Newest College Application Essays

It seemed as if it was just yesterday when I anxiously fidgeted around in the airplane seat, awaiting unexpected surprises in my new home. This, however, was ten years ago when I emigrated from China to the United States. My parents had warned me...

As a young aficionado of poetry and prose, I would love more than anything to develop my skills through a disciplined and distinguished writing program, and Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences definitely offers just that. Believing that one must be...

Besides a general fancy for the written word, Professor Josephine Park of the English Department and I share interest in specialties like 20th century American literature. As a fellow Asian-American writer, Doctor Park’s emphasis on Asian-American...

Soaring over rocky peaks, the colossal metal bird carried me in its belly, and after hours of flight, I finally reached my destination: Baltimore, Maryland. Despite the sea of people around me, I was alone on this voyage. During this sweltering...

I like to play with guns and knives.

It’s not what you think: I’m in color guard. Although events like the Virginia Tech incident have worsened the reputation of weaponry, color guard attempts to transform the traditional connotations of...

As a young aficionado of poetry and prose, I would love more than anything to develop my skills through a disciplined and distinguished writing program, and Brown offers just that. Believing that one must be a great reader before becoming a great...

Leaping over crooked crevices in the sidewalk, my childhood self hopped a few yards ahead of my grandfather. As I paused to scrutinize a colorful candy wrapper, the smell of melting sugar drifted from a small blue cart where an old woman flipped...

My experience has taught me that there are numerous ways to learn. I have always been inclined to learn independently, following my grandfather’s own pursuit of knowledge. It is because of this influence that I have succeeded academically and have...

Neither Ray nor I knew what miracles were possible. At one hundred and eighty-five pounds, five foot ten inches tall, and a victim of fetal alcohol syndrome, Ray was a Special Olympic athlete with a dream to become a champion, but his mental...

“Good morning Torrey Pines! It’s a beautiful Monday, 77 degrees and partly cloudy.”

My voice echoed throughout the campus and every classroom, as it was my responsibility to do the morning announcements each day in my position as Senior Class...

As a child I always felt like I was missing something, as though everyone else was tuned into a common understanding of life to which I was oblivious. I first realized this when, in the third grade, I was sentenced to a fifteen minute “time out”...

I can see myself alone, sitting, squatting really, on the branch of a monstrous sprawling oak tree with dirt under my fingernails and stinging branch-scraped knees. I am out of breath after having climbed to the very top so as to see my...

I am a ruthless Amazon: five foot eight without my favorite three-inch heels. Silently I stalk my prey, the tip of my tongue poking out of my mouth in the age-old sign of concentration. I know it’s close. Years of practice have taught me to sense...

The first time that science really made sense was in seventh grade, when a frog lay splayed out on the desk in front of me. While the stench of formaldehyde made others eyes water and stomachs churn, I was too fascinated to notice. I was intrigued...

French romantic painter Eugene Delacroix once said, “What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.” Delacroix’s quote epitomizes who I...

I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised in a Hispanic family. Apart from being fully bilingual and bicultural, I have adopted some important values from my parents. They are both medical doctors and have dedicated themselves to serving...

I credit the development of my personal values to my parents and culture. My parents were raised in Puerto Rico, where they became medical doctors. While my father came from a college educated family, my mother did not. Overcoming deep economic...

My involvement in Key Club, an organization devoted to aiding the less fortunate, has led me to discover new roads, providing me with experiences that have helped me to mature spiritually and psychologically. My position in the club as an officer...

I wonder sometimes if any author's story is quite like mine. I'm not talking about the stories they write with their pens, or tap out on typewriters or keyboards. I'm talking about the stories they craft with their very lives, their every breath,...

I stood on the ground where millions of innocent people perished. I walked into a gas chamber, and I walked out. I saw the scratch marks on the walls where people were clawing their way to the top, trying to get one last gasp of oxygen as the...

Last Summer I worked as a Teacher’s Aide for students who needed extra help before fourth grade. I thought I would be working with students who had a hard time because they didn’t work hard. Surprisingly, these were the smartest, hardest working...

Most big brothers can dish out advice and guide their younger siblings. My big brother is different. I can’t remember the specific time that the transition occurred, but at some point Brandon went from being my big brother to an autistic sibling...

It took one spin class to decide I wanted to make this workout part of my life. During that hour I escape my sense of reality; at the same time, there are direct connections between spin class and the world I come from. The class has given me the...

Although my tale is about a basketball player, it is not about a six-foot-eleven athlete whose name is splashed across the sports pages of daily newspapers and whose picture graces the tops of Nike and Adidas boxes. Rather, this is a story of one...