Newest College Application Essays

Compared to the stereotypical beach packed with tourists and surfers, New Hampshire’s Hampton beach seemed rather unremarkable. It was like any other New England Beach: cold, empty, and cloudy – just two miles of sand wedged between the road,...

My hand on the bar holds all my weight as my foot clumsily finds fifth position from fourth, while transitioning from relevé to plié. I struggle to remember tendu from bourree, then fall behind, as the rest of the class is executing the sequence...

My brain is in a superposition between string and music theory.

At any given moment, I am dedicating my full self to the growing popularity of cosmic rays…

When I visited Cornell over the summer, the first thing I noticed was that Cornell does not...

“Passionate people put pens to paper to produce poetry.”

While a third grade teacher may gush over this sentence, most others would find it appalling. Nevertheless, the truth behind it is undeniable; poetry rises from the fires in people’s eyes...

It started with a question.

Every day before the bell rang, I ranted about my broken friendships to the only person who was willing to listen, my “Spanish buddy.” Instead of tuning me out or rolling her eyes, Peyton listened. She gradually fixed...

The world had no flaws as long as I had markers and crayons in hand. My mother was newly divorced when we moved to the United States from Russia. Upon our arrival to America, my family, consisting of her and my brother, was penniless. I was...

Two hours later, even with my cart stockpiled with an assortment of possible parts, I strode aisle-to-aisle scrutinizing each item, and mentally assembling the bits I had selected to generate the ideal model. It was hard to avoid the weird looks...

A middle school girl walked quietly through the halls, pieces of hair covering her face as she watched the floor pass beneath her feet. Books clutched to her chest acted as armor to protect her from the afflictive glares and tormenting words that...

I met Hugo last summer while backpacking in Alaska. He was a small Inuit man who lived north of the Arctic Circle in the Nunamiut village of Anaktuvuk Pass, which is accessible only by foot or plane. We entered the small museum where Hugo worked...

Throwing knives are for hot summer days and for dull Sunday afternoons – for when even the blood in my head has seemingly gone stagnant. This spin on the martial arts pulls me from these doldrums, forcing my mind into discipline. I must estimate...

Would you ever drop everything - your time, your friends, and your family - to serve other people? To be completely honest, I never thought I would. But somehow I found myself on the beach in Samos, Greece. I unlaced my high tops and placed them...

When I was younger, my mother told me I needed bubble wrap; between broken bones, oral injuries, and gastrointestinal issues, I was always at the hospital or doctor's office. As a kid, hospitals can be a scary place. They are a sterile, clinical...

I woke up to the sound of my brother screaming. Worried, I rushed downstairs to the sight of ripped paper beneath his feet and a new iPad in his hands. It was Christmas. Giddy with excitement, I dove into the pile of gifts, searching for the box...

"Can you believe her? She's 240 pounds - no wonder she had a heart attack." The doctor scoffed as we walked out of the patient's room. The woman had just received an electrical shock to the heart. I had the opportunity to participate in a summer...

"What's your favorite animal?"Typical six-year-olds may pick cats or dogs or even snakes, but me? I loved lobsters. I had read from an animal fact book that they are immortal. So typically, I thought that they were magical animals with the power...

Drenched in sweat, I was more than ready to hop on the last subway to my hotel. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder. With my tiny fists clenched, I braced for a fight as I slowly turned around. And there, I saw a mob of Asian grandmothers."Ni...

The objective of this school project was to create our ideal version of a school.We turned in a trash can."Our project was inspired by the Dada artists, who are known for their use of readymade (everyday objects) that were displayed as 'art.' This...

The ladder is broken - the socioeconomic ladder of Ghana that is. There are several missing rungs, leaving a large gap between the first few steps and those leading towards the top. This disparity makes it difficult for underprivileged Ghanaians...

Although my areas of interest are broad, I am certain of my passion for creativity and design. My ability to think creatively is not only in the visual aesthetic of things, but in using innovative and unorthodox methods of problem solving as...

From down here, buildings seem taller. The top shelf of the cabinet is a mystery, and the shelf under is a balancing act. Being 4’10’’ has given me a different perspective, in multiple ways.

The insecurity within being inches shorter than the...

Six or seven years ago my family purchased, for pennies on the dollar, a couple of foreclosed-upon rental properties in Silver City, a rough but budding Old Milwaukee neighborhood. When we first walked through the behemoth relics of the 1920s, we...

On the South Lawn of the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI stands a small building known by observatory staff as the Molleigh Dome. The 10-foot tall structure houses a computer-guided 12” Meade LX200 reflecting telescope. Entering the...

I took a breath and assured myself that everything would be all right. Looking up, I could see the sunlight breaking through the ripples, reaching me from the surface, breaking the sixty feet of water above my head. There was no sound, everything...

“Why did I say yes?” I question past decisions as I frantically pace the empty corridors of the Hershey Lodge. That Saturday night, the Great American Hall vibrated with the sound of popular music and hundreds of happy teenagers. I should have...