Tufts has a problem shared by most competitive universities: After it rejects the weak and admits the geniuses, too many decent applicants remain — about three for every spot. Recommendations and polished essays “all pretty much say the same things,” says Lee Coffin, dean of undergraduate admissions.

So for the second year, Tufts is inviting applicants to write an optional essay to help admissions officers pinpoint qualities the university values — practical intelligence, analytical ability, creativity and wisdom. These attributes make students intellectual leaders, according to Tufts’s dean of arts and sciences, Robert J. Sternberg, a psychologist whose work on measuring intelligence inspired the experiment. Applicants choose one of eight unlabeled questions, each designed to home in on a different attribute. Questions will change every year.

In the last admissions cycle, Mr. Coffin says, only a third of the essayists demonstrated one of the four qualities. They were twice as likely to be admitted as other applicants. Below are examples of each quality, as illustrated by members of this fall’s freshman class.

Practicality

Tufts’s Definition Can implement an idea — gather the necessary resources, attract others to the cause and lead them to a solution.
Question Describe a moment in which you took a risk and achieved an unexpected goal. How did you persuade others to follow your lead? What lessons do you draw from this experience?
Good Answer My family owns a vacant town home, so at our weekly family meeting I suggested we offer it to a Katrina family. When my father contacted the homeowners’ association, we received a certified letter from them stating that a Katrina family was prohibited from living in our town home because the bylaws prohibit “transients.” ... I called the local newspaper and talked to a reporter about the Katrina family. ... When the board considered their racist position being printed in the newspaper, the morality of the issue was forced on them.
What Tufts Said She does not sit back and watch life go by. Academically, she is not the strongest applicant from this school, but she has very compelling personal qualities, initiative and drive.

Analitical Ability

Tufts’s definition Can assess an idea for its feasibility and logic.
Question An American adage states that “curiosity killed the cat.” If that is correct, why do we celebrate people like Galileo, Lincoln and Gandhi, individuals who imagined longstanding problems in new ways or who defied conventional thinking to achieve great results?
Good answer While we celebrate the great thinkers who challenged predominant beliefs in the past, we hypocritically criticize those who do the same today. Gay marriage advocates are criticized today as threatening the institution of marriage. ...This ironic situation emanates from the fact that human nature finds comfort in conformity.
What Tufts said His teacher recommendation says he embraces critical thinking. His essay highlights that. It reveals a well-reasoned, opinionated and grounded student.

Creativity

Tufts’s definition Can think outside the box.
Question Create a short story using one of these topics: “The End of MTV,” “Confessions of a Middle School Bully,” “The Professor Disappeared” or “The Mysterious Lab.”
Good answer “Hey Ugly,” I think I called her ... and the laughter rolled softly like twin tympanies behind me, and she hiccuped. But now I felt a beat — I knelt in the seat, started to preach ugly to the assembled crowd — we had a 20-piece band now, I was walking, playing the bus, like Louie A on a red-hot horn, burning right through the solo of Opus 1.
What Tufts said Her essay takes the form of an opus, a very original construct. She weaves her orchestral experience in as she turns the bus into a faux orchestra pit.

Wisdom

Tufts’s definition Can assess an idea for service to the common good.
Question A high school curriculum does not always afford much intellectual freedom. Describe one of your unsatisfied intellectual passions. How might you apply this interest to serve the common good and make a difference in society?
Good answer I love Shakespeare not only for the deliciousness of language, but for its applicability to current events. Political instability and rapidly changing leadership in the Congo? Macbeth draws shocking parallels. Race relations in South Africa causing unrest? Sounds like Othello. Since many people in India, and Africa, and Latin America can’t afford to read or attend plays, I want to take Shakespeare to them.
What Tufts said She personifies the concept of intellectual citizenship. She’s taken what she knows and loves and formed a creative and unique idea she hopes to use to enrich the lives of others.