Q: To emphasize my point, and add some mysticism to it, I thought it would be prudent to begin my essay with a passage from a poem. So long as I clearly label the author, is there any problem in doing this for a college application essay? If an essay reader for a college came across this, would he/she have a problem with it? Also, how would I set this passage out from the rest of the essay if such a thing were allowed? What I have so far is the passage italicized with the author's name at the bottom (centered too). Then after a couple spaces, I plan to start my essay.
A: The purpose of Common Application is to know more about you. Therefore, it doesn't matter whether you put a picture, poem, video, video game...etc in your essay. The final important point they want is who you are. If you believe you can accomplish that objective, then you are fine. Considering that you are allowed to have a limited number of words in your essay, try to think through what you want to write. All the best!