New York University Undergraduate College Application Essays

Hands shaking, I lifted the cover of my makeshift steamer.

All families have their own “thing.” Some have game nights; others have movie nights. My family has a time-honored tradition of cook-offs. These competitions are not like the casual and...

Summer begins with skin made of ants. The months between school years were designed for sitting on the border of the sandpit at the Jewish Community Center with ants crawling over my hands.

“Sugar ants don’t bite people,” my friend assures me...

Standing knee-deep in clear water, I peer at the minnows swimming lazily around my toes.

“Help, Daddy, there’s a Mexican!” wails a curly-haired girl from the security of a bright pink inflatable ring. Her pointed finger indicates to all the target...

"You know Yume, you're the only black girl that I like, the rest are so ratchet," he let out.

What... did he just say?

I let the words sink... because, well, I genuinely liked him. He'd helped me study for almost every computer science test and...

Most people hope to never step foot into a mental hospital, much less spend their summers in one. But for me, the opportunity to volunteer in a Chinese mental hospital was one I seized upon with interest (and only slight trepidation). I’m glad I...

As kids living in Colorado suburbs, most of my friends and I rarely disagree with each other on politics. Fortunately, in my high school, my teachers come from a variety of different locations. And I love their different perspectives. In my AP...

I once believed my extraordinary skill with numbers would take me to great heights and greater happiness. I was wrong.

Numbers- quantitative indicators, widely believed to factor the quality of one’s life - galvanized significant achievements, but...

Like any toddler, I despised my car seat; I’d arch my back and defiantly kick my feet as Mom strapped me in. Finally accepting my fate, I’d sulk throughout the drive to ensure Mom understood my frustration. One day, however, this scene played out...

For most high schoolers, a best friend is someone who lends you the physics notes when you miss class. Someone who says you look like a marshmallow in your parka but silences anyone who does the same. Someone who sponsors midnight Stop & Shop...

I have fallen in love with Thursdays. Why? Because I volunteer in the ER at Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, constantly madcap organization, a symphony of coughing and wheezing, as well as electric energy. Whether it is consoling patients or...

"Someone must watch, it is said. Someone must be there."

When I first read this Kafka quote, young and ambitious, I set my goal as an artist to be "the watchman "of the world - to reveal the truth to the audience. Like many children, I was brought...

A flurry of snow blew into my mouth as I took a deep breath and trudged down the street. I could not see the pavement ahead of me; my thick scarf had blocked off view. I pulled down my scarf and looked to my right, observing the row of cars making...

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...

I, a lonely marble eagle, perched upon the almighty Washington Square Park Arch, am sad. What cruel torture it is for me to witness waves of new students flock into NYU, my wings tauntingly spread open, but fixed in place!

I remember watching the...

In the corner of my room sits my grandfather’s diary: soft, well-worn, and cracked. The first entry, written in English, is dated “June 1st, 1970,” in the halting, elaborate script of a man accustomed to Bengali. The last entry, dated “November...

Christopher Robin is the best movie in the world. Despite the poor acting and the animation that made the animals look sad and dreary, a movie is impressive if it can make the viewer feel an emotion, and Christopher Robin exceeds in that realm....

One of my first dissections was a cat brain. As my lab group carefully cut down the longitudinal fissure, we discovered tiny parasitic worms on the superior colliculi. While I’ve had the opportunity to dissect tapeworms, cow eyes, and rats, the...