Cave Crickets and Supplemental Essays: What are They?
In the midst of a particularly harried morning before school with Big Sister and Little Sister, I realized all of our masks were waiting in the dryer after being washed the night before. Thanks 2020. So as the girls loaded into the car I ran down to the basement to grab the masks. I made it to the dryer and reached for the dryer door when one of those cave cricket, spider/cricket things started jumping at me in an insect version of a West Side Story dance fight. It seemed to have decided the dryer door was its turf. What are those things anyway? They have various names and I am not sure which one is scientifically correct. My favorite name for them is “yellow bellied roach crickets”, which is what my neighbor calls them. I don’t know where he got that name but it seems to capture the enigma of this creature. Years ago we called an exterminator to treat the basement as we were particularly worried about an increase in spiders and Little Sister was in the crawling stage. My husband loves to tell the story of the exterminator checking out a dark corner when an erratically jumping cave cricket advanced toward the exterminator dude who let out a high pitched scream. I am laughing even now as I am writing this.
But seriously what do weird basement bugs have to do with college admissions?
Here are my thoughts. Students, you’re going along minding your own business chipping away at the all important personal statement which can be one of those most high brain power using parts of the application. When suddenly (like the yellow bellied roach cricket) a supplemental essay jumps out at you! What do you do? Run for your life? Call an exterminator? Panic text your BFF? No need to emit a high pitched scream, although texting your BFF for moral support could be helpful. My questions about supplemental essays are the same ones I have about my basement bug tenants. 1) What are they? 2) What is their purpose? and 3) How should I handle them?
1)What are they?
Here are some examples of short answer supplemental essays on some applications this fall: Name 3 songs from your perfect playlist (30 word limit). Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning (250 word limit). Tell us more about your cultural background or identity (150 word limit). And just like cave crickets, sprickets and yellow bellied roach crickets, these essays have many names depending on which university’s application you are looking at. They are known as supplemental essays, short essays and on the Elon University application it just says “Think Fast” and lists 3 short questions.
2) What is their purpose?
Universities and colleges understand that students are very much trying to give the “right” answers in their personal statement and live up to a standard that they believe the application readers are looking for. The short answer questions are a way to give students permission to step out of that box for a brief moment. It is a time to “Think Fast,” express yourself and be vulnerable as you reveal a snapshot of who you are in your 17 or 18 year old personhood.
3) How should you handle them?
While it would be impossible to address a strategy for each of the supplemental essays you may encounter, the over arching theme is: handle it exactly like you do when you encounter a cave cricket using all of its tiny insect power to keep you from the dryer door. Remember why you came (to be admitted to the university of your choice.) Don’t let a tiny essay keep you from your dreams or dryer door in my case. Get in, get out, get the job done. Now is the time to text your BFF to discuss your playlist. Call Aunt Sheila to ask more about the biscuits and gravy recipe (hint hint- cultural background essay) and remember that time you geeked about that snail you found hiding in the rocks underneath your porch which resulted in going down an internet rabbit hole about snail habitats (hint hint- genuinely excited about learning essay).
Cave crickets and supplemental essays are both unexpected but figureoutable.
For further reading about these insects: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/pests/spider-crickets/