Check out these outstanding college essay examples
A student who can make an admissions officer laugh never gets lost in the shuffle. But beware. What you think is funny and what an adult working in a college thinks is funny are probably different. We caution against one-liners, limericks and anything off–color.
The saying, “show, don’t tell” is a common guideline when writing your college application essay. This means instead of stating what happened, describe what happened using vivid details and examples. By “painting” a picture with your words, your reader is better able to understand and follow along in your story.
Admissions officers have to read an unbelievable number of college essays, most of which are forgettable. Many students try to sound smart rather than sounding like themselves. Others write about a subject that they don't care about, but that they think will impress admissions officers.
14 College Essay Examples From Top-25 Universities (2024–2025)
While a college application essay doesn’t require a specific structure, it’s important that your story flows smoothly with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Here’s a quick outline of how that can work:
It’s with good reason that students are particularly focused on the personal essay this year, because some of the most desirable colleges are, too. When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in June, Chief Justice John Roberts left open one window through which colleges can still consider race in their admissions decisions—if a student chooses to write about “how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”
Only four of the top 100 said they don’t look at essays at all. All four are part of the 23-campus California State University system, which doesn’t ask applicants to submit essays because doing so can create barriers for first-generation students, according to a CSU spokesperson. By contrast, the University of California schools on our list do consider essays, with #5-ranked and #7-ranked both rating them as very important pieces of the admissions process. In 1996, California voters made the use of affirmative action in admissions in state schools illegal, and the state’s college systems seem to have reached different conclusions—at least when it comes to essays—about the best way to remain inclusive.
ore than a thousand U.S. colleges use the Common Application, which allows students to fill out one application and submit it to several participating schools at once. As part of the Common App, students are asked to write an up to 650-word personal essay responding to one of seven prompts. The first, and perhaps most important post-affirmative action: “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.” (Other prompts ask students to describe what they learned from a challenge or set back or to reflect on a time when they questioned a belief or idea. The last of the seven prompts allows students to write about anything they wish.)
Popular College Application Essay Topics (and How to Answer Them)
Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.
More College Essay Topics · Describe a person you admire
n addition to the race question, students, their advisors and admissions offices are all now wrestling with a second new issue: how ChatGPT might affect those ever more important essays. (You can see our early attempts at getting ChatGPT to write college essays .)
College essay writing tip: choose a topic thats right for you
Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.
how do you write a good admissions essay
Hawkins expects some students will turn to tools like ChatGPT for help this fall. “We know from our research with students that the application is a fairly stressful process for them, and so do I think that there will be students who use ChatGPT or other AI? I’m sure some students will be tempted to do that.” Whether using AI will hurt an applicant could depend on what the college is hoping to get out of the essay, Hawkins says. If the school is reading it to evaluate writing ability, using AI could hurt. But if admissions officers are using the essay simply to learn something about the student, employing AI as a writing tool might not be a problem, he says.
UChicago Supplemental Essay Questions | College Admissions
In fact, despite all the current focus on AI, admissions officers have long had to wrestle with inauthentic student writing. For years, online companies have offered for-hire writing services that allow students to pay for completed essays. Plus, overbearing parents, particularly those who have been through the process with their older children and think they understand what admissions officers want, also sometimes help to write an essay for a child, says Rinehart. “Those end up being terrible essays,” she says. “They sound like braggy grownups instead of these curious, courageous, creative kids … and ChatGPT tends to also have a grownup, stale voice.”
Writing a strong college admissions essay (video)
The hierarchy of authority in marching band is one I have come to love, and not only because I achieved the top student position in it as a drum major. In that role, I watched younger members hone their skills in an effort to contribute to the collective performance. The value of a uniform training followed by opportunities to lead is exemplified by the ambitious and talented student leaders produced. At UChicago, The Core serves a comparable purpose in preparing students for exhaustive academic exploration. I am enticed by the intensive inquiry and groundbreaking research that students partake in. Yet, I appreciate the benefit of undergoing the rigorous Core first. UChicago emphasizes experiential learning, even in the College, which appeals to my desire to collaborate with other brilliant learners. When I visited campus, two specific encounters struck me. Initially, the Institute of Politics attracted me with its hands-on approach to policy issues through programs like Student Civic Engagement projects. Even more alluring was the Politics & Policy class I sat in on. Following a lecture on bureaucracy that may have droned over the heads of less inspired students, I was surrounded by a hubbub of engaged thinkers convening through discussion. UChicago’s intellectual atmosphere is animated by the common thirst for knowledge that characterizes every student.