nyu college essay i am a dynamic figure

How Hugh Gallagher Got Into NYU... (his actual essay)

<p>I dunno if any of you guys have ever come across this, but its supposedly the guy’s actual essay. Haha I think its cool… too bad i wasnt creative enough to come up with something like that…</p>

<p>some extra info if you wanna read up on it: <a href=“ http://www.annonline.com/interviews/980223/biography.html[/url] ”> http://www.annonline.com/interviews/980223/biography.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt ;

<p>The following was taken from an actual application for admission to NYU (New York University)</p>

<p>NYU Essay: In order for the admissions staff of our college to get to know you, the applicant, better, we ask that you answer the following question: are there any significant experiences you have had, or accomplishments you have realized, that have helped to define you as a person?</p>

<p>Gallagher 's Essay:</p>

<p>I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.</p>

<p>Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.</p>

<p>I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.</p>

<p>Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants.</p>

<p>I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.</p>

<p>I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller ‘number nine’ and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400.</p>

<p>My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.</p>

<p>I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.</p>

<p>I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven.</p>

<p>I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.</p>

<p>But I have not yet gone to college.</p>

<p>Wow, that was pretty hillarious and a very unique (yet ballsy) thing to do. Good for him. Just goes to show that risk taking can pay off.</p>

<p>u know…everyone raves and raves about this essay…i personally do not see why it is so good…stringing a bunch of “creative” sentences together is much easier than writing an actual personal statement…</p>

<p>It’s over-rated. Definitely.</p>

<p>Humor is pretty hard to write effectively.</p>

<p>its so overrated</p>

<p>It’s an incredible essay, but it wasn’t written for admission into NYU. It won the scholastic writing competition in 1990 + was later reprinted in Harpers.</p>

<p>More info here: <a href=“ http://www.annonline.com/interviews/980223/biography.html[/url] ”> http://www.annonline.com/interviews/980223/biography.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt ;

<p>Then why is it described in that article as his college application essay?</p>

<p>Oops, I didn’t post the right link. “This is a copy of an essay that was written by Hugh Gallagher. The urban myth is that is that it was submitted by him for consideration in admission to NYU. The truth is, that this essay earned Mr. Gallagher first place in Scholastic Inc.'s high school writing contest in 1990.”</p>

<p><a href=“ http://www.utdallas.edu/~thib/fm_wav.html[/url] ”> http://www.utdallas.edu/~thib/fm_wav.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt ;

<p>EDIT: HOWEVER, apparently that it was an urban legend, was itself an urban legend: <a href=“ University of York ”> http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/joke/essay.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt ;

<p>Gallagher says he did send it to colleges.</p>

<p>its not even that funny seriously…6 teachers gave me a copy of this essay last week when i asked them for some advice on essays…SIX…its getting annoying…</p>

<p>it may have worked here, but being cute only goes so far in the real world.</p>

<p>I want to meet that kid!</p>

<p>shiet my essays no where as creative as that. mine’s really str8 foward. I hope my very humble essay will suffice.</p>

<p>you ever hear the urban legend about the guy who, in his philosophy final, answered the exam’s only question, “Whis is courage?”, with two words?</p>

<p>This is.</p>

<p>That rocks.</p>

<p>“This is”</p>

<p>i heard that someone wrote “this is” to the college ap question, what’s the biggest risk you’ve taken?</p>

<p>All those stupid replies to papers are ridiculous. Just look up Snopes, there’s a dozen of them. </p>

<p><a href=“ http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/exam.asp[/url] ”> http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/exam.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt ;

<p>fack those pple are ingenious</p>

<p>essays make up maybe .1% of NYU’s decision. dont stress.</p>

<p>I got that in class</p>

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The Ultimate College Application Essay