Writing College Admissions Essays

Sample Essays

Homework: Using your rubric and remembering what we have covered in the workshop, analyze the following
two sample essays.

Essay 1

Prompt: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their
application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

People who have grown up with siblings might laugh at the idea that I consider being an only child an essential
part of my identity. But just as a relationship with a brother or sister can be deeply formative, so can the absence
of these relationships. For me, this absence has been a powerful stimulus to my imagination and my growth as a
person.
When people discover I am an only child, they often react with some sympathy, as if growing up alone meant
growing up lonely. It's certainly true that I spent a lot of time alone; even though I had close friends in
elementary school, I hung out with them mostly on weekends. But I never felt lonely. As a young child, I loved
to get lost in different projects of my own--whether it was building rudimentary circuits and illuminating LED
lights with my “DeluxeElectronics Lab,” or improving my origami technique with my “Fold-a-Day” calendar.
In these activities, I needed no conversation partner, no playmate, because the act of creation itself became my
friend, challenging me to keep improving upon my skills. But I didn't always need wires and bulbs and paper to
keep me interested; over time, I learned to find satisfaction in the simple act of daydreaming.
I treat such “daydreaming” very seriously. For me, daydreaming is a powerful tool for my creativity. Almost all
of my ideas--whether they concern building a robot, writing a student council speech, or solving a problem--
originate in my daydreams. One thing that perhaps sets me apart from the stereotypical “daydreamer” is that I
have the ability to put my daydreams to use in real life. During my sophomore year of high school, I was
watching two of my friends arm wrestle, and I began to daydream about arm wrestling. Arm wrestling is a
peculiar sport, in that it's always one-on-one; there are no variations with more than two players. I began to
wonder if there was a way to have two people arm wrestle against another two people. My daydream then
underwent a critical metamorphosis, from the realm of ideas to the realm of execution. That summer, I built a
model for a double arm wrestling machine on Google Sketchup, and then, with the help of a professional
welder, turned the model into a reality. Later that year, I organized the first ever two-on-two arm wrestling
tournament in my school's history (and probably the world's too). As an added bonus, all the money I raised
from the double arm wrestling tournament was donated to the people of Nepal, who suffered an earthquake a
few weeks prior to the tournament.
Growing up as an only child, learning to entertain myself with nothing but ideas, problems, and some
rudimentary materials, has taught me the importance of listening to one's own thoughts. This is especially
important nowadays, as we live in a world full of screens and sounds competing for our attention. As a result, it
is all too easy to tune out the more subtle frequency of our imaginations, the inner frontier. Many people have
what the writer Verlyn Klinkenborg called “a fear of the dark, cavernous place called the mind,” but there is
nothing to fear there. In fact, there is much to learn. I am grateful, as an only child, to have had the chance to
grow comfortable in that solitary space.
Written By: Daniel Bekai '20 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
http://admissions.tufts.edu/apply/advice/past-essays/common-application-essays/
 Essay 2

Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new
understanding of yourself or others. / Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so
meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please
share your story.

A portrait of Julia Child leans precariously on my bedside table competing for space with sticky notes, pennies,
and a plastic alarm clock. Julia has been my role model ever since I spent an hour at the Smithsonian American
History Museum watching cooking show after cooking show. As she dropped eggs, burnt soufflés, and prepared
a whole pig, she never took herself too seriously and with her goofy smile and accompanying laugh. And yet,
she was as successful in her field as anyone could ever be. Her passion completely guided her career. She taught
me that it does not matter what I choose to do, it only matters that I do it with my whole self; zealously and
humorously.
Unlike Julia, I do not aspire to be a chef. Brownies out of a box may just be the highlight of my baking career.
Something I have been passionate about for my whole life, however, is teaching. The first traces of my
excitement came from a summer camp that I founded when I was seven years old. Motivated by too many
imperfect summer camp experiences, I established my ideal summer camp, one in which campers could choose
their activities, from banana split tutorials to wacky hat-making. So that year it began, with seven five-year-old
campers in my backyard. For six consecutive years, I ran my summer camp, each year tweaking and improving
from the years before.
Chebeague Island, Maine, established a preschool in the spring of 2012, run out of a trailer by a recent college
graduate. I volunteered as an intern. For three months, I helped organize for the summer and the following year.
I took out the trash, cleaned, and sorted toys, all while studying how to incorporate educational material into
preschool activities. I wrote curriculum and researched preschool regulations to ensure that we were in
compliance. We created a safe classroom, an academic plan for the upcoming year, and a balance between
learning and playing in the classroom. By the end of the summer the intern became the co-director of the
summer preschool program.
This past June, I returned to the trailer to find the space and program in complete disarray. Since the previous
summer, the preschool had seen two new directors and the latest was spread thin, juggling maintenance,
finances and curriculum planning. My progress had not endured. After sulking for a week, I decided I was
better suited to envelop Julia’s mentality. What did she do when she flipped a burger onto the ground? She
smiled, laughed at the camera, picked it up, reshaped it a little, and kept right on going. So that’s what I did. I
brought in a group of friends to clean and organize the trailer. I initiated a “lobster-roll” fundraiser, and Island
lobstermen donated lobsters while their wives came together to pick meat from the shells. It was wildly
successful and thrived on the community’s spirit. Then I worked to reinstate some sort of educational value into
the summer program. We danced to Spanish and Ghanaian music, crafted wacky hats, and read books about the
lobstering industry, an aspect of their community that is so significant.
My past two summers have been exhausting and all too frequently frustrating but ultimately the Chebeague
Island Preschool, along with many other teaching experiences, has exposed me to the ground level of education
policy in the United States. After this past summer my goal is to become a future U.S. Secretary of Education.
So my portrait of Julia is by my bedside to remind me. Remind me that throughout the tedium of my extremely
busy life there is something that I am passionate about. To remind me that personality and humor are essential
to success. And remind me that the sort of passion I need to succeed is not the type that will let me give in to
small setbacks along the way.
Written By: Katherine Glass '18 Dana Hall School, MA
http://admissions.tufts.edu/apply/advice/past-essays/common-application-essays/