Mine is probably this Stanford essay (http://www.cracksat[DOT]net/college-admission/essays/56.html) called “A Different Kind of Love”. Then again, I haven’t read too many…
My favorite one is the pen drill
It’s funny because I have read many high schoolers’ college essays, and it’s really made me fall out of love with the “model” Ivy League essays that are posted on the web. I think everyone has their own essays that resonate with them personally; some people like funny ones, while others like really dramatic ones. I’ve come to like essays that come across as sincere, that don’t lean on amazing experiences or scholarly vocabulary to get their points across. I can’t name any off the top of my head (and won’t to protect the privacy of the CC users who sent me their essays), but there are a lot.
They’re ones that probably no one besides the writers, me, and an admissions officer will see, and I feel very lucky to have had the chance to read them.
My favorite would have to be my brother in law’s, he wrote one sentence and got into one of the top five schools in the country with a full ride. He chose a different school, but it’s still impressive to me. Obviously the essay didn’t matter too much to the school and his stellar academics made up for it as well.
Anything that starts with four years old loses me.
I agree the ones on the web are pretty poor
And no one can write one line today and expect to be taken seriously. The top 5, btw, are need based aid only and rarely a “full” ride.
Try to remember, it’s not the “story” itself; it’s the attributes you show that the college wants to see.
This is hands-down the best college essay ever. It was famous in the 90s when it was first published in a magazine. If I remember correctly it was an essay for NYU.
3A. ESSAY: IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:
ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.
I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.
I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.
But I have not yet gone to college.
^ That’s true; this was a very funny essay, and it’s one of a kind (God knows how many people have tried to replicate this since it was posted on the Internet). But while a well-placed clever essay might win admissions officers’ hearts, I personally still think that ultimately, substance > wit. If the applicant had written all of his essays like this joking way, that would have been very annoying. Plus, it’s too easy for writing of this sort to fall flat.