I tried to send this as a message, but clicking send sent me to a blank page, and didn’t send the message. Has anybody else experienced problems with messaging recently? (If you have, you can get the message back by clicking your browser’s “go back one page” button...but I didn’t realize this the first time I tried to send a message, alas.)
Hi!
I was so happy to read your introduction and discussion posts- you seem very clicky, and many of your interests are very near and dear to my heart too!
For your essays, a few ideas:
It seems like your essay topics would need to either assume lots of background knowledge or run over by explaining the background. Have you considered only explaining the background (eg game theory for Newcomb’s Problem) and then at the end mentioning Newcomb’s Problem, and how you were inspired by, I dunno, Nozick’s original paper or Marion Ledwig’s thesis?
Writing multiple first drafts of your essay, with different topics, is probably worth it; it’s not that much more effort, and you can then rely on others’ feedback to select the best one to revise further.
Don’t trust Word/Writer’s character count; for me, at least, the Common App website gave a different number.
On the plus side, I’m told that most people’s essays typically give very negative first impressions, as boasting about what they’ve done, so you’ve got a leg up on many people already!
If you’d like, shoot me a message at richard4@stanford.edu or on Facebook and I’ll send you my essays (you may want to wait until you’ve written your first drafts, though, so as to avoid bad priming.)
Also, if you’re interested in getting to know other highschool LessWrongers (and, by now, a fair number of college freshmen), there’s a LW Highschoolers FB group:
Thank you very much for your advice, but...you seem to be affiliated with Stanford. Are you a student or a faculty member? If the latter, I’d feel a little...uncomfortable taking any more specific help from you. Even if it’s legal, it feels like cheating, and that kind of thing would eat at me.
Your idea to write multiple drafts is a good one; they’re really short essays after all.
On the plus side, I’m told that most people’s essays typically give very negative first impressions, as boasting about what they’ve done.
See, that’s what I really hate about this whole process. You’re expected to have incredibly good marketing skills, and trying really hard never to lie to yourself or doublespeak in any way, even if you don’t succeed, is going to make you worse at marketing. You have to get rid of useful, realistic humility by emphasizing only the things you think the admissions officers think makes you a well-rounded person—but at the same time you have to be subtle enough and modest enough to make them think you’re not bragging, even though they know perfectly well that the only reason you wrote this essay was to show them how cool you are.
Honestly, I’m probably just a little resentful that my talents don’t run in that direction—or I didn’t choose to develop them in that direction.
Edit: None of these new comments showed up as a little red envelope. I thought no one had looked at this yet until my karma increased slightly. Has that happened to any of you?
I tried to send this as a message, but clicking send sent me to a blank page, and didn’t send the message. Has anybody else experienced problems with messaging recently?
I tried to send a PM to someone just now, and I had the same problem.
I tried to send this as a message, but clicking send sent me to a blank page, and didn’t send the message. Has anybody else experienced problems with messaging recently? (If you have, you can get the message back by clicking your browser’s “go back one page” button...but I didn’t realize this the first time I tried to send a message, alas.)
Hi!
I was so happy to read your introduction and discussion posts- you seem very clicky, and many of your interests are very near and dear to my heart too!
For your essays, a few ideas:
It seems like your essay topics would need to either assume lots of background knowledge or run over by explaining the background. Have you considered only explaining the background (eg game theory for Newcomb’s Problem) and then at the end mentioning Newcomb’s Problem, and how you were inspired by, I dunno, Nozick’s original paper or Marion Ledwig’s thesis?
Writing multiple first drafts of your essay, with different topics, is probably worth it; it’s not that much more effort, and you can then rely on others’ feedback to select the best one to revise further.
Don’t trust Word/Writer’s character count; for me, at least, the Common App website gave a different number.
On the plus side, I’m told that most people’s essays typically give very negative first impressions, as boasting about what they’ve done, so you’ve got a leg up on many people already!
If you’d like, shoot me a message at richard4@stanford.edu or on Facebook and I’ll send you my essays (you may want to wait until you’ve written your first drafts, though, so as to avoid bad priming.)
Also, if you’re interested in getting to know other highschool LessWrongers (and, by now, a fair number of college freshmen), there’s a LW Highschoolers FB group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/201577993258819/
1⁄8 of the members will be freshmen at Stanford this year! (Yes, it’s a small group. ;))
Cheers, Alex Richard
Thank you very much for your advice, but...you seem to be affiliated with Stanford. Are you a student or a faculty member? If the latter, I’d feel a little...uncomfortable taking any more specific help from you. Even if it’s legal, it feels like cheating, and that kind of thing would eat at me.
Your idea to write multiple drafts is a good one; they’re really short essays after all.
See, that’s what I really hate about this whole process. You’re expected to have incredibly good marketing skills, and trying really hard never to lie to yourself or doublespeak in any way, even if you don’t succeed, is going to make you worse at marketing. You have to get rid of useful, realistic humility by emphasizing only the things you think the admissions officers think makes you a well-rounded person—but at the same time you have to be subtle enough and modest enough to make them think you’re not bragging, even though they know perfectly well that the only reason you wrote this essay was to show them how cool you are.
Honestly, I’m probably just a little resentful that my talents don’t run in that direction—or I didn’t choose to develop them in that direction.
Edit: None of these new comments showed up as a little red envelope. I thought no one had looked at this yet until my karma increased slightly. Has that happened to any of you?
I’m a freshman at Stanford, not a faculty member.
I’m not entirely sure (I rarely make posts), but I believe that you only get the red envelope from replies to comments, not replies to posts.
I tried to send a PM to someone just now, and I had the same problem.