"hope you like having fun" -a note to future roommate -- Stanford supplemental essay

Hey!

My common app essay and 2 other supplemental essays deal with serious topics, and here I try to be light-hearted. Comments/suggestion/critiques are welcome.

Topic: 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. (250 words or less)

Dear Roommate,

I would like to apologize in advance, because I know that it will take me a while to remember your name. Not that I dislike you; I'm just better with faces than names.

My name is [Fill in my name], but you can call me whatever you'd like until I get your name down. I love running, especially in the mornings around five when the weather is cool. I have to wake up early, because in Phoenix, waking at seven could mean running in near-hundred-degree weather. Of course, at Stanford, I could run any time of the day, so you needn't worry about me waking you up.

Speaking of the weather, I reserve the right to laugh if you think temperatures under 100 degrees are hot. After years in Phoenix, I've come to think of heat more as an inconvenience than a discomfort. But I also bestow you the right to laugh at me when I complain that 65 degrees is cold.

Other than that, I like calculus or physicist jokes. I drink lots of water for my running. I incessantly have to go to the bathroom (surprise there). I've developed immunity to caffeine from many late nights studying. I write more than I talk, although the balance is starting to swing in the other direction. I draw lots of aliens, though they're supposed to be humans. I get along with almost anyone, and I really look forward to meeting you.

I hope you like having fun.

Ask yourself this question: Is this essay better than the 93% of the other roommate essays? The answer is no: Anyone can write this.

Write about something that noone else can - that is the only way to stand out. That does not include running, the weather, studying, drawing, etc etc etc.

Just for an example, one Stanford student write about how everything in her room is green, and how that represents her personality. That is definitely more interesting than saying: "I like calculus or physicist jokes". You don't want to seem shallow here. Good luck.

This is cute: but you can call me whatever you'd like until I get your name down.

Well, I hesitate to suggest changes, because every sentence is interesting and cool. I would not want to mess with your artful self expression. But strategically, since you can write so well, I think it would be great to replace some of the content about the whether with content about your motivation to make a specific difference in your chosen field and your intellectual interests, etc. Even though you are introducing yourself in general, this is a college essay so you are really introducing yourself as an academic.