University of Miami Undergraduate College Application Essays

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...

I always looked forward to June 17, the birthday of my only living grandparent. Every year I spent the day composing corny jokes that made her to snort with laughter and murmur loving approval. But in 2002, in a matter of seconds, my associations...

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...

“I think we’re lost,” I said to my parents as I stood on the corner of 114th Street and Broadway carrying a large bag of luggage. I stopped confused as to where I was going. I knew I was close; I could tell by the number of people wearing Columbia...

I stepped out of the train. People pushing and shoving, back and forth, loud noises echoing down the narrow walls into the abyss. Searching for a way to the street, I too pushed my way through the barrage of people searching for the streets above:...

I sometimes daydream about how my life would have been if I led the carefree life of the average teenager. Then I snap back into reality, realizing that life is never average. There are always obstacles to overcome. My transition into high school,...

Throughout my younger years, wearing a blazer, collared shirt, and nice pants to preschool always set me apart from my classmates. As I got older, selling pencils to kids who needed them right before a test sparked my business interest. That...

I had thought of living in simplicity and happiness before, but I never understood its significance until I heard this sentence. “I will not allow you to come to my house. I am poor.” I stared and looked at him as my eyes filled with tears,...

For the past three years, I have been the diversity. Seventy-five percent of the students around me share in the Roman Catholic faith, while I am a devout Presbyterian. However, attending a Catholic school has not diverted me from my Presbyterian...

Hair a mess, eyelids heavy, and bags under her eyes: every day I would see my mom come home, looking like this, tired from a day’s load of work. My mother, who had me at a young age, was forced to raise and support me all on her own. Where was my...

When my mom gave birth to me, I weighed in at nine and a half pounds and measured twenty-two inches. One could say I was pretty big for a newborn, but whenever I tell this story, it is soon followed by a: “And that’s pretty much when I stopped...

I've always been my own life coach. Some people are born to be “lucky,” but others have to create that “luck” by themselves. Having had to fight obesity at the age of 6 was the first and the biggest challenge that life ever put me through. The...

It was Valentine’s Day six years ago. There were no roses, chocolate, or any romanticism in the air; there was instead, the scent of puke, fear, sea spray, yet a trace of freedom. It is mind-boggling what a human being is capable of enduring for...

"See you on Sunday, Brandon," Pastor Park says. After gathering my things, I shake his hand appreciatively and leave through the exit at side of the sanctuary. The pastor closes the broad, brown doors as best as he can, but they never quite meet...

As the new student in my sixth grade English class, I was asked where I was from. "Where is your home?" a classmate inquired. As I opened my mouth to answer, I was struck by the sudden realization that there was no particular place that I was able...

I sat across the room, watching my father in awe as he typed out a document with mind-blowing speed. I had no idea precisely what I was watching him do, of course, since I was only six years old, but still -- Wow. How can someone move his fingers...

For many of my friends, summer break means swimming at the local pool and hanging out at our downtown movie theater. Yet for me, summer means traveling 6,000 miles to a completely different country, where I speak a completely different language...

Every bus ride is marked with either utter serenity or galling racket. At eight years old, I found both equally unbearable. "The world," my mother would often say, "isn't always going to be the way you want it to be." Innumerable repetitions of...

Whenever my grandparents visit, they take me to Barnes & Noble. My grandmother, Shasha, a strong believer in self-education through voracious reading, passed on that trait to me. On this particular trip, I spied the book “C++ for Dummies”. I...

I walk to the waiting area and call, “Michelle,” and she follows me into a big room with three beige, reclining leather chairs. “Have a seat,” I urge, directing her as if I’m a hostess. “Are you ready?” She nods her head; her shoulders tense up,...

Regardless of where you come from, police brutality is currently the hot topic in media. With countless accusations of police using excessive force making the headlines, it has generated unfavorable views against those in law enforcement. Race is...

Of all markings that can grace the human body -- above moles, freckles, or even tattoos -- scars hold the most meaningful anecdotes. They display proudly won battles and mistakes on the individual who bears them. I have a few scars myself, the...

My dad taught me my first science lesson. He knew it did not have to start at school, but rather the minute a mind starts asking questions. That is what science has always consisted of—a curiosity forming into a question and a question being...

The four of us sit still for a full minute, too humbled to move or to speak. My hand finds its way to the door handle and I cringe as the car opens with a low clunk, interrupting the total silence. I walk to the edge of the lookout to survey the...