Looking for some place to start. What kind of emotions do good college essays evoke? Are they serious? Playful? That kind of thing.
Personally I find this essay to be near perfection because it resonated with me on so many levels. Is this something that colleges would love?
There are many kinds of successful essays, and the type that would be best for you to write will depend on your personality, writing skills and life experience. Not everyone has something to write about that will make someone cry–I’d say those types of essays are rare–and if you’re not a naturally funny writer, trying to go funny can backfire. If you can do playful and/or funny, do it–those are always fun to read and provide a break from more serious essays. If you’re a more straightforward, earnest person, do that. I think the most important thing is to be genuine and interesting–and interesting can come in many forms.
I recently came across JHU’s site, where they’ve posted successful essays for the past few years and liked quite a few of them: https://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays-that-worked/2019/. I liked the Bronte one especially–it’s a good example of writing about something unique to the applicant that’s memorable (her name + Jane Eyre) while covering her family, as well as several ECs/aspects of her personality. Pretty impressive.
I also liked several of the essays NYT posted this year: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/20/your-money/college-essays-on-money.html?_r=1. I especially liked Martina Piñeiros’ essay–it’s a great example of nailing family + cultural background + emotion. She doesn’t talk a ton about herself in it–not in concrete ways, but reveals a lot about her home life and her maturity. Carolina Sosa’s is a great example, as well, of illustrating her world and world view through a heart-tugging narrative AND covering a lot of ground, re: her maturity, personality, positive attributes.