riverripper wrote:
A stellar essay is one that the adcoms remember. If you are a borderline candidate profile wise and your essays are memorable (in a good way) when it comes time to fill up the rest of the class you are going to have people pulling for you.
The last thing you want to do is be forgettable. Having ones that would work for 500 other people probably isn't a good way to have "stellar" essays either.
But river, in this case how would you define "stellar"?
An essay that is lucid and presents the ideas in vivid detail, or
An essay that is filled with creativity and imagination, or
An essay that according to kryzak is like enduring root canal (too technical, boring, but very planned and answers questions to the point).
I believe a good essay is one that answers the question correctly. Correctly as in leaving no doubts in the ad-com's mind and not making anyone pose "but, if, why" questions.
I agree that the essay has to make a positive impression on the reader's mind. It has to be strong to make the reader go wow.. that was good