Newest College Application Essays

My grandfather’s hands hardly appeared photogenic. They were red, cracked, and rough, and they often bore cuts and scratches from whatever mechanical object he had last worked on. I knew those hands from an early age. They used to slap my back as...

“This year,” Mr. Stelfox exclaimed confidently as he addressed the room of eighth-grade students, “I will uncover your innate love of science and technology.” By exposing us to the practical side of science, he did just that. Every morning we...

When the dice directed me to yet another vacant property on the Monopoly board, I recklessly continued to invest. Young and naïve, I thought this was a foolproof tactic for winning easily. It was a strategy that I even attempted to conceal from my...

On my eighth birthday, my parents forcefully stripped me from my native China, forsaking the familiar, overcrowded landscape of towering skyscrapers and chaotic traffic in order to venture into a peculiar and alien territory known as Vancouver....

Henry David Thoreau said, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Two people can look at the same situation but see something entirely different. In the grand span of my 17 years of existence, I have learned that attitude is a...

It was to my temporary Italian address that a package arrived in mid-November. Even though it had been only a couple of months, I had yearned for something to read as a respite from the unending flow of Italian, which inundated my still-untrained...

There is a special bond that forms between a dog and its owner. Sandy and I were no exception. That was why I wasn't really surprised when my mom told me the news. In a way, I already knew.

My family got Sandy when I was six, so she was a part of...

Most people are surprised to find out that I am dyslexic. Of course, most people don’t know. It’s not that I am ashamed of it, just that I don’t like to tell people about my problems. It is hard to hide, however, when a teacher asks me to read...

Countless books, documentaries, and museums recount the story of the Jewish Holocaust. Comparatively few people, however, have heard of the modern holocaust that took place in Indonesia twelve years ago in my hometown of Jakarta.

One particular...

As we rode down the hill toward Henley Island and I caught my first glimpse of the boats, the food tents, and the hundreds of rowers, I realized that I now knew what it meant to have a life-changing experience. Over the last six weeks, I had been...

There are undoubtedly many essays that offer similar elaborations on an identical thesis: that the integration of faith and learning always prepares one for a life of service, and that service-learning has a positive influence on the mind, spirit,...

Three A.M. I still smell like the chicken-soaked grease of a shift spent working at Chick-Fil-A, but I’ve hit a plot snag. My character’s stuck in Boston, I’m stuck on page 78, and I need to figure out how to get us both out before I’ll let myself...

Whether or not one supported Barack Obama’s election to the White House, one must concede that the President’s campaign speeches brilliantly portrayed a new vision for a tired country. Yet Obama did not write them. The man behind the curtain was...

I am indescribably awestruck with The Ohio State University (OSU). The first aspect of the university that caught my eye was its remarkable diversity. All of my life, I have attended public schools where the majority of the students were of...

In Baltimore there are no stars. You look up when there’s no moon, on one of the few clear nights, and all you can see is a dull twinkle or two. I guess people around here don’t notice it much, even can’t find much time to look up. I don’t blame...

I had no idea my boyfriend and I had broken up until my friends started texting me asking why. Confused, I logged onto my Facebook account. I had a notification saying that my now ex-boyfriend had cancelled the relationship. I also had an inbox...

College brings together a melting pot of students and a buffet table of classes, internships, study abroad programs, and clubs. Yet students must give back to their schools, or else who’d be attending classes or playing in the orchestra?

To...

“No student ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him: it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.” –Charles Kendall Adams

I will...

There was something about the feeling of that squishy muck squirting through my toes after a heavy rainfall that simply made me feel alive. Or to feel the gritty road pushing against every inch of my sole and the rough gravel digging into my...

I prodded the chicken with my fork. The rest of the table was heatedly arguing about health care while I wondered how much longer the school fundraiser dinner would last. Then, an idle comment uttered by a boy I didn’t know made my head jerk up.

“…...

My father is a self-employed street artist. His work begins when he sets up his easel and paper on Fifth Avenue. Throughout the night, he sits patiently and draws portraits for people. No matter the weather, he is out on the streets. With his...

Although I woke up that morning and most likely performed my usual routine, I cannot recall what was going through my mind. I can tell you for sure that I had no idea that day would end up altering the way I value life. Before the sun ruptured the...

I was only a child when I was due for my first surgery. In France at the time, I had developed a severe nasal congestion that would not relent despite various medical treatments. My mother took me to the doctors once more, and it was then that...

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K… As I enter the house, I hear the sweet melody of this song being sung in the playroom by a vivacious voice that can do nothing but bring a smile to my face. I tiptoe as quietly as I possibly can towards the...