Brandeis is a private university located just outside of Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts. Named in honor of the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice (Louis Brandeis), the school maintains a strong secular Jewish identity. Brandeis has an acceptance rate of 29.9%, and slightly under 6,000 undergraduates.
They’ll ask for a singular supplemental essay that should be straightforward and somewhat fun to write. This is an easier one that will allow you to show off some of your humor and depth of personality--you get to enjoy this one and show off your quirks. Brandeis is also somewhat quirky--their quidditch team has won more awards than their football squad.
The Brandeis community is a diverse group of critical thinkers defined by their ability to dive deeper into their learning by questioning, analyzing, evaluating, creating, critiquing and seeking other perspectives. Share an example of how you have used your own critical thinking skills on a specific subject, project, idea or interest. (250 words max.)
This is just an awesome question--you get to step outside of the normal “Why ___ University” and write about something different for a change. Let’s try to have some fun with this one: put some humor into this for bonus points.
BRAINSTORMING
Simply put, this is how we always start. Try to think of a couple of times that you showed problem-solving skills, times when you were able to cut through the white noise to tackle a challenge. Think about your hobbies, interests, activities, and come up with some instances when you were able to think about things differently and resolve situations.
Find a couple of topics to choose from before writing--you could talk about fixing your mother’s lawnmower by cleaning out the engine, or about solving that chess problem that had eluded your brother for years. These anecdotes should be small: you can even write about solving your first Rubik's Cube. Don’t write about how you solved climate change: these situations should be relatable and realistic.
WRITING
Once you have a list of a couple anecdotes, choose the one you like the most and begin writing about it. You want to write about problems that seem difficult or tricky to manage--the more creative your solution, the better.
If you want to talk about that Rubik’s Cube, go into detail about how you first learned them to impress your friend. Write about how you felt when your friend learned the solution after watching you. Talk about how your competitiveness led you to compete in speed-solving races. Tell the reader how you won by greasing your cube with vaseline, improving your rotation speed by that crucial second.
Write about how confused your friend was when she tried your Rubik’s cube, how she took a couple of minutes to catch on to your advantage. Talk about how the next time she had vaselined her own cube, and write about that next trick you found to maintain that winning edge.
Find your best anecdote and write about it in detail: be sure to craft a narrative that really allows you to shine. Show your reader who you are--the student with the Rubik’s cube illustrated their problem-solving but also their competitiveness, their drive to succeed in everything. Make sure your problem is something tricky or interesting--you want the reader to finish this essay thinking about just how clever or ingenious your solution was.
REVIEWING
This is Brandeis’ only supplemental essay, so you’ll want it to be as close to perfect as possible. When you’ve finished writing it, be sure to review it with friends or a teacher--ask them if it makes sense, if it shows off your abilities in the best possible light. Edit it for grammar and clarity, and be concise--you only have 250 words.
Use your time and space to show Brandeis just how clever you are; illustrate how you solved one problem to let them know you’ll handle whatever comes your way if you’re admitted. We know you can do it--we outlined the solution above.
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