Common Application: Personal Essay The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose th..

Carnegie Mellon: Please submit a one-page essay that explains why you have chosen your major, department or program. This essay should include the reasons why you've chosen the major, any goals or relevant work plans and any other information you would like us to know. If you are applying to m..

UPenn: The Admissions Committee would like to learn why you are a good fit for your undergraduate school choice (College of Arts and Sciences, School of Nursing, The Wharton School, or Penn Engineering). Please tell us about specific academic, service, and/or research opportunities at the Univers..

MIT: Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why? (*) (100 words or fewer) 98-word version: Nanotechnology - MIT Having lived through a traumatic automobile accident and having watched my grandpa struggle through his illne..

UMBC (U of Maryland—Baltimore County): 2. What are your areas of interest and involvement in and outside of school? 80-word version: I have been involved in various community services from an orphanage to a home for the disabled. At first, I often questioned the relativity of the servic..

299-word version: Unlike before when I had an opportunity to teach English to the 5th graders in our school, the Chinese children were different... 425-word version: Unlike before when I had an opportunity to teach English to the 5th graders in our school, these children were different. One day,..