Original Version (912 words): Biology & Botany-oriented
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow, and grow rather well at that, too, to my enthusiasm, with care. I first began with a tiny herb called the Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens), then moved on to something bigger, namely the Dwarf Umbrella Tree (Schefflera arboricola) and Zanzibar Gem (Zamioculcas zamiifolia), then to something even bigger, the soaring Rubber Fig (Ficus elastica), the drooping the Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina), and the sprawling Fatsi or Japanese Aralia (Fatsia japonica)...

But as I slowly grew out of my childhood so did my naïve ideas of wanting to live on a Christmas tree or in a tree house of a jungle, had it been possible...

Abridged Version (538 words): Biology-oriented
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow with care, and grew rather well at that, too, to my enthusiasm...

UChicago: Extended Essay (required; choose one of six)
Essay Option 1: "A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies." -Oscar Wilde.
Othello and Iago. Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. The Autobots and the Decepticons. History and art are full of heroes and their enemies. Tell us about the relationship between you and your arch-nemesis (either real or imagined). Inspired by Martin Krzywy, admitted student Class of 2016.
Essay Option 2: Heisenberg claims that you cannot know both the position and momentum of an electron with total certainty. Choose two other concepts that cannot be known simultaneously and discuss the implications. (Do not consider yourself limited to the field of physics.) Inspired by Doran Bennett, AB`07.
Essay Option 3: Susan Sontag, AB`51, wrote that "silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech." Write about an issue or a situation when you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend. The Aesthetics of Silence, 1967. Anonymous submission.
Essay Option 4: "...I [was] eager to escape backward again, to be off to invent a past for the present." -The Rose Rabbi by Daniel Stern
Present: pres-ent
1. Something that is offered, presented, or given as a gift
Let`s stick with this definition. Unusual presents, accidental presents, metaphorical presents, re-gifted presents, etc. - pick any present you have ever received and invent a past for it. Inspired by Jennifer Qin, AB`16.
Essay Option 5: In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose a question of your own. If your prompt is original and thoughtful, then you should have little trouble writing a great essay. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.
Essay Option 6: So where is Waldo, really?

634-word version

We procure our provisions from nature. What do you procure from it?

“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow with care, and grew rather well at that, too, to my enthusiasm...

UPenn: Essay
Ben Franklin once said, `All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.` Which are you? (Please answer in 300-500 words.)

556-word version
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow with care, and grew rather well at that, too, to my enthusiasm...

555-word version
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow with care, and grew rather well at that, too, to my enthusiasm...

UC-Berkeley: Respond to both prompts, using a maximum of 1,000 words total.
You may allocate the word count as you wish. If you choose to respond to one prompt at greater length, we suggest your shorter answer be no less than 250 words.
PROMPT #1: Describe the world you come from—for example, your family, community or school—and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

544-word version
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow with care, and grew rather well at that, too, to my enthusiasm...

Common Application: Personal Statement
Please write an essay (250 words minimum 500 words maximum) on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below. This personal essay helps us to become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself.
1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
4. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6. Topic of your choice.

Yale: Additional Essay(s)
1. In this second essay, please reflect on something you would like us to know about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application—or on something that you would like to say more about. We ask that you limit your essay to fewer than 500 words. Before you begin, we encourage you to go to http://admissions.yale.edu/essay, where you will find helpful advice.
2. If you selected one of the engineering majors, please write a brief third essay telling us what has led you to an interest in this field of study, what experiences (if any) you have had in engineering, and what it is about Yale`s engineering program that appeals to you.

500-word version
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing but did grow with care. I first began with a tiny herb, then moved on to something bigger. But as I grew into adolescence, I became somewhat of an orchardist...

BC: Students frequently ask what they can do to enhance their applications and furnish us important additional insights about themselves. Toward this purpose, the Admission Committee presents you with four topics for consideration and reflection. Please select one of the questions below and write an essay of no more than 400 words. This is your opportunity to reveal how you think, what you believe, what you value, and what you hope to accomplish. This is your chance to let us hear your voice.
1. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, encouraged his followers to live their lives in the service of others. How do you plan to serve others in your future endeavors?
2. From David McCullough`s recent commencement address at BC: "Facts alone are never enough. Facts rarely if ever have any soul. In writing or trying to understand history one may have all manner of `data,` and miss the point. One can have all the facts and miss the truth. It can be like the old piano teacher`s lament to her student, `I hear all the notes, but I hear no music." Tell us about a time you had all of the facts but missed the meaning.
3. In his novel, Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann writes: "We seldom know what we`re hearing when we hear something for the first time, but one thing is certain: we hear it as we will never hear it again. We return to the moment to experience it, I suppose, but we can never really find it, only its memory, the faintest imprint of what it really was, what it meant." Tell us about something you heard or experienced for the first time and how the years since have affected your perception of that moment.
4. Boston College has a First-Year Convocation program that includes the reading and discussion of a common book that explores Jesuit ideals, community service and learning. If you were to select the book for your Convocation, what would you choose and why?

400-word version
“Absolutely nothing with furs or feathers, or even scales for that matter!” was my mother’s adamant answer to my imploring question. So my childhood desire to nurse a pet along inevitably turned to something less gnawing, plants...

Stanford: Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (2000 characters)

Brown: Please respond to one of the following questions: A, B, or C. (2000 characters)
A. Why are you going to college?
B. Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz once said, "Cubism is like standing at a certain point on a mountain and looking around. If you go higher, things will look different; if you go lower, again they will look different. It is a point of view." With this in mind, describe a moment when your perspective changed.
C. What question could we ask to gain the most insight into you? What is your answer?

351-word version
To do my part in protecting the environment, I volunteered for the National Park Service in Korea just before summer ended, convinced that I was getting a step closer to preserving the ecology until I tiredly gazed upon a Maples colony at the end of my day at the park and my heart stopped...

Columbia: For applicants to Columbia College, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the field or fields of study that you noted in the Application Data section. If you are currently undecided, please write about any field or fields in which you may have an interest at this time. (1500 characters)

MIT: Tell us about the most significant challenge you`ve faced or something important that didn`t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?(*) (200-250 words)

JHU: Write a brief essay (250 words maximum each question) in which you respond to the following questions. (freshman applicants only):
1. Johns Hopkins offers 50 majors across the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering. On this application, we ask you to identify one or two that you might like to pursue here. Why did you choose the way you did? If you are undecided, why didn`t you choose? (If any past courses or academic experiences influenced your decision, you may include them in your essay.)

Tufts: Think outside the box as you answer the following questions. Take a risk and go somewhere unexpected. Be serious if the moment calls for it but feel comfortable being playful if that suits you, too. The suggested length for questions 2 and 3 is 200-250 words.
3. Now we`d like to know a little bit more about you. Please respond to one of the following: (200-250 words) (1800 characters)
A. You may have heard the quote "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don`t matter, and those who matter, don`t mind." We don’t mind. Who are you? Respond in the medium of your choice: prose, one-minute video, blog, digital portfolio, slam poetry... For media other than writing, please share a link (video can be submitted via YouTube but we recommend using a privacy setting) that is easily accessible.
B. What makes you happy?
C. Sports, science, and society are filled with rules, theories, and laws like the Ninth Commandment, PV=nRT, Occam`s Razor, and The Law of Diminishing Returns. Three strikes and you`re out. "I" before "E" except after "C." Warm air rises. Pick one and explain its significance to you.
D. Celebrate your nerdy side.
E. If your classmates were to honor you with a "senior superlative" in the yearbook, what would it be and why?

UVA: 1. We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school you selected above. Limit your answer to a half page or roughly 250 words.
College of Arts and Sciences: What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
Engineering: If you were given funding for a small engineering project, what would you do?
Architecture: What excites you about architecture?
Nursing: Discuss experiences that led you to choose the School of Nursing.
Kinesiology: Discuss experiences that led you to choose the kinesiology major.

NYU: Please respond to each of the following questions using a maximum of 1,500 characters (spaces and punctuation included) in the space provided.
A. NYU`s global network provides students with hundreds of academic areas of interest for students to cultivate their intellectual curiosity and to help achieve their career goals. Whether you are entirely undecided about your academic plans or you have a definitive program of study in mind, what are your own academic interests? Feel free to share any thoughts on any particular programs or how you might explore those interests at NYU on any of our campuses. (1500 characters)

UIUC: ESSAY #1
In an essay of 300 words or less, please describe how your past circumstances and experiences (such as your upbringing, community, and/or activities) impacted who you are, your future goals, and your choice of major. If you haven`t decided on a college or major yet, briefly explain your intentions and aspirations for your first year at Illinois.

250-word version
Besides my activities in school, just before summer ended, I volunteered for the National Park Service in Korea to do my part in protecting the environment..., convinced that I was getting a step closer to preserving the ecology until I gazed upon a Purplebloom Maple colony and my heart stopped...

KAIST: 1. 입학 지원 동기와 향후 계획(학업, 진로, 꿈 등)에 대하여 구체적으로 기술하십시오. (띄어쓰기 포함 한글 500자 또는 영문 알파벳 1,000자 이내)

170-word version
As I have always been interested in various fields of biology from botany to ecology to physiology, the Dept. of Bio and Brain Eng. complemented by KAIST’s unmatched foundation in research, appeals to me very much...