Newest College Application Essays

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...

The piano is predictable. If I hit the right key, it will play the same note every time, and if I play a song correctly, there will always be harmony. Life is unpredictable and always changing; thus, the piano is a logical safe haven. The piano is...

My favorite word is “family”.

I grew up seeing my family slowly falling apart. My parents too often argued intensely, my dad imposed violence on my mom, and they got divorced eventually.

My dad was not there to protect me from getting hurt. My mom...

It tasted like jet fuel. But that didn’t surprise me, after all, I was kissing the tarmac at Ben-Gurion International Airport, as is customary upon arrival in Israel. What did surprise me, however, was that it wasn’t the type of high-octane fuel I...

I come from a small town in a small world; but this small world has a window, beyond which lays a larger world that I have quietly been watching ever since I can remember. From this world a dream was born of seeing new places, meeting new people,...

The soccer ball is coming right at my face, I flinch momentarily and it bounces off me into my own goal. What have I done? In short, I have most likely just caused my team to lose the game, and all because I moved a bit to the right. In the...

From an early age, I have always questioned what surrounds me and yearned to further comprehend my understanding of life’s bountiful mysteries. As I grew older and my educational opportunities arose, I took advantage of what I was given and have...

Confucius once stated, “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” This quotation has inspired me to strive for and accomplish all the...

A degree from the Fuqua School of Business would uniquely position me to be competitive and allow me to reach my professional goals. I first learned about Duke’s focus on social entrepreneurship while speaking with a colleague of mine who had...

I believe that my nonprofit experience will allow me to bring a level of depth and understanding to the field in which I eventually hope to work, as well as bring a unique perspective to my class. The importance of community or public service and...

Upon entering the classroom, my wandering eyes were unfocused, taking in all of the unfamiliar sights: the poster covered walls, the neatly organized desks, and the blue alphabet rug. Twenty children squirmed in their desks, giggling and...

My mother asked me to get the mail – nothing that abnormal. But when I got the mail there was a letter for me from People to People. I opened it immediately out of curiosity, and it said that I had the opportunity to explore England and France. I...

Kicking rocks as I trudged down the windy path to my undesired destination, I heard my dad loading the obnoxious sounding cars onto the ramp. Every time I looked at the vehicle I was being forced to ride in, I couldn't help but be embarrassed. My...

I’ve been a lot of different people in my seventeen years of life. I’ve been a tap dancing mouse chased by shrieking female cats, a 1950s teenager with greased-back hair, a sailor on 24-hour shore-leave in New York City seeking love and a good...

I wish I could do it all but I’m no superwoman; I’m just an ordinary girl with 24 hours a day. Deciding to write and direct for DramaFest, an intra-school Drama competition, meant sacrificing other clashing commitments including leading in...

My next target is the mailman.

I wait patiently as he draws near—I am prepared. A few minutes later, he hands me a dollar in exchange for a cup of lemonade.

Mission accomplished.

I have always been fascinated by the business world. To me, nothing...

1:16AM.

The taxi system in Shanghai is active all around the clock, so I’m in no rush. My eyes scan the luggage conveyor belt and, soon enough, I have my suitcase and make my way onto the taxi platform. I hail a blue cab, tell the driver my...

Zhu Qin, a peasant girl who had been isolated from civilization her entire life, knew nothing of the world that existed beyond the mountains. Not a single person in her family had had any prior education whatsoever; nobody was able to even write...

The fan is chugging away overhead, desperately fighting off the heat that Jinhua’s summers are infamous for.

But I am oblivious: I’m finishing my drawing of Mickey Mouse. With pencil in hand, markers sprawled about, and a new book of cartoon...

Just like many others, I've spent my life hearing the hackneyed phrase “actions speak louder than words.” Based on personal experience, however, I've decided that I disagree. I believe that words are magic. Not magic in the conventional sense; a...