can be scary for every student who is about to bid high school adieu. However, it can be especially terrifying for nerds as it’s a much bigger and more populated world. But since they love attending classes and doing projects, not to mention bumping into many other nerds and building a squadron is very much likely, excelling in a postsecondary environment can be easy.

Still, it would be a wonderful idea to go to an institution where they can shine like no other!

When building a college list, feel free to add any of the above-mentioned colleges that are great for nerds and just about any other outcasts in high school. But take your time researching them further for the most successful and rewarding college career.

Read Next: 7 Great Colleges That Are Easier to Get Into

Independent Education Consultant, Editor-in-chief. I have a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering and training in College Counseling. Member of American School Counselor Association (ASCA).

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