Newest College Application Essays

Roaring in the crowds of the 2008 Rose Bowl Stadium and immersed within a sea-of-gold-and-cardinal, I chanted with the Trojans to the USC Fight Song after the FIRST touchdown! That game, Trojans won against UCLA Bruins 28-7.

At 6-years-old, I was...

I grasped the empty, plastic one-gallon container within my right hand as I strolled towards the salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico, trying not to gain others' attention nor look awkward. It would seem unusual and strange to others when they see a...

All summer I had been speculating about the first day of high school, but not for the same reasons as my peers. While others were perfecting their “summer bods,” I was worried about one particular class and one particular teacher. As I took a...

From my upbringing in Northern Ireland, a small corner of the world, I’ve learnt that it’s possible to catch pneumonia and get sunburnt in the course of one afternoon, so I always over pack. So too have I discovered that “I’ll pop the kettle on”...

My legs were sprawled out on the bed as I lay texting my friends about the latest gossip, occasionally chuckling. From the corner of my eye, I saw a brown dot crawl up the inside layer of the curtain on my canopy bed. I felt my body stiffen into a...

I’m the heart of a million questions in your math textbook. Universally cursed, universally appreciated. I’m immensely thankful to have the privilege of enjoying a timeless celebrity status -the king of the Hollywood of mathematics. Don’t roll...

My path to West Point starts out grimly. It was the beginning of a new year, 2013, and I stood gazing at the shining medals on my grandfather’s chest. I stared at the medals intensely, as if I had just been handed a test I knew nothing about. I...

For as long as I can remember my mom has had this nickname for me. It may sound kind of strange, but she has always called me “Mommy”. While it may just be a nickname, I have always seen it as part of my identity.

My actual mom is no stranger to...

For as long as I can remember, my parents have always been insistent on taking photos whenever they got the chance. I used to find it annoying, always having to look at the camera, smile, and pose on demand, but now I realize the value of those...

The air in my grandparent’s house is filled with the aroma of pomodoro sauce and the sounds of a slightly out-of-tune piano. There is a contagious energy the minute you walk through the door. Sunday afternoons are marked by delicious meals, family...

As January snow fluttered outside the window of the hospital where I was born, my mom carefully chose a Chinese name to give me. While I go by Carolyn in America, I am Xuě Líng in China. Years later, my mom told me that my second name translates...

Every winter break, my siblings and I snuggle under the fuzzy Eeyore blanket in the bonus room, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. As the December blizzard shrieks outside, we find warmth in following the wholesome, familiar banter between the...

My grandfather found himself in the yellowed pages of a Bible, my father in the South African anti-apartheid movement. I found myself in a 2004 Scion xA hatchback nicknamed Oliver.

Writing flash-fiction until my hand ached, reading library books...

When I’m on my drumline, I can sense the power of rhythm; drums show me how a consistent rhythm can guide people to work in unison. Our drumline requires the extremely cautious cooperation of nine of us at once, so it has sharpened my ability to...

My mom loves to tell the story of when I was a baby, and I would pull the biggest book I could find off the shelf and into my lap, tracing my fingers over the words and pretending I knew what I was reading. Since the night I came home from the...

Raised as a figure skater, and indoctrinated into believing that thinner thighs produced higher jumps and faster rotations, I started my first diet as a ten-year-old. Meals were replaced with protein shakes, and childlike innocence devolved into...

My eyes glistened as I watched a documentary on Korean Pop Stardom. The trainees were subject to strict diets, inflexible rules, and practice from morning to midnight. The video intended to reveal the supposed horrors of the industry. Yet, as a...

A year ago, my mother casually said that if I had a brother, I would receive nothing from her. Distraught, I had asked her to clarify. However, she coldly maintained that she always believed that sons are superior to daughters. Every time I make...

One late night I was alone in the house and struggling, as usual, to fall asleep before my mom came home. The thought that I might be considered a "bad boy" unsettled me. As the 472nd sheep jumped over the fence, I finally heard the front door...

For most people, singing is an expression of unabashed freedom usually reserved for either car rides with friends or solo dance parties. While I frequently belt the lyrics to my favorite tunes, for me, singing represents something more sacred. I...

Eating-disorder-related issues are not acknowledged in the skating world. From a young age, I was taught the minimum amount of calories my organs required, tips for suppressing hunger, and methods of hiding malnutrition-induced alopecia from...

When I was four years old, my newly divorced mother transplanted us into uncharted territory: a sunny locale called “Florida.” I was too young to understand the magnitude of this life-changing event. Initially, money was scarce and the...

I fell in love with Davidson the moment I stepped onto the campus.

It was the fall of my junior year; back home in New Hampshire the trees had been stripped of leaves, the ground was frozen, and people were walking around bundled in enough clothes...

The pointe shoes on my feet carry me across the floor with restrained urgency, the movement of my arms in alignment to the syncopation of the music. Ideas flow through my fingertips, and manifest themselves in the form of choreography.

From a...