An unorthodox college admissions essay sparked a nationwide discussion when James Nondorf, the University of Chicago’s vice president and dean of admissions, added it as an example essay to the 2010 application for prospective students.

The essay was structured as a love letter to the university, essentially a proposal from the author to the school of his dreams.

‘It fills me up with that gooey sap you feel late at night when I think about things that are really special to me about you,’ wrote Rohan Sharma, the author of the essay. ‘Your cup overfloweth with academic genius, pour a little on me.’

The University of Chicago said that applicants should approach their college essays with ‘utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between,’ according to the school’s Web site.

But when Nondorf sent an e-mail to high school applicants with Sharma’s early-admissions essay on Dec. 12, some saw the student’s creativity as crossing the line.

While generally met warmly by members on online discussion forums such as College Confidential, those who objected to the content said they see some of the romantic language as inappropriate for an admissions essay.

‘I have mixed feelings,’ wrote Greenery, a College Confidential user, on the Web site’s discussion forum. ‘I like to read the essay, however, I feel the content is something you would say to an intimate person and not share with anyone else. Maybe that’s the reason I feel uncomfortable, like it should have (been) kept private.’

Sharma said that he was not attempting to be provocative but simply write a clever essay that would catch the eye of admissions officers.

‘I see it more as a case of me trying to be unique, and if it came off that way, that was not my intention, but apparently some people have interpreted it as such,’ Sharma said.

UChicago’s notoriety for its creative prompts was the reason for his response, he said.

Until joining 390 other colleges on Common Application this year, UChicago had a reputation for being the uncommon application, according to the UChicago Web site.

UChicago frequently uses unusual prompts and draws ideas from current students for potential questions. One of this year’s essays, suggested by a student, asked, ‘How did you get caught? (Or not caught, as the case may be.)’

Sharma said he felt the essay could not have been used at almost any other college or university in the country. UChicago’s unique invitation allowed him to submit his essay to an audience that would appreciate such work, he said.

‘The prompt says you can go ahead and be funny, quirky, weird or really just anything,’ Sharma said. ‘You can have a lot of fun with the essay, which is what they encourage, and so I did just that.’

Other contributors to the discussion forums were upset that an essay from an accepted student in next fall’s freshman class was being shared before the application deadline had passed.

Nondorf said in an e-mail sent to UChicago’s applicants that he sent the essay ‘with the hope that it lightens your mood, reduces any end-of-the-year stress and inspires your creative juices in completing your applications.’

Nondorf refused to comment for The Daily Orange story.

For some contributors to College Confidential, the essay example did just the opposite.

‘OK, so now I’m starting to feel really bad about myself,’ wrote Steven Hilton, a College Confidential user. ‘I’m applying to Chicago, but I didn’t really plan on writing something like this. Do they really expect this? Do I need to change all my application essays? I don’t want to write in a voice that isn’t mine.’

Sharma said he plans to attend UChicago in the fall to study economics, and he will likely be a little more famous than his classmates upon arrival. Sharma said he doesn’t expect the essay to give him more than the ‘five minutes of fame’ he is experiencing.

‘I don’t see this impacting me very much during my college experience. I feel it’ll just be, I don’t know, a fun story to tell my roommate when I go to Chicago,’ Sharma said. ‘I hope it doesn’t impact me too much because I want people to judge my ability in a different fashion than just from my college application essay.’

lefulton@syr.edu

Published on January 18, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Lorne: lefulton@syr.edu