Newest College Application Essays

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...

Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han; Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han; Sui Tang Song, Sui Tang -

Suddenly, while I was singing the names of the ancient Chinese dynasties in preparation for my early morning Chinese class, I was interrupted by a flash of red and a blast of...

"Why are you so quiet?"

"Do you speak?"

Those few words would make the color of my pale cheeks turn to the brightest shade of red because they always sounded so judgemental. To many, it's only a simple question. Steaming curiosity formed from the...

“Shayna and Dominique, you can come see her now”.

The nurse’s grey scrubs complemented the calming atmosphere of the waiting room. My mom had just finished her surgery. My sister and I were finally allowed to see her after two hours of eating...

It took two hours to get home, a three mile drive that should have taken a few minutes. A drive we’d made countless times without thinking. But things were different now. Everything was different now. Dad presented his license to the National...

My mother is a high school dropout with a daughter at 16.

Sitting alone surrounded by grey-toned seats on my number five elementary school bus, my eyes are stuck to a large, bold letter “B” stamped onto a stark white piece of paper. I look up out...

I find it humorous when my family debates who looks more Asian versus White, me or my twin brother. My parents also joke that Brandon and I would be even taller or better at math had it not been for the “shortcomings” each contributed to our...

My stomach started itching uncontrollably when I was ten years old and in the middle of Mr. John’s fourth-grade class. I remember asking myself whether I had been bitten by a bug. The itching became unbearable and I sought permission from Mr. John...

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...

The pungent smell of durian, balanced by the sweet, tantalizing scent of xiao long bao samples, greet me when I step into the brightly-lit supermarket. My mother’s voice rings out behind me– “Remember, no candy!”– as I traverse the colorful...

“We’re so close... We can just talk on and on,” the Barnard tour-guide said to our group, laughing. To my surprise, she wasn’t talking about a relationship with a faculty member, as was customary on college tours. She was actually talking about...

The first day of a Minecraft game is crucial to survival. Huddled in the living-room, iPhones and iPads in-hand, the seven of us carefully formulate our plan. First, we lay down ground rules: no killing each other’s avatars, no lazing around. He...

The pungent smell of durian, balanced by the sweet, tantalizing scent of xiao long bao greets me when I step into the brightly-lit supermarket. My mother’s voice rings out behind me– “Remember, no candy!”– as I swiftly traverse the colorful...

My parents grew up in the shadow of Maoist China, a country fraught with censorship, crackdowns, and conformity. I’ve always been curious about their childhoods, so starkly different to my life in America. So, last summer, I picked up the book ...

Six years ago, outfitted in an ill-fitting yellow polo and plaid kilt, eyes meekly downcast, I boarded CT Transit bus 328 for the first time. My hands trembled as I fumbled in my backpack pockets for the blue-and-white plastic ticket which seemed...

In fourth grade, I invented the “Swiss Army Cook” for the Invention Convention. In fifth grade, I hand wrote and drew entire magazine issues, scanned them, and sent them to all my friends and relatives for 50 with the hope of becoming the next...

Everyone in Darte Hall knew my set of house rules. Number tokens are applied to the board randomly, twos and twelves are equal, and your turn is forfeited if you roll the die outside of the box lid. The game The Settlers of Catan has become a...

As I deliberately draw back the taut string of my recurve bow, a faint groan from the strained wooden limbs manages to drown out the commotion of the hundreds of spectators and competing archers. I have attained a state of consummate mental...

"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...

I still vividly recalled seeing Lam, a male-to-female transgender, being sexually assaulted after school. In full view of people, a group of boys surrounded her and pulled off her pants to “scan” her private parts. As she stood there powerless,...

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” - George Orwell

Coming from Vietnam, I have seen how the Communist Party has “reinterpreted” history to fit with their narrative of the...

Every full moon, my family would make offerings to our deceased ancestors. As the eldest son of the eldest son, I am given the distinct honour of having my name be the first called when praying to our ancestors. Even though I was younger than my...

NUDE PHOTOS FOUND ON MAYOR MEGAN BARRY’S BODYGUARD'S PHONE. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NASHVILLE MAYOR MEGAN BARRY. HOT POLITICIAN SCANDAL.

So read the bold headlines of national newspapers, claiming a cinema-worthy political mishap in hopes of...

My heavy breathing was the only sound echoing within the room. This was it. The moment where all of our hours of research and practice were being evaluated in a 10 minute documentary followed by an intense Q&A. "My documentary has to be...