Newest College Application Essays

Hair a mess, eyelids heavy, and bags under her eyes: every day I would see my mom come home, looking like this, tired from a day’s load of work. My mother, who had me at a young age, was forced to raise and support me all on her own. Where was my...

“The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts but learning how to make facts live,” said Oliver Wendell Holmes. Anyone can pass a history test by memorizing the facts. Anyone can follow an essay format and make an A....

From the first day, one thing became painfully obvious--if I didn’t get moving, I would get run over. It started off easy; I made sure to travel in the right direction. The tempo was slow. It was a cinch to fix a mistake without being noticed or...

As I'm sitting criss-cross on my bed, my cats curl up beside me, purring quietly. There's music playing in the background softly, the melodious kind that floats through the air. It's so calming that eventually I don't realize there's music playing...

Ernest Hemingway once said, “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” From going through twelve years of schooling so far, I’ve learned things far beyond the realm of the classroom setting...

Miles inward from the shimmering white beaches of Hawaii, I trekked along beaten island roads to my destination - a small animal refuge playfully named the “Boo Boo Zoo.” As the car pulled up, a heterogeneous mix of cats and chickens inhabited the...

From past to present, and soon to be my future, my development into a young adult has blossomed me into a witty and hard-working lady. As an Army child, my family moved around from base to base quite a bit; some can say my mindset is nomadic....

When asked how to get to Carnegie Hall, a wise musician replied simply, “Practice.” Although I did plenty of practicing leading up to playing at Carnegie Hall, it was performing in New York that launched me towards true musicianship. The first...

I get off of the train into the piercingly cold winter morning, anxious, not knowing what to expect. "So who am I supposed to be looking for?" I think as I nervously scan my surroundings. After a draining 20 hour flight and train ride to get to a...

As I strode into that all-too familiar gym, the memory of last year's defeat was still fresh in my mind. The court loomed ahead, lying smugly as if it were already aware of the game's outcome. The CIF Volleyball Championship poster smirked at us...

On Sunday nights, I take out my favorite fountain pen and write letters. The letters vary by week. Sometimes I use store bought stationery; other times my words are casually scrawled on index cards. The recipients vary, too. Many have received...

TAKE THE ONE QUESTION ROOMMATE QUIZ TO SEE IF WE’RE COMPATIBLE!

Your ideal roommate is similar to you because she:

a) is an athlete who loves waking up for early morning runs and lives for her next adrenaline rush.

b) likes drinking hot chocolate and...

It didn’t take me long to figure out my family wasn’t the typical white picket fence American family. Both my parents immigrated to the United States from China. Neither of my parents pursued a college education—my dad dropped out of high school...

It’s an uncomfortable topic. It makes people squirm in their seats. Avoid eye contact. Talk in hushed voices.

Suicide.

This year it was a fellow classmate, whom I never got to know. A year ago, it was a young middle school student who rode my bus....

Out of breath, I settle down in my three point stance. Everyone on the line is pointing and yelling to say who they are blocking. On the snap of the ball I exert all my energy to push the other opponent into the ground. While football may seem...

There is a certain type of rebellion that is advantageous. It is the curiosity that cannot be tamed, the courage to challenge authority, and the tactfulness to make things happen. It knows no bounds, for the ambition exceeds personal potential....

I have always had a passion for reading. I was the child that co,uld not be found without a book pressed up against her nose. I was never the biggest, strongest, or the most athletically inclined student. With a book in hand I could become anyone...

The Siberian tiger roared and twisted his massive body as he pressed his paws against the chain-link fence. Miniscule dirt particles trickled from his raised paws while saliva strings dripped from his gaping mouth. I stood on the other side of the...

I am a goal-oriented person. I realized my passions long ago—to work in natural resources and conservation biology and to share the knowledge and experience I gain through writing. Influences such as John Muir, Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, and...

Life presents many mountains for us to face. From the very beginning, we are encouraged to persevere, to keep walking, to conquer each mountainous challenge we are faced with and put each behind us as just another life experience. However, as Muir...

I grew up surrounded by books. Old and new, cheap paperbacks and ancient hardbacks, crumbling pages bound in leather. When I was little, I would sit in front of the glass-fronted oak cases in our living room and let my eyes trail along endless...

For the past three years, I have been the diversity. Seventy-five percent of the students around me share in the Roman Catholic faith, while I am a devout Presbyterian. However, attending a Catholic school has not diverted me from my Presbyterian...

Thanks to the hundreds of different stories my relatives have told me, I have heard every side of the Yugoslav war and the fall of communism. Every side. On top of having a sense of these different perspectives, I have learned many interesting...

I will never forget the look of the freshly fallen, pure-white snow that blanketed the streets just outside the car when my mother said, “I don’t even consider you my son anymore.” The white snow was suddenly blinding, glaring at me with its...