<p>Now that most of the decisions have come out, I think it would be a great idea, if we posted our essays here. It would be of great help to the 17 CC'ers and others as well!</p>
<p>ah, yes. but only if the 16’ers feel comfortable with sharing theirs.
honestly? i would love to read essays of the one of those accepted at brown, berkley, princeton and other top-tier schools and that of others as well. :)</p>
<p>Ok, to get a start, I am posting mine. Not all, but ones I really like…</p>
<p>This is UChicago’s. I asked them if I could use an older year’s prompt and they said yes. </p>
<p>Prompt- Find X.</p>
<p>Essay-</p>
<p>What is X? In Math it remains the famous variable. To the new students X would appear as the language of algebra. X can be a book, a value or even a car. But to me it symbolizes something else altogether; something deep that I have been asking myself for years.</p>
<p>I spent a lot of time growing up at different places, some with rural settings and some with city cultures. I had come across numerous languages and foods. To say India is multicultural would be an understatement. It’s a microcosm of the world around us- all of the major religions have their presence here. It is home to over a thousand languages and of course it is the second most populous country in the world. But for someone like me, this is a conflict. Even though I was raised in a Hindu household and consider myself to be a Hindu, I had always been taught to be accepting and tolerant of all cultures. My parents apart from attending temples would go to churches and make donations and also visit the Dargahs. I have had friends from a multitude of cultures and religions. But it is this precise belief that has of late become a personal conflict for me.</p>
<p>Who am I? Religiously, although I consider myself to be a Hindu, I am very open minded and try to assimilate beliefs and teachings from other religions. From Buddhism I borrow the compassion that I have for every living being including animals, from Christianity I borrow faith that helps me to trust others and from Hinduism comes my fluidity which teaches me to be tolerant. Ethnically I am from Delhi but I have been residing in the southern Indian state of Karnataka for my entire life. In my family I am a brother, son, cousin, grandson and so on. When I enter a temple, I am a Hindu, when I enter a Church, I am a Christian, when I enter a Mosque, I am a Muslim, when I enter a Gurudwara, I am a Sikh, when I go to school I am a student and so on. But ultimately who am I? When I just lie in my bed, sleeping dreamlessly at night, who am I? </p>
<p>This conflict of identities isn’t bad for me. Rather it is a sort of confusion I have. It is this confusion that gives me different perspectives of looking at something. Different people from different walks of life look at any problem, well, quite differently. Partly because of the confusion, I am able to look at anything from different angles. My identity isn’t just restricted to a single religious or ethnic one. Over the passing of time it has been infused with things I have picked up during the course of my life. So ultimately who am I? This is my X, my identity.</p>
<p>^ it’s a really nice essay. You got in, right?</p>
<p>Common App Essay #1: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13689279-post1787.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13689279-post1787.html</a></p>
<p>Some random guy’s random essay: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13689006-post1780.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13689006-post1780.html</a> :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Well the former is Karan’s.
And the latter is yours Tizil 
And, you are not a random person and that essay is fantastic!!</p>
<p>Tizil, I am really glad that you posted that essay on this forum, I got my idea of the formatting from you( as you already know ). Really glad you did it.
Karan’s essay is quite unique, I wonder what must have motivated him to write such an essay!!</p>
<p>@9jagurl96- Thanks! I liked it a lot and thought it came out well… But unfortunately, I didn’t get into UChicago… I guess the reason is that apart from the essay, I had nothing else good…</p>
<p>And Mrinal, no Karan didn’t get into Cornell…</p>
<p>Do all the colleges have prompts like that??
Or is it just UChicago¿¿ ;)</p>
<p>Oh and phreak, I really liked your conclusion.:)</p>
<p>Thanks man!</p>
<p>And here’s another one… I wrote it at the last minute, but its been my favourite so far. It was for Colgate, and I didn’t accepted there as well (pretty stringent with aid, and again, I didn’t have much on my app)</p>
<p>If I had an opportunity to travel outside Colgate, it would have to be the Levant. The history, especially the part concerning the birth of most of the Abrahamic religions, attracts me. The Levant has been the scene of almost every possible human behavior and emotions- it has been one of the world’s oldest settlements, it has been a witness to bloody wars in the form of Crusades and in the modern times it has become a fusion of a variety of cultures. </p>
<p>The Levant is also littered with historical significances- in Lebanon exists those famous Cedar trees from which Solomon built his Temple, in south the Jordan river and Jerusalem and so on. </p>
<p>But the real attraction for me the Levant holds is its soul. The culture is a mix of so many beliefs and so many different kinds of people that this unique mixture itself has become a new culture. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the final resting place of Jesus Christ is controlled by several Christian denominations. Its main gates are controlled by the Muslim families of Nuseibah and al Goudia since the medieval times. This shows in some ways the uniqueness of the region.</p>
<p>I am always attracted by such examples of history, especially the ones which involve a mix of a very diverse set of ideas and beliefs. Places like the Levant are living and breathing metaphors where I can see the fusion of the past, the present and the future.</p>
<p>@Mrinal- Relax, even though, UChicago’s the one which has prompts like these, they’re pretty fun to write :)</p>
<p>^phr34k - where are you going</p>
<p>To others - here are more examples [Johns</a> Hopkins University Office of Undergraduate Admissions - Apply - Essays That Worked](<a href=“http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html]Johns”>http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html)
But I agree with this [College</a> essays are getting ridiculous: Anne Reeves | PennLive.com](<a href=“http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/college_essays_are_getting_rid.html]College”>Anne Reeves: College essays are getting ridiculous - pennlive.com)</p>
<p>Amazing thread guys! Thanks for all the helpful information :)</p>
<p>Mrinal, the first link that F16Parent posted is the one I sent you those two essays from; the ones with the quirky formatting.</p>
<p>last word of caution
- Do NOT plagiarize
- They will KNOW if it doesn’t sound original
- If the writing is perfect but youre a B English student, red flags will fly. Write your own essay.</p>
<p>Commonapp Essay</p>
<p>Realizing the ‘realizations’………………</p>
<p>Amidst the loud pandemonium in the school lawn, every single face that my eyes saw was beaming with happiness. It was our tenth grade graduation party and our hearts demanded of us our playful mood .With that joy dwelling inside me, I never knew that the decision taken by someone that day would prove to have had a significant impact on my life.
The party was in its full swing and so was I.I had just aced my tenth grade examinations and was awarded with the stream of my choice, courses in mathematics and physics. But all this time I had been feeling weird about something that my friend Raj, a biology enthusiast, opted for a non- medical stream. Living in the moment, that day, all I saw was a bedazzled version of reality. Amongst all that gleam and glint was a guy, seized with darkness, unsure of whether it was a time to celebrate or give something a second thought.
All this bothered me because this perplexed person was my very own friend Raj. Lately he had been more of a bland and pale personality. He was no more the upbeat spontaneous person that I was friend with. We had been into music since long. The very first time when we shared the stage, I could see this guy’s passion for music, but nothing enthused him anymore. I feared that he had lost track of himself.
I knew something was gnawing my friend, on enquiring, he told me that with every passing day he regretted his decision of not pursuing his passion –“medical sciences” even more. Endeavoring hard to control his incessant sobs, I saw him breaking down in front of me .Being a doctor was all he had ever dreamt of. But he fell prey to his inner conflicts and his doubts. Raj doubted whether he would be able to make it to a government medical college, as he won’t be able to fund his education in a private university. I was helpless, for the first time in my life I could not do anything for my friend.
Realizing that ‘realizations’ and ‘decisions’ play such a vital role our life, I am today a transformed person .Through this experience I recognized no matter how harsh circumstances are, our aim must not be flexible, the path leading to it can be. Now when I look at my college application asking me to select a major of my choice, I recall that experience with a rather soft smile and a subtle sorrow for my friend. Smile, because that experience gave me the urge and reason to recognize my dream, and the strength to go against the odds and achieve it. For me it was mechanical engineering and most importantly it had always been mechanical engineering, may be subconsciously I always knew what I had to do. “Yes” it was due to the same reason that I always had my wardrobe heavily stuffed with less robes but with more of my nerdy Lego, erector kits, tools, motors and models.”Yes” it was due to the same reason that I loved going to my father’s workshop than on a picnic. I have finally figured out the simplicity of life, that there are no master plans, all we need to do is to pursue what we love, and then we can realize our dream as our efforts becomes even more powerful when amplified by passion.</p>
<p>Tizil, Yes I saw the links what F16P posted, And, I agree that we do have quirky formatting in our essays. 
Btw, Tizil, sent you the edited version, seen it yet??</p>
<p>@Fall2016parent- I will be going to UMass for sure now… I didn’t get anywhere else apart from Colorado, Fordham and UMass… I want to go badly to Fordham, but its too expensive and UMass seems to be a great place :)</p>
<p>And also, phreak, you can take classes at the neighbouring colleges through the five college consortium: Amherst, smith, mount holyoke and hampshire. though you probably already know this… :p</p>