<p>Congrats to all that were accepted EA--That's Amazing!</p>
<p>If any of you were willing, I was wondering if I could read your essays (email or PM me?). I only applied to some local schools early and really have no idea what caliber of essays schools like Harvard are looking for. Anything would be helpful even if its not your actual essay</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>PM them to me too please!</p>
<p>Same here, any help would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I’d appreciate a PM too.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think this is the brightest idea, from an accepted student.</p>
<p>Hadiram, I mean no disrespect, but I hope you won’t find a lot of people complying with your request. </p>
<p>For one thing, I don’t see the point in it. For Harvard or any other extremely selective college or university, your essays should be both personal and as well crafted as you can make them. If you’re funny and playful, then your essays might be funny and playful. If you’re deep and philosophical, then your essays might be deep and philosophical. But how somebody else’s essay reads is of absolutely no consequence. First of all, a stranger’s essay surely won’t have your voice, and may not have your style. Calvin Trillin and Elie Wiesel are both accomplished, award-winning writers, but would you expect one to write like the other? Besides that, if you’re working on making your writing the best it can be, then the technical or literary merits of somebody else’s essay are immaterial. </p>
<p>For another thing, if I were the author of an essay that had recently gotten me into Harvard, I’d be loath to share it with a stranger. That essay would be my work product, my intellectual property. The moment I emailed it to a stranger, I would completely lose control over what happened to it. And I’d be plenty angry if it ended up cut and pasted into somebody else’s college application. I am not insinuating that you would do that, Hadiram, but I am absolutely stating that once I emailed my essay to you, I could do nothing to stop you from either plagiarizing it yourself, or innocently forwarding it to somebody else who would. I would resent it if somebody else were unscrupulously benefiting from my hard work. And if the essay were ever traced back to me, people might well think that I had condoned such unethical use of it.</p>
<p>I imagine there was probably no improper intent behind your request, but I would never honor it, and I would encourage others not to.</p>
<p>(x-post with NewYork94)</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be an ass about it, but I agree with the statement above. Although it is tempting and Interesting to see how good other people’s essays are, I make it a point to trust my own writing. I don’t look at other essays because everyone’s essay talks about their own experiences and life, and nobody can match that. The hard part is figuring out how to convey your message in an amazing way! Just write the best essay you can</p>
<p>Hadiram–a more natural solution would be for you to post YOUR essays and ask for criticism. If you are uncomfortable with that idea, you will understand why probably no one will give you their essays.</p>
<p>I’ve given some people very small snippets of my essay, mostly because the topic is so incredibly unique and not something a person could rip-off without having some serious morality issues. But the previous posters have stated my feelings: it’s up to you to craft a meaningful essay. Everyone’s essays are different, and just as there is no one way to get accepted, so is there not one way to write a good essay. Just take some time and write something that’s meaningful to you. Seeing what we’ve done isn’t going to be much, if any, help.</p>
<p>Yeah, hate to be that girl but they’re right. I wouldn’t share my essay to anyone, especially to a stranger. You just have to be unique. Be yourself.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean any disrespect–was just curious to see writing styles/topics etc. I had no intention of using theirs as a basis for mine. In fact, mine is already written, I just wanted to see how it compared.</p>
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<p>No worries. I don’t believe anyone thought you did.</p>
<p>I agree with Sikorsky. In addition, I would suggest that if you really want to read essays from accepted Harvard students, that you can go to a bookstore and read a few them: [50</a> Successful Harvard Application Essays, Second Edition: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice: Staff of the Harvard Crimson: 9780312343767: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Successful-Harvard-Application-Essays-Edition/dp/0312343760]50”>http://www.amazon.com/Successful-Harvard-Application-Essays-Edition/dp/0312343760)</p>
<p>What worked for them, may not work for you. But you can certainly see that essays can be written about pretty much any topic whatsoever.</p>
<p>You should also ask for the rejected people’s essays too to compare.</p>
<p>Agree with all the above, plus this is just not a useful exercise. For all you know, a particular essay may have been the weakest part of an individual’s application, and the applicant may have gotten in based on other very strong elements.</p>