Newest College Application Essays

“One more bucket of ears and you can go inside,” Momma said. Those days spent picking corn in midday Mississippi August heat are ones that I remember well. I vividly recall my toes digging into a mix of decomposing potato roots and freshly toiled...

My day is sticky fingerprints on crisp notebook sheets; healing playground rifts and easing the transition from playtime to classwork; overcoming the ice cream monster. Had anyone told me ten years earlier that I would spend much of my time...

Wandering my way through Woodland Walk, I not only found a home at the University of Pennsylvania, but also found clarity within the path I will be striving for in the next four years and beyond. Having dealt with my father passing away at 13,...

The train rambled down the tracks as smoke curled around the windows. It was 1861 and in both education and the country, a revolution was on the brink. A young girl gazed out the foggy window as she clutched a pamphlet in her gloved hand. Boldly...

Upon touring Notre Dame virtually, I fell in love with the majestic, French Revival architectures that entrenched the campus. I fell in love with its Twin Symbols — the Golden Dome and the Basilica — standing sky high, defining Notre Dame’s...

When the cool metal blade of the razor touched my scalp, I realized I had died. I watched with veiled eyes as my mother cut the last, straggling clumps of hair. The girl I glimpsed in the mirror afterwards was an apparition. If I puckered my lips...

The rain pelted the windows outside and steam gently rose from my coffee cup on a cold November night. It was ten o’clock and I was the last person left in the Museum of American Finance. I was almost finished with my culminating research project...

Walking down Commonwealth Avenue for the first time in February, I was not expecting to run into my high school friends, Felex and Adam. After a day of information sessions and tours, I yearned to experience the real BU and asked them for an...

I spent much of the summer in the basement of a Dublin Castle, jaws clenched and synapses firing as the identity of the murderer continued to evade my grasp of reason. The first surprise was not really a surprise but the fact remained astounding...

The wind billows through the eaves and tractors bide their time along country roads. Apples are ready for plucking and cider is brewing at the Rinker farm. The smell of manure during spring and mountains of leaves during autumn—that’s home, every...

Out in the country, past the city limit sign there’s a girl wandering the woods and creeping along the creek traveling down the county line. Her friends are giggling as they boogie in step with radio tunes.

"Boogie" paints a picture of complete...

In June of 1982, with the harsh sun beating down on their small, rural city, my mother’s community danced throughout the streets in her honor, making music with makeshift instruments as they moved. The quiet town, on the outskirts of Bishoftu,...

“Watashi no namae wa Hung Nguyen desu.”

My voice trembled as I nervously introduced myself to my Japanese class.

At first, Japanese was just a bunch of random noises in the anime that I occasionally watched. But as I started to watch more anime...

Sweat dripped from my brow as I carefully set my roll of tape onto the granite kitchen counter in front of me. My masterpiece was finally complete. As I slid down from my stool, I was careful to not let my knobby ten-year-old knees topple into the...

In our increasingly madcap age, the great American pastime has shifted from baseball to pranking. I concur by aspiring to place staplers in jello, just like Jim Halpert from The Office. My creativity isn’t expressed through art but through the...

One day, while browsing through my mail, I came across a pamphlet and large deck of Harvey-Mudd-customized cards, piquing my interest. In many ways, HMC is unique like its advertising tactic of a deck of cards with information about Harvey Mudd on...

I sleep in on Sunday, I stay home on Wednesday nights; I don’t belong to any youth groups, and if you walk into my house there’s not a single cross to be found. Instead a big blue candle bearing the star of David is perched on the mantle, and two...

“Don’t tell me there’s no hope at all” are the very words that Roger Waters from Pink Floyd sang in the internationally famous, “Hey You”. Growing up, my father and I used to always take road trips through our sunny California redwoods, jamming...

I caress the hot mug and take a sip, letting the creamy liquid linger on my tongue. I slowly lower the mug and inhale, allowing the exotic aroma to invade my body. My overstimulated senses beg for more coffee, and intoxicating joy pulses through...

I always thought of living life through the saying “quality over quantity”, but when dealing with problems like child poverty, or teen suicide, you need quality and quantity. This was what got me into running the Kids in Action Network Non-Profit...

“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.” ―Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

There is a crescent that runs across my thigh, then down my knee, pauses, and continues in an uninterrupted path across my calf. It is...

“E is for EMILY!”

To most, this statement is obvious. But to a two-year-old learning her letters using colorful wooden blocks lined up in a shoebox, the realization that her first name starts with a specific vowel is extraordinary.

Several studies...

At 6 AM, March 2nd, 2014, I woke up glimmering with hope. However, at 1 PM that fateful, unforgettable day, I came in second place in the Orange County Spelling Bee, lost my chance to compete at nationals. I breezed through almost every word....

Pomelo, pamplemousse, trai buoi, grapefruit - Spanish, French, Vietnamese, and English. My ability to connect languages has enhanced my understanding of every subject I learn and has led me to cherish language as a bridge between different...