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should I title these or just use the essay prompt as a header? Thanks. Also, in regard to Duke and UVA, would it be appropriate to discuss the last year's civil rights events, or would that be too controversial?

I titled my Duke essay Optional Essay I in the header.

hihelpme wrote:last year's civil rights events

what does this refer to
there were a lot of these

don't talk about cville.

HennessyVSOP wrote:

hihelpme wrote:last year's civil rights events

what does this refer to
there were a lot of these

alt right conflict in Charlottesville
robert lee statue in durham

pancakes3 wrote:don't talk about cville.

*unless you are a URM

I'd stay clear of that topic. I can't really imagine a way to talk about it that isn't either hallow or offputting.

HennessyVSOP wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:don't talk about cville.

*unless you are a URM

idk i still don't see how this would be a good idea

Just don't talk about Cville in regards to the alt-right stuff, right? Because I talked about it being a similar town as the one my undergrad was in.

blackmamba8 wrote:Just don't talk about Cville in regards to the alt-right stuff, right? Because I talked about it being a similar town as the one my undergrad was in.

Yeah of course that's fine.

How about writing my opinions about the war on terror? This would be in regard to duke’s Guantanamo defense clinic

in terms of what makes an essay good, the essay topic takes a back seat to the actual writing. i think you're picking some really difficult subjects to write about but if you're a good writer, and you've got really good things to say, then yes - the essay will turn out fine.

however, given that there are easier (more generic) topics out there, that a bland "why" essay doesn't hurt your application any, and the fact that a bad "why" essay could potentially hurt your application, i don't know why you would want to do this.

181plz wrote:How about writing my opinions about the war on terror? This would be in regard to duke’s Guantanamo defense clinic

Unless you have a specific background that would lend itself to a clinic, it's probably not a good idea to structure your "Why [School]" essay around a single clinic.

These statements aren't going to make or break an application, and they aren't really a space to get "creative". Just keep it simple, and move on to the more important parts of the app.

pancakes3 wrote:in terms of what makes an essay good, the essay topic takes a back seat to the actual writing. i think you're picking some really difficult subjects to write about but if you're a good writer, and you've got really good things to say, then yes - the essay will turn out fine.

however, given that there are easier (more generic) topics out there, that a bland "why" essay doesn't hurt your application any, and the fact that a bad "why" essay could potentially hurt your application, i don't know why you would want to do this.

I guess I’m having trouble figuring out what a bland essay entails.

181plz wrote:How about writing my opinions about the war on terror? This would be in regard to duke’s Guantanamo defense clinic

Im a 3L at Duke and I didn't even know we had a Guantanamo clinic. You should probably pass talking about it, given that no one is in it.