100 Successful College Application Essays - Softcover

The essay is the one part of the college application that allows an admissions committee to get a glimpse not only of what you are (grades, scores, club member), but of who you are. "Applicants are constantly advised to 'put their best foot forward,'" says Fred Hargadon, the dean of admissions at Princeton University and a contributor to this book. "But I must confess that I always liked the ones who put both feet forward." That doesn't mean that your essay needs to shock. It means you must put everything you've got into it. It means that "if you think the college might receive even one other essay like yours," according to Brooks School college counselor William K. Poirot, "rewrite it."

The bulk of this book, as its title promises, comprises 100 examples of successful college-application essays. There are those who believe that reading essays will make you a better essay writer and those who don't. But reading these essays--and the experts' comments on them--will help you figure out what you want to write and how best to write it. From the essays included here, one surmises that the narrower your focus, the more effective the essay, as long as your narrowness doesn't cross over into insignificance. What matters most is not what you write about (these essays take on late-night TV game shows, self-induced baldness, the picture on a bag of Goldfish crackers, a family drive on the New Jersey Turnpike, and even a seven-inch plastic Godzilla), but what you do with your subject matter. --Jane Steinberg

Grade 10-12-- College application essays are serious business, and this book helps to make writing them a less formidible task. Good general advice to the applicants is supplied in the introduction by admission officers from prestigious colleges. This includes practical tips such as "What Not To Do . . .and Why." The body of the book consists of the essays themselves--as varied as the students who submitted them. The essays are arranged by topic; general categories include applying to college, self-portraits, family, death, and coming to America. Most are followed by comments about why the essay was selected. This is an excellent book to include in any library that serves young adults. If nothing else, they will garner the courage to begin the task ahead of them--writing a successful college application essay themselves. --Dorothy L. Lilly, Grosse Pointe North High School, Mich.
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