So Where Is Waldo, Really?

humor, lessons learned, reading, social justice, Teaching and Education, Wall Street Journal, writing 3 Minutes

The headline above was a recent essay prompt as part of the college admissions process for the University of Chicago.

It seems like it would be a fun essay to work on, but to me, it seems crazy that perhaps such a question could carry more weight than the results of standardized math and verbal tests, which have become optional at 72% of colleges in the U.S.

But it seems more and more colleges are using such an approach.

The Wall Street Journal had a recent article titled: College Essay Prompts Get Absurd. ‘So Where Is Waldo, Really?’

Here are some of the essay prompts mentioned in the article:

  • What advice would a wisdom tooth have? (University of Chicago)
  • Why this college? (boring)
  • How did you learn from and overcome an obstacle? (boring)
  • Detail your favorite thing about last Tuesday. (University of Maryland)
  • Name one dish they would cook for the school’s admission team. (Chapman University)
  • What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment? (Princeton University)
  • Answer in 50 words or less, “Marvel or DC? Pepsi or Coke? Instagram or TikTok? What’s your favorite ‘this or that’ and which side do you choose? (Pomona College)
  • Create a top 10 list with the theme of their choice. (Wake Forest University)
  • Which Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (real or imagined) best describes you? (University of Vermont)
  • In lieu of an essay, submit a captionless image that appeals to you. (Rice University)
  • Who does Sally sell her seashells to? (University of Chicago)
  • Find x. (University of Chicago)
  • Genghis Khan with an F1 racecar. George Washington with a Super Soaker. Emperor Nero with a toaster. Leonardo da Vinci with a Furby. If you could give any historical figure any piece of technology, who and what would it be, and why do you think they’d work so well together? (University of Chicago)
  • The word floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant or of having no value. It originated in the mid-18th century from the Latin words ‘floccus,’ ‘naucum,’ ‘nihilum’ and ‘pilus’—all words meaning ‘of little use.’ Coin your own word using parts from any language you choose… (University of Chicago)
  • Was it a cat I saw? Yo-no-na-ka, ho-ka-ho-ka na-no-yo (Japanese for ‘the world is a warm place’). Moze jutro ta dama da tortu jezom (Polish for ‘maybe tomorrow that lady will give a cake to the hedgehogs’). Share a palindrome in any language, and give it a backstory. ((University of Chicago))

As you can see, the University of Chicago seems to be the king of the quirky essay prompt.

So how to respond to such an essay question?

One college offers the following advice:

“Proofread, proofread, proofread. There’s a difference between ‘tutoring children’ and ‘torturing children’ and your spell-checker won’t catch that.”

As usual, the readers’ comments are the best part of reading stories in the WSJ, and the responses to this article did not disappoint. I read about a dozen of them, and the majority seem to be critical of such essays. One of my favorites picked on the advice offered above, saying that the college that asked: “Who does Sally sell her seashells to?” did not follow such advice, since the sentence should start with the word “Whom”. (Don’t ask me, I was never 100% sure on those who vs. whom debates.)

It also seemed like there is a lot of criticism directed at colleges in general, much of it perhaps well-founded.

I was happy to see the following comment, though:

“…The prompts should be questions difficult to coach but not absurd. There are many excellent examples like Villanova, Bowdoin, and Tufts. The possibilities are infinite and must vary greatly from year to year.”

I’m not sure what Villanova’s prompt was, but it sounds like it was a good one. Maybe it was something like: “If you got stuck taking Prof. Borden for an accounting class, what would you do to stay awake for class?”

P.S. I might devote a future post to offering one or two-line answers to each essay prompt…

*image from FirstPost

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

Published

76 thoughts on “So Where Is Waldo, Really?”

  1. I had a Where’s Waldo book years ago.

    There are definitely some quirky questions. Some of them could be fun blog posts but wouldn’t think of them as essay questions!

    Look forward to seeing a post with your answers. 🙂

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  2. guess it on the purpose of such an essay. If it’s to check the person’s grasp of the mechanics of a “five paragraph essay” then any prompt would do and why not have fun with ii? If the person is to check deeper critical thinking skills then what you ask and the way you ask would be important.
    I believe it should be, “To whom does Sally sell seashells.?”

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    1. I agree with what you have to say, it just seems like some of these prompts may favor those with a flair for being creative, or those who can afford to hire someone to write the essay for them. While I am all for creativity, it seems like there may be too much emphasis on such an attribute…

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  5. ‘Quirky’ questions like that have been asked at universities here since before I went. Not so easy to answer when asked in an interview, though, rather than an essay! I once got asked ‘Who is God?’ I answered ‘John Lennon,’ and didn’t get in.

    By the way, that question should be ‘To whom does Sally sell her seashells?’ Don’t study English at Chicago!

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    1. I like your answer about God. To me, it showed creativity, and opened up the door for you to talk about something that you were passionate about. And thanks for the info on correcting that question!

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      1. It was a while after his comment that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, and I got the impression the interviewer was more a fan of the latter. He didn’t pursue it!

        I studied Eng Lit and Art History at uni, so couldn’t resist the grammatical correction 😊

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  6. Oh, how I missed your humor, my friend! I always love the challenge of writing to a prompt. As for Waldo, he is in the witness protection program after testifying in open federal court against his arch nemesis, Odlaw. Good to have you back, Jim!

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    1. Some of the prompts look like fun, but I’m not sure if using such prompts is appropraite for something as critical as a college application.

      And it sounds like your characters are in Bizzarro World!

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  7. my daughter went to u of c and I remember her having extremely quirky questions to answer on her application. all I can remember is one had something to do with an astronaut. while they still look at things like grades, accomplishments and side gigs, the essays were important for revealing a certain kind of student. I’d say the purpose is to see if the potential student is an out of the box thinker, can they write well about most anything, and can write on something for which there is no correct answer or can be coached to answer. they are looking for free thinkers who may be bright in unique ways. to my memory most of the people she went to school with were both intelligent and quirky to the extreme.

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    1. I agree with all you say, but my guess is that some applicants may have someone else write such responses for them. I like creative, free thinking people, but I’m not sure such attributes should be relied on so much when writing the application essay.

      By the way, U of Chicago sounds like a great place to go to school – congrats to your daughter!

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      1. I get having someone else write for them, as they could on all essays, that as an absolute possibility, but based on the people I met there, they seemed to truly be that kind of people. they do take other things into account when accepting, but this is one interesting part of it. all things considered, it was the wildest application I’d ever seen.

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      3. I think that’s it, but it sure was out there ). one of her friends in her dorm was a nice but somewhat awkward (aren’t we all?) guy who was extremely brilliant in his field, but also collected piles of interesting napkins in his dorm room as a hobby.

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  8. As an essayist, I see the value of being able to write an engaging essay on any topic presented. I actually did this once in response to a middle school assignment given to my son. I’m not really sure how colleges decide who is qualified for their academic program without looking at test scores, grades, et al. Essay writing is a skill, but it’s a learned skill as much as a natural talent. Seems like schools are putting a lot of weight on a very narrow swath of academic skill. Plus, 50 words? Who can have fun with only 50 words.

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    1. you express my concern much better than I could. and while 50 words is quite short, at least there is a greater likelihood that a college admissions office would actually read the full essay! I wonder how mcu time those individuals can actually spend reading all those essays…

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    1. I agree that creativity is a great skill to possess, but not sure it should be given such prominence in the admissions process. Plus, I would thing some students/parents may outsource the writing of the essay to an outside party…

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  10. “Answer in 50 words or less, “Marvel or DC? Pepsi or Coke? Instagram or TikTok? What’s your favorite ‘this or that’ and which side do you choose?”

    I don’t read comics, I don’t drink soda, and I don’t use those social media platforms. I guess I get a job wearing a shirt with my name embroidered on it.

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      3. We, do as a society, take a lot of french fries and pills. And consuming either of those things can probably lead to consuming the other. Seems like a couple of symbiotic industries.

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  11. Hi Jim, are these essay questions for all college course or just select ones. I can’t, for example, see what the purpose of asking such questions of an accounting learner would be. Creative writing or art or other creative course would make more sense to me unless the aim is problem solving, but these questions are very obscure.

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  13. I would hate having to answer any of those stupid questions. I guess I’m not creative or quirky enough to get into an expensive college. Which is okay, since I went to a cheap community college, then finished my degree through taking ACT-PEP and GRE exams. My degree only cost me a few thousand dollars, and I had no student debt when I finished it. I may be an inside-the-box thinker, but at least I know how to keep my money inside my wallet.

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    1. I am a big fan of community college, and going to one was my best higher ed experience. I don’t recall having to write an essay to start taking classes…
      and what a great feeling to have no student debt!

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      1. Community college was a great experience. I was 18 when I started, but many of my classmates were well into their 20s, and a few were elderly. So there was a level of maturity that was much higher than found in a high school classroom. There were no dorms, or any of the restrictive rules of traditional colleges, and the campus always seemed like a safe place.

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      2. one of our local community colleges did offer some limited student housing options, partnering with a local college that had some excess capacity. there are pros and cons of living in a dorm, but overall, I’d say I loved my time living in a dorm.

        And I agree, there is a good deal of diversity among the students at a community college…

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  14. Being rather an unimaginative, realist sort of person, I would be going nuts trying to write an essay in response to most of those. It’s rather like a job interview I had once, where the interviewer asked, “If you could be any kind of an animal, what would you be?” I asked her what that had to do with my accounting skills, or how that would give her an idea of my qualifications for the position I was applying? She very sternly said, “Just answer the question, please.” So, I said … my dog. She asked why, and I said, “Because I spoil him rotten.” Needless to say, I did not get that job and didn’t really care!

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    1. I agree that they would be fun questions to answer, but I’m not so sure I want something as critical as a college admission decison dependent on such questions. and well done with your response to the wisdom tooth response!

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  16. I love answering questions of any kind. Once I received a response from a Director of Admissions that congratulated me on my creativity but pointed out that I did not have the credentials to be accepted and to apply again when it was time for grad school. That was more thrilling than a few acceptances.

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  17. When the Where’s Waldo books first came out, they were an elementary teacher’s nightmare. It was all my students wanted to check out from the library. It may have been the only time I made a library rule in my career. I’m opposed to the banning of all books, including this series. That didn’t stop me from telling kids that they must get at least one reading book in addition to their Where’s Waldo book. In addition, I did not want to see them utilized in our daily silent “reading” time in class.

    I’ll bet you’re a fan of the University of Chicago prompts as they are definitely quirky. Now I’m stuck wondering about my wisdom teeth’s feelings. 🤣

    Tutoring vs. torturing children made me laugh aloud.

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    1. I think your library rule was a clever solution. I imagine it’s no longer a fad.

      I like the prompts, but maybe not for something as important as making a college admission decision.

      and the tutoring line was a classic…

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  18. “If you got stuck taking Prof. Borden for an accounting class, what would you do to stay awake for class?” No, but because it’s accounting not because of your teaching skills lol.
    Some of these questions are quite interesting and I would definitely be interested in reading your short answers to them.

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    1. there are some good questions here, but I wouldn’t want to answer them as part of something as important as a college application…

      I think the combo of me and accounting is the perfect sleep aid!

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      1. Haha yeah I wouldn’t want them on my college application, I think it’s more like a fun quiz more than anything.

        Lol I don’t think your students would agree, I’m sure they love your class!

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  19. This was fascinating! Actually, I remember a fellow college student in ’70 who had applied to another college as a transfer student, and told everyone about the application. It was simply one question: “Read the following story. What is the flaw?” The story tells of a man who goes to church and falls asleep in the pew during the sermon. He has a detailed dream of being captured during the French Revolution and taken to the guillotine. As his head is being placed and the guillotine, the blade drops in his dream, his head falls against the back of the pew. He dies.

    I remember this story like it was yesterday! I’m sure you can guess the flaw, although none of us could back in the day. I’m glad these brainy questions are still part of the college application process.

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    1. hmmm… not sure if the flaw is one in logic, (his head wouldn’t fall against a pew during his dream) or simply grammar, with the use of the word “and” after “placed”, instead of the word “in”?

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    1. Thanks, Renard. I think they would be fun to respond to, but I’m not sure I would want my response to such questions used as part of something as important as a college admission decision…

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  21. Hi Jim. Here’s my belated welcome back. I missed your more humorous and thought-provoking posts, like this one! Looking forward to your responses and really curious about Villanova’s.

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    1. thanks; it’s good to be back. I just checked what Villanova’s essay questions are, and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I could find them on the web, along with guidance on how to answer them! They seem pretty challenging – I think I might prefer the ones I shared in this post! Here is the link if you are curious: https://www.collegeessayadvisors.com/supplemental-essay/villanova-university-2022-23-supplemental-essay-prompt-guide/

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