For example, stories like this: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmi ... sh-to-see/.

Sometimes, some applicants are just so memorable that you just can't resist sharing their stories with professor X and school Y, maybe over a beer.

admissionprof wrote:The most interesting excuse was someone who said they did poorly because the person next to them kept farting for the entire exam. Not sure what to make of it (but we said no since their grades were also pretty awful)....
admissionprof wrote: Another referred to us as "put name of institution here".
Sure hope I applied to admissionprof's school so I can be on this list in 5 years. *ahem*admissionprof wrote:Some stories (ALL of these were more than 5 years ago):
Most memorable excuse for not taking the GRE (from the mid 90s): The testing center was destroyed by NATO fighter jets the week before the exam, so we couldn't figure out where to take it.
Most interesting grade: A D- in "Human Sexuality--Lab section". (we accepted them immediately)
Most transparent lie: I took the Physics GRE in late August, but they must have lost it. (it isn't offered in late August).
Best sentence in an SOP (from a Chinese student)--after telling us how they became interested in science as a young child watching the light rays from the Sun go through a hanging prism, and doing various experiments, "My bedroom experiments taught me a lot about the proper use of my hands".
Worst application: Student had a 1.8 GPA and said that they hoped to get off probation and graduate by May.
Biggest eye-roller: A white South-African student who claimed to be African-American
Biggest forehead banger: A student who was using the same SOP but changing the name of the institution forgot to make the change in several places, and ended up with four different institutions mentioned. Another referred to us as "put name of institution here".
I did that last year in one of my Personal statements. Realized it later on as I was editing it for another school. This year I made sure to only include the school's name in the last paragraph.admissionprof wrote:Biggest forehead banger: A student who was using the same SOP but changing the name of the institution forgot to make the change in several places, and ended up with four different institutions mentioned. Another referred to us as "put name of institution here".
My personal favorite.admissionprof wrote: Most memorable excuse for not taking the GRE (from the mid 90s): The testing center was destroyed by NATO fighter jets the week before the exam, so we couldn't figure out where to take it.