Newest College Application Essays

In a 1957 interview, Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, a legendary tabla (an Indian percussion instrument) player remarked that “rhythm is the essence of life. Without rhythm, man can not move a step forward in any sphere of activity.” He went on to point...

Everything happens in the Miller family kitchen. It’s here that we celebrate birthdays, cram 40 Thanksgiving guests (even though there’s plenty of room to spread out), endlessly listen to the Eagles, and most importantly have the serious family...

From the age of five, I've had an irrational fear of heights. Maybe because, as a short child, everything seemed to tower over me. Or maybe because, as a Floridian, I had not known any height above sea-level until later in my life. As a boy, my...

Before last October, I crafted artwork in a way that I now find stifling to the creative process. I devised pieces in a manner that I can only describe as linear: I would imagine a scene, create different compositional sketches, and then draw and...

The sun set, while a blend of indigos, rich plums, and the deepest blacks carpeted the sky; headlights lit up the parking lot as crowds entered what is normally a Jewish temple, but for the night was the Belmont High School Art Show. Stomach...

"Areh bache! Return to class!" The teacher's booming voice couldn't stop them. The students, identically dressed in white polo shirts, navy shorts, and polished shoes, climbed on top of one another to see if they could catch a glimpse. "There it...

I never once thought that swinging my arms to a beat would transform me. Of course, I knew that being a drum major would consist of constant conducting, but keeping tempo was only scratching the surface of the duties I was responsible for. I...

“Please rise for the national anthem and the presentation of the colors.” Immediately, the thousands of people attending this Memorial Day program rise in reverent silence. It’s 9:30 in morning, the sun illuminates the Star-Spangled Banner, and...

It’s 3:16 A.M.

My eyes are bloodshot from sleeplessness; I stumble into my room and crash my head against the soft, plush pillow laying on my bed. I pull the blanket over my head and close my eyes, trying desperately to get some sleep before the...

While rolling my clothes into the suitcase for the youth trip, I pondered new ways to persuade the school to accept my idea. I had used reasoning and humanitarian appeals, and nobody was signing on to my envisioned LGBTQ club. What more could I...

"Wealth without virtue is no harmless neighbor." -Sappho

How businesses and corporations balance the virtue of giving back and profit-seeking is one of my greatest fascinations. For example, the American company Tom's donates a pair of shoes for...

A scrawny boy in beat-up velcro sneakers ran past. Our tour guide Mohammed sighed heavily, “Angel Park is probably the only place where a young boy could be young. Outside, he's probably the head of the family, working three jobs to secure meals...

There is a Chinese proverb, or chenyu, that literally means “guarding a tree for rabbits.” The story behind it involves a farmer who saw a rabbit run into a tree, providing his dinner for the night. He then waited by that tree the next day in...

"My six year old could do that," a woman behind me remarks. I feel a twinge of irritation, but I don't blame her; a few years ago, I would’ve agreed. To the average eye, Grace Hartigan's work of Abstract Expressionism, The Gallow Ball, appears to...

This morning, day seventeen, my blueish lips burned in the freezing wind and my soaked hair clung to my face. In what seemed like moments, however, I was in the canoe, watching the sun begin to rise above the calm Canadian river. Cicadas serenaded...

While I was on vacation several years ago, a girl about my age approached me while I was splashing around in the pool. She, like me, was probably an only child on a vacation with two lame parents who wanted to unwind and rest, not rush down slides...

Taking my spot in the third seat, I face the coxswain as she commands our boat. As we push off the dock, adrenaline runs through my veins. As my stomach leaps into my throat, hands sweating, I tenuously maintain my grip on the oar. As the “new...

On a sweltering July day, five other teenagers and I, varying in age from fourteen to eighteen, were sprinting across the fields of Horsham Park, hoping to catch a level 897 Nidoking or maybe even the elusive Dratini. We would take down infamous...

Each time I open a new cage door, a new pair of eyes stares back at me. Although these may simply look like the same eyes that stare from the next cage, I see more than the midnight gaze that penetrates my mind and heart. I see more than an...

A few days ago, I watched a video titled “People React to Being Called Beautiful,” made by a student, Shea Glover. She filmed various other students and told them she was “taking photos of things [she] find[s] beautiful.” The various reactions are...

I grabbed my first camera in sixth grade. I would grasp the handle of the silver Sony camcorder like slipping on a comfortable glove, and glide my thumb over the intricate aluminum buttons, finally putting it to rest on top of the big red dot...

My story begins in what was once an artist's commune, the Monterey area, an unending canvas of serene beauty. I vividly recall the vibrant colors and the fragrant air as I sat along the coast, watching the crashing waves bleed into the Santa Lucia...

Growing up as a lefty, you soon realize the many disadvantages of living in a right-hand oriented world. A dull pain rubs against your hand when you try to use scissors. You painstakingly learn how to jerk around a keyboard mouse with your right...

Feet. It’s 6:30 in the morning and I wake up to the sight of ten mini-sausage toes. Exasperated, I recount last night’s struggles trying to sleep with my little brother at my side. First came the turning upside-down. He had a habit of gradually...