This section contains five examples of good college essays.


A number of individuals believe that television can help with education, while others feel it is only used for entertaining people. Although entertainment television programs are the most popular programs on TV, this essay argues that television is helpful in education if people utilize it properly.


Being a famous person, for example a popular actor or a sports star, is problematic as well as beneficial. This essay believes that fame has more negative effects because it comes with the cost of being a burden to the star’s family, and it can threaten the star’s mental health.

Television is considered useful for education by some, while others claim that it only serves entertainment purposes. While certain people believe television is only for entertainment as it steals time, this essay claims that it is valuable as educational programs on television can help a child’s intellect.

This is a college essay that worked for .

On the other hand, television can be a helpful tool in education if people use it in a proper way. Television can help people to study through informative videos, TV shows, or documents, and those videos can help people form a visual representation of their thoughts. For instance, it can be commonly seen in many schools that teachers introduce TVs in their lectures to help students understand complicated and difficult subjects. For this reason, this essay believes that television is a useful tool for education.

I plan to double major in biochemistry and English and my main essay explains my passion for the former; here is a writing sample that illustrates my enthusiasm for the latter.

The overall pattern of the essay follows old advice for public speaking: “Tell them what you are going to tell them; Tell them; Tell them what you told them.” In a short essay, this approach sometimes seems like overkill—but there is little risk of your readers being confused.

Be sure to notice how it works here by rereading the introduction to see how it is repeated here.
*Note how clearly the essay idea and the main supporting points are reinforced through there restatement here.


This is a college essay that worked for (UPenn).

This essay is relatable yet personal! The writer makes themself supremely human through discussing the universal subject of showering. That being said, an essay about showering could easily turn boring while still being relatable. This writer keeps its relatable moments interesting and fun through vivid descriptions of common feelings including “causing me to abruptly end my shower in a mad dash to the computer before I forget it entirely” and “the stomachache from a guacamole-induced lack of self-control.”

Here’s an outline for a basic, solid “Why this College” essay:

It is argued that newspapers ought not to publish the details of private lives of politicians. This essay strongly disagrees with this view because politicians build a public image through such news and they could be held accountable for any wrongdoings.

The Why Michigan “Why this College” Essay Example

In 1882, Jewish immigration and targeted land purchases in the area later called the State of Palestine marked the beginning of a long-lasting conflict between the Arab countries and Israel. While the existing body of research provides deep insight into the Arab-Israel conflict, there is no agreement on whether Egypt played a key role in it (Aly et al., 2013). One the one hand, Egypt is often considered as one of the most implacable enemies of Israel in its struggle for independence and recognition (Mahler and Mahler, 2010). On the other hand, Egypt has proven itself to be the main advocate of continued peace between Israel and the Arab states (Tessler, 2009). The main purpose of this essay is to critically appraise the role Egypt played in the conflict between the Arabs and Jews by over-viewing its main phases and outcomes for both parties.

This is a college essay that worked for .

The following is a sample essay you can practice quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Examples of each task are provided at the end of the essay for further reference.

Here is the citation for Sipher's essay:

The Why Penn “Why this College” Essay Example

In conclusion, this essay completely agrees that music, art and drama have the same value as other subjects in primary school because it allows children to discover their hidden talents early on and increases their self-confidence.