The Stanford Supplement Short Essays - Question 2

Candidates must respond to all three questions/topics. Responses must be at least 250 words but should not exceed the space provided in the Supplement.

Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. What would you want your freshman year roommate to know about you? Tell us something about you that will help your roommate—and us—know you better.

I’m a pragmatic, but flexible person. I’ve lived in a hostel before, so speaking from experience it’s good to lay down the ground rules before we move in so we can respect each other’s way of life.

I’m a late nighter, so I hope you don’t mind the light burning late in our room. If you do, it’s no problem; there are always the common areas for me to set up camp in. I like getting actively involved in as many classes and activities as possible to experience more, so I’ll likely be back quite late every day, and possibly on the weekends as well.

I like tidiness, so to make cleaning convenient I generally bring only the bare necessities anywhere. If you prefer lots of additional decorations though, that’s fine with me. But let’s collaborate about what essentials we should bring, two microwaves would not be of much use; and a cleaning schedule so we’ll share the responsibilities for our room squarely.

You might be surprised to see me with a container full of colored markers and pens just after declaring myself a minimalist. Well, to me, these are my lifeline when I have a term paper or exam due the next week which requires a lot of brainstorming or memory work. I just hate desperately reciting the various steps of the Krebs cycle during breakfast before the exam. Luckily, some time ago I stumbled upon a jewel– Tony Buzan’s Mind Map book. The tactics within have allowed me to perform with minimal effort! I work smart – not hard – that’s my policy. If we share some courses, perhaps we could even split the mind mapping up and paste them in the room so we have less work but achieve the same results!

Well, that’s all you need to know about me before we live together. I’m sure we will find out more about each other’s idiosyncrasies when we meet in person. Adieu!