Newest College Application Essays

"What's honor?" The student's voice was careless and lazy, punctuated with a shrug of his shoulder. He asked the question without expecting a response, dismissing the very idea. "That doesn't exist here anymore."

It hurt me to hear one of my...

What do Walt Whitman, Howard Roark, and I have in common? Passion. Passion for life, for architecture, and for viruses. When I read The Cobra Event in eighth grade, I had a cinematic picture of viruses. I imagined there were millions of deadly...

"Dive line!" my fastidious volleyball coach yells.

The sound of these two words still frightens me at night. Dive line is an appalling exercise- we scurry a few feet to get up to speed, dive onto the freshly waxed floor, skid a few more feet on...

"An institution where any person can find instruction in any study" This is the vision that Ezra Cornell founded the university on. This quote has inspired me to explore different fields of study. Growing up in a family of engineers, I have always...

In high school, college is often made to seem like an end-all, be-all experience - the pinnacle of one's life. I know that is not true. In college we prepare for life beyond it, in my case for a lifetime of global citizenship.

I was born in China...

Nevin peeled off a sticker from his binder and posted it to my forehead. "MADE IN CHINA," it said. I faked a nonchalant laugh, but my blushing face betrayed my feeling of defeat. All that I had strived for seemed to have been futile. What Nevin...

There are no real hills in Davis, aside for a few overpasses, and so it's easy to forget the dangers of heights and slopes. One sunny afternoon, in pursuit of some thrills, I managed to find a "hill" to ride down on my longboard. The first few...

The day was bitterly cold for April in Athens, Georgia. I stopped watching the music on-stage to count the number of people on the field. A sizeable crowd had turned up to the first annual Battle Against Poverty Concert, which I had spent months...

Near the end of my junior school year, I ran for senior class president. My decision was based on a few different factors. For one, I wanted to play a larger role in my school. Although I have always participated in school athletics, I have...

Dan vs. Mr. Titelbaum. An epic showdown between the junior class and the math department. A crowd gathers around the table as Mr. T and I set up for the final point, the point that determines who will advance to the finals of the first-ever CPS...

As I watched my first black and white print slowly emerge from nothingness, the methodical ticking of the timer behind me, I smiled as a wave of excitement passed through me. Without thinking, I began to dance to the rhythm of the clock. From the...

At Brown, the Carrie Tower chimes, class beckons, and I walk in barefoot.

Barefoot like my abuela, who at the age of seventeen chased down the thief who snatched her purse. Armed with only indignation and pride, her feet pounded the soft earth of...

I sometimes wonder whether I've ever made any personal decisions. I think my parents have shaped my life to their liking: I attended Exeter in the footsteps of my father, and now I find myself in Rennes, where he studied thirty years ago. I do...

First impressions mean everything, I've been told from elementary school on. A person forms their opinion of you in the first few moments of meeting, and it's important to make a positive initial impact.

I suppose that's why my classmates seemed...

I was out of my element. Alcoholic fathers and abusive mothers? Gangs and drugs?! I had been thrust, suddenly, into the real world, exposed to all its horrors.

It was two years ago, and I had entered the Confirmation program at my church. The...

Paul Samuelson once told a joke about a physicist, a chemist and an economist who were stranded on an island with only a can of soup. The physicist suggested smashing it open with a rock, the chemist wanted to heat it with a fire, and the...

The name Kofi Annan formed my first impression of Macalester College. It was a school that had educated the Secretary-General of the United Nations, one of the most influential people in the world. In addition, a browse through the school...

Approximately sixty years ago, during World War II, Japan invaded and occupied parts of China, committing many atrocities. I learned something of these events in middle school, but didn't give them special thought at the time; WWII seemed marked...

It's generally taken to be a sign of desperation when a girl in the science stream sacrifices precious studying time to read books just so she can discuss the themes with Humanities students, but that is precisely what I did. Not only did I read...

I'm going to be honest. My mom has not been diagnosed with Huntington's Disease, my best friend has never jumped off the Sears Tower, and I am not scheduled to compete in the Olympic Games while sporting a missing leg, two broken arms, and a lazy...

Slapping away yet another mosquito, I scrabbled and slid on the rough, gravel path. The steam rising from the earth fogged my glasses and gave credence to the affectionate nickname we had for this place: 'Hell'. It was the summer after sophomore...

I was white. I was so unbearably white. I walked into this madhouse - this dizzyingly varied place, filled with new and different sights, sounds, and even smells. I plunged into the teeming throng of diversity with apprehension. Jostling my way to...

"Hindsight is 20/20." This common saying, while a comforting way to console someone who can not accept a past decision, is far from accurate. The problem with changing history - even just one little fact - is that the consequences of the...

If Oberlin is the metaphorical forest, then I am the tree, seamlessly integrated into the foliage, underbrush, and spirit of my fellow students, and the college that ties us together. Like any forest, the total beauty comes not from one single...