Tufts University has received some attention recently for its #YOLO-based application essay prompt, but this was far from the first time a college has asked students to think outside the box.
While Tufts and the University of Chicago may be the two schools most well known for their unorthodox essays, many colleges have slipped in quirky questions to shake up potential applicants. Topics have ranged from autobiographical to flat out insane, but all the prompts — in theory — should tell a school something about yourself.
We've compiled some of our favorites for you to ponder. Try not to think too hard.
University of Chicago
"Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam's Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We've bought it, but it didn't stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard."
Brandeis University
"If you could choose to be raised by robots, dinosaurs, or aliens, who would you pick? Why?"
University of Virginia
"Make a bold prediction about something in the year 2020 that no one else has made a bold prediction about."
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