Before coming to America, I was but an average high school student who had twelve classes from seven in the morning until ten o’clock at night, but without any clear goals and falling asleep from time to time in classes...

436-word version: Bates College & Carnegie Mellon – Statistics Based on my research of Bates/Carnegie Mellon, the initial impression I received was that Bates/Carnegie Mellon was a place where students went to learn for the love of learning, and took classes because they were interested..

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..

Barnard College: Alumna and writer Anna Quindlen says that she “majored in unafraid” at Barnard. Tell us about a time when you majored in unafraid. (1000 characters) 998-character version: Barnard College Being a new student in school is like being an exotic animal. Local students..

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: How did you become interested in Rensselaer? 40-word version: I heard the strength of RPI’s curricula is that they...offer various opportunities to students... 42-word version: To tell the truth, the only so-called “institutes” that I kn..

Bard: An essay is required for application to Bard College as a supplement to the Common Application. Please indicate your choice of option A, B, or C below. If you select option C, you do not need to upload your response online. Instead, it can be sent via regular mail, not e-mail, to Bard Colleg..