Carnegie Mellon University Undergraduate College Application Essays

When life throws me a curve, I try to find an equation for the best-fit line. Actually, life never really throws me a perfect curve, only a series of data that resembles one. Most people are content by connecting these random dots, forming a...

As is the case with many twelve-year-old sixth graders, I used to be a little self-centered. I was in the middle of puberty, with hormones raging and jumbling my mind in all kinds of ways, and the fact that I was slightly socially awkward and seen...

Some consider fencing an outdated sport that has become nothing more than a simple game of electric tag. Others are not as belittling and see it as a modern interpretation of an ancient sport. To me, however, fencing is much more than just a...

I remember sobbing with my face pressed against the wooden swing set in my backyard while my parents yelled at each other on the patio. I remember playing with my toys in my room only to go hide in the darkness of my closet because my parents were...

In high school, college is often made to seem like an end-all, be-all experience - the pinnacle of one's life. I know that is not true. In college we prepare for life beyond it, in my case for a lifetime of global citizenship.

I was born in China...

From an early age, I have been taught to think analytically. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, I am the son of two mathematics majors. My father, a software developer, followed his job to the United States when I was still a toddler, taking me my mother and...

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...

I firmly believe that there exists an inborn connection between the fields of mathematics and language. This understanding has always come to me intuitively, and yet every English teacher I’ve ever had has asserted his or her dislike or even...

During a trip to the US, my father brought back a boxed set of The West Wing DVDs. While I planned to watch them during my school holiday as amusement, the show instead became an obsession and an education in itself.

My greatest passion has always...

I will admit: computer science has not always fascinated me like it does today. As the son of a software engineer, I did not find take-your-child-to-work day particularly appealing. Seeing my father constantly work on the computer had given me a...

I have chosen to apply to the Carnegie Mellon College of Science, the Mathematical Science department, because I have a passion for learning that I want to apply to mathematical principles as they pertain to modern internet security. It is my goal...

Waving our banner wildly, we counted down the seconds, not at the homecoming game, but rather the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff. With only six weeks to build, wire, and program a 120-pound machine, my team jumped headfirst into...

I could feel the tears coming. My brother’s words pierced me like bullets, one by one, slowly overpowering my determination. I turned to face him and cleared my mind. After receiving the ball, I noticed him hesitate slightly and on instinct I...

Reading this prompt made me share a wry smile with myself. It reminded me of a moment from twelve years ago whenmy childhood simplicity helped to changemy perspective on life in an enduring manner. My parents were having a conversation in the car...

My mother’s rehearsed speech about how “Tiffany became interested in business because I took her along to see my financial advisor” is not entirely true. Although I found my mother’s financial consultation sessions interesting and felt flattered...

"This is a nightmare," I thought. Sean was on the ground wincing in pain and blood was slowly leaking through his spandex. A million things raced through my mind but I stopped, took a deep breath, collected my thoughts and got to work. Sean had...

This is the balcony that extends into infinite dimensions. Inside: paintings and the smell of dusk. Lined against the tiled walls are canvases both void and filled. A soft light overhead. There is something extremely calming about occupying this...

There I sat, an American-born Indian boarding a flight to Guatemala with Japanese anime loaded on my phone and a Wheelock’s Latin textbook in hand. At only 15, I was somewhat culturally aware, but I felt culturally confused. My skin said I was...

With my parents beside me, I stepped through the door and onto the flight deck of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. Immediately, I was surrounded. Military aircraft from all through history glistened in the sunshine, just waiting for me. Each...

A scrawny boy in beat-up velcro sneakers ran past. Our tour guide Mohammed sighed heavily, “Angel Park is probably the only place where a young boy could be young. Outside, he's probably the head of the family, working three jobs to secure meals...

It’s 3:16 A.M.

My eyes are bloodshot from sleeplessness; I stumble into my room and crash my head against the soft, plush pillow laying on my bed. I pull the blanket over my head and close my eyes, trying desperately to get some sleep before the...

I feel myself jump as the ground shakes, and Horace Vandergelder storms out. My heart beats, and all I can think is to wait for it, wait for it—dialogue, more dialogue, finally singing… “And now that we’re dancing who cares if we ever stop!” That’...

Before I had even entered kindergarten, I would sit on the floor of my father's study room every Saturday morning, both of us bent over a large artist’s sketch pad that was covered in numbers and equations instead of paint or charcoal. From a...

Your world seems to fall here. Air so cold and fingers so numb, you would barely know when it happened. But you do. As your grip slips, it takes only seconds before you realize. Gravity unforgivingly pulls you from your scull and into the frigid...