Overview
Not sure how to tackle the scariest part of your college application—the personal essays? Get a little inspiration from real-life examples of successful essays that scored! In College Essays that Made a Difference, 5th Edition, you’ll find:
• 114 real essays written by 90 unique college hopefuls applying to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, MIT, and other top schools—along with each applicant’s test scores, GPA, demographic information, and where they ultimately got in
• A special section with writing tips and the most common grammatical mistakes that students make on their essays
• Insider advice from with admissions pros at Amherst College, Cooper Union, Deep Springs College, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Macalester College, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, Yale University, and more
This fifth edition includes application essays written by students who enrolled at the following colleges:
Amherst College Bard College Barnard College Boston College Brown University Bryn Mawr College California Institute of Technology Claremont McKenna College Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Georgetown University Harvard College Massachusetts Institute of Technology Middlebury College New College of Florida New York University Northwestern University Pomona College Princeton University Rice University Smith College Stanford University Swarthmore College University of California—San Diego University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania Washington and Lee University Wellesley College Wesleyan University Yale University
Editorials
KLIATT
As the competition continues to heat up for admission to the top colleges, one sure winner is the publishing industry, which has produced a plethora of new books designed to give students an edge. This book begins with essay fundamentals: grammar and punctuation, what colleges are looking for, topics that work (and topics that don't), and how much the essay really matters in admissions. The second part offers a Q & A with admissions officers from such elite institutions as Amherst, Johns Hopkins, US Coast Guard Academy, and Yale. The bulk of the book, however, is given over to 89 real essays, along with profiles of the students who wrote them-including which colleges accepted the students and which rejected them. An index of essay themes (e.g., "Accidents Will Happen," "Family Ties," "Oh! The Places I've Been," "Summer Camp," "Race Relations") will help readers to locate essays on topics similar to those they might be contemplating. Note that these students are all "top applicants," with great academic records and test scores, and their essays are pretty darn good. For all guidance offices, for students like those described here. KLIATT Codes: S-Recommended for senior high school students. 2003, Random House, The Princeton Review, 346p. illus. index., Ages 15 to 18.— Paula Rohrlick