Newest College Application Essays

Giving up my weekend nights for swim practice was something I was used to by the time I reached high school. Swimming, I felt, was my niche, and with that niche came many sacrifices. Yet, for all the “hardships” that came with it, I earned the...

I would have never expected my life to change dramatically after a trip to the men’s room. However, on June 20, 2007, one did. I overheard a conversation that changed my point of view on nearly everything. “He didn’t even make it to Extemp...

When I was around nine years old, I would always sit at the dinner table with my mom, waiting for my dad to come home from a busy day at work. After changing out of his suit, he would come to the kitchen and start to talk about his day. The way...

The black and white keys mesmerized me, as always. They were of another ancestry - Steinway – different from the Yamaha I owned; but as I sat on the meticulously handcrafted ebony bench, I felt at home. My hands floated effortlessly upward, and...

There is something about me that I feel obligated to warn you of, something that may or may not surprise, alienate, or even horrify you. I’m an addict—hopelessly addicted to words. I thought you should know.

Due to this constant craving, you may...

“Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes.”

~ Carl Sandburg

It is impossible to convey the art of words with more words. Case in point: try to find another word for “salty.” It isn’t bitter; it isn’t sour; it’s salty. Likewise, the terms “...

As a young aficionado of poetry and prose, I would love to develop my skills through a disciplined and distinguished writing program; Carnegie Mellon’s College of Humanities & Social Sciences offers just that. Believing one must be a great...

My mother was diagnosed with cancer. It all started in April of my sophomore year when she complained of exhaustion, nausea, a back ache, and bad breath. I remember the day perfectly. It was Easter morning and my mom was scheduled for a procedure...

As an individual fascinated with the universe and the potential questions it poses, I would quickly jump at the opportunity to spend a semester researching theoretical astrophysics. In this capacity, I have long considered academic study as...

The moon materialized over an hour ago, and I have just consumed enough junk food to nourish several third world countries. My stomach protrudes out three times the norm, and I feel the food rising in my throat. An intense shadow of guilt and...

I have grown up in a household with parents who come from very different backgrounds. My father’s grandparents were first generation German immigrants, and holidays and family gatherings were of the utmost importance when my Dad was growing up....

When my younger brother, James, was five years old, Jack Nierman bit him while they were playing in our favorite playground. I was sitting atop the monkey bars when I saw it happen. I swung down and pushed Jack away, then dragged my screaming...

Fairness is a quality that I try hard to embody, and I admire those who demonstrate the impartiality necessary to be just. But people often mistake impartiality as the defining characteristic of someone who is fair. Empathy is more essential...

It was at the age of five when I noticed that not everyone was like me. I suddenly became aware of different customs, beliefs and of course foods. What really caught my attention, however, was language, and I started to explore worlds of new...

Staring up at the deflected rays of sunlight as I slowly descended toward the bottom, I began to realize the severity of my situation. As I fought to keep water from flooding my lungs, fear started inundating my mind. Only moments ago I had been...

Though my high school does not have a Creed, I feel that if it did the Colorado Creed would fit perfectly. Henry M. Gunn High School breeds a caliber of student that is both intellectually hungry and incredibly compassionate. This is, of course,...

In The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry champions the perspective of a child. But for the adult reader, the story presents a dilemma: how to reconcile the novel’s characterization of the “grown-up” with one’s adult self; how to achieve the...

Drops of sweat trickled down my tanned face as I stared at the C-shaped moon outside the auditorium. Sitting on the fence, we rested and cooled down before continuing with the work inside. I glanced at my G-shock: 01:00 military time. We had...

Tattooed in my memory are the shrill rings of my alarm clock set to exactly 6:00 AM every day, submerging half my 110 pound body into the sub-zero water, fish half my size splashing muddy water onto my pale face. Most kids enjoy the freedom that...

I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but after I did, I became inspired and motivated. It was too surreal that a thirteen-year-old girl could have written and published a book at such a young age. The book was called In the Forests of the...

I clicked a button and created a canvas. A lonely, almost blank screen, it was one of thousands of standardized and tabulated web pages, with only my online moniker at the top to distinguish it as my own. That was my debut, an admittedly...

Forget for a moment all that you’ve heard about the student athlete. Forget about the dedication and determination one needs to compete on a top-level team. Forget about the teamwork, the almost insidious way an athlete learns the value of...

Yellow - one of the primary colors. It is one hue; it is a million hues. Pale yellow, the color of silt in China’s River of Life; saffron yellow, the color of Chinese sovereignty for two millennia; tanned yellow, the tint of my skin.

The first day...

Anthony Brandt once said “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” While others have certainly influenced my life, nothing has shaped the person I am more than my family.

My grandfather follows current events like a cult...