What's the consensus on using common acronyms

[Apollo8]

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On the secondaries I often find myself wanting to use common acronyms such as 'DIY'
I certainly would feel weird putting "do-it-yourself", etc no one talks that way
What about when a school refers to themselves in the secondary only through their acronym, such as "FIU"
Am i then okay to go ahead and start off using only "FIU" or should i still do something like... "Florida International University (FIU) "

 

[doc05]

why would you use DIY on a secondary?
have you EVER taken an English course? Why is this even a question?

 

[doctorleospaceman]

On the secondaries I often find myself wanting to use common acronyms such as 'DIY'
I certainly would feel weird putting "do-it-yourself", etc no one talks that way
What about when a school refers to themselves in the secondary only through their acronym, such as "FIU"
Am i then okay to go ahead and start off using only "FIU" or should i still do something like... "Florida International University (FIU) "

DIY I would personally write out but it won't be grounds for rejection. As for the university name, I usually write it out the first time and then use the acronym in the rest of the essay.

 

[Apollo8]

why would you use DIY on a secondary?
have you EVER taken an English course? Why is this even a question?

Don't quite get the aggression but i guess the word just upsets you.....?

Yes I've taken 4 English courses. Clearly, still, English is a weak area of mine. Hence my asking.......
I would use diy meaning "do-it-yourself" to describe projects I've undertaken. Is that inappropriate for some reason?


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[LizzyM]

Please keep in mind that the readers of your secondaries could be M3 or M4 medical students, physicians between the ages of 30 and 85, medical school faculty in areas such as anatomy, bioethics, medical anthropology, public health, sociology of higher education, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology. Aside from DNA, EKG, and maybe CPR, there really are no acronyms that are "common" enough that everyone would recognize them. Even DIY might be foreign to some readers who aren't familiar. OMG! LOL! Spell it out. Don't piss off an old coot who doesn't get it.

If the school calls itself FIU, then go with it. Just be careful if you reuse the essay that you don't leave that name in there and send it to another school.

 

[Apollo8]

Please keep in mind that the readers of your secondaries could be M3 or M4 medical students, physicians between the ages of 30 and 85, medical school faculty in areas such as anatomy, bioethics, medical anthropology, public health, sociology of higher education, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology. Aside from DNA, EKG, and maybe CPR, there really are no acronyms that are "common" enough that everyone would recognize them. Even DIY might be foreign to some readers who aren't familiar. OMG! LOL! Spell it out. Don't piss off an old coot who doesn't get it.

If the school calls itself FIU, then go with it. Just be careful if you reuse the essay that you don't leave that name in there and send it to another school.

Thank you very much for your feedback, I appreciate the help. That put it into perspective for me.


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[mistafab]

Just for further help - if the school is called "Chicken Cheese School of Medicine" you can write:

Chicken Cheese School of Medicine is right were I want to be. Chicken Cheese has a program that I feel fits my learning style and values well. I love Chicken Cheese. Please accept me.

I wouldn't use CCSOM in the essay.

 

[Psai]

Some of us are so old we had to watch TV by candle light as kid. Heck, we used to have to get up and change the channel

You can afford a tv but not a light bulb?

 

[LizzyM]

Some of us are so old we had to watch TV by candle light as kid. Heck, we used to have to get up and change the channel

You had more than one channel! Fancy!

 

[Catalystik]

Some of us are so old we had to watch TV by candle light as kid. Heck, we used to have to get up and change the channel

I bet you even had to rearrange the "rabbit ears" to defuzz in each channel to which you changed.

 

[Catalystik]

Rabbit ears? we couldn't afford no rabbit ears. Had to make do with the ears of a big Brooklyn rat. Come to think of it, probably were bigger then a rabbit

We used tinfoil and metal wire hangers. They didn't eat as much.

 

[Toutie]

Some of us are so old we had to watch TV by candle light as kid. Heck, we used to have to get up and change the channel

And the TV was only black and white!

 

[partypantss]

On the secondaries I often find myself wanting to use common acronyms such as 'DIY'
I certainly would feel weird putting "do-it-yourself", etc no one talks that way
What about when a school refers to themselves in the secondary only through their acronym, such as "FIU"
Am i then okay to go ahead and start off using only "FIU" or should i still do something like... "Florida International University (FIU) "

For the school name part, I've heard before a good rule is that if THEY say FIU in the secondary prompt, than you are free to. If they don't, then you can still do the whole "writing it out the first time, including the acronym in parenthesis and then using the acronym the rest of the time" thing.

 

[Crayola227]

there is a good rule of thumb -- if in any doubt about whether or not you should spell it out (hey that rhymed!!) than spell it out

 

[P0ke]

Just for further help - if the school is called "Chicken Cheese School of Medicine" you can write:

Chicken Cheese School of Medicine is right were I want to be. Chicken Cheese has a program that I feel fits my learning style and values well. I love Chicken Cheese. Please accept me.

I wouldn't use CCSOM in the essay.

Now that's my kind of med school