Essays That Worked for College Applications: 50 Essays that Helped Students Get into the Nation's Top Colleges » (Revised & Updated)

The competition to get into college has become as intense as the stress caused by the dreaded application procedure -- and the most feared part of that process is no doubt the personal essay. Just how in the world can one sum up an entire life, a winning personality, a commitment to higher learning -- in one essay? As you will discover in Essays That Worked For College Applications, there is no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" essay. One student writes about Oreo cookies. Another writes about her thumb-sucking. And a third about the death of her father. From the thousands submitted each year, the essays in this book were named the best by admissions officers at the nation's top colleges. Some of the pieces are serious, some are offbeat, but every essay gives a special insight into the student's personality -- an insight that grades and test scores cannot reveal.