Newest College Application Essays

Even with her sharp, monosyllabic words that often lack vowels, my mother is a gentle language whose simple phonetic spelling and liberal syntax nurture me. She is my first love and the first proof of my infatuation for words. She is the essence...

Bylo, jest, bedzie. These words were stitched into my six-year-old mind as Babushka’s deft fingers stitched hems into shirtsleeves, needle pausing in midair to conjugate Polish verbs for me, to translate them into my native Russian and Ukrainian....

A major problem we face today is our failure to chronicle the specifics of a given period, region, or ethnic group. Authentic history is derived not merely from authority figures, but from individuals. The contemporary historical narrative—the...

As I walk on stage in front the hundreds of spectators, my heart starts to race. I can feel the roughness of the chalk covering my hands as I stand in front of the barbell, ready to lift it overhead. The silence and anticipation from the audience...

My award winning app, Cappable, built to help people with disabilities find employment had just made a record of sorts. We had faced our 100th rejection.

Cramped into my bedroom, the four members of our team stared at the dashboard. After months...

My pencil sketches of human head sculptures filled countless pads of paper. Desperately, I tried to recreate in each face the intangible aspects of emotion that continuously eluded me. I drew faces over and over, telling myself that with more...

“I want to die.” is the alarming message that appears in my chat-requests at exactly 12:29 AM. The blue-bubble floats on my computer screen, a dialogue waiting to happen. It’s getting late, but I don’t waste time. I click ‘Accept’. The person...

In Chinese culture, your peers are your jie (sisters) and ge (brothers), and older people your au yi (aunts) and shu shu (uncles). In this way, “family” extends to not just kin, but also friends, companions, and even acquaintances.

Every week when...

She won't even look at me. She has a cold aura surrounding her. I feel judged. I feel like I’m being held against my will and tested for some mental illness. I shift uncomfortably in my seat. I wish she could understand. I wish she would listen or...

Bridgeport, Connecticut: A fleet of fifty-two Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority-owned buses spurt to a start while the sun begins to rise. Each bus slowly creeps along one of the nineteen lines spanning across Fairfield County; one of them, Bus...

When I look at a lump of clay, I see limitless potential. With only my hands and my imagination, I can take this mound of wet dirt and create something functional. Poetic beauty exists in creating something out of nothing, something beautiful out...

The story began in last summer while I was looking at the name list of my new class, because every student chose humanities or science as the major after finishing the first year, the school had rearranged our classes. Though having been told...

Unsure of how to cope with my own emotions and simultaneously continue to ask her questions, I handed Aliyah a box of tissues. She glanced up at me between sniffles and thanked me, expressing what may have been a disproportionate amount of...

I’ve always seen the world through a comedic lens. Even when I’m immersed in something serious, like writing college essays, I can’t help but consider the situation’s ridiculous extremes, such as: How would accomplished historical figures...

I was shocked by the sound of my own voice.

Having recorded myself, I excitedly pressed play, expecting to validate an acoustic theory I had just read about in physics textbook. As sound travels faster through bone than air, I expected a...

Arriving three hours early to the venue before the scheduled start of a performance can mean many things. Perhaps you are a member of the performance or you may be determined to secure a great place or seat. You could even be tailgating! However,...

Throughout my entire life, I've seen myself as the quintessential Cameron Crazy. Covered in war paint from head to toe, my vehement anti-Tar Heel screams bellowing across the court. As a child, the depth of my interest stalled here - a young...

Clutching the remote-control helicopter that I had just received, I sprinted home. When I arrived, I rang the bell and waited for the door to open. I was so electrified that I would have run through the door and left a “me” shaped hole. I was not...

One day, they finally let me see an X-ray machine. The week after, they told me about the anatomy of the body as they treated a patient. Every week, I would see my mother work as a doctor at her workplace. All her coworkers knew me. Every time I...

A few years ago, on the Charles Bridge across Vltava River, I gained my first impression of NYU. I saw a group of students carrying cameras, lighting and microphones, with the logo NYU printed on the front of their violet t-shirts. I approached...

In a strong, confident voice, I began: “I would like everyone to close their eyes and imagine the stress and frustration you have experienced with fake news.” This was the opening of my team’s presentation to a group of venture capitalists judging...

Summer burns on my back as I watch her head break the surface of the water and sink in. Her hands immediately thrash around for support but can only close upon the cool liquid. Her hair floats on the surface like brown seaweed. Laughing, I stretch...

When my great-grandmother was on her deathbed, I heard her speak for the first time. Through her shaking words and glittering gaze, she transported me to her teenage years. Describing living during the era of Rafael Trujillo, a time of harmful,...

Hiding and peeking from behind my father’s chair, I saw his clients come and go. Most of them did the same routine: queue in a line, read documents, sign, and swipe cards. At the same time, my father would skim through the lines, sign, stamp, seal...