I'm a dork! [Stanford roommate supplement]

Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate - and us - know you better. (2000 Characters)

Hello, future roommate!

It's the big question on everyone's mind. "Will my roommate be weird?" And, well, it depends on your definition of "weird." I'm a dork, and I really, really hope that won't bother you. I love cheesy and terrible jokes. (What did the buffalo say to his kid before school? Bison!) Sometimes I'll try to make my own joke. I apologize in advance. If I'm alone, I will sing. This could be while I'm in a dorm or this could be while I'm in an empty aisle at the supermarket-I'll start belting oldies love ballads. I collect coffee mugs. I won't bring my whole collection to Stanford, but I will bring my frowny face mug because it has a nose that sticks out. I have an otter calendar, and at some point I'll probably show you one of my favorite websites, DailyOtter.org. (I purposely excluded this from my list of websites for the Stanford supplement.) I'll bother you until you share with me what kind of music and television shows you enjoy and then I'll introduce you to what I like as well. I'll point out goofs in movies or television. (My pet peeve is when a character is seen eating something he or she is supposedly allergic to.) Perhaps once every other month I'll find a YouTube video of an animal doing something amusing and I'll show it to everyone on our floor. I'll get excited over finding a really old nickel or hearing a science joke. I'll start questioning the meaning of life at around 3 AM. And, out of curiosity I'll probably ask you what you wrote for that roommate question on the Stanford supplement.

I'm a proud dork. I'm cheerful, enthusiastic, and exact opposite of "passive." I think we all have our little quirks, and I hope our dorm is a place where we can both be ourselves (and dance embarrassingly to mainstream pop music). So, when we meet for the first time and that question, "Is my roommate weird?" enters our heads, hopefully we'll both happily realize that the answer is "Yes."

Oh, one more thing! Congrats on your Stanford acceptance!
Amanda Chow

(2000/2000 characters)

Is my letter too informal or doesn't show anything worth knowing about me? I figured the point of this prompt was to show a more informal personality side but I don't know if I took that a little too far. Also, is it too clichĂŠ or cheesy? I tried to write it as I truly would in the situation of writing a letter to a roommate. (So because of this I act like I've already been accepted to Stanford--This doesn't come off as too overconfident, does it?)

Any suggestions/edits/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton and good luck to everyone on their Jan. 1 deadlines! :)

I think your essay stands out a lot. It's because you focus on the small details that the officer can catch a glimpse of who you are. I really loved the "And, out of curiosity I'll probably ask you what you wrote for that roommate question on the Stanford supplement."

It's not informal, it's just personal (in my opinion). And its not overconfident. I think the officer would like to see a more personable side of you and it doesn't fit a template or anything. I don't understand how you can't be predictable with a prompt like that but you did it (and in a very nice and subtle way). So, you answered it well and you seem like a great fit for that school! Good luck!

Would you please review my NYU supplement?

I was reading some other supplements and apparently it's become a "growing trend" for Stanford applicants to reveal their weirdest personality traits in this essay, so I'm a little concerned it's not as unique as I thought it would be. But, I'm glad you like my reference to the Stanford app itself, I was proud of myself for that one :) Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Your essay is...adorable. I really got a sense of who you were! I have read a lot of roommate essays for Stanford before I sent in my SCEA app and this one stood out to me the most, out of all of the examples that I read. I loved how it really seemed that you connected with the reader and you seemed like, for lack of a better term, a real person! You were really honest and came across as a person I would want to get to know better. Great job!

Could you check out my essay?

I thought the bit about not mentioning the Otter website was quite funny.

No, the essay doesn't seem overconfident, you diffused any chance at arrogance at your satirical pokes on your personality, your sense of humor in bad jokes, and your singing.

I believe the essay is light-hearted, but I also don't think it would hurt to say something deeper about yourself. Everyone seems to want to make the roomate essay a 2000 character stand up act, and the question I often ask myself is

"Why?"

I loved it and the joke you added made me chuckle :) don't worry about it, you have written a great essay that the admissions officers will I'm sure love as well.

If you have the time, could you please check mine? It's titled 'The Perks of Being Tenacious' (I need a new title). Thanks!

The buffalo joke made me smile. I love puns with, like, a passion. However, while I can see the point a couple other people made about your essay sounding like "a real person", it just felt really trivial to me. Now I know that you like mugs and otters and old nickels, but I don't actually know anything about you. I do agree with you that this is a growing trend and that it's not actually as unique as you think--we're all unique and we all have our quirks, but I think the admissions peeps at Stanford already know that. Just because it's a friendly letter to your roommate doesn't mean you can't tell them something meaningful.

Best of luck to you!!