Newest College Application Essays

He never rang the doorbell, never knocked, just walked right in. Jackson never needed to knock; he was just “family.” He eats his meals with us, watches sports with us, and if it weren’t for the human eye, you’d think he was one of my siblings....

I believe that every writer’s style can basically be described as a mosaic, consisting of fragments of childhood memories, a string of English teachers, and most notably, scraps of stanzas from each poem they have ever read. Shards of glass,...

Standing atop the highest peak in the continental United States, the thin, crisp air and spectacular beauty of Mt. Whitney’s crest energized and humbled me. I could hear my heart beating, the individual rocks crunching beneath my feet, and the...

I have never had a space to be a writer. In high school, whenever my class is given a creative writing assignment, my friends groan in unison. By the time their groans have quieted, I have already thought of a first sentence. At lunch, everyone at...

Worlds apart though they may seem, English and science have always been my realms of study. English, because I like people -- listening to them, deconstructing them, empathizing with them. And science because I like puzzles -- that moment when the...

“The U.S. and China should work to unify the Koreas.”

Eight minutes left.

As I walk to the podium, I present myself as a confident junior. Yet in my mind, I am still a freshman, stammering through my first speech, unnerved by the seven pairs of...

I opened the door, immersing myself in the crisp, chilly air of Portland, Oregon. I had just traversed the vast Pacific Ocean, and I was now in America. How I ended up here, I was not quite sure. All I knew was that I stood there — homesick,...

An empty house with white walls, filled with boxes covered in brown packing tape is all that’s left of a place that was once my home. It’s packed with sweaty movers loading my memories into a U-Haul van -- a scene I would become accustomed to my...

My clammy hands trembled as I prepared to meet my camper for my very first day as a volunteer at Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp. I had no idea how to instantly connect with him, but as Sebastian raced towards me in his Formula red...

I spent much of my adolescence in Arcadia; a world illumined by artificial suns. There, people eschewed costly 'real' clothing for digitally enhanced 'shifts', government propaganda was broadcast hourly onto illusionary blue skies, and one could...

Danger looms in this idyllic, Floridian community and I, the stranger, am alert to the seamless transitions. The carbon texture of the hardening skies, the desertion of once bustling streets, the tentative schedules that allow room for imminent...

“I never want to raise my hand in school again.”

At least that is what I initially thought after being laughed at by my entire sixth grade science class. Sporting a faded Bob Dylan t-shirt, the middle school teacher asked if anyone could tell him...

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...

I’ll always remember that drive; there was a crisp summer breeze sailing in through my window and the taste of early-morning dew still hung in the air. My heart was beating so fast, I could hardly hear my favorite song, “Sweet Caroline”, blasting...

My heartbeat is in the broken, faux timber bookcase against my mother's bedroom wall. I am thirteen years old. Each afternoon, I return, palms moist, nerves alight, mind buzzing with the consequences of being caught. Every other sensation pales...

In the fall of my freshman year, my father came home from work with the widest grin I had ever seen. He posed one of those life-altering questions that most would ponder for days instead of minutes. “Do you want to use some of that money you’ve...

If I were to create my own college course, I would focus on the question, “How can we, the students of Boston College, use Catholic teachings in order to unify America in a time of discord?”

Everyday in the news I see protests and violence; the...

I don’t know how exactly I fell in love with neuroscience, just that “The Brain!” was my favorite episode of Bill Nye, that I’d invariably perk my ears up during sleepy car rides whenever I heard neuroscience being discussed on NPR, and that I’d...

Head over heels, I fell in love with the art of riding on one wheel. My first introduction occurred at a summer camp. The camp leader, formerly a circus acrobat, added convivial excitement to the program. The most memorable of his efforts took...

At Colorado College, I would teach an ethnic studies course focusing on heritage and family lineage. Essentially, it will be a research-based course that helps participants unveil information about where their family comes from and expand on prior...

The clothes we wear can say a lot about us. They can also astonish your grandmother.

On a family visit in Pasco, Washington, my shirt did just that.

Although these trips center on my family, I always make sure to visit the local Mexican bakery to...

"Money doesn't grow on trees" was my mom's favorite catchphrase - and her inevitable response to my requests for movie tickets, clothes, and chocolate. The first time she used this phrase was in fifth grade when I asked for movie money. My mother...

My name is Scheherezade. I am about to die at the hands of a King, but if I can captivate him through my stories I might be able to stay alive for just one more night.

The orchestra drops to quiet plucking, and I take a deep breath in. I...

“How’s your brother?”

“He’s dead.”

Silence filled the line.“Wow...that’s awful. It’s no wonder you’re afraid,” I replied. There wasn’t much I could do. This teen was struggling with drug abuse and feared leaving a gang whose members murdered his...