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I am sooo tired of trying to write a Yale 250. Apparently I am the kind of person that appreciates guidelines. After writing, scrapping the entire thing, rewriting, editing, over and over, with over 15 people reading it once, twice, three times, no one ever CLOSE to agrees and I. GIVE. UP.

My personal statement got to the point where people just liked it. A few comments to be nitpicky, but there was consensus. I want my 250 to be the same way.

WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING ABOUT ANYWAY. It can't be negative, they say. It can't be too academic/law-related. It can't be TOO optimistic/cute. I. GIVE. UP.

I guess there is no real question here but if anyone has advice or great samples or something I don't really want to scrap an entire application or potential (however unlikely) opportunity because of a measly 250 words.

Write about Pokemon.

/Thread

I'm not applying to Yale so I have no idea but maybe something like Penn's art/lit essay with a creative twist?

PS I'm willing to read any drafts you want to send my way for the 250.

Just make sure no typos. Typos = autoreject at Yale.

Write about how you give up on things so easily?

arism87 wrote:I am sooo tired of trying to write a Yale 250. Apparently I am the kind of person that appreciates guidelines. After writing, scrapping the entire thing, rewriting, editing, over and over, with over 15 people reading it once, twice, three times, no one ever CLOSE to agrees and I. GIVE. UP.

My personal statement got to the point where people just liked it. A few comments to be nitpicky, but there was consensus. I want my 250 to be the same way.

WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING ABOUT ANYWAY. It can't be negative, they say. It can't be too academic/law-related. It can't be TOO optimistic/cute. I. GIVE. UP.

I guess there is no real question here but if anyone has advice or great samples or something I don't really want to scrap an entire application or potential (however unlikely) opportunity because of a measly 250 words.

What is your application theme? Your 250 should expand upon the theme of your application and do so in a well written and creative way.

My mother always told me "eat your green eggs and ham". However, I did not like green eggs and ham. What did I do? I gave them to my dog, Mitzy, and made yummy noises to convince my mother that I indeed had eaten my green eggs and ham. As I got older, I found that I could no longer give the green eggs and ham to Mitzy. He was diagnosed with acute canine ADD and the vet said it was caused by eating too much green eggs and ham. I felt terrible! Poor Mitzy could no longer keep still and it was all my fault. From that point on, I took a more responsible approach to life. I owed it to Mitzy.

As I write this so called "Yale 250", I think back to that moment and realize that I now like green eggs and ham. Why is this important? Green eggs and ham symbolize my metamorphosis from a young immature girl into a strong confident woman that will tackle the hell out of the curriculum at Yale Law School. It is with this statement that I ask, no I plead, that you give my application strong consideration for admission to the fall class of 2011. Only then will I finally finish my green eggs and ham.

arism87 wrote: It can't be negative, they say. It can't be too academic/law-related. It can't be TOO optimistic/cute. I. GIVE. UP.

No one knows what the 250 should be. Write something you feel will add to your application and give a greater sense of who you are- whether that's something cute that shows your writing ability and character, academic that shows your ability to analyze, or whatever. Trick is that no one on here really knows what your 250 should be. A few can say what worked for them, but even then you don't know if they were accepted despite what they wrote.

Write something that you think is good. After you've picked a topic you're set on, have people comment on grammar/flow/wording, etc.

Also- there is such a thing as too many people reading the thing. After a point, you've just got to go with your judgment and hope that Yale likes your POV.

gdane5 wrote:My mother always told me "eat your green eggs and ham". However, I did not like green eggs and ham. What did I do? I gave them to my dog, Mitzy, and made yummy noises to convince my mother that I indeed had eaten my green eggs and ham. As I got older, I found that I could no longer give the green eggs and ham to Mitzy. He was diagnosed with acute canine ADD and the vet said it was caused by eating too much green eggs and ham. I felt terrible! Poor Mitzy could no longer keep still and it was all my fault. From that point on, I took a more responsible approach to life. I owed it to Mitzy.

As I write this so called "Yale 250", I think back to that moment and realize that I now like green eggs and ham. Why is this important? Green eggs and ham symbolize my metamorphosis from a young immature girl into a strong confident woman that will tackle the hell out of the curriculum at Yale Law School. It is with this statement that I ask, no I plead, that you give my application strong consideration for admission to the fall class of 2011. Only then will I finally finish my green eggs and ham.

This is the magic of the Yale 250.

More schools should do this.

ahduth wrote:This is the magic of the Yale 250.

More schools should do this.

If they did, they might spare me life as a lawyer.. haha

Thanks for all the advice guys (and gals)!!

OGR3 wrote:Write about Pokemon.

/Thread

That's not nice.

moopness wrote:Write about how you give up on things so easily?

Don't write a 250 about writing the 250.

I had this same problem with my personal statement. In my attempt to make it absolutely perfect, I showed it to about 20 different people, who had 20 different opinions and led me to write about 20 different drafts. By the 20th draft, still not everybody was satisfied. Eventually I stopped showing it to everybody because after all of that, it stopped sounding like me and started sounding like a mixture of all the people who read/edited it. Take your best draft (or write a new one if you really feel you need to) and at some point, you just have to go with your gut and don't touch it anymore haha.

(note that I definitely do NOT have to write a Yale 250, but hopefully this is somewhat relevant!)

Asha gives enough clues on what it should not be, so you should be able to at least gather where not to start.

OGR3 wrote:Write about Pokemon.

/Thread

I know I was complaining that I'm getting too many different opinions, but I wrote on a completely new topic. Anyone wanna read? After I decide between them I'm submitting- I'm over it

arism87 wrote:I know I was complaining that I'm getting too many different opinions, but I wrote on a completely new topic. Anyone wanna read? After I decide between them I'm submitting- I'm over it

I'll take a read

posted in other thread too, but I'll read also.

gdane5 wrote:My mother always told me "eat your green eggs and ham". However, I did not like green eggs and ham. What did I do? I gave them to my dog, Mitzy, and made yummy noises to convince my mother that I indeed had eaten my green eggs and ham. As I got older, I found that I could no longer give the green eggs and ham to Mitzy. He was diagnosed with acute canine ADD and the vet said it was caused by eating too much green eggs and ham. I felt terrible! Poor Mitzy could no longer keep still and it was all my fault. From that point on, I took a more responsible approach to life. I owed it to Mitzy.

As I write this so called "Yale 250", I think back to that moment and realize that I now like green eggs and ham. Why is this important? Green eggs and ham symbolize my metamorphosis from a young immature girl into a strong confident woman that will tackle the hell out of the curriculum at Yale Law School. It is with this statement that I ask, no I plead, that you give my application strong consideration for admission to the fall class of 2011. Only then will I finally finish my green eggs and ham.

lol! I wrote my 250 about my dog; it, too, was meant to be lighthearted. I figured the rest of my app had already demonstrated my academic interests/capabilities, so I opted to use the 250 as a chance to illustrate my personality a little. If you want it to be academic, you could try writing a little about your thesis or some other topic you found interesting in undergrad. I don't think it has to deal directly with law, so long as you show off your intellect.

I'm not trying to be a jerk but if you don't like ambiguity in guidelines, have fun in law school!

Slimpee wrote:I'm not trying to be a jerk but if you don't like ambiguity in guidelines, have fun in law school!

Touche, really hoping it's not quite the same kind of torture (aka the purely optional, I have almost no shot and am most likely wasting $100 so this better be a perfect essay kind of torture)

I will read if you still need some opinion.

a really, really popular topic is de facto segregation, ie the __ serves as a reminder that de facto segregation exists, (wrap up with imagery and general sentiments on social and racial progress).

sandaltan wrote:a really, really popular topic is de facto segregation, ie the __ serves as a reminder that de facto segregation exists, (wrap up with imagery and general sentiments on social and racial progress).

It's funny, as a victim of this, I feel uncomfortable writing about it (a sentiment shared by many who are victims of it). I don't know how good of a topic it is for people who are not affected by it.