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Dickinson  /  Essays  /  Prompt 2

Dickinson: The new experience question

50 words or less; optional

What is something new that you'd like to experience, learn or try that might surprise your friends and family?
What it’s really asking

Dickinson wants the version of you that the people closest to you would not predict. Optional, 50 words or less. Some third-party guides describe this as a 'private or aspirational interest' (skydiving, a solo road trip); the official phrasing emphasizes something new and surprising.

Why they ask it

Dickinson, with its strong study-abroad and try-something-new culture, is checking for openness and a willingness to step outside your known role. The 'surprise' framing nudges you past the obvious and toward genuine self-revelation.

Three ways in
The reputation contradiction

A skill or plan that clashes with how people see you: the quiet one who wants to do stand-up, the jock who wants to learn embroidery.

The quiet want

A place, language, or craft you have privately wanted to learn but never told anyone. Naming it here is the surprise.

The fear you would face

A small fear you would like to walk toward on purpose. Choosing discomfort says more about you than choosing comfort.

✕  Weak opening

“I would love to travel the world and experience new cultures someday.”

✓  Strong opening

“Everyone thinks I hate being looked at, so no one knows I want to learn to tap dance.”

✦ Annotated example · Learning to butcher. Written by EssayLens to teach, not a real applicant’s essay. Tap a highlighted line →
I want to learn to break down a whole fish. 1My family knows me as the kid who reads ingredient labels 2and won't touch raw meat, 3so a knife, a cutting board, and a salmon would scandalize everyone at our table. 4But I'm tired of only liking the safe, finished version of things. 5I want to start at the messy beginning.6
  1. 1Names something concrete and genuinely surprising, exactly what the prompt asks for, without straining for shock value.
  2. 2Builds the contrast that makes the wish a real surprise to people who know the writer.
  3. 3Self-aware admission of an apparent contradiction; honest rather than boastful.
  4. 4Specific image (knife, board, salmon) makes the surprise tangible and a little funny.
  5. 5Turns the small wish into a genuine value: a willingness to be a beginner, which the school rewards.
  6. 6Short closing line crystallizes the motive and gives the answer a clear shape.
Stuck? Start here
  • What would the people who know you best bet that you would never do?
  • What have you wanted to try but talked yourself out of?
  • What small fear would you like to face on purpose?
Before you submit
  • Have I set up the expectation so the surprise actually surprises?
  • Is this true, not just impressive-sounding?
  • Did I give a hint of why this matters to me, in the word count?

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