It's okay! I'm wrong all the time because of talking too much...
^You still are not wrong. It was just that it may have seemed that I was discrediting your suggestions, when in fact, I was just trying to make a point on how TYPICALLY CONTROVERSIAL issues are not necessarily the best way to go when writing an admissions essay.
So... are you saying it is too common for people to write about issues like global warming and that it is okay to take an unconventional approach?
^Definitely. An unconvential approach is what will definitely make the essay different compared to all the other similar essays, and an unconventional approach is likely to also just have an improved lasting impression on the reader, which in this case, will be the Admissions Committee.
I was saying that writing about issues such as global warming is common, to the point, that it has transgressed the boundaries of trite and banal such that these types of essays can bore readers, such as myself, from the very first sentence.
We are all familiar with well researched documentaries and the copious amounts of published warnings etc.
Does the Admissions Commitee really require a high school student to rant and rave about a controversial issue that is already so well known? Does it really help to just repeat the already established and known facts? Not really. Mainly because, it is boring and uninformative, both of which are qualities that Id assume most applicants would not want to reveal about themselves.
If an unconventional approach was taken however, the essay should be a more interesting read because it contains new, possibly thought provoking information that has not been considered earlier that can even reflect the intellectuality of the writer.
i think it is important to make sure the admissions person sees that you understand the prompt
^Yes definitely. Failing to address the prompt either shows basic illiteracy or an inability to comply with the basic requirements of a question, which in this case is an essay prompt.