Tangerine

Does anyone have good advice on how to write this tiny essay?

Furthermore should the topic be law related or can I write about snails?

Thanks

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Pyros Post subject: Re: Yale's 250 word essayPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:00 pm

Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:23 am

Archived Posts: 259 benignuman wrote:

Does anyone have good advice on how to write this tiny essay?

Furthermore should the topic be law related or can I write about snails?

Thanks

LOL. Please, be so kind as to share your 250 word essay if you decide on the latter topic. I have always wondered what 250 words on snails would look like.

Seriously though, I don't care about that 250 due to my low LSAT score (were it higher, I would have been in your position right now) but there seems to be no consensus on what it should be about. People just claims it's important.

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bishopus Post subject: Re: Yale's 250 word essayPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:01 pm

Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:02 am

Archived Posts: 157 You can of course write it about anything; topic is part of the test.

250 words is not enough length to turn around or slow down; it's like drag racing. You need to give 'er everything you've got and try to keep it on a straight line.

I liked Berryman's advice when writing mine: Write as short as you can, in order, of what matters.

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YoungFogey Post subject: Re: Yale's 250 word essayPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:18 pm

Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:32 pm

Archived Posts: 2704 Write about something that communicates something meaningful about who you are. It can be about anything, but I think that if you handed it, with a bunch of other 250 word essays, to several of your friends that they should be able to identify yours and say that on the basis of reading just that, they would know something "real" about who you are.

As for topics, you might look at the essay as a way to balance out your application package. If the rest of your materials tip heavily in showing you as a hard core academic type and you feel that your "lighter side" is missing, you might try to develop an essay that showcases that. Likewise, if you feel that your application doesn't have enough theoretical "punch," you might go for more of a "thought piece."

The object of any application, but especially Yale's: allow the reader to envision you in on of the seats in class contributing in a way that is not just a carbon copy of everyone else. Let them know that not only will you take advantage of the opportunities you will be given, but that you can give something back in return.

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joschmo Post subject: Re: Yale's 250 word essayPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:26 pm

Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:16 pm

Archived Posts: 158 I dont mind posting mine. I'm semi-happy with it.

My thought was that a random musing that shows you think about the world around you was a good way to go. Also, you'll have very little room to introduce your topic, so it has to be about something relatively simple or universal. (Note: I know some of my syntax is a little strange. It was designed (perhaps poorly) to satisfy the word limit.)

Both tourists and native New Yorkers often wonder why local taxi drivers accelerate aggressively towards red traffic lights, only to slam on the brakes at crosswalks. Why do they do this when faced with reduced fuel economy and increased vehicle wear? The answer lies in the design of the Taxi & Limousine Commission's official pricing scheme, which is comprised of four factors: A fixed fee, a surcharge during rush hour, a rate for mileage, and a rate for time stopped in traffic.

The fact that all but the last of these factors is determined at the outset of each trip encourages cab drivers to complete each fare as quickly as possible, thus maximizing the number of fixed fees received during each shift. The scheme also encourages drivers to maximize the portion of each fare spent idling in traffic. By accelerating into red lights, drivers increase the amount of time spent idling, without extending the lengths of complete trips. Therefore, this approach optimizes the number of fares per shift as well as the time idling per shift.

The driver also has little incentive to prevent wear on the vehicle, since most cabs in New York City are leased to different drivers each day. And additional fuel costs, which are estimated at only 5%, are far outstripped by the thousands of dollars in inflated fares earned by reallocating only seconds of each trip.

The moral: Hope yours is one of the few New York City cabs still equipped with a seat belt.

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cho Post subject: Re: Yale's 250 word essayPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:26 pm