<p>Hi everyone,
I'm a junior now and I plan to apply to all the top colleges in the fall/winter 2011. I am sort of unsure about the essays that I will have to write. Could anyone send me any of there old essays, so I can get a feel for the writing style; I don't quite get the humor verses serious aspect and what not. Send me anything you think can help, and please pm any essays you have written.</p>
<p>Thank you, this will help me out so much.</p>
<p>(i've posted under both harvard, yale and pton, i hope thats ok)</p>
<p>I doubt anyone will send you their essays because of the risks of doing so. I’m sure successful applicants would be willing to give you tips, though.</p>
<p>(I would offer to help but I just submitted my app so I have no idea if my essays were Ivy material lol)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Think before you write, but don’t think too much.</p></li>
<li><p>Pick a topic you care about, but make sure that you are sharing stuff about you, rather than just about the topic.</p></li>
<li><p>Ask a friend to read the essay and have them tell you if it sounds like you; your voice is very important (especially to Yale)</p></li>
<li><p>Be as concise as possible while still retaining the essay’s quality. Cutting essays down to word limits was really hard for me because I didn’t want to get rid of anything, but when I got there a lot of the time I felt that it really improved the essay.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t try to be funny if you aren’t, and make sure you aren’t gimmicky. If you are worried about whether your idea is a gimmick, it usually is. Not always, but usually. (I wrote my Harvard and Yale supplements with a creative layout that may have been a tad gimmicky, but I think it worked pretty well. Guess we’ll see…)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These are just a few general tips off the top of my head. I might have more later.</p>