Newest College Application Essays

“Komm Herr Jesus,” she invokes, “sei du unser Gast, und segne, was du uns bescheret hast. Amen,” and we all join in on the cross. “Vater, Sohn, und Heiliger Geist. Amen.”

I always fumbled the words.

My grandmother would lift her head and throw a...

As a young student, I always struggled to finish simple class work activities on time, mostly because they involved coloring. I was nitpicky on which colors I selected because each choice would uniquely contribute to the overall picture. I knew...

Running and I have a complex relationship. Despite the exquisite torture of sprinting two miles around and around in a circle, feeling as if both lungs have collapsed and death by dehydration is imminent, it is unlikely we’ll ever break up: I had...

I always thought Peter Pan was mad. While he and his fellow Neverlanders were enjoying their eternal childhood, I was desperately awaiting my "grown-up" days. I just wanted to rush through life; I wanted to close my eyes and wake up a responsible,...

When I joined my high school basketball team as a freshman, I had no idea the kinds of perseverance I would need to make it through even a couple weeks of practice. As the practices went by, I started to really listen to what the coach had to say,...

It was a cool, sunny October day, no different than most. A soccer game was scheduled for that afternoon, and I was getting ready. Rummaging through my room searching for my shin guards, I was the first person in my house to hear the screaming...

I remember, when I was barely old enough to remember, my cousin and I racing up a hill to the very, very top and collapsing on the prickly, weathered bench. The adults were far behind us, discussing adult-like things that had no place in our...

I watch people. I don’t mean to say I watch out for them. I do that too, but I always mean what I say. I watch them. It’s always been a game of mine, watching them. When I was a little girl and still eagerly awaited my father’s flights home, I...

Three months into my exchange year in Germany, my friend called me, a little dejected. She wanted to go downtown, and it was clear why. There was still something incredibly rousing, mysterious, and exciting about the European city that had...

It was hours before dawn when I awoke, but I was not tired. There was an almost palpable sense of apprehension and excitement spreading throughout the country, and I felt a wave of it hit me as I stepped out the door. It was dark, but the...

When I was fifteen I borrowed $200 from my father, bought a broken Sidekick phone on eBay, watched YouTube videos to learn how to repair it, and re-sold it for an $80 profit. That was the start of David Wolkoff’s Store, an eBay business, which has...

Being of Norwegian ancestry and a New England breeding, I could not have appeared more out of place in this squalid, rain-ravaged corner of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Laden with sagging boxes and garbage bags brimming with children’s pajamas, I felt...

Nerves shook through my body as I prepared to introduce Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to 400 people in my town. I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath. Senator Sanders cleared his throat, and I looked up with concern. “Your shoes are...

As her last bit of advice for me during my first day “running” an ambulatory surgery clinic, Vanessa said, “I like to say ‘Good luck’ to the patient before handing over a copy of the consent form and directing them to pre-admission testing.” I...

I stood in front of a fourth grade classroom, all eyes fixed on me. For some reason, I felt nervous, as if I were bare, exposing all my past secrets to the world of susceptible minds. I held up the book The Colors of Freedom, explaining that it...

Maybe, I could be the next Lorene Cary, whose novel, The Price of a Child was selected to unite the city under the 2003 “One Book, One Philadelphia” project. Maybe, I could be one of the few students who stay up until three in the morning trying...

I have encountered a fork. Should I again submit to my father’s demands as I am sent to the kitchen to serve or should I refuse and risk tainting my role as the ideal Vietnamese daughter? I succumb, and fetch a repulsive-smelling platter of duck,...

I’ve lived with my grandparents all my life. My grandfather, whom I call “Pipo,” is like a father to me, and he is absolutely, no-doubt-about-it my favorite person in the world. He is intrigued by everything academic and has a photographic memory....

A thousand miles away from home, I sat in a cramped apartment littered with Bruce Springsteen CDs, listening to my Spanish home-stay family talk about their day. Every evening, just before dinner, the four of us would gather for tiempo de la...

As I graduate from high school with just enough basic understanding of the arts and sciences to appreciate their complexity and depth, I find myself constantly investigating a broad range of topics. My intended field of study is biology, with the...

After years of constant nagging, I finally gave in to my family's relentless pressure to try cooked pig intestines, or chitlins. Their smell, both sickening and overbearing, has made me steer clear from them every year. But, honoring a strong...

Each weekend before Christmas the tempting aromas of ginger, cloves and cinnamon permeate our kitchen as jovial friends and family gather. Freshly baked gingerbread for miniature houses are laid out on the table, and bowls of candy and homemade...

“You have a choice to make. If you choose to publish that article, you will be responsible for ruining the reputation of the school. Do you want to have that on your shoulders?” Assistant Principal Jeff Dingo asked me sternly. The following day,...

“Come on, place your bet. There is already 20 bucks on MESME.”

No, this is not about the conquering of a gambling addiction but rather my story of a life-changing summer at a girl’s overnight camp and the bitter-sweet taste of responsibility. I...