Newest College Application Essays

I was five years old when I first had my hair "burned" at a beauty salon. There I was, not even knowing how to properly spell "hairdresser" and I probably knew more about the process than a thirty year old white woman. You're probably wondering...

Two broken brushes and an empty spray bottle of water later, I am left with a less than curly, more than straight, brown mane. I turn to my mom's drawer of worn-away labels of mostly expired, nearly empty bottles of ancient hair products. I...

“It’s okay! Just breathe!” I said to myself in an attempt to suppress my unfaltering anxiety. I restlessly skimmed the pictures in a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, typical of me during independent reading. All the while I kept my head down,...

Every human being loves being comfortable. Whether it's napping on the good couch or wearing sweatpants on Sunday, comfort is bliss. But what if I said that I help to save the world while being comfortable? It might sound unbelievable, but...

“TZX Corp will buy Tyler’s store in a cash for stock transaction. Consider external economic factors and anti-trust regulations.”

Cases like these at the DECA International Career Development Conference pushed me beyond my comfort zone, and helped...

At 7:30 am we set off. My father and I wove back and forth over damp rocks, climbed stairs, and slalomed cairns until the first glimpse of our destination — a cell tower — broke through the grey sky. Adrenaline pumping and boots racing at the...

I refused to leave Sedona, Arizona, home to a "spiritual vortex," without visiting at least one of the city's renowned psychics. Sharing my spirited lust for travel, my mom brought my sisters and me to "Sedona Center for the New Age," where I was...

As the clipboard passes from one set of hands to the next, a bizarre sensation drifts from person to person. A fantastic glimmer of passion and excitement. An assuring whisper of creativity and vision. The pen and paper reach me, and I glance down...

My curiosity in advanced statistics began with a question that plagues basketball fans everywhere: why are the Blazers signing unproven players to enormous contracts? These players weren’t stars in the past, and only played marginal roles on their...

Humans constantly find beauty in symmetry. The scientific community initially scoffed at mathematician George David Birkhoff in the early twentieth century when he claimed that people naturally find simple art most appealing when it has...

The sun warms my frozen skin, and the granite flecked with pine needles and ants is rough under my beach towel. Gratefully I accept an apple and a piece of baguette with cheese from my father, and reluctantly pass the bag of trail mix resplendent...

If you prick us do we not bleed? If you stab us do we not die?

I cry out in pain, despair and anger, every nerve of my upper torso tensed up. The flood lights trip. The spotlight - amidst the darkness - illuminates my presence as Shylock, in The...

It was 2 AM. As my fingers moved across the keyboard, words sprang onto the surface of my laptop screen like drops of tar. Word count revealed that I had only written 500 words today. Unacceptable. Stephen King averaged 2000 words a day. I had to...

If I had to describe the culture of my family in one word, it would be "resilient." Every year, my father gets a new assignment... fight in the skies above Iraq, train future pilots in Mississippi, advise a four star general in Hawaii, and now,...

I come from a culture where everything, from the language to the way one dances, is rhythmical. Everything flows freely in the mind, everything makes sense, and nothing is inhibited. I feel this sense of absolute free flow when I push the sole of...

Since I was a toddler, my father has taken me sailing on the Long Island Sound. As I grew older, I began to ask questions. How do the sails move the boat forward? Why isn’t the boat pushed over by the wind? After ten years of asking questions, I...

I carefully stepped down the steep gravel hill, making my way to the riverbank for my very first crew practice. The early March air chilled my skin and whipped my hair. I was nervous: each rocky step took me closer to a mass of athletic limbs, all...

The chilly air of the California winter tingled across my face, my arms filled with dolls, bears, and toy cars. I cautiously trudged past the stores, making sure to not drop anything. I slipped. Before I knew it, the toys had all tumbled to the...

I clutched my binder and walked to the front of the room. This defense would be tough. A bill legalizing same‐sex marriage had never been passed at conference. With a nod, the chair silently granted me permission to speak. My lips parted, the...

Immediately after placing the finishing touches on my homework, I grab my headphones and rush downstairs to the small, confined room that stows my drum kit. I proceed to “jam out” to a plethora of music, including Jazz, Rock, and Samba. The...

It’s been three years. The edges of the photo are soft now, and the colors have dimmed. It has been worn thin and fragile, and there is a deepening crease down its center from the years it spent folded between my fingers. I don't usually keep...

All it took were fourteen words to obliterate twelve years of passion. It had all been taken from me.

As I sat in the cold hard chair across from the neurologist's desk, I heard her voice, but I didn't want to. Her words were a blur, as if my ears...

I'm standing in the arena, facing my opponent. Hands on guard and ready to fight, fists clenched and sweat dripping down my fingers. In the distance, I hear the command, "fight!" The match has begun.

Sparring, kata, sweeps, hooks, and grabs had...

This is the balcony that extends into infinite dimensions. Inside: paintings and the smell of dusk. Lined against the tiled walls are canvases both void and filled. A soft light overhead. There is something extremely calming about occupying this...