# I pit Stanford's "Personal History Statement" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 27, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258 "2012-11-27T12:28:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/41 "2012-11-27T17:40:51Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > I’m not sure why you’re complaining. Shakespeare managed to write the entire play of Hamlet with just 19 characters. Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/42 "2012-11-27T17:55:10Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > I’m 29, quite a bit older than the average applicant. I grew up poor, went to a top university, dropped out, but got back up and finished. I’ve had a strange career path with internships, jobs and consulting positions in a university, 3 hospitals, no less than 10 biotechnology firms and even a U.S Air Force base. I’ve made good money, but learned it wasn’t what drove me. I gave away all my things and I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world with my life stuffed in nothing but a 35 pound backpack. This leaves you with a couple of hundred characters to explain your inability to stick with anything. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/43 "2012-11-27T18:18:51Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > So they can further their efforts promoting diversity. But you knew that. I don’t think you’re allowed to ask questions like this in Canada, and yet our universities seem pretty diverse. Maybe Stanford should make their school seem more appealing to different kinds of people. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/44 "2012-11-27T18:43:11Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > This leaves you with a couple of hundred characters to explain your inability to stick with anything. Well, I see how it can be taken that way. But I’ve always worked pretty much in the same field. Hence going for a Ph.D. Most of those gigs were the consulting positions. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/45 "2012-11-27T18:44:29Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Maybe Stanford should make their school seem more appealing to different kinds of people. Meh. Stanford has extremely high admissions standards and a 7% acceptance rate. I don’t see anything wrong with them allowing a small opportunity for people to express something about themselves that will help them stand out in some unique way, and recognize that a unique life experience (and not just hitting a number of specific demographic quotas) has value inside the classroom and on campus, yet seldom has a chance to be voiced on a standard application. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/46 "2012-11-27T18:50:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Meh. Stanford has extremely high admissions standards and a 7% acceptance rate. I don’t see anything wrong with them allowing a small opportunity for people to express something about themselves that will help them stand out in some unique way, and recognize that a unique life experience (and not just hitting a number of specific demographic quotas) has value inside the classroom and on campus, yet seldom has a chance to be voiced on a standard application. Yea. Stanford is pretty much a pipe dream anyway. But I wouldn’t forgive myself for not submitting an app. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/47 "2012-11-27T20:43:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > BTW, kids today have it _so_ much easier with this online common app thing. In my day we had to do separate applications for each school and we had to either hand-write the damned things or use an _actual typewriter_. Hee. One of my friends was musing about the application process and said, “Maybe that’s why I didn’t get into Harvard…the essay page had spots from the Buffalo wing I dropped on it.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/48 "2012-11-28T00:22:42Z")
How many characters in: “I’m a black Jewish Eskimo. My birth name is Lamarr Moische Tuk-Tuk.” ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/49 "2012-11-28T00:37:57Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > I’m not sure why you’re complaining. Shakespeare managed to write the entire play of Hamlet with just 19 characters. Yeah, 500 characters gets you into War and Peace territory. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/50 "2012-11-28T02:06:15Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > > [@Harmonix](#): > > > > \*\*Background:\*\*I’m 29, quite a bit older than the average applicant. I grew up poor, went to a top university, dropped out, but got back up and finished. I’ve had a strange career path with internships, jobs and consulting positions in a university, 3 hospitals, no less than 10 biotechnology firms and even a U.S Air Force base. I’ve made good money, but learned it wasn’t what drove me. I gave away all my things and I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world with my life stuffed in nothing but a 35 pound backpack. I could write just this tiny blurb, but I like to think that I actually have something to say that isn’t the same old trite crap. > > This leaves you with a couple of hundred characters to explain your inability to stick with anything. I second this. If all your jobs revolve around the thing you’re trying to get your doctorate in, that would tie everything together nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/51 "2012-11-28T06:32:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > How many characters in: > > “I’m a black Jewish Eskimo. My birth name is Lamarr Moische Tuk-Tuk.” Change this to, “I’m a **female** black Jewish Eskimo. My birth name is **Hedy** Lamarr Moische Tuk-Tuk.” Or possibly, “I’m a **gay** black Jewish Eskimo. My birth name is **Hedley** Lamarr Moische Tuk-Tuk.” ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/52 "2012-11-28T17:38:18Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Change this to, “I’m a **female** black Jewish Eskimo. My birth name is **Hedy** Lamarr Moische Tuk-Tuk.” > > Or possibly, “I’m a **gay** black Jewish Eskimo. My birth name is **Hedley** Lamarr Moische Tuk-Tuk.” Okay, I read the first part and was mildly :rolleyes: (“add one more ‘diverse’ quality and name, wouldn’t have seen that joke coming!”). Then I read the second part. Now your post is amazing! 😃 “That’s _Hedley_!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/53 "2012-11-28T18:20:31Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Okay, I read the first part and was mildly :rolleyes: (“add one more ‘diverse’ quality and name, wouldn’t have seen that joke coming!”). Then I read the second part. Now your post is amazing! 😃 > > “That’s _Hedley_!” Thank you! After posting, I suddenly worried whether someone would come along and take issue with Hedley being gay at all, but yours is a much more gratifying response. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Famous\_Burrito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_famous_burrito/32/3954_2.png) [@El\_Famous\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Famous_Burrito)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258/54 "2012-11-28T19:26:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Yep. tl;dnr [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-stanfords-personal-history-statement/642258.md?page=2)