Newest College Application Essays

It was but another Saturday morning – famished and alone in a house of quiet. The family, while knowing that their attempts to prevent me from cooking are futile, creates obstacles such as hiding cooking oil or disabling the stove. I have as a...

Hands shaking, I lifted the cover of my makeshift steamer.

All families have their own “thing.” Some have game nights; others have movie nights. My family has a time-honored tradition of cook-offs. These competitions are not like the casual and...

The sky was the baby blue of my new tricycle with streaks of mandarin orange peels highlighting the end of another innocent day. He stood beside my 5 year old self, with clothes smelling of Chinese take-out and the sweat of yesterday’s hot sun....

Summer begins with skin made of ants. The months between school years were designed for sitting on the border of the sandpit at the Jewish Community Center with ants crawling over my hands.

“Sugar ants don’t bite people,” my friend assures me...

anacrusis

A basic C major chord followed by an equally basic G major chord, arpeggiated: use your left hand to hit C-E-G… that sounds accurate. Now, slide your hand down a bit further and hit G-B-D. Good. Hit the first chord three times, do the...

Why aren’t there campaigns for male plus sized models? I had no one to tell me I’m beautiful when I weighed 185 pounds in eleventh grade; all I got were offensive slurs and derogatory nicknames. I had shielded out the remarks, without retorting,...

The high-rise steel buildings and skyscrapers were replaced with vast greenery and blue, cloudy skies. The familiar symphony of sirens, honking, and indistinct chatter was suddenly replaced with oppressive silence. People I had known for my whole...

There have been two instances in my life in which I felt as if I completely did not belong.

The first time was my first day at Primrose School in Cary, North Carolina, where I realized with discomfort that I could not understand a thing my peers...

March 22nd, 1934. I arrive to the course, designed by Bobby Jones, in a 1933 silver Studebaker Dictator at 8am sharp. The wheels squeal in the hot gravel. The grass, still glazed with morning dew, smells fresher and more fragrant than a bouquet of...

In middle school, my favorite song wasn’t Imagine Dragon’s Radioactive, but Matthew West’s 10,000 Reasons. I didn’t know who celebrities like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie were, but I knew who Jeroboam and Rahab were. I didn’t have a phone or iPod,...

Two cars collide. Shattered glass flies everywhere. As much as you want to turn away, you stand transfixed by the chaos. That’s what it was like hearing my friend Sara’s life story.

The first day, it was her emergency room visits for the holes in...

I could feel the creative energy growing, pushing restlessly against the silence as they waited for me to finish reading the brief. As soon as I did, it released itself in an outburst; voices grew loud as they struggled to make themselves heard,...

Pfft. Pffffffffft.

Frustrated, I glared at the flute. It stared back at me as if to say, “bring it on.”

I consulted the beginner’s book, the red one that I hated: “Shape your mouth as if saying ‘whee-too,’ place the flute on your chin, and blow a...

The purr of the engine dulls the voices of the other passengers. The cabin is fiercely pressurized, and the economy seating is cocooned in the back. After we visited the fresh farmland and enjoyed accustomed smoked foods, the only taste that both...

Walking into St. Joseph’s chapel on the day before winter break, I felt as if I was walking through a portal. Outside was freezing and dark, but the inside of the stone walls was filled with a certain warmth and light that swelled through me the...

“We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.”

The movie Memento closes with Lenny saying this. Given the chance, I would star in Memento. Lenny’s mirrors were his memory devices, but my mirrors are more tangible. When I...

“Miss? Why are you here?” I look down to see a little child tugging on my pant leg. The children at the Educational Theatre Company (ETC) think I am older than I am, so I often get questions like these from students who think I am wiser than my...

“You are going to a boarding school in Singapore,” said my parents one day.

The decision to send me off to boarding school came as a surprise for my family’s acquaintances. It came as a shock to me --- especially since I did not even know what the...

I had spent the whole morning preparing to execute an Olympic worthy backflip into my aunt’s community pool. It was the summer before 6th grade; I stood at the edge, took one deep breath, and launched myself into the air. I imagined the intense...

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been a singer in my church. I would tag along with her each week to watch the worship band rehearse, and I can recall just sitting there, absorbing the music, with my eyes always fixed on the drum set....

Nine - this number means the amount of times I have moved. I was five the first time I moved, and I remember looking at the big truck came and took away our packages. The fountain of water that bubbles near my new home was funny. Moving is great!...

"Come quick!” At six-years old, I struggle to Velcro my shoes on as I peer out the window to see where my father had gone. Eyes twinkling, he showed me a bright, green caterpillar chewing on a leaf, high in the branches. Hand in hand, we explored...

I jolt up, my head rapidly whipping around. I angrily slam my hand down, snoozing the alarm. I’m all ready to head back to sleep, concluding I accidentally left my school alarm on last night, but then I jolt up yet again.

Debate! Today is the...

Light, clear and ephemeral. A bubble is easy to pop. An onion on the other hand, has layers of tough, pungent membranes - breaking them brings tears to your eyes.

When asked where I was from, I would unthinkingly say ‘Karachi’. As I grew older, I...