Humor in Essays: detrimental or no?

[mvervaine]

does anyone have an opinion on whether humor is a good/bad thing in writing secondary essays?

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[PimplePopperMD]

Generally, you need to realize that medicine is a conservative field. Your humor may break up 75% of the people, but you don't want to alienate the other 25%...

I really had a problem with this; my undergrad essays were great, and i was proud of them.

my med school essays were polished, but conservative.

now, i'm doing my residency applications, and the essay i'm writing is SOOOOO conservative. i can't even let my personality shine through. but honestly, that's the trend...

don't be too funny, man... wait to show it off in your interview.

 

[none]

Go conservative all the way, avoid both humor and intense drama. Imagine you are reading your essay to somebody's great-grandmother.

 

[X]

error on the side of conservatism, but use it sparingly. Just make sure it is used correctly, it is not a funny essay, but at the same time it will make the essay less of the boring usual stuff. I say for something like a personal statement, 1 or 2 funny things and that's it.

X

 

[Vader]

It's fine to use some humor. However, don't use anything too off-color. And your essay should have a serious side too.

 

[Spiderman [RNA Ladder 2003]]

my PS is just one big joke. Just kidding. I just put one funny thing.