jfk personal statement harvard

JFK's Very Revealing Harvard Application Essay

At 17 years old, the future president seemed to understand that the value of an elite education is in the status it offers.

John F. Kennedy is one of the most mythologized figures in contemporary American history. At age 17, though, he was just a kid trying to get into college (a kid with a wealthy, famous father, of course).

The Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has a digitized version of Kennedy's 1935 Harvard application, which includes his grades and his response to the essay prompt, "Why do you wish to come to Harvard?" Here's how the future president answered:

The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college , but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a "Harvard man" is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain. April 23, 1935 John F. Kennedy

Business Insider dismisses the essay for being five sentences long (I'm not sure how much more he could have written given the space) and implies that his answer wasn't carefully considered. That's probably true—Kennedy's grades show that he wasn't an especially good student in high school, and there's not much evidence that he took his education seriously at this point in his life. Plus, as Gawker points out , Kennedy wrote nearly exactly the same essay for his Princeton application.

Still, Kennedy's essay shows a profound, if implicit, understanding of the primary value of attending an elite school: status and personal connections, rather than mastery of academic skills and knowledge. Notice that he only makes one mention of the education he'd receive at Harvard—a passing reference to the school's superior "liberal education." The rest of the paragraph focuses on the the non-academic benefits: having a "better background," sharing the same alma mater with his dad, and enjoying the "enviable distinction" of being a Harvard Man.

And it is, indeed, an enviable distinction. Harvard has produced eight United States presidents, more than any other school. The school's website has a whole section devoted to all the alumni who've won Nobel prizes. Two of its dropouts are among the richest people in America. Whether these glories are due to the school's excellent education or its impressive alumni network and name recognition, who knows? But Kennedy clearly thought he knew the answer.

• Weird But True
• Sex & Relationships
• Viral Trends
• Human Interest
• Fashion & Beauty
• Food & Drink

trending now in Lifestyle

Better than Ozempic? 'Very strong' new weight loss drug is 'so...

I'm a super-commuter — I travel across 4 states to work in NYC...

I'm a bodybuilder mom-of-two —but my condition means I won't...

This popular exercise could help you live longer and stop knee...

Bride and groom blasted for 15 outrageous wedding-day rules for...

Candidate flubs job interview in seconds with the worst answer...

Plus-size influencer rips airport worker who allegedly refused to...

Slouching doesn't impact your spine — it affects your memory

John f. kennedy’s harvard entrance essay resurfaces online 87 years later.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

It’s no “Ask not… ” speech, that’s for sure.

John F. Kennedy’s college admissions letter to Harvard University has resurfaced on social media some 87 years later, and the Twitterati are hardly impressed with the iconic 35th president of the United States.

The note, penned by the young White House hopeful on April 23, 1935, is currently archived at the  John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library in Boston, Massachusetts.

His prompt was simple — “Why do you wish to come to Harvard?” — but his answer was even simpler.

In an indisputably underwhelming statement composed of just five sentences, the 17-year-old Bay State native answered the query that would determine his educational future.

He wrote, “The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university.” 

He continued: “I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a ‘Harvard man’ is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.”

Kennedy eventually wound up at Harvard and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 1940.

“ ’Harvard is a whole vibe. And I’m tryna catch the wave. Lemme in.’ — JFK,” one reader joked . The reaction garnered more than 59,000 likes on Twitter.

"Harvard is a whole vibe. And I'm tryna catch the wave. Lemme in." – JFK — C.E. Little, Ph.D. (@ItsDrLittle) February 1, 2022

“If you want to see peak white mediocrity, here’s JFK’s Harvard admission essay,” added another.

Even the Velveeta cheese brand chimed in : “LOL OUR PRODUCT DESCRIPTION FROM OUR WEBSITE IS 28 WORDS LONGER THAN JFK’S HARVARD COLLEGE ESSAY!”

The Democrat’s short but influential term as the nation’s youngest elected president began in 1961. JFK was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963 at the age of 46.

But his family’s academic legacy continues until this day . Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s grandson via daughter Caroline Kennedy, recently graduated from Harvard Law and Harvard Business School.

Schlossberg, 29, previously attended Yale University and graduated in 2015 with a degree in history with a concentration in Japanese history.

He also appeared at the 2020 Democratic National Convention where he voiced support of now-president Joe Biden and touched upon JFK’s career.

“Times have changed, but the themes of my grandfather’s speech — courage, unity and patriotism — are as important today as they were in 1960,” he said. “Once again, we need a leader who believes America’s best days are yet to come. We need Joe Biden.”

Share this article:

Why Is JFK's Harvard Admissions Essay Going Viral?

Social media users are discovering President John F. Kennedy's "underwhelming" Harvard application.

In one tweet from February 7, a UCLA PhD student tweeted JFK's Harvard application essay with a simple screenshot and the text "YALL IM CRYING PLEASE LOOK AT THIS!!!" The tweet has nearly 70,000 likes and 8,000 retweets.

Many users point out how underwhelming the essay is, others suggest that the line that got him accepted was the mention of his father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., who graduated from Harvard in 1912.

It reads the essay full:

The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a "Harvard man" is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.

It's only five sentences long, and as many pointed out on Twitter, it doesn't really say much. Yet, the essay worked—he got in, started in fall of 1936, and graduated cum laude in 1940 with a Bachelor of Arts in government.

Harvard admissions has become extremely competitive in the years since JFK applied; the acceptance rate fell to 3.43 percent in 2021. Yet, according to the Harvard Crimson , "Between 2014 and 2019, the acceptance rate for legacies, 33 percent, dwarfed Harvard’s overall acceptance rate of only 6 percent."

JFK's own children and grandchildren attended Harvard: his daughter, Caroline Kennedy graduated from undergrad in 1980, and granddaughter, Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, graduated in 2010. Jack Kennedy Schlossberg didn't attend for undergrad, opting to go to Yale University instead, but he recently graduated with dual degrees from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.

It's not just Twitter where JFK's essay is going viral; on TikTok, law student Rashid Eldoma analyzes the essay:

Musician Jordan Kahan, who goes by Boxout, also responded to the essay on the platform joking that it "basically boils down to 'Harvard's pretty cool, also my dad went here, so let me in please."

This isn't the first time the essay has gone viral. It surfaces every few years, in part thanks to the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum's digitized version.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1jdielu:before{margin:0.625rem 0.625rem 0;width:3.5rem;-webkit-filter:invert(17%) sepia(72%) saturate(710%) hue-rotate(181deg) brightness(97%) contrast(97%);filter:invert(17%) sepia(72%) saturate(710%) hue-rotate(181deg) brightness(97%) contrast(97%);height:1.5rem;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-transform:scale(-1, 1);-moz-transform:scale(-1, 1);-ms-transform:scale(-1, 1);transform:scale(-1, 1);background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-1jdielu:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/townandcountrymag/static/images/diamond-header-design-element.80fb60e.svg);}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1jdielu:before{margin:0 0.625rem 0.25rem;}} The Kennedy Family @media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-128xfoy:before{margin:0.625rem 0.625rem 0;width:3.5rem;-webkit-filter:invert(17%) sepia(72%) saturate(710%) hue-rotate(181deg) brightness(97%) contrast(97%);filter:invert(17%) sepia(72%) saturate(710%) hue-rotate(181deg) brightness(97%) contrast(97%);height:1.5rem;content:'';display:inline-block;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-128xfoy:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/townandcountrymag/static/images/diamond-header-design-element.80fb60e.svg);}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-128xfoy:before{margin:0 0.625rem 0.25rem;}}

Jack Schlossberg Criticizes RFK Jr.'s Campaign

Zendaya's "I Told Ya" Shirt from Challengers

Members of the Kennedy Family Endorse Biden

Ethel Kennedy Celebrates Her 96th Birthday

Biden Meets with Kennedys at the White House

Bobby Shriver Speaks Out Against RFK Jr. Ad

Does Rob Reiner Know Who Killed John F. Kennedy?

How Lee Radziwill Helped Jackie Kennedy

Jackie Kennedy's Life in Pictures

70 Powerful Photos of the Kennedy Family

Remembering JFK: His Life in Pictures

People are dunking on JFK's half-assed Harvard admission essay in the wake of the Supreme Court axing affirmative action

• The Supreme Court ruled to overturn race-based affirmative action on Thursday.
• After the ruling, many focused on John F. Kennedy's underwhelming 1935 Harvard admission essay.
• People painted Kennedy as a classic legacy admission — a system that exists in some form today.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action , the essay John F. Kennedy wrote in 1935 emerged online as a topic of discussion — and derision.

The essay, which was first published by The Washington Post in 2013, reappeared on social media on Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action in college admissions was unconstitutional.

Affirmative action — giving additional weight to applicants from disadvantaged demographics — had been upheld for four decades and helped minority groups access elite institutions like Harvard.

When Kennedy applied there, aged 17, the process was nowhere near as rigorous, with an application form just three pages long, per The Post.

Kennedy did not appear to be trying very hard to impress the school, other than name-dropping his rich father.

"The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university," the essay read. 

Related stories

"I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a 'Harvard man' is an enviable distinction and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain," it added. That was it.

—Rebecca Brenner Graham, PhD (@TheOtherRBG) June 29, 2023

The short essay shocked people on social media, who pointed out that the mention of Kennedy's father — a wealthy businessman who graduated from Harvard in 1912 — was most likely what got him into the Ivy League. 

One person jokingly tweeted : "Getting into Harvard: 1) be a person of color in the top 20 of every student in America, with SATs and recommendation from a state senator. 2) have Robert Kennedy be your dad, write something about being a Harvard man on a cocktail napkin, and transcribe it to your application."

Although Kennedy's example was extreme and unlikely to cut muster today, US colleges do explicitly favor applicants whose parents went there, via the legacy system.

Commentators — including President Joe Biden — on Thursday noted that the legacy system remained untouched by the court ruling.

The system, they complained, left colleges unable to shape their decisions on grounds or race, but able to do so based on applicants' parents, who are likely to already be privileged thesmelves, and probably white.

Kennedy started his degree in 1936 and graduated cum laude in 1940 with a Bachelor of Arts in government. He became America's 35th president around 20 years later.

Harvard admissions have become extremely competitive in the years since Kennedy applied.

In 1935, a total of 7,870 students were admitted to Harvard, according to a Harvard Crimson article at the time.

Only 1,984 people were admitted into the class of 2026, making the admission rate just 3%, according to the Ivy League's website. 

The Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday was criticized by many, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who argued in a dissenting opinion that it failed to understand the critical role race plays in society.

A group of Harvard University administrators  said in a statement  that the school would "continue to be a vibrant community whose members come from all walks of life, all over the world."

• Main content

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

JFK's Teenage 'Harvard Man' Entrance Essay Goes Viral on Twitter 87 Years Later

The 17-year-old future president wrote in his Harvard entrance essay, "To be a 'Harvard man' is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain"

A 1935 Harvard University entrance essay written by a then 17-year-old John F. Kennedy is again making the rounds online, this time going viral on social media for what critics say is an underwhelming piece of writing considering the teen who wrote it would go on to be president.

The short essay — written on April 23, 1935 and now housed at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library — was written in response to the prompt: "Why do you wish to come to Harvard?"

In his five-sentence response, Kennedy extols the benefits of being a "Harvard man" and attending the same college as his father.

"The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several," he wrote. "I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university."

Kennedy continued: "I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a 'Harvard man' is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain."

Social media users recently re-shared the essay (which periodically makes headlines ), with some reinterpreting it for 2022.

" 'Harvard is a whole vibe. And I'm tryna catch the wave. Lemme in.' - JFK," wrote one Twitter user in response to the essay.

Others noted that the entrance essay Kennedy submitted to Princeton — in which he noted the "enviable distinction" of being a "Princeton man" — was strikingly similar .

Others noted that it was a different time — one in which entrance essays weren't as important a part as the overall application — and the teenager who wrote the essay did go on to achieve some notable things: "You understand that this was 85 years ago, and that he did in fact go on to fairly high office and some acclaim, right?"

Kennedy ultimately attended Harvard, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 1940.

He again wrote of what it meant to attend the prestigious university in a 1956 article for the Harvard Alumni Bulletin titled " Why Harvard Men Go Into Politics ."

"But more important than its reputation, Harvard offers the potential politician an atmosphere conducive to the furtherances of such a career," Kennedy — then serving as a Massachusetts senator — wrote. "His interest in national affairs is quickened, and his comprehension of political issues is increased."

He continued elsewhere in the essay: "This gentle though constant pressure has resulted in Harvard men on all levels of community and national affairs contributing immensely to the improvement of our public life. I have no doubt that Harvard men will continue to utilize this splendid background by continuing to enter the political arena in large numbers. Few other professions are so demanding _ but few, I must add, are so satisfying to the heart and soul."

Also that year, Kennedy published his 1956 book Profiles in Courage — co-written by his adviser, Ted Sorensen — for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957.

He would be elected president in 1960 and serve until Nov. 22, 1963, when he was assassinated in Dallas.

Kennedy, then 46, was struck by two bullets while riding through the streets of Dallas in an open-topped motorcade with wife Jacqueline Kennedy by his side.

Related Articles

• Insider Reviews
• Tech Buying Guides
• Personal Finance
• Insider Explainers
• Sustainability
• United States
• International
• Deutschland & Österreich
• South Africa

• Home ›
• Latest ›

Here's The Five Sentence Personal Essay That Helped JFK Get Into Harvard

However, the former POTUS was not the best applicant when he decided he wanted to take up residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had poor grades from high school, and while he had spent two months at Princeton University before leaving due to an illness, even his own father called him "careless."

In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, The Washington Post has highlighted many of his school records , including a handwritten Harvard application. You can check out the digitalized originals at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

As part of the Harvard application - which at the time was a mere three pages - students were asked to give a "careful answer" to the question "Why do you wish to come to Harvard?" Here's what a young JFK had to say:

The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a "Harvard man" is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain. April 23, 1935 John F. Kennedy

From the JFK library, here's the original:

Via JFK Library and Museum

• Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
• JNK India IPO allotment date
• JioCinema New Plans
• Realme Narzo 70 Launched
• Apple Let Loose event
• Elon Musk Apology
• RIL cash flows
• Charlie Munger
• Feedbank IPO allotment
• Tata IPO allotment
• Most generous retirement plans
• Broadcom lays off
• Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
• Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
• Nestle Sept 2023 report
• India Equity Market
• Best printers for Home
• Best Mixer Grinder
• Best wired Earphones
• Best 43 Inch TV in India
• Best Wi Fi Routers
• Best Vacuum Cleaner
• Best Home Theatre in India
• Smart Watch under 5000
• Best Laptops for Education
• Best Laptop for Students

• Advertising
• Write for Us
• Privacy Policy
• Policy News
• Personal Finance News
• Mobile News
• Business News
• Ecommerce News
• Startups News
• Stock Market News
• Finance News
• Entertainment News
• Economy News
• Careers News
• International News
• Politics News
• Education News
• Advertising News
• Health News
• Science News
• Retail News
• Sports News
• Personalities News
• Corporates News
• Environment News
• Richest people in India 2024
• Google I/O 2024 highlights
• Top 10 Richest people
• Top 10 Largest Economies
• Deleted Whatsapp Messages
• How to restore deleted messages
• 10 types of Drinks
• Instagram Sad Face Filter
• Recover Whatsapp Messages
• Check Balance in SBI
• How to check Vodafone Balance
• Transfer Whatsapp Message
• Dual Whatsapp on Single phone
• Phone is hacked or Not
• How to Port Airtel to Jio
• How to find website owner

Copyright © 2024 . Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service.

• University News
• Faculty & Research
• Health & Medicine
• Science & Technology
• Social Sciences
• Humanities & Arts
• Students & Alumni
• Arts & Culture
• Sports & Athletics
• The Professions
• International
• New England Guide

The Magazine

• Current Issue
• Past Issues

Class Notes & Obituaries

• Browse Class Notes
• Browse Obituaries

Collections

• Commencement
• The Context
• Harvard Squared
• Harvard in the Headlines

Support Harvard Magazine

• Why We Need Your Support
• How We Are Funded
• Ways to Support the Magazine
• Special Gifts
• Behind the Scenes

Classifieds

• Vacation Rentals & Travel
• Real Estate
• Products & Services
• Harvard Authors’ Bookshelf
• Education & Enrichment Resource
• Ad Prices & Information
• Place An Ad

Follow Harvard Magazine:

http://www.businessinsider.com/personal-essay-application-jfk-get-into-harvard-2013-11 Thu, 11/21/2013 - 19:00 Business Insider Here's The 5-Sentence Personal Essay That Helped JFK Get Into Harvard

• Skip to main content
• Skip to footer

Additional menu

The Art of Applying®

MBA Admissions Consulting | MPP & MPA Admissions Consulting | Harvard Application Advice

Harvard Kennedy School 2022-2023 Essay Advice: MPP, MPA, MPA/MC, MPA-ID

posted on November 16, 2022

Welcome to the ultimate guide to writing outstanding Harvard Kennedy School essays! Below you’ll find advice for every HKS application essay prompt for the 2022-2023 application cycle.

Table of Contents

Introduction

HKS 2022 Application Deadline

Top 10 Mistakes I See in Harvard Kennedy School Essays

Table of Required Essays by Degree

Personal History Essay Advice

Optional statement essay advice, joint or concurrent degree essay advice, reapplication essay advice, jfk essay advice, mpp essay advice, expectations essay advice, perspectives essay advice, two-year mpa essay advice, career goals essay advice, professional contribution essay advice, biographical profile vs. background summary statement, international development essay advice, public policy essay.

Hey there! I’m Kaneisha Grayson, the author of this article and the founder of The Art of Applying®.

I started The Art of Applying® in 2010 while a joint degree student at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. Since then, my team and I have helped hundreds of applicants successfully apply to Harvard Kennedy School through our paid services, blog posts, and Youtube videos.

This blog post has the most up to date advice for the most difficult to write Harvard Kennedy School essays based on what my team and I have seen work for our clients.

If you find a mistake or a needed update in this article, let us know so we can correct it. Our 7000+ loyal email newsletter subscribers and visitors to our website help us keep our advice up to date and helpful for everyone.

If you’d like my team to help you with your Harvard Kennedy School application, contact us for more information.

What is the Harvard Kennedy School 2022 deadline?

The HKS 2022 application deadline is Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 3 pm Eastern Time .

Which essays are required for each HKS degree application?

Don’t make these mistakes in your harvard kennedy school application.

Sometimes, it’s easier to know what NOT to do. Use this checklist to make sure you don’t make these common mistakes in your Harvard Kennedy School application essays.

Do not wait several sentences or paragraphs to clearly answer the question the prompt is asking.

I know it feels creative and whimsical to start your essay with a story. Or to take the reader on a journey with a big reveal at the end of your essay. And I’m not saying you can’t do that. However, if you are not a strong creative writer, I would advise you to be as straightforward with answering the essay prompts as possible.

Imagine that your essays are policy memos that the U.S. President needs to read before an important meeting.

Do not start your personal statements or application essays with a quote.

The one exception would be if your quote is from one of the “characters” in the story you are telling. Then, a quote could be a compelling way to start the essay. However, what my team of consultants and I see most often are essays that start with quotes from a famous person or public figure. Don’t do that.

You have limited words with which to express yourself. Don’t waste even one sentence on a trite, overused phrase as a shortcut for seeming profound, heartfelt or unique.

Do not write essays that are simply your resume accomplishments in prose format. 

Your resume is the place where you can succinctly summarize the accomplishments and results you have achieved, using numbers as often as possible to quantify the results of your efforts. Your essays are the place where you tell your story, make your case, and communicate your fit with the school and degree program by directly addressing the prompt(s) you’ve been given.

Do not use trite phrases like “I want to change the world.” 

Vague phrases like the one above don’t actually tell the reader anything specific about you as an individual, leader, and team member.

 If you think about it, every human that has ever lived changed the world just by having lived here, right? They made their impact on the world, even if it was a teeny tiny impact. Rather than relying on empty platitudes, be as specific as possible about the type of impact you hope to have.

Do not accidentally mention the wrong school name. 

Nearly every season, we receive materials for editing, where the applicant mentions the wrong school name. It doesn’t mean that your application will automatically be thrown in the trash if you use the wrong school name. However, it shows a lack of proofreading one’s materials. It can also make you look insincere about your commitment to attending that particular school.

Do not submit materials that are over the word limit. 

I know you have a lot you want to share with the HKS admissions committee, but word limits are in place for a reason. When you submit materials that are over the word limit, you annoy the AdCom and make it clear that you disregard directions. By submitting essays that are within the required word limit, you are forced to express yourself in a clear, concise way. This is a skill that you will need as a student at Harvard Kennedy School as well as in your post-HKS career, whether in the public, private, or nonprofit sectors. 

But, Kaneisha, can I submit an essay that is just a few words over the word limit? Like…just give me 20 words extra. Pretty please? Nein! You are applying alongside hundreds of other highly qualified applicants. Do not frustrate, annoy, or disrespect the AdCom’s time by not taking the time to edit your essay down to the word count.

Do not wait until the last minute to write and revise your essays.

HKS takes a holistic view of your entire application. I know that sounds like marketing speak from the Admissions Office, but it’s true. It’s not just about your grades or your test score.

In 2021, I had a client who we helped get into Harvard Kennedy School with a GPA below 2.5 . He worked with our team on strengthening his applicant profile and his essays for ten months : from January 2021 until November 2021.

Your essays are the most important part of your application. The earlier you can start on them, the better. Use the previous year’s prompts as your jumping off point.

How likely is it that the Harvard Kennedy School essay prompts from last year will be different this year?

It is highly unlikely that the the prompts you see on the Harvard Kennedy School website for the prior application season will change substantially in this upcoming application season. In the 12+ years I’ve been in business, I’ve only seen the essays change twice. So the essay prompts change about every 4 years or so.

Optional Do Not’s for your Harvard Kennedy School Essays & Resume

The don’ts below are based on my personal preference and aren’t as important as the “do not”s above.

Do not use “justified alignment” for your essays. 

It creates strange spacing within your sentences. While it may look more polished to you that all of your lines take up the full line, it is a less pleasant reading experience forr the reader.

Do not include your photo on your resume or CV. 

While this is a common practice in some nations outside of the US, it is not common practice in the US.

Do not use “interesting” design elements on your CV.

I prefer a black and white CV with no color, no “interesting” bullet point shapes like diamonds, starts, etc.—just plain filled-in bullets or open bullets. I don’t even really like those horizontal separating lines on CV. I like just words and bullet points on resumes with a good amount of white space, so my eyes can rest and I’m not looking at a wall of text.

Diversity of all kinds (race and ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, physical abilities, political philosophy, intellectual focus, socioeconomic status, geographic and many others) is important to enriching the educational experience at the Kennedy School.  Please share with us anything in your background or life experience that has shaped your perspectives and how that would contribute to the classroom and community at HKS. (250 word limit)

This essay may feel overwhelming, especially if you feel like you aren’t “different,” “special,” or “diverse” enough. The key with this essay is to remember that everyone adds diversity to the class—not just people you think of as traditionally underrepresented.

The key here is to not worry about if what makes you “you” is special or different enough. It’s to become aware of the intersecting identities that make up your particular identity, and then to choose which of those aspects would benefit your classmates through the sharing of your experiences and perspectives with your classmates.

One area of diversity that may apply to you is being a member of an underrepresented group within a well-represented racial or ethnic group. For example, while Asian-American students are well represented among top universities, southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders, and low-income Asian-American students are very underrepresented . Similarly, white students are well represented, but low-income white students or white students from rural areas are underrepresented.

Another area gaining traction in the cultural zeitgeist is neurodivergence and/or neurodiversity. In fact, after a decade-plus of suspecting I might have ADHD (and being told by my friends that I have ADHD), I (Kaneisha, the founder of The Art of Applying®), got evaluated and diagnosed with ADHD-Combined Type in April 2022.

Imagine my shock—after getting two Masters from Harvard, paying off $150,000 in student loans in seven years as a writer and entrepreneur, growing a business from scratch to a million dollars in revenue, and starting a podcast—learning that I have a brain condition that is considered a disability! 

I’m learning more each day how much my life has been affected by having undiagnosed and untreated ADHD: the challenges I have overcome as well as the benefits of having a brain that works quite differently than most people’s. 

If you fall into the category of being neurodivergent (some examples are ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and OCD), you could write about the ways in which navigating your personal, professional, and academic life have been affected by having a “different” kind of brain.

If I were writing this essay, I would write about these areas of diversity that apply to me:

• Growing up in a low-income high crime neighborhood with a high teen pregnancy rate
• Having undiagnosed ADHD for most of my life, and my experiences being “twice exceptional” (both gifted and challenged)
• Being one of few Black students in my college graduating class
• Coming from an extended family that is heavily affected by the prison-industrial complex

Don’t let my list intimidate you; just use it as a list to help you reflect on what makes you different and/or special. 

Here are examples of areas of diversity and/or adversity you could write about in your diversity statement and/or personal history statement:

• Being physically challenged or disabled
• Being a queer person
• Being trans or having a non-conforming gender identity
• Being a person of color
• Having experienced homelessness or food insecurity during your lifetime
• Growing up low-income
• Growing up very wealthy
• Growing up closely related to a person of prominence, fame, or a public figure
• Having served in public office
• Having achieved outstanding business accomplishments
• Having competed in athletics, chess, or related activities on a national or global level
• Having a neurodivergence such as ADHD, autism, epilepsy, Tourette Syndrome (TS), or OCD—whether diagnosed in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood
• Growing up in a single-parent household
• Growing up as an adopted child or foster child
• Growing up with adopted siblings or foster siblings
• Growing up with siblings with special needs
• Growing up with a parent who is an addict 
• Growing up with a parent who has serious mental health issues
• Acknowledging and overcoming addiction
• Discovering and navigating mental health issues
• Growing up across different states and/or countries
• Being a conservative person who plans to attend a liberal- and progressive-leaning school—or vice versa
• Navigating grief after the loss of a loved one
• Being a survivor of trauma (you don’t have to share in detail about your trauma unless you feel comfortable doing so. Be sure to include a content warning.) Table of Contents

If you have any concerns about your prior academic, professional, or personal background that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee, please provide an explanation. (250 word limit) 

Who should write the Harvard Kennedy School Optional Statement?

Even though this essay is titled as an optional statement, I recommend that most applicants to Harvard Kennedy School write the optional essay. The optional statement is your opportunity to raise your hand and say, “Well, actually…” when one of the readers is raising doubts about the strength of your applicant profile and whether you should be given one of the seats in the class.

Since HKS doesn’t have interviews, you don’t have a chance to clarify anything that may be confusing or concerning to the AdCom. The optional statement is your opportunity to stand up for yourself, clarify anything that looks confusing, and reassure the admissions committee that any challenges that held you back in the past won’t keep you from being successful at HKS.

You should write the Harvard Kennedy School Optional Statement if:

• You have C’s, D’s, F’s, W’s, or I’s on your transcript that you want to explain to the AdCom.
• You are applying to the Harvard Kennedy School MC/MPA with 7-9 years of work experience.
• You are applying to the MPP, MPA-ID, or MPA2 with fewer than two years of work experience.
• You are applying to Harvard Kennedy School without a traditional undergraduate degree.
• You are applying to Harvard Kennedy School with a GPA below 3.4.
• You have a gap on your resume of longer than six months.
• You don’t show a clear demonstrated interest in public service from your work experiences and/or volunteer work.

What should your Harvard Kennedy School Optional Statement include?

Your HKS optional essay should answer the following questions:

• What areas of your profile might the admissions committee be concerned about?
• Why did those issues occur?
• How have you since resolved those issues?
• What did you learn about yourself as a result of navigating those issues?
• What will you do if those issues arise while you are at Harvard Kennedy School?

Since you only have 250 words, you can aim to answer each of the above questions in one sentence. That will give your optional essay structure and communicate the essential information the HKS admissions committee members need.

Harvard Kennedy School’s mission is to improve public policy and leadership across the United States and around the world, so people can lead safer, freer, and more prosperous lives. How will a joint/concurrent degree enhance your pursuit of this mission? (400 word limit)

Here is the catch with this essay. According to my understanding, this essay will only be read by Harvard Kennedy School admissions committee—not the other school to which you are applying. (Someone contact me and correct me with written proof or a screenshot if I’m mistaken. I want to make sure I’m providing the most accurate information.) So the key to this essay is to focus on how your Harvard Kennedy School degree will complement your other degree .

What do I mean by that? Well, contrary to what you may think, this essay is not supposed to be where you gush about HBS, HLS, Tuck, or Sloan. Don’t spend a lot of time talking about how amazing the non-HKS school is. The joint/concurrent degree essay is where you talk about how you won’t get everything you need from just a degree from Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Dartmouth Tuck, or MIT Sloan for your personal and professional goals.

The most effective joint/concurrent degree essays will be written the opposite of how most people will write this essay. Most people will write this essay focusing on how amazing the resources, classes, and clubs are at the other school. But you want to focus on, say, 4-6 specific things you will get from your non-HKS school, and then write in just as much detail how your HKS degree will complement and supplement those 4-6 specific things. 

Questions to help you write your Harvard Kennedy School joint / current degree essay:

• What will you learn in the classroom at HKS that you won’t learn at all or as much in the other classroom?
• What clubs are specific to HKS that you are eager to join that don’t exist at the other school?
• What will the HKS alumni network provide you that you can’t get if you only do just the one degree at the other school?
• What personal experiences might you have, and what kinds of people might you meet as a joint / concurrent degree student that you wouldn’t meet if you only did the other school’s degree?

Make sure to not write this essay as if going to HKS alone is not enough of an education. This essay is about showing how going to the other school alone would not be enough of an education for your personal, professional, and academic goals.

The Harvard Kennedy School motto, echoing the President for whom the School is named, is “Ask what you can do.” Please share with the Admissions Committee your plans to create positive change through your public leadership and service. (500 word limit)  

Okay, y’all for this essay, I’m just going to dump a list of the biggest mistakes I see with this essay, and then give you a bunch of questions that you should make sure your JFK essay answers as specifically as possible. 

In general, this is a “career goals” essay. The HKS AdCom wants to know what your ultimate career goal is, and the career journey you could imagine yourself embarking upon to get there.

The biggest mistakes I see with the Harvard Kennedy School JFK essay are:

• Do not bury your career goal several paragraphs in or wait until the last paragraph to clearly answer the question. Do not make the AdCom guess what your plans are. Answer the question upfront in the first 1-2 sentences.
• Do not state a career goal that is too vague.
• Do not state a career goal that is too ambitious with no clear plan to get there. It is not too ambitious to say you want to be the Head of State, but you need to clearly map out the short-term, medium term, and long-term career path to get there.
• Do not state a career goal with no explanation of why that career is driven by your values.
• Do not overly use words like “hope” when discussing your plans: “I hope to take on a career in management consulting at a firm like BCG, Bain, or McKinsey.” No. Use clear, confident words like “plan,” “will,” and “intend to.” Because you totally got this! You don’t have to hope.

If you answer all of the following questions, you’ll be well on your way to writing this essay better than half of the people applying to HKS (who aren’t our clients or didn’t find this blog post in time).

Sample Outline for the Harvard Kennedy School JFK essay:

• Opening sentence: What is your ultimate long-term career goal? Be as specific as possible and state this upfront. Do not make your essay a scavenger hunt where the AdCom has to sift through several paragraphs to figure out the answer to the question they have posed to you.
• When it comes to your career goal, what specific 1-3 issues will you work to have a positive impact? On what specific geographic area and/or specific population do you plan to have a positive impact? Access to water in South Asia, equity in education in the Southern US, trans rights in Latin America, voting rights and access in sub-Saharan Africa, the US childcare epidemic, etc. Notice how I’m not just saying vague things like “sustainability,” “microenterprise,” “venture philanthropy,” or “impact investing.” I am listing specific issues, geographies, and populations. This makes your goal realistic, measurable, and ambitious at the same time rather than wishy-washy wishful thinking.
• What is your immediate career goal after HKS? What role do you want to have? What will you learn in that role? What will you contribute to the organization in that role?
• What is your mid-term career goal after HKS, such as 10 years after graduation? What will you learn in that role? What will you contribute to the organization in that role?
• Concluding sentence: Reiterate your enthusiasm to attend HKS and contribute your particular public service and leadership to the world.

The MPP curriculum is designed to broaden students’ perspective and sharpen skills necessary for a successful career in public service through a rigorous set of courses that draw on the social sciences but are adapted for action. Please describe how the MPP curriculum at HKS would leverage your distinctive abilities and/or fill gaps in your skill set as you equip yourself to achieve your career goals. (500 word limit)

The HKS MPP Essay can feel tricky, because it’s asking you to cover so many different elements. I prefer to answer the question directly within the first sentence, and then to provide more details throughout the essay. 

Within the first 1-2 sentences of this essay, briefly restate your career goal. Restating your career goal provides a clear context for the reader for the rest of your essay. You can even restate your career goal as a part of a sentence that is mostly about something else. 

Here is a sample starting sentence for the HKS MPP Essay that clearly answers the question while restating the career goal and providing clear context for the rest of the essay:

In order to pursue my career goal of being Head of Communications for an equity-focused education nonprofit such as Teach for America, I will need to improve my existing skills in persuasion, public speaking, and written communication. I will also need to gain skills in negotiation, managing and developing team members, budgeting, and quantitative analysis.

Sample Outline for the Harvard Kennedy School MPP Essay:

• Briefly remind the HKS Admissions Committee of your career goal.
• List 2-3 relevant skills that you already have that you’d like to strengthen at HKS.
• List 2-3 relevant skills you’d like to gain as an MPP student at Harvard Kennedy School.
• Discuss 2-3 specific classes you would take that would enhance your skills. State the specific skills and/or subject matter learnings you would gain in those classes.
• Discuss 2-3 classes in which you would be a strong contributor to your classmates’ learnings and for which you already have strong skills.
• Discuss 1-3 student clubs that would play to your strengths and/or fill in gaps.
• Discuss 1-3 Resource Centers at HKS that would enhance your strengths and/or help you improve in developmental areas.
• Conclude your essay 

Additional tips for the HKS MPP Essay:

• Make sure that you aren’t only listing classes taught by men. This is a common oversight among applicants.
• The classes you mention don’t have to be currently taught or scheduled to be taught in the upcoming year. As long as the class has been offered at some point in the last five years, it’s fine.
• When discussing classes that will fill in your skills gaps, list at least one required course and at least one elective.
• When discussing classes that will play to your strengths, it is okay to primarily focus on electives.
• If you are short on space, you can list fewer classes related to your strengths. Focus more on the specific classes you’ll take that will fill in your gaps.
• If you are short on space, you can eliminate discussing student clubs and resource centers.

Describe a time when you did not meet expectations and elaborate on how the experience changed you. (250 word limit) 

I love this question! Even though it can be tough to figure out what to write about, if you choose a genuine topic, and write this essay well, you will easily stand out in the applicant pool. The most straightforward way to respond to this prompt is to write about a time when you did not meet someone’s reasonable expectations. 

However, you can also write about a time when you did not meet what you believe were unreasonable expectations . It’s much more difficult to successfully tackle the second type of essay without coming off as trying to turn an essay discussing a weakness into a strength. If you write about a time when you did not meet unreasonable expectations, then you will need to discuss why you did not speak up about the expectations being unreasonable; you can’t just simply say that someone burdened you with unreasonable expectations. You have to take some responsibility for those unreasonable expectations existing and for you being accountable for meeting them.

You can write about a time when you did not meet expectations in your personal, professional, or academic life.

Outline for HKS Expectations Essay:

• Who had the expectation of you?
• (optional) How was the expectation communicated to you?
• What were the internal obstacles to meeting the expectation? 
• What were the external obstacles to meeting the expectation?
• What did you learn about how to manage the expectations of the person who you let down?
• What did you learn about yourself in not meeting this expectation?
• What lessons can you apply to the future when faced with similar expectations?

Examples of what you could write about for the HKS Expectations Essay:

• Letting your boss, team, or a direct report down at work
• Letting down your partner, family member, or friend in your personal life
• Not meeting your own expectations at work, school, or toward a personal goal

Describe a time when interactions with others and/or an experience caused you to change your mind or expanded your point of view. (250 word limit)  

This essay shows that you are open to influence, open-minded, able to change your mind in the face of new information, and/or willing to admit when you were wrong.

Sample Outline for HKS Perspectives Essay:

• What was your opinion or perspective on the issue at hand at first?
• What made you realize that your opinion or perspective might have been limited or outright wrong?
• What about the interaction or experience in particular helped you be open to changing your mind or expanding your perspective?
• What did your opinion change to or what did it expand to include?
• What did you learn about yourself from this experience?
• What did you learn about the other person from this experience?
• What lessons can you apply to the future when faced with similar experiences, interactions, or opportunities?

There are many pathways one can pursue in order to make a difference in the world. Why is the MPA Program at HKS an appropriate pathway to achieving your goals? (500 word limit)  

Sample Outline for the Harvard Kennedy School Two-Year MPA Essay:

• Briefly remind the HKS Admissions Committee of your career goals within the first two sentences of your essay.
• Discuss 3-4 specific classes you would take that would enhance your skills. State the specific skills and/or subject matter learnings you would gain in those classes that would help you achieve your career goals.
• Are there any treks you could attend or help plan that would help you achieve your career goals?
• Discuss 1-3 Resource Centers at HKS that would help you achieve your career goals.
• What is it about the HKS culture that will help you achieve your career goals?
• What elements of the HKS alumni experience and network will help you achieve your career goals?
• Conclude your essay restating your enthusiasm to attend HKS for the MPA2.

Additional tips for the HKS Two-Year MPA Essay:

Submit a statement that discusses your career goals, as well as the factors that led you to select the Mid-Career MPA program as a means of furthering your personal and professional goals. Be as specific as possible in describing how your expected course of study will enable you to build on your prior professional experience and achieve those goals. (500 word limit)  

Sample Outline for the Harvard Kennedy School Career Goals Essay:

• Spend 1-3 sentences discussing each of the factors that led you to HKS.
• What kind of organization would you like to work at?
• What will you learn here?
• What will you contribute here?
• State the specific skills and/or subject matter learnings you would gain in those classes that would help you achieve your career goals.

Additional tips for the HKS Career Goals Essay:

The prompts for these two short answer questions are so similar that I think there may have actually been a mistake in the Harvard Kennedy School application to ask them both.

In prior years, the MPP application asked for the Biographical Profile, and the MPA/MC application asked for the Background Summary Statement. This year, the MC/MPA application (and perhaps for other degrees) is asking for both of these extremely similar statements.

I’m here to provide as much clarification as I can. Understand that this is my guidance as an admissions consultant, but I am not a member of the HKS Admissions / Enrollment team. I would suggest some of you write to HKS admissions to clarify this requirement, because it really seems like a mistake to me to require both.

I think that what happened is that one question or the other should show up based on which degree you choose (this is called a “conditional form element”), but that for some reason, the condition wasn’t input into the system correctly, so both questions are showing.

What is the prompt for the Biographical Profile?

In 150 words or fewer, provide a biographical profile. Your résumé will contain detailed information on your academic history, professional/internship/volunteer positions held and specific accomplishments. What we seek here is a concise description of your academic/professional journey, career exploration, and areas of interest. Please type your biographical statement in the paragraph box below .

In this statement, focus on answering the exact things they have asked for:

• What was your schooling like from high school, to university, to now? Since they will know where you went to school from your resume, you could focus on what type of school(s) you attended (public, private, elite, prestigious, underfunded, under-resourced, etc.) and how that impacted your career.
• Quickly walk the reader through your career from start to mid-point to present day.
• State 1-3 areas of career and academic interests.

In the Biographical Profile, spend half the essay discussing your academic and professional past, and half the essay discussing your career and academic future interests you plan to explore at HKS and after HKS.

What is the prompt for the Background Summary Statement?

In 300 words or less, summarize your professional profile/background. Your résumé will contain information on titles, positions held, and specific accomplishments, what we seek here is a concise description of your professional journey, career progression and areas of expertise/experience. Specific information on the level of responsibility and impact/scale of work performed to provide context is encouraged.

Think of the Background Summary Statement as a narration of your resume in an easy-to-understand way for someone who may not be familiar with your industry.

Another way to think of the Background Summary Statement is the short introduction that would be given about you before giving a TED talk or graduation speech. It helps the reader / listener contextualize everything else they are going to learn about you.

You can write the Background Summary Statement in the first person (I have worked…) or the third person (Kaneisha Grayson has worked…)

• Once again, walk the reader through your professional journey. Don’t just say where you worked. Tell the reader what you learned and accomplished in your career so far. Think of this as the interview question, “Walk me through your resume.”
• HKS also wants to know about your career progression. How does one job lead into the next? How are your responsibilities increasing and building upon one another? This is especially helpful if career progression and promotions aren’t evident from the job titles on your resume.
• Discuss your areas of expertise and experience, both academically and professionally. You can focus on hard skills, soft skills, and domain expertise. If you aren’t sure what hard skills are versus soft skills, a quick online search for those phrases will give you lots of examples. If you aren’t sure what I mean by “domain expertise,” think of a domain as a subject area, a topic that one can study or research at HKS or in the real world.

The Background Summary Statement should be completely focused on the past, whereas the Biographical Profile is a blend of the past and the future.

But I still think this is actually an error in the HKS application.

Please explain what has changed since your last application . (250) 

What is the Harvard Kennedy School Reapplication Essay supposed to convey?

The HKS Reapplication Essay is supposed to convey that you as an applicant understand that it’s not helpful to simply resubmit the exact sample application as the exact same candidate you were last time. They want you to succinctly tell them what has changed about you personally, professionally, and/or academically since your prior application.

The Harvard Kennedy School Reapplication Essay is your opportunity to help the HKS admissions committee understand that, while you were not previously admitted, you are now even more prepared for the HKS classroom, and even more of a fit for the HKS degree program to which you are applying.

How should I start my Harvard Kennedy School Reapplication Essay?

You only have 250 words for this essay, so you need to get directly to the point. I would start this essay out with a simple sentence that lists the changes in your applicant profile since your prior HKS application. Here is an example:

Since my prior application in 2018, I have taken supplementary coursework, received a higher score on the GRE, gained further clarity on my career goals, and engaged in more volunteer work.

How should I structure the HKS Reapplication Essay? What content should I include?

Here is an outline you can use for your Harvard Kennedy School Reapplication Essay:

• Introductory Sentence
• Discuss any supplementary coursework you have taken.
• Discuss any improved test scores you have to share.
• Discuss any accomplishments, promotions, or changes in your professional experience.
• Discuss any personal accomplishments and/or updates.
• Concluding Sentence

On what note should I end the Harvard Kennedy School Reapplication Essay?

You have so few words for this essay that you can consider not including a concluding sentence. If you have room for a concluding sentence, you can reiterate your enthusiasm for attending Harvard Kennedy School or your hope that the updates you’ve provided are helpful.

Here is a sample concluding sentence for your HKS Reapplication Essay:

I hope that these updates will help the Admissions Committee in the reconsideration of my application.

The Harvard Kennedy School motto, echoing the President for whom the School is named, is “Ask what you can do.” Please share with the Admissions Committee how you have created positive change thus far in your most substantial professional leadership and/or public service role. (500 word limit)

Most applicants will mess up this essay by trying to cram too many stories and roles into this essay. You will write a much stronger essay if you focus on one overarching role in which you were able to create positive change in one big way or multiple smaller, interconnected ways . What I don’t suggest you try and do is write about multiple roles. The prompt is asking for your most substantial professional leadership and/or public service role. That means you should choose one role .

Sample Outline for the Harvard Kennedy School Professional Contribution Essay:

• What were the requirements of you in this role?
• What were the 1-4 positive impacts you were able to have in this role?
• Clearly state the positive impact you were hoping to achieve.
• What challenges, obstacles, and limitations did you and your team face when trying to achieve your goals?
• How did you and your team overcome the obstacles that you faced?
• Clearly state the positive impact you were able to achieve.
• Conclude the essay reiterating your enthusiasm to attend HKS and continue creating positive change.

Discuss your decision to choose international development as your professional career. Also, explain how developing your analytic skills relates to your career in development. (750 word limit) 

For the MPA-ID International Development Essay, you can use the outline and tips I gave for the Career Goals Essay . However, you need to make sure that you also discuss the importance of having strong analytical skills relates to your career in development.

Examples of how analytical skills relates to a career in development:

• Financing 
• Managing limited resources
• Optimizing processes to maximize limited resources
• Decreasing costs
• Increasing output
• Decreasing negative externalities
• Increasing positive externalities

Describe a public policy or public management problem related to international development and analyze a range of solutions. (750 word limit) 

The Harvard Kennedy School Public Policy Essay is similar to the Princeton SPIA Policy Memo, except that you get 750 words rather than four double-spaced pages (about 1000 words).

Sample Outline for the Harvard Kennedy School Public Policy Essay or Princeton SPIA Policy Memo:

Introductory Paragraph: Tell the reader what specific issue you are going to explore, and 3-4 solutions you will analyze.

Background Information: Provide 2-4 sentences providing background information on the issue at hand. What would the reader need to know about the issue you are going to discuss in order to understand your analysis of the possible solutions?

Discuss 3-4 possible solutions. For each of your 3-4 proposed solutions, answer the following questions:

• Clearly state the proposed solution.
• Where, if anywhere, is this solution already being implemented? How is it working?
• What are the hoped for and actual benefits of this solution?
• What are the challenges, obstacles, and limitations of this solution?

Concluding Paragraph: Here is where you can make a recommendation on what should be done now to address the issue (based on your analysis above), and where you can make a recommendation on what could be explored in the future. You should state the solution that has the most potential to address the issue at hand. Propose possible further areas of inquiry. 

Reader Interactions

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me when my comment has been responded to

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Ready to take your next step?

Get admitted. Land a scholarship. Make an impact.

Learn More  --> Get Started Today

Claim your free Purpose Packet Now

We will not spam, rent, or sell your information.

Register Your Spot Now

Just enter your name & email to secure your spot.

Get Clear on your Goals Goalwork

• Full Name *
• Email Address *
• Yes, please add me to the list!
• No, I don’t want to be added to the mailing list.

ALMOST THERE! PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM TO GAIN INSTANT ACCESS

ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO GET STARTED

• First Name First
• Last Name Last

I consent to register for this webinar and receive information about products and services from this webinar presenter per The Art of Applying Privacy Policy.

Sample College Resume

• No, I don't want to be added to the mailing list.

Sample of an Essay Topic Inventory

• First Name *

• Meet Kaneisha
• Meet Our Team
• Testimonials
• Wall of Fame
• Client Interviews

JFK’s Harvard essay resurfaces, to mockery, after Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action

John F. Kennedy endeavored to be a “Harvard Man,” just like his father.

He wrote as much as a 17-year-old in 1935 in his rather succinct essay to Harvard College, a copy of which resurfaced on social media and quickly became a target of derision after the Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in college admissions on Thursday.

In Kennedy’s response to the essay prompt — fewer than 100 words — some saw hypocrisy in the court’s decision to overrule nearly half a century of legal precedent. While the Supreme Court ruled that race can no longer be a factor in college admissions, many on social media noted that at some elite universities, the children of graduates, known as “legacies,” are given preference in admissions.

Advertisement

“A casual reminder of JFK’s college essay,” Rebecca Brenner Graham , who teaches history at the Madeira School in Washington, D.C., tweeted after the ruling.

a casual reminder of JFK’s college essay (this is real https://t.co/VmNgvs4V9n ) pic.twitter.com/IStQDQg6QC — Rebecca Brenner Graham, PhD (@TheOtherRBG) June 29, 2023

“The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several,” Kennedy wrote in the essay. “I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer.”

“To be a ‘Harvard man’ is an enviable distinction,” he added.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling, the nation’s most prestigious schools are likely to see a significant decline in the number of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students admitted, according to research and analyses presented to the court last year.

The Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has a digitized version of Kennedy’s application materials to Harvard, which includes his transcript from The Choate School — his grades were less than spectacular — along with a letter his father, Joseph Kennedy, wrote to the freshman dean explaining that while his son “has a very brilliant mind for the things in which he is interested,” he is “careless and lacks application in those in which he is not interested.”

While the admissions process was far less rigorous when Kennedy was applying, many online noted the surefire advantage the future president had as the son of a well-known and wealthy businessman who had graduated from Harvard himself.

“He’d still get in today. Because donor and legacy,” one person tweeted .

“No one benefits from affirmative action more than <checks notes> Kennedy Americans,” another wrote. “Nepo babies politics version in Ivy,” a commenter chimed in.

Kennedy graduated from Harvard in 1940 and was elected president in 1960.

The bar for admission to Harvard is now incredibly high — just 3.2 percent of undergraduate applicants were accepted to the class of 2026 — and whether Kennedy would be admitted now, even with his wealthy, privileged background, is debatable.

But many said that it’s historically underrepresented students who will be affected by the court’s ruling, while the legacy system — a century-old practice that overwhelmingly benefits white and wealthy students — will remain intact for now.

In the remarks about the decision Thursday, President Biden said the legacy system expands “privilege instead of opportunity.”

On campus, students at Harvard reacted to the decision with shock and disappointment, calling it a “step in the wrong direction.” In a video that incoming president Claudine Gay posted on Thursday, she acknowledged the school lacks “all of the answers about what’s next,” but would “continue opening doors.”

Shannon Larson can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @shannonlarson98 .

10 Successful Harvard Application Essays | 2021

Our new 2022 version is up now.

Our 2022 edition is sponsored by HS2 Academy—a premier college counseling company that has helped thousands of students gain admission into Ivy League-level universities across the world. Learn more at www.hs2academy.com . Also made possible by The Art of Applying, College Confidential, Crimson Education, Dan Lichterman, Key Education, MR. MBA®, Potomac Admissions, Prep Expert, and Prepory.

AcceptU is the #1 rated college admissions consulting group. With a team composed entirely of former college admissions officers, AcceptU advises families on all aspects of the college planning process, from early profile-building to strategy and essay editing. More than 90% of our past students are admitted to at least one of their top three choices and AcceptU clients achieve 4x higher rates of admission to highly selective colleges. Learn more at www.AcceptU.com and schedule an introductory call with an AcceptU advisor today.

Successful Harvard Essay

I had never seen houses floating down a river. Minutes before there had not even been a river. An immense wall of water was destroying everything in its wake, picking up fishing boats to smash them against buildings. It was the morning of March 11, 2011. Seeing the images of destruction wrought by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I felt as if something within myself was also being shaken, for I had just spent two of the happiest summers of my life there.

In the summer of my freshman year, I received the Kikkoman National Scholarship, which allowed me to travel to Japan to stay with a host family in Tokyo for ten weeks. I arrived just as the swine flu panic gripped the world, so I was not allowed to attend high school with my host brother, Yamato. Instead, I took Japanese language, judo, and karate classes and explored the confusing sprawl of the largest city in the world. I spent time with the old men of my neighborhood in the onsen, or hot spring, questioning them about the Japan of their youth. They laughed and told me that if I wanted to see for myself, I should work on a farm.

The next summer I returned to Japan, deciding to heed the old men’s advice and volunteer on a farm in Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. I spent two weeks working more than fourteen hours a day. I held thirty-pound bags of garlic with one hand while trying to tie them to a rope hanging from the ceiling with the other, but couldn’t hold the bags in the air long enough. Other days were spent pulling up endless rows of daikon, or Japanese radish, which left rashes on my arms that itched for weeks. Completely exhausted, I stumbled back to the farmhouse, only to be greeted by the family’s young children who were eager to play. I passed out every night in a room too small for me to straighten my legs. One day, I overslept a lunch break by two hours. I awoke mortified, and hurried to the father. After I apologized in the most polite form of Japanese, his face broke into a broad grin. He patted me on the back and said, “You are a good worker, Anthony. There is no need to apologize.” This single exchange revealed the true spirit of the Japanese farmer. The family had lived for years in conditions that thoroughly wore me out in only a few days. I had missed two hours of work, yet they were still perpetually thankful to me. In their life of unbelievable hardship, they still found room for compassion.

In their life of unbelievable hardship, they still found room for compassion.

When I had first gone to Tokyo, I had sought the soul of the nation among its skyscrapers and urban hot springs. The next summer I spurned the beaten track in an attempt to discover the true spirit of Japan. While lugging enormously heavy bags of garlic and picking daikon, I found that spirit. The farmers worked harder than anyone I have ever met, but they still made room in their hearts for me. So when the tsunami threatened the people to whom I owed so much, I had to act. Remembering the lesson of compassion I learned from the farm family, I started a fund-raiser in my community called “One Thousand Cranes for Japan.” Little more than two weeks later, we had raised over $8,000 and a flock of one thousand cranes was on its way to Japan.

Professional Review by AcceptU

This essay is very clean and straightforward. Anthony wisely uses imagery from a well-known historic event, the 2011 tsunami, to set the scene for his story. He visited Japan for two summers and provides depth about what he learned: In his first summer, he explored Tokyo and studied the language and culture; in his second summer, he lived in rural Japan and worked long hours on a farm.

We like to see how applicants learn, grow or change from the beginning to the end - and Anthony rightfully spends more time describing the hard work and lifestyle of farming and what he learned from this experience.

The beauty of the essay actually lies in its simplicity. Admittedly, it is not a groundbreaking or original essay in the way he tells his story; instead, Anthony comes across as someone who is very interesting, hardworking, intellectually curious, dedicated, humble and likable - all traits that admissions officers are seeking in applicants.

We like to see how applicants learn, grow or change from the beginning to the end - and Anthony rightfully spends more time describing the hard work and lifestyle of farming and what he learned from this experience. Anthony concludes with a reference to his opening paragraph about the tsunami, and impresses the reader with his fundraising to help victims.

It is not necessarily missing, but perhaps a sentence or two could have been added to explain why Anthony was in Japan in the first place. What was his connection to the country, language or culture? Does it tie into an academic interest? If so, that would make his already strong essay even stronger in the eyes of admissions officers.

Sponsored by Bridge to College, a data company that matches students to colleges that are an academic, financial, and social fit. We provide services to students, families, high schools, and colleges to support all of their admissions needs. Visit https://bit.ly/bridge-to-college-successful-essays for more information on the new platform, sign up for updates and consultations, and learn more about what we do.

Find Bridge to College on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

I entered the surprisingly cool car. Since when is Beijing Line 13 air-conditioned? I’ll take it. At four o’clock in the afternoon only about twenty people were in the subway car. “At least it’s not crowded,” one might have thought. Wrong. The pressure of their eyes on me filled the car and smothered me. “看看！她是外国人！”(Look, look! She’s a foreigner!) An old man very loudly whispered to a child curled up in his lap. “Foreigner,” he called me. I hate that word, “foreigner.” It only explains my exterior. If only they could look inside.…

I want to keep reading because there is something she is saying about her identity--be it performative or actual--that I am curious about.

They would know that I actually speak Chinese—not just speak, but love. They would know that this love was born from my first love of Latin—the language that fostered my admiration of all languages. Latin lives in the words we speak around the world today. And translating this ancient language is like watching a play and performing in it at the same time. Each word is an adventure, and on the journey through Virgil’s Aeneid I found that I am more like Aeneas than any living, dead, or fictional hero I know. We share the intrinsic value of loyalty to friends, family, and society. We stand true to our own word, and we uphold others to theirs. Like Aeneas’s trek to find a new settlement for his collapsed Troy, with similar perseverance I, too, wander the seas for my own place in the world. Language has helped me do that.

If these subway passengers understood me, they would know that the very reason I sat beside them was because of Latin. Even before Aeneas and his tale, I met Caecilius and Grumio, characters in my first Latin textbook. In translations I learned grammar alongside Rome’s rich history. I realized how learning another language could expose me to other worlds and other people—something that has always excited me. I also realized that if I wanted to know more about the world and the people in it, I would have to learn a spoken language. Spanish, despite the seven years of study prior to Latin, did not stick with me. And the throatiness of French was not appealing. But Chinese, more than these other traditional languages, intrigued me. The doors to new worlds it could open seemed endless. Thus I chose Chinese.

If these subway passengers looked inside me, they would find that my knowledge of both Latin and Chinese makes me feel whole. It feels like the world of the past is flowing through me alongside the world of the future. Thanks to Latin, Chinese sticks in my mind like the Velcro on the little boy’s shoes in front of me. If this little boy and his family and friends could look inside, they would understand that Latin laid the foundation for my lifelong commitment to languages. Without words, thoughts and actions would be lost in the space between our ears. To them, I am a foreigner, “外国人” literally translated as “out-of-country person.” I feel, however, more like an advena, the Latin word for “foreigner,” translated as “(one who) comes to (this place).” I came to this place, and I came to this country to stay. Unfortunately, they will not know this until I speak. Then once I speak, the doors will open.

Professional Review by Bridge to College

Your college essay should serve two purposes: allow the reader to gain insights about you that they are not able to do in other parts of your application and provide an example of your writing abilities. To the former, you are hoping to demonstrate five soft skills that most colleges are at least implicitly interested in gleaning, those that indicate your capacity to be a good student at their institution.

Alex arrives at both goals in an interesting way. Without seeing the rest of her application, I can only assume that she is possibly interested in pursuing a major in a language (if she is pursuing a major in an applied math, this essay would be extremely interesting) and she has likely participated in some kind of team sport to demonstrate the soft skill of teamwork. To be honest, as someone who speaks five languages myself and studied Latin in undergrad, I don’t necessarily agree with her assessment of the languages. BUT I’m interested. I want to keep reading. She isn’t supposed to get everything right in this essay; she’s supposed to demonstrate a capacity for learning. And she does that.

I want to keep reading because there is something she is saying about her identity--be it performative or actual--that I am curious about. With our work in college access and admissions, we’ve only worked in underserved communities, be they students of color or girls interested in STEM or first-generation college students or more. People make an assumption that we are exploiting these identities into sob stories that admissions readers will immediately hang on to. We’re not doing that. We are encouraging students to write about something similar to what Alex did—describe how your identity has created a learning opportunity or a moment of resilience or determination. Alex seems like someone who is well resourced: her access to certain text; language curricula and the amount of time she spent studying those languages; even her sentence structure, gives that away. But her openness to adapt with humility is a critical skill that is so necessary to be a great student, and unfortunately a skill that many students miss.

For the second goal, she does a tremendous job of demonstrating her writing abilities. Her sentence structures are varied and there aren’t egregious mistakes in grammar and spelling. The last two sentences of the second paragraph sold me on her skill-level and personhood. I also really appreciated that she wasn’t shying away from what she has been able to access as far as her schooling. Alex is smart, witty, and well-traveled, and you’re going to know it. I love that.

The essay works as an introduction to who she is and her soft skills, as well as a demonstration of her writing abilities.

CEO and Founder of Bridge to College

Elite Educational Institute has been helping students reach their academic goals through test preparation, tutoring, and college consulting services since 1987. Learn more at www.eliteprep.com .

When I was a child, I begged my parents for my very own Brother PT-1400 P-Touch Handheld Label Maker to fulfill all of my labeling needs. Other kids had Nintendos and would spend their free time with Mario and Luigi. While they pummeled their video game controllers furiously, the pads of their thumbs dancing across their joysticks, I would type out labels on my industrial-standard P-Touch with just as much zeal. I labeled everything imaginable, dividing hundreds of pens into Ziploc bags by color, then rubber-banding them by point size. The finishing touch, of course, was always a glossy, three-eighths-inch-wide tag, freshly churned out from my handheld labeler and decisively pasted upon the numerous plastic bags I had successfully compiled.

Labeling became therapeutic for me; organizing my surroundings into specific groups to be labeled provides me with a sense of stability. I may not physically need the shiny color-coded label verifying the contents of a plastic bag as BLUE HIGHLIGHTERS—FAT, to identify them as such, but seeing these classifications so plainly allows me to appreciate the reliability of my categorizations. There are no exceptions when I label the top ledge of my bookshelf as containing works from ACHEBE, CHINUA TO CONRAD, JOSEPH. Each book is either filtered into that category or placed definitively into another one. Yet, such consistency only exists in these inanimate objects.

Thus, the break in my role as a labeler comes when I interact with people. Their lives are too complicated, their personalities too intricate for me to resolutely summarize in a few words or even with the 26.2 feet of laminated adhesive tape compatible with my label maker. I have learned that a thin line exists between labeling and just being judgmental when evaluating individuals. I can hardly superficially characterize others as simply as I do my material possessions because people refuse to be so cleanly separated and compartmentalized. My sister Joyce jokes freely and talks with me for hours about everything from the disturbing popularity of vampires in pop culture to cubic watermelons, yet those who don’t know her well usually think of her as timid and introverted. My mother is sometimes my biggest supporter, spouting words of encouragement and, at other instances, my most unrelenting critic. The overlap becomes too indistinct, the contradictions too apparent, even as I attempt to classify those people in the world whom I know best.

For all my love of order when it comes to my room, I don't want myself, or the people with whom I interact, to fit squarely into any one category.

Neither would I want others to be predictable enough for me to label. The real joy in human interaction lies in the excitement of the unknown. Overturning expectations can be necessary to preserving the vitality of relationships. If I were never surprised by the behaviors of those around me, my biggest source of entertainment would vanish. For all my love of order when it comes to my room, I don’t want myself, or the people with whom I interact, to fit squarely into any one category. I meticulously follow directions to the millimeter in the chemistry lab but measure ingredients by pinches and dashes in the comfort of my kitchen. I’m a self-proclaimed grammar Nazi, but I’ll admit e. e. cummings’s irreverence does appeal. I’ll chart my television show schedule on Excel, but I would never dream of confronting my chores with as much organization. I even call myself a labeler, but not when it comes to people. As Walt Whitman might put it, “Do I contradict myself? / Very well, then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.).”

I therefore refrain from the temptation to label—despite it being an act that makes me feel so fulfilled when applied to physical objects—when real people are the subjects. The consequences of premature labeling are too great, the risk of inaccuracy too high because, most of the time, not even the hundreds of alphanumeric digits and symbols available for entry on my P-Touch can effectively describe who an individual really is.

Professional Review by Elite Prep

Amusing yet insightful, perhaps the most outstanding quality of Justine’s personal statement lies in the balance she strikes between anecdotal flourish and honest introspection. By integrating occasional humour and witty commentary into an otherwise lyrical and earnest self-reflection, Justine masterfully conveys an unfettered, sincere wisdom and maturity coveted by prestigious universities.

Justine breaks the ice by recalling a moment in her childhood that captures her fervent passion for labelling. When applying to selective academic institutions, idiosyncrasies and peculiar personal habits, however trivial, are always appreciated as indicators of individuality. Justine veers safely away from the temptation of “playing it safe” by exploring her dedication towards organizing all her possessions, a dedication that has followed her into adolescence.

She also writes from a place of raw honesty and emotion by offering the rationale behind her bizarre passion. Justine's reliance on labelling is underpinned by her yearning for a sense of stability and order in a messy world—an unaffected yearning that readers, to varying degrees, can sympathize with.

She also writes from a place of raw honesty and emotion by offering the rationale behind her bizarre passion. Justine’s reliance on labelling is underpinned by her yearning for a sense of stability and order in a messy world—an unaffected yearning that readers, to varying degrees, can sympathize with. She recognizes, however, it would be imprudent to navigate all facets of life with an unfaltering drive to compartmentalize everything and everyone she encounters.

In doing so, Justine seamlessly transitions to the latter, more pensive half of her personal statement. She extracts several insights by analyzing how, in staunch contrast with her neatly-organized pencil cases, the world is confusing, and rife with contradictions. Within each individual lies yet another world of complexity—as Justine reflects, people can’t be boiled down into “a few words,” and it’s impossible to capture their character, “even with the 26.2 feet of laminated adhesive tape compatible with [her] label maker.”

In concluding, Justine returns back to the premise that started it all, reminding the reader of her take on why compartmentalizing the world would be an ultimately unproductive effort. The most magical part of Justine’s personal statement? It reads easily, flows with imagery, and employs a simple concept—her labelling practices—to introduce a larger, thoughtful conversation.

The best compliment I ever received was from my little brother: “My science teacher’s unbelievably good at telling stories,” he announced. “Nearly as good as you.” I thought about that, how I savor a good story the way some people savor last-minute touchdowns.

I learned in biology that I’m composed of 7 × 10 27 atoms, but that number didn’t mean anything to me until I read Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. One sentence stayed with me for weeks: “Every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to becoming you.” It estimates that each human has about 2 billion atoms of Shakespeare hanging around inside—quite a comfort, as I try to write this essay. I thought about every one of my atoms, wondering where they had been and what miracles they had witnessed.

My physical body is a string of atoms, but what of my inner self, my soul, my essence? I've come to the realization that my life has been a string as well, a string of stories.

My physical body is a string of atoms, but what of my inner self, my soul, my essence? I’ve come to the realization that my life has been a string as well, a string of stories. Every one of us is made of star stuff, forged through fires, and emerging as nicked as the surface of the moon. It frustrated me no end that I couldn’t sit down with all the people I met, interrogating them about their lives, identifying every last story that made them who they are.

I remember how magical it was the first time I read a fiction book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I was duly impressed with Quidditch and the Invisibility Cloak, of course, but I was absolutely spellbound by how much I could learn about Harry. The kippers he had for breakfast, the supplies he bought for Potions—the details everyone skimmed over were remarkable to me. Fiction was a revelation. Here, at last, was a window into another person’s string of stories!

Over the years, I’ve thought long and hard about that immortal question: What superpower would you choose? I considered the usual suspects—invisibility, superhuman strength, flying—but threw them out immediately. My superhero alter ego would be Story Girl. She wouldn’t run marathons, but she could walk for miles and miles in other people’s shoes. She’d know that all it takes for empathy and understanding is the right story.

Imagine my astonishment when I discovered Radiolab on NPR. Here was my imaginary superpower, embodied in real life! I had been struggling with AP Biology, seeing it as a class full of complicated processes and alien vocabulary. That changed radically when I listened, enthralled, as Radiolab traced the effects of dopamine on love and gambling. This was science, sure, but it was science as I’d never heard it before. It contained conflict and emotion and a narrative; it made me anxious to learn more. It wasn’t that I was obtuse for biology; I just hadn’t found the stories in it before.

I’m convinced that you can learn anything in the form of a story. The layperson often writes off concepts—entropy, the Maginot Line, anapestic meter—as too foreign to comprehend. But with the right framing, the world suddenly becomes an open book, enticing and ripe for exploration. I want to become a writer to find those stories, much like Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich from Radiolab, making intimidating subjects become familiar and inviting for everyone. I want to become Story Girl.

By combining her previous interest with her newfound love for biology, Carrie is able to highlight how her past experiences have assisted her in overcoming novel challenges. This portrays her as a resilient and resourceful problem-solver: traits that colleges value heavily in their students.

Carrie begins her essay with a fondly-remembered compliment from her brother, introducing her most passionate endeavor: storytelling. By recalling anecdotes related to her love of stories, she establishes herself as a deeply inquisitive and creative person; someone whose greatest virtue is their unfettered thirst for knowledge. Curiosity is greatly prized by colleges, and Carrie’s inclusion of this particular value encourages admissions officers to keep reading.

Going on to explore the intersections between stories and science, Carrie reveals her past difficulties with AP biology; that is, until she learnt about the amazing stories hidden within the subject. By combining her previous interest with her newfound love for biology, Carrie is able to highlight how her past experiences have assisted her in overcoming novel challenges. This portrays her as a resilient and resourceful problem-solver: traits that colleges value heavily in their students.

Carrie ends her essay with her belief that through stories, everything is possible. She expounds on her future ambitions in regards to storytelling, as well as her desire to make learning both fun and accessible to everyone via the power of stories. By comparing her goals to that of a superhero, Carrie is able to emphasise her enthusiasm for contributing to social change. Most importantly, Carrie’s ambitions show how she can contribute to the Harvard community positively, making her a strong applicant.

As an admission essay specialist , Dan Lichterman has been empowering students to find their voice since 2004. He helps students stand out on paper, eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary may speak. Drawing upon his storytelling background, Dan guides applicants to craft authentic essays that leap off the page. He is available for online writing support within the US and internationally. To learn more and schedule a brief complimentary consultation visit danlichterman.com.

I have a fetish for writing.

I’m not talking about crafting prose or verses, or even sentences out of words. But simply constructing letters and characters from strokes of ink gives me immense satisfaction. It’s not quite calligraphy, as I don’t use calligraphic pens or Chinese writing brushes; I prefer it simple, spontaneous, and subconscious. I often find myself crafting characters in the margins of notebooks with a fifty-cent pencil, or tracing letters out of thin air with anything from chopsticks to fingertips.

"One's handwriting," said the ancient Chinese, "is a painting of one's mind." After all, when I practice my handwriting, I am crafting characters. My character.

The art of handwriting is a relic in the information era. Why write when one can type? Perhaps the Chinese had an answer before the advent of keyboards. “One’s handwriting,” said the ancient Chinese, “is a painting of one’s mind.” After all, when I practice my handwriting, I am crafting characters.

My character.

I particularly enjoy meticulously designing a character, stroke by stroke, and eventually building up, letter by letter, to a quote person­alized in my own voice. Every movement of the pen and every drop­let of ink all lead to something profound, as if the arches of every "m" are doorways to revelations. After all, characters are the build­ing blocks of language, and language is the only vehicle through which knowledge unfolds. Thus, in a way, these letters under my pen are themselves representations of knowledge, and the delicate beauty of every letter proves, visually, the intrinsic beauty of know­ing. I suppose handwriting reminds me of my conviction in this vi­sual manner: through learning answers are found, lives enriched, and societies bettered.

Moreover, perhaps this strange passion in polishing every single character of a word delineates my dedication to learning, testifies my zeal for my conviction, and sketches a crucial stroke of my character.

"We--must--know ... " the mathematician David Hilbert's voice echoes in resolute cursive at the tip of my pen, as he, addressing German scientists in 1930, propounds the goal of modern intellectu­als. My pen firmly nods in agreement with Hilbert, while my mind again fumbles for the path to knowledge.

The versatility of handwriting enthralls me. The Chinese devel­oped many styles -- called hands -- of writing. Fittingly, each hand seems to parallel one of my many academic interests. Characters of the Regular Hand (kai shu), a legible script, serve me well during many long hours when I scratch my head and try to prove a mathematical statement rigorously, as the legibility illuminates my logic on paper. Words of the Running Hand (xing shu), a semi-cursive script, are like the passionate words that I speak before a committee of Model United Nations delegates, propounding a decisive course of action: the words, both spoken and written, are swift and coherent but resolute and emphatic. And strokes of the Cursive Hand (cao shu) resemble those sudden artistic sparks when I deliver a line on stage: free spontaneous, but emphatic syllables travel through the lights like rivers of ink flowing on the page.

Yet the fact that the three distinctive hands cooperate so seamlessly, fusing together the glorious culture of writing, is perhaps a fable of learning, a testament that the many talents of the Renaissance Man could all be worthwhile for enriching human society. Such is my methodology: just like I organize my different hands into a neat personal style with my fetish for writing, I can unify my broad interests with my passion for learning.

“...We -- will -- know!” Hilbert finishes his adage, as I frantically slice an exclamation mark as the final stroke of this painting of my mind.

I must know: for knowing, like well-crafted letters, has an inherent beauty and an intrinsic value. I will know: for my versatile interests in academics will flow like my versatile styles of writing.

I must know and I will know: for my fetish for writing is a fetish for learning.

Professional Review by Dan Lichterman

We learn that he expresses his innermost self through an art that has become a relic within the information age. As we peer into his mind, we learn something essential about Jiafeng's character–that he is irrepressibly drawn to the intricate beauty of pure learning.

Jiafeng’s essay succeeds by using the metaphor of handwriting, and it’s immense physical satisfaction, to showcase the unbounded pleasure of pursuing knowledge. We can visualize spontaneously crafted letters filling his notebooks. We see him trace Chinese characters into air by chopstick and fingertip. We learn that he expresses his innermost self through an art that has become a relic within the information age. As we peer into his mind, we learn something essential about Jiafeng’s character–that he is irrepressibly drawn to the intricate beauty of pure learning.

Jiafeng goes on to reveal that his intellectual pursuit has been shaped by not one but three Chinese styles of handwriting, each reflecting a distinct element of his intellectual growth. We see Jiafeng’s logic when engaged in mathematical proof, rhetorical flair when speaking before Model United Nations, and improvisational spark when delivering lines on stage. He presents these polymath pursuits as united by writing, indicating to readers that his broad interests are all an expression of the same principle of discovery. By the time readers finish Jiafeng’s essay they have no doubts regarding the pleasure he derives from learning–they have experienced him enacting this celebration of thought throughout every line of this well-crafted personal statement.

Crimson Education is the world’s most successful US/UK university admissions consultancy. A member of the NACAC and the IACAC, the company counts US News & World Report and Times Higher Education as its partners. Crimson's students work with expert tutors and mentors to gain admission to the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke — as well as Oxford, Cambridge and other world leading institutions in the UK — at 4x the general applicant rate. Crimson’s unique model of support sees students work one-on-one with Ivy League and other top school graduates on every aspect of their application, from their academics to their extracurriculars, personal statements and supplemental essays. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Jamie Beaton, who at only 26, has completed an undergraduate dual degree at Harvard, an MBA at Stanford, is an Oxford Rhodes Scholar. In February 2022, Jamie will release his first book: “ACCEPTED! Secrets to Gaining Admission To The World's Top Universities.

“Ella, what did you think of Douglass’s view on Christianity?” I gulped. Increasingly powerful palpitations throbbed in my heart as my eyes darted around the classroom – searching for a profound response to Dr. Franklin’s question. I took a deep breath while reaching the most genuine answer I could conjure.

“Professor, I don’t know.”

Dr. Franklin stared at me blankly as he attempted to interpret the thoughts I didn’t voice. My lack of familiarity with the assigned text wasn’t a consideration that crossed his mind because he was familiar with my past contributions to class discussions. I was a fervent critic of the corrupted culture behind Christianity of the Puritans in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and modern evangelicals involved in the puzzling divinity of Donald Trump. He arched his flummoxed brows as he began to open his mouth.

“Professor, what I mean is that I’m not sure whether or not I even have a say on Douglass’s statements on Christianity in his Narrative of the Life.”

In class, I often separated the culture of Christianity from the religion. To tie these immensely disparate concepts as one and coin it as Christianity would present fallacies that contradict with the Christianity I knew. Lack of tolerance and hostility were products of humans’ sinful nature – not the teachings of Christ. People were just using Christianity as an excuse to exalt themselves rather than the holy name of Jesus. These were the “facts.”

My greatest realization came when Douglass declared Christian slave-holders as the worst slave-holders he ever met because of their deceptive feign of piety and use of Christianity to justify the oppression of their slaves. I realized that I couldn’t bring myself to raise the same argument that I used to convince myself that my Christianity of love was the only true Christianity. To Douglass, Christianity was the opposite. I didn’t want to dismiss his story. People use this sacred religion to spread hatred, and to many, this is the only Christianity they know. Their experiences aren’t any bit falser than mine.

Christianity isn’t the only culture that harbors truth that transcends the “facts.” America’s less of a perfect amalgamation of different ethnic cultures and more of a society severed by tribal conflicts rooted in the long established political culture of the nation. Issues such as racism, white privilege, and gender disparity are highly salient topics of current political discussion. However, during a time when people can use online platforms with algorithms that provide content they want to see, we fail to acknowledge the truth in other people’s experiences and express empathy.

My protective nature drives my desire to connect with different people and build understanding. To do so, however, I step outside my Korean American Southern Baptist paradigm because my experiences do not constitute everyone else's.

As a Korean-American in the South, I am no stranger to intolerance. I remember the countless instances of people mocking my parents for their English pronunciation and my brother’s stutter. Because their words were less eloquent, people deemed their thoughts as less valuable as well. I protect my family and translate their words whenever they have a doctor’s appointment or need more ketchup at McDonald’s. My protective nature drives my desire to connect with different people and build understanding. To do so, however, I step outside my Korean American Southern Baptist paradigm because my experiences do not constitute everyone else’s.

Excluded from the Manichaean narrative of this country, I observe the turmoil in our nation through a separate lens - a blessing and a curse. Not only do I find myself awkwardly fixed in a black vs. white America, but I also fail to define my identity sandwiched between Korean and American. In the end, I find myself stuck amongst the conventional labels and binaries that divide America.

“You seem to work harder than most to understand other people’s points of view,” Dr. Franklin said after I shared these thoughts to the class.

“I find this easier because I spent my childhood assuming that my culture was always the exception,” I replied. As an anomaly, accepting different truths is second nature.

Professional Review by Crimson Education

At a time in which the Black Lives Matters movement was sweeping America and racial tension was at a high, Ella was able to offer a powerful and brave perspective: how she feels to be neither Black nor White. The true strength of this essay is its willingness to go where people rarely go in college essays: to race, to politics and to religion.

This is a trait that exists in a powerful independent thinker who could push all kinds of debates forwards - academic ones or otherwise.

Her dedication to her religion is evident - but so is her willingness to question the manipulation of the word ‘Christianty’ for less than genuine purposes. It requires intellectual bravery to ask the hard questions of your own religion as opposed to succumbing to cognitive dissonance. This is a trait that exists in a powerful independent thinker who could push all kinds of debates forwards - academic ones or otherwise.

Her word choice continues to emphasize bravery and strength. “I protect my family” inserts Ella as the shield between her family and the daily racism they experience in the south because of their accents and heritage. Her humorous quirks show the insidious racism. She even needs to shield her family from the humble request for some more Ketchup at McDonalds! Imagine if one is nervous to ask for some more Ketchup and even such a mundane activity becomes difficult through the friction of racial tension and misunderstanding. This is a powerful way to deliver a sobering commentary on the real state of society through Ellen’s lived experiences.

She demonstrates her intellectual prowess in her discussion of somewhat high-brow topics but also grounds herself in the descriptions of her daily acts of kindness.

She connects major societal debates (Trumpism for example) with daily experiences (her translations at the doctor’s office) with a gentle but powerful cadence. She demonstrates her intellectual prowess in her discussion of somewhat high-brow topics but also grounds herself in the descriptions of her daily acts of kindness.

Creatively Ella weaves numerous literary devices in and out of her story without them being overbearing. These include alliteration and the juxtaposition of longer sentences with shorter ones to make a point.

Her final dialogue is subtle but booming. “....my culture was the exception”. The reader is left genuinely sympathetic for her plight, challenges and bravery as she goes about her daily life.

Ella is a bold independent thinker with a clear social conscience and an ability to wade in the ambiguity and challenge of an imperfect world.

College Confidential is your gateway to real, unfiltered guidance about applying to college and exploring majors and careers. CC is powered by our community of real students, parents, and admissions professionals.

"Paint this vase before you leave today," my teacher directed as she placed foreign brushes and paints in my hands. I looked at her blankly. Where were the charts of colors and books of techniques? Why was her smile so decidedly encouraging? The sudden expectations made no sense.

She smiled. "Don't worry, just paint."

In a daze, I assembled my supplies the way the older students did. I was scared. I knew everything but nothing. And even in those first blissful moments of experimentation, it hurt to realize that my painting was all wrong. The gleam of light. The distorted reflection. A thousand details taunted me with their refusal to melt into the glass. The vase was lifeless at best.

As the draining hours of work wore on, I began wearing reckless holes in my mixing plate. It was my fourth hour here. Why had I not received even a single piece of guidance?

At the peak of my frustration, she finally reentered the studio, yawning with excruciating casualness. I felt myself snap.

"I barely know how to hold a brush," I muttered almost aggressively, "how could I possibly have the technique to paint this?"

She looked at me with a shocked innocence that only heightened the feeling of abandonment. "What do you mean you don't have the technique?"

It was as though she failed to realize I was a complete beginner.

And then suddenly she broke into a pitch of urgent obviousness: "What are you doing! Don't you see those details?? There's orange from the wall and light brown from the floor. There's even dark green from that paint box over there. You have to look at the whole picture," she stole a glance at my face of bewilderment, and, sighing, grabbed my paint,stained hand. "Listen, it's not in here," she implored, shaking my captive limb. "It's here." The intensity with which she looked into my eyes was overwhelming.

I returned the gaze emptily. Never had I been so confused…

But over the years I did begin to see. The shades of red and blue in gray concrete, the tints of Phthalo in summer skies, and winter’s Currelean. It was beautiful and illogical. Black was darker with green and red, and white was never white.

I began to study animals. The proportions and fan brush techniques were certainly difficult, but they were the simple part. It was the strategic tints of light and bold color that created life. I would spend hours discovering the exact blue that would make a fish seem on the verge of tears and hours more shaping a deer’s ears to speak of serenity instead of danger.

As I run faster into the heart of art and my love for politics and law, I will learn to see the faces behind each page of cold policy text, the amazing innovation sketched in the tattered Constitution, and the progressiveness living in oak-paneled courts.

In return for probing into previously ignored details, my canvas and paints opened the world. I began to appreciate the pink kiss of ever-evolving sunsets and the even suppression of melancholy. When my father came home from a business trip, it was no longer a matter of simple happiness, but of fatigue and gladness' underlying shades. The personalities who had once seemed so annoyingly arrogant now turned soft with their complexities of doubt and inspiration. Each mundane scene is as deep and varied as the paint needed to capture it.

One day, I will learn to paint people. As I run faster into the heart of art and my love for politics and law, I will learn to see the faces behind each page of cold policy text, the amazing innovation sketched in the tattered Constitution, and the progressiveness living in oak-paneled courts.

It won’t be too far. I know that in a few years I will see a thousand more colors than I do today. Yet the most beautiful part about art is that there is no end. No matter how deep I penetrate its shimmering realms, the enigmatic caverns of wonder will stay.

Professional Review by College Confidential

My favorite college essays begin with one moment in time and end by tying that moment into a larger truth about the world. In this essay, Elizabeth uses this structure masterfully.

This essay is a great example of a create essay. It's real strength, however, lies in showing how the writer pursues her goal despite frustration and grapples with universal questions.

The essay opens with dialogue, placing the reader right in the middle of the action. She shares only the details that make the scene vivid, like the holes in her mixing plate and her teacher’s yawn. She skips backstory and explanations that can bore readers and bog down a short essay. The reader is left feeling as though we are sitting beside her, staring at an empty vase and a set of paints, with no idea how to begin.

The SPARC method of essay writing says that the best college essays show how a student can do one (or more) of these five things: Seize an opportunity, Pursue goals despite obstacles, Ask important questions, take smart Risks, or Create with limited resources. This essay is a great example of a “create” essay. It’s real strength, however, lies in showing how the writer pursues her goal despite frustration and grapples with universal questions.

As the essay transitions from the personal to the universal, her experience painting the vase becomes a metaphor for how she sees the world. Not only has painting helped her appreciate the subtle shades of color in the sunset, it has opened her up to understand that nothing in life is black and white. This parallel works especially well as a way to draw the connection between Elizabeth’s interest in political science and art.

Written by Joy Bullen, Senior Editor at College Confidential

At KEY we take a long-term, strategic approach centered on each individual student’s best interests. Working with our college-bound students beginning in Grade 8, we guide them in establishing a strong foundation of academics to build their unique profiles of co-curricular and extracurricular activities, academic direction, and professional skills. We aspire to give each of our students the best opportunity to thrive within their current education environment and beyond. For a free consultation about our services and more, please visit our website .

When I failed math in my sophomore year of high school, a bitter dispute engulfed my household -- “Nicolas Yan vs. Mathematics.” I was the plaintiff, appearing pro se, while my father represented the defendant (inanimate as it was). My brother and sister constituted a rather understaffed jury, and my mother presided over the case as judge.

In a frightening departure from racial stereotype, I charged Mathematics with the capital offences of being “too difficult” and “irrelevant to my aspirations," citing my recent shortcomings in the subject as evi. dence. My father entered a not guilty plea on the defendant's behalf, for he had always harbored hopes that I would follow in his entrepreneurial footsteps -- and who ever heard of a businessman who wasn't an accomplished mathematician? He argued that because I had fallen sick before my examination and had been unable to sit one of the papers, it would be a travesty of justice to blame my "Ungraded” mark on his client. The judge nodded sagely.

With heartrending pathos, I recalled how I had studied A-Level Mathematics with calculus a year before the rest of my cohort, bravely grappling with such perverse concepts as the poisson distribution to no avail. I decried the subject's lack of real-life utility and lamented my inability to reconcile further effort with any plausible success; so that to persist with Mathematics would be a Sisyphean endeavor. Since I had no interest in becoming the entrepreneur that my father envisioned, I petitioned the court for academic refuge in the humanities. The members of the jury exchanged sympathetic glances and put their heads together to deliberate.

Over the next year, however, new evidence that threw the court's initial verdict into question surfaced. Languishing on death row, Mathematics exercised its right to appeal, and so our quasi-court reconvened in the living room.

In hushed tones, they weighed the particulars of the case. Then, my sister announced their unanimous decision with magisterial gravity: "Nicolas shouldn't have to do math if he doesn't want to!" I was ecstatic; my father distraught. With a bang of her metaphorical gavel, the judge sentenced the defendant to "Death by Omission"-- and so I chose my subjects for 11th Grade sans Mathematics. To my father's disappointment, a future in business for me now seemed implausible.

Over the next year, however, new evidence that threw the court's initial verdict into question surfaced. Languishing on death row, Mathematics exercised its right to appeal, and so our quasi-court reconvened in the living room.

My father reiterated his client's innocence, maintaining that Mathematics was neither "irrelevant" nor "too difficult." He proudly recounted how just two months earlier, when my friends had convinced me to join them in creating a business case competition for high school students (clerical note: the loftily-titled New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition), I stood in front of the Board of a company and successfully pitched them to sponsor us-- was this not evidence that l could succeed in business? I think I saw a tear roll down his cheek as he implored me to give Mathematics another chance.

I considered the truth of his words. While writing a real-world business case for NZSSCC, l had been struck by how mathematical processes actually made sense when deployed in a practical context, and how numbers could tell a story just as vividly as words can. By reviewing business models and comparing financial projections to actual returns, one can read a company's story and identify areas of potential growth; whether the company then took advantage of these opportunities determined its success. It wasn't that my role in organizing NZSSCC had magically taught me to embrace all things mathematical or commercial -- I was still the same person -- but I recognized that no intellectual constraints prevented me from succeeding in Mathematics; I needed only the courage to seize an opportunity for personal growth.

I stood up and addressed my family: “I’ll do it.” Then, without waiting for the court’s final verdict, I crossed the room to embrace my father: and the rest, as they (seldom) say, was Mathematics.

Professional Review by KEY Education

For some, math concepts such as limits, logarithms, and derivatives can bring about feelings of apprehension or intimidation. So, Nicolas’s college essay reflecting on his personal conflict coming to terms with Mathematics offers a relatable, down-to-earth look at how he eventually came to realize and appreciate the importance of this once-dreaded subject. Not only does Nicolas’s statement use a unique, engaging approach to hook the reader in, but also he draws various connections from Mathematics to his relationship with his family, to his maturation process, and to his extracurricular involvement. A number of factors helped Nicolas’s statement add color to his application file, giving further insight into the person he is.

Nicolas’s choice of Mathematics as the focusing lens is effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is genuine and approachable. It is not about some grandiose idea, event, or achievement. Rather, it is about a topic to which many students—and people for that matter—can relate. And from this central theme, Nicolas draws insightful linkages to various aspects of his life. At the outset of his essay, Mathematics is presented as the antagonist, or as Nicolas skillfully portrays, the “defendant”. However, by the end of his piece, and as a demonstration of his growth, Nicolas has come to a resolution with the former defendant.

Adding to the various connections, Nicolas presents his case, literally, in an engaging manner in the form of a court scene, with Nicolas as the plaintiff charging the defendant, Mathematics, with being too difficult and irrelevant to his life.

Through Nicolas’s conflict over Mathematics, we gain a deeper understanding of his relationship with his father and the tension that exists in Nicolas fulfilling his father’s wishes of following in his entrepreneurial footsteps. His father’s initial attempts at reasoning with him are rebuffed, however Nicolas later acknowledges that he “considered the truth of his words” and eventually embraces his father, signifying their coming to a resolution with their shared understanding of each other. Furthermore, Nicolas connects his evolved understanding of Mathematics to his important organizational role in creating the business-focused New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition, acknowledging how “mathematical processes actually made sense when deployed in a practical context, and how numbers could tell a story just as vividly as words can.” As he states, “I needed only the courage to seize an opportunity for personal growth,” which he ultimately realizes.

Adding to the various connections, Nicolas presents his case, literally, in an engaging manner in the form of a court scene, with Nicolas as the plaintiff charging the defendant, Mathematics, with being too difficult and irrelevant to his life. Bearing in mind word count limitations, what would have been interesting to explore would be deeper insights into each of the connections that Nicolas drew and how he applied these various lessons to other parts of his life.

Nicolas employs a number of characteristics essential for a successful essay: a theme that allows for deeper introspection, an engaging hook or approach, and a number of linkages between his theme and various aspects of his life, providing insight into who he is and how he thinks.

HS2 Academy is a premier college counseling company that has helped thousands of students gain admission into Ivy League-level universities across the world. With a counseling team of passionate educators with over 100 years of combined experience, we pride ourselves in helping high schoolers achieve their college dreams. Since results matter most, entrust your future to the leader in college admissions with a consistent track record of success.

Successful Harvard Essay by Abigail Mack

Abigail gained national attention after reading her application essay on TikTok earlier this year, with over 19.9 million views on the first video. Her essay helped her to recieve a rare likely letter in the most competitive Harvard application cycle in history with a less than 4 percent acceptance rate, and now she uses her platform to help other college hopefuls navigate the application process. Watch her read the beginning of her essay here and check out her other writing tips on her TikTok .

I hate the letter S. Of the 164,777 words with S, I only grapple with one.

I hate the letter “S”. Of the 164,777 words with “S”, I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use 0.0006% of the time sounds statistically absurd, but that one case changed 100% of my life. I used to have two parents, but now I have one, and the “S” in “parents” isn’t going anywhere.

“S” follows me. I can’t get through a day without being reminded that while my friends went out to dinner with their parents, I ate with my parent. As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word “parent” telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn’t listen to edit suggestions. I won’t claim that my situation is as unique as 1 in 164,777, but it is still an exception to the rule - an outlier. The world isn’t meant for this special case.

The world wouldn’t abandon “S” because of me, so I tried to abandon “S”. I could get away from “S” if I stayed busy; you can’t have dinner with your “parent” (thanks again, Grammarly) if you’re too busy to have family dinner. Any spare time that I had, I filled. I became known as the “busy kid”- the one that everyone always asks, “How do you have time?” Morning meetings, classes, after school meetings, volleyball practice, dance class, rehearsal in Boston, homework, sleep, repeat. Though my specific schedule has changed over time, the busyness has not. I couldn’t fill the loss that “S” left in my life, but I could at least make sure I didn’t have to think about it. There were so many things in my life that I couldn’t control, so I controlled what I could- my schedule. I never succumbed to the stress of potentially over-committing. I thrived. It became a challenge to juggle it all, but I’d soon find a rhythm. But rhythm wasn’t what I wanted. Rhythm may not have an “S”, but “S” sure liked to come by when I was idle. So, I added another ball, and another, and another. Soon I noticed that the same “color” balls kept falling into my hands- theater, academics, politics. I began to want to come into contact with these more and more, so I further narrowed the scope of my color wheel and increased the shades of my primary colors.

Life became easier to juggle, but for the first time, I didn’t add another ball. I found my rhythm, and I embraced it. I stopped running away from a single “S” and began chasing a double “S”- passion. Passion has given me purpose. I was shackled to “S” as I tried to escape the confines of the traditional familial structure. No matter how far I ran, “S” stayed behind me because I kept looking back. I’ve finally learned to move forward instead of away, and it is liberating. “S” got me moving, but it hasn’t kept me going.

I wish I could end here, triumphant and basking in my new inspiration, but life is more convoluted. Motivation is a double edged sword; it keeps me facing forward, but it also keeps me from having to look back. I want to claim that I showed courage in being able to turn from “S”, but I cannot. Motivation is what keeps “S” at bay. I am not perfectly healed, but I am perfect at navigating the best way to heal me. I don’t seek out sadness, so “S” must stay on the sidelines, and until I am completely ready, motivation is more than enough for me.

Professional Review by HS2 Academy

There's an honesty here as she reveals to the reader her attempts at filling this void in her life by constantly keeping busy. It's further satisfying to see these attempts at committing to various activities evolve into what she terms a double

Abigail’s essay navigates one of the most delicate sorts of topics in college applications: dealing with personal or family tragedy. Perhaps the most common pitfall is to take a tragic event and effuse it with too much pathos and sense of loss that the narrative fails to reveal much about the author’s own personality other than the loss itself. In short, a “sob story.” However, Abigail’s essay adeptly skirts this by utilizing wit and a framing device using the letter “S” to share a profoundly personal journey in a manner that is engaging and thought-provoking.

Rather than focus purely on the loss of one of her parents to cancer, Abigail reflects on her life and the adjustments she has had to make. It is particularly poignant how she expresses the sense that her life with only one remaining parent seems somehow anomalous, that the constant reminders of the completeness in the familial structures of others haunts her.

What also makes this essay all the more intriguing is how we get a glimpse into her internal life as she learns to cope with the loss. There’s an honesty here as she reveals to the reader her attempts at filling this void in her life by constantly keeping busy. It’s further satisfying to see these attempts at committing to various activities evolve into what she terms a “double S,” or “passion,” as she discovers things that she has become passionate about. Perhaps this essay could have been strengthened further by giving the reader a sense of what those passions might be, as we’re left to speculate based on the activities she had mentioned.

Lastly, we see a sense of realism and maturity in Abigail's closing reflection. It’s easy to end an essay like this with a sense of narrative perfection, but she wisely concedes that “life is more convoluted.” This poignant revelation gives us a window into her continuing struggles, but we are nonetheless left impressed by her growth and candor in this essay.

collegeMission is an undergraduate admissions consulting firm focused solely on helping applicants craft their best admissions essays to gain acceptance at top academic institutions. collegeMission's elite admissions consultants have assisted thousands of applicants in successfully pursuing their educational dreams. As accomplished writers and graduates of prestigious universities, our consultants are uniquely qualified to guide you through brainstorming, outlining, and writing your college essays so that the admissions committees take notice. To learn more or schedule a free brainstorming session, visit www.collegemission.com or email [email protected].

I learned the definition of cancer at the age of fourteen. I was taking my chapter 7 biology test when I came upon the last question, “What is cancer?”, to which I answered: “The abnormal, unrestricted growth of cells.” After handing in the test, I moved on to chapter 8, oblivious then to how earth-shattering such a disease could be.

I learned the meaning of cancer two years later. A girl named Kiersten came into my family by way of my oldest brother who had fallen in love with her. I distinctly recall her hair catching the sea breeze as she walked with us along the Jersey shore, a blonde wave in my surrounding family's sea of brunette. Physically, she may have been different, but she redefined what family meant to me. She attended my concerts, went to my award ceremonies, and helped me study for tests. Whenever I needed support, she was there. Little did I know that our roles would be reversed, forever changing my outlook on life.

Kiersten was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 22. Tears and hair fell alike after each of her 20 rounds of chemotherapy as we feared the worst. It was an unbearable tragedy watching someone so vivacious skirt the line between life and death. Her cancer was later classified as refractory, or resistant to treatment. Frustration and despair flooded my mind as I heard this news. And so I prayed. In what universe did this dynamic make any sense? I prayed to God and to even her cancer itself to just leave her alone. Eventually, Kiersten was able to leave the hospital to stay for six weeks at my home.

But the beauty that resulted from sympathizing as opposed to analyzing and putting aside my own worries and troubles for someone else was an enormous epiphany for me. My problems dissipated into thin air the moment I came home and dropped my books and bags to talk with Kiersten. The more I talked, laughed, smiled, and shared memories with her, the more I began to realize all that she taught me.

My family and I transformed the house into an antimicrobial sanctuary, protecting Kiersten from any outside illness. I watched TV with her, baked cookies for her, and observed her persistence as she regained strength and achieved remission. We beat biology, time, and death, all at the same time, with cookies, TV, and friendship. Yet I was so concerned with helping Kiersten that I had not realized how she helped me during her battle with cancer.

I had been so used to solving my problems intellectually that when it came time to emotionally support someone, I was afraid. I could define cancer, but what do I say to someone with it? There were days where I did not think I could be optimistic in the face of such adversity. But the beauty that resulted from sympathizing as opposed to analyzing and putting aside my own worries and troubles for someone else was an enormous epiphany for me. My problems dissipated into thin air the moment I came home and dropped my books and bags to talk with Kiersten. The more I talked, laughed, smiled, and shared memories with her, the more I began to realize all that she taught me. She influenced me in the fact that she demonstrated the power of loyalty, companionship, and optimism in the face of desperate, life-threatening situations. She showed me the importance of loving to live and living to love. Most of all, she gave me the insight necessary to fully help others not just with intellect and preparation, but with solidarity and compassion. In this way, I became able to help myself and others with not only my brain, but with my heart. And that, in the words of Robert Frost, “has made all the difference.”

Professional Review by collegeMission

Nikolas is candid, writing about how he could solve problems intellectually, but struggled to cope emotionally during Kiersten's diagnosis and treatment. Ultimately, he finds his way and gains a deeper perspective on life, and thus shares a story of overcoming and of complex intellectual and emotional growth.

Nikolas uses an unexpected approach in this essay, sharing a story of someone else’s struggle, as he highlights change within himself. The emotions and connection that he felt for Kiersten, his older brother’s girlfriend, are quite powerful, as is his recognition of his own attempt to navigate his way through the experience. Nikolas is candid, writing about how he could solve problems intellectually, but struggled to cope emotionally during Kiersten’s diagnosis and treatment. Ultimately, he finds his way and gains a deeper perspective on life, and thus shares a story of overcoming and of complex intellectual and emotional growth.

Nikolas’ use of imagery is terrific. We first see it in the essay when he describes one of his first impressions of Kiersten, with her blonde hair flowing in the wind by the Jersey Shore and how that contrasted with the dark hair of his family. That description then flows as we read the next paragraph, where he talks about the impact of her cancer. “Tears and hair fell alike after each of her 20 rounds of chemotherapy as we feared the worst.” Instead of explicitly sharing everyone’s heartbreak, through details that heartbreak becomes so very evident.

One missing piece here is an explanation of why Kiersten stayed with Nikolas’ family rather than returning home to her own family. Maybe a quick explanation would have helped the reader make sense of her location, and create an even stronger linkage with Nikolas and his family. Additionally, Nikolas might have taken one more step toward the end of the essay to connect this newfound emotion to other parts of his life. The final paragraph feels slightly repetitive, and a compelling route could have been to show how he went on to embrace the idea of “loving to live and living to love.” Nonetheless, Nikolas reveals that he is capable of growing through adversity, a character trait that this admissions committee clearly appreciated.

• Resume and Essays

In This Section

• Degree Program Prerequisites
• Application Fee
• Letters of Recommendation
• Academic Transcripts
• Standardized Test Scores
• Reapplying to HKS

All of our master’s degree programs require that you submit your résumé and at least four essays, which vary by program.

A résumé is required of all applicants. This document should highlight the following information: employment, including titles and dates (months and years) for each position, job responsibilities, reason for any gaps in employment history; academic degrees, achievements, and honors; volunteer, public service, and political work; recent leadership experiences; extracurricular activities (months and years) and interests.   

MASTER IN PUBLIC POLICY

The Harvard Kennedy School motto, echoing the President for whom the School is named, is “Ask what you can do.” Please share with the Admissions Committee your plans to create positive change through your public leadership and service. (500 word limit)  

The MPP curriculum is designed to broaden students’ perspective and sharpen skills necessary for a successful career in public service through a rigorous set of courses that draw on the social sciences but are adapted for action. Please describe how the MPP curriculum at HKS would leverage your distinctive abilities and/or fill gaps in your skill set as you equip yourself to achieve your career goals. (500 word limit) 

Personal History Essay  

Harvard Kennedy School believes that academic excellence and personal growth rely on engaging with varied perspectives, embracing our unique differences, and relishing healthy debate. Please share how you would contribute to the vibrant and diverse learning environment that is HKS. (250 word limit) 

adversity Essay 

Describe a time when you faced adversity or a significant challenge to achieving your goals, and how navigating through this shaped your educational or career trajectory. (250 word limit) 

Perspectives Essay 

Describe a time when interactions with others and/or an experience caused you to change your mind or expanded your point of view. (250 word limit)  

Optional Statement 

If you have any concerns about your prior academic, professional, or personal background that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee, please provide an explanation. (250 word limit) 

MASTER IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

International development essay.

Discuss your decision to choose international development as your professional career. Also, explain how developing your analytic skills relates to your career in development. (750 word limit) 

Leadership Experience Essay

Describe an event or experience in which you exercised a significant decision-making, management, or leadership role. (750 word limit) 

Public Policy Essay

Describe a public policy or public management problem related to international development and analyze a range of solutions. (750 word limit) 

Personal History Essay

Harvard Kennedy School believes that academic excellence and personal growth rely on engaging with varied perspectives, embracing our unique differences, and relishing healthy debate. Please share how you would contribute to the vibrant and diverse learning environment that is HKS. (250 word limit)

MASTER IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Two-year mpa essay.

There are many pathways one can pursue in order to make a difference in the world. Why is the MPA Program at HKS an appropriate pathway to achieving your goals? (500 word limit) 

MID-CAREER MASTER IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Career goals essay.

Submit a statement that discusses your career goals, as well as the factors that led you to select the Mid-Career MPA program as a means of furthering your personal and professional goals. Be as specific as possible in describing how your expected course of study will enable you to build on your prior professional experience and achieve those goals. (500 word limit)  

Professional Contribution Essay

The Harvard Kennedy School motto, echoing the President for whom the School is named, is “Ask what you can do.” Please share with the Admissions Committee how you have created positive change thus far in your most substantial professional leadership and/or public service role. (500 word limit)   

JOINT DEGREE AND CONCURRENT DEGREE

An essay response in addition to the program essay prompts is required for those submitting a separate admission application to a joint or combined partner program. If an applicant is applying to both a joint degree program partner school (HBS or HLS) and a combined degree partner school, the text of the essay prompt is the same. 

Applicants should note that only MPP and MPA/ID applicants are eligible to apply to the HBS and HLS joint programs. 

If an applicant is applying to varied joint/concurrent professional programs (e.g. law and business) the prompt will only be displayed once and it is up to the applicant to determine how best to respond. For those applying to different programs, for example law and business, it is wise to address both types of programs, but it would not be necessary to address each individual school.  

Joint or concurrent degree program essay  

Harvard Kennedy School’s mission is to improve public policy and leadership across the United States and around the world, so people can lead safer, freer, and more prosperous lives. How will a joint/concurrent degree enhance your pursuit of this mission? (400 word limit)

clock This article was published more than  6 years ago

JFK: Take a look at a surprising report card and his application to Harvard

Just as the 50th anniversary in 2013 of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy prompted a wave of coverage about his life, so, too, will the marking on Monday, which is Memorial Day, of what would have been his 100th birthday.

As I published in 2013, here are some interesting documents related to Kennedy’s education that reveal some surprising things about him. They come from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum,  which digitized records relating to his educational experience.

Here’s his Harvard University application — in his own handwriting — as well as his grades from the Choate School and a letter from his father, Joseph Kennedy, to the Harvard admissions dean explaining that JFK was “brilliant” but “careless” and “lacks ambition” for things that didn’t interest him.

JFK went to these schools: through fourth grade, the Edward Devotion School, Noble and Greenough Lower School and the Dexter School in Massachusetts; Riverdale Country Day School in New York from fifth through seventh grades; the Canterbury School in Connecticut for eighth grade; the Choate School in Connecticut for high school. He attended Princeton University for no more than two months in 1935, and later enrolled at and graduated from Harvard.

Take a look at his grades and his university application. You may be surprised.

PHOTOS: JFK, the man behind Camelot – A selection of the best images from his life

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Footnote leads to exploration of start of for-profit prisons in N.Y.

Should NATO step up role in Russia-Ukraine war?

It’s on Facebook, and it’s complicated

Congressman John Fitzgerald Kennedy (circa 1946-47) in his Congressional Office.

Courtesy of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

A portrait of JFK, in full

Brett Milano

Harvard Correspondent

New biography aims to chronicle a complex life amid a pivotal time for a nation

One of the revelations about John F. Kennedy in Fredrik Logevall’s new biography, “JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917‒1956,” is that the man was an excellent letter-writer and diarist. The Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and professor of history makes effective use of the collection at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, part of which has become available only recently.

“He always had a knack for the English language, even if he was an indifferent student in prep school and in his first years at Harvard,” Logevall says. “His teachers, frustrated by his lack of application overall, were always impressed by his way with words. It is an interesting contrast with his older brother, Joe Jr., the family’s supposed golden child, whose writings had a more dutiful, less imaginative quality.”

The first of a two-volume set, “JFK” aims to give the clearest picture yet available of the 35th president set against the historical, political, and cultural context of a pivotal age. The book begins with great-grandfather Patrick Kennedy’s arrival in Boston during the Irish potato famine and runs through Jack’s childhood, studies at Harvard, and military duty, and finally his rise in politics in 1956, when he almost became the Democrats’ vice presidential pick. Logevall spoke with the Gazette recently about the man and the book.

Fredrik Logevall

GAZETTE: There have certainly been many books written about JFK. What were you able to find that hadn’t been found before?

LOGEVALL: You’re quite right. There are a lot of excellent books out there on various aspects of his life and career, and especially the presidency — one thinks, for example, about the many studies of the Cuban missile crisis, Civil Rights, the Bay of Pigs disaster, the marriage with Jackie, and the assassination in Dallas. But we don’t have many true biographies, even one that is a full-scale examination of the entire life and that looks closely at his early life, in particular his teens and 20s, which I believe were key years for him (as they are for most of us). Mine is a “life and times” biography that places Kennedy in his own context, that of a rising American power in world affairs. I guess the conceit of the book is that I can tell two stories together: the story of John F. Kennedy’s rise and the story of America’s rise. I believe we can better understand the first half of the so-called American Century through the lens of Kennedy’s life.

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (from left), Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and John F. Kennedy in Southampton, England, July 2, 1938.

Courtesy of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

GAZETTE: What did you find that people have missed about JFK in the past?

LOGEVALL: One thing that people have underplayed is the degree to which he was a serious student of democracy and world affairs at an earlier point than we imagine. We tend to think of him as a callow playboy, not serious about public policy or his career until quite late, until he runs for Congress in 1946, and maybe not even then. But you can look at the papers he wrote as an undergraduate at Harvard, some of which are available, and you can look at his senior thesis which became a best-selling book [“Why England Slept”] and see a young man already thinking deeply and in sustained fashion about important issues. A second finding is that the young Jack Kennedy was in important respects his own master. Though his father was a towering force in his life and those of his eight siblings, Jack proved willing and able, to a degree I did not expect, to chart his own course. The Harvard years are interesting in this regard: In 1939‒40, as World War II began and debate raged in the U.S. about how to respond, Jack showed himself willing in a way his older brother, Joe Jr., never was to separate himself from his father. Long before Pearl Harbor, Jack had become an interventionist while his father adhered throughout to a staunch isolationist position. Later, during his political campaigns, Jack always kept the key decision-making role for himself, notwithstanding the common misconception that his father called the shots. [gz_soundcloud title=”John F. Kennedy recording for public speaking class at Harvard, 1937″ track_id=”321147626″ playlists=”” height=”350″ show_artwork=”false”] [/gz_soundcloud]

GAZETTE:   Another family relationship we learn more about is with his brother Bobby, and how this became increasingly important.

LOGEVALL:  Yes, the age difference between the two brothers was such — 8½ years — that in the early years, when Jack was at prep school and then at Harvard, they weren’t particularly close. But what we see especially in 1951, when they traveled together along with their sister Patricia on an extended tour of the Middle East and Asia, is that they developed a strong bond. Bobby admired his brother to no end, and Jack could now see Bobby’s intelligence and loyalty and good cheer. Then in 1952 Bobby, all of 26 at the time, came aboard to take charge of Jack’s floundering Senate campaign against Henry Cabot Lodge and helped to turn the thing around. Jack could now see just how important Bobby could be to his career, could see the powerful combination of doggedness, shrewdness, and ruthlessness that his brother possessed.

The Kennedy family at Hyannisport, Mass., 1931. Robert (from left), John, Eunice, Jean (on lap of) Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (behind) Patricia, Kathleen, Joseph, Rosemary.

Photo by Richard Sears, courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

GAZETTE: He was quite a complex character. He did have his playboy side, but some of his war actions can be called heroic.

LOGEVALL:  Yeah, I think that is right. There is a seriousness of purpose which you see in his letters home from the South Pacific, and more dramatically in the actions he took to help save his crew after his boat, the PT-109, was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Was there heroism there? I believe so, even if he deserves no accolades for allowing his boat to be rammed. The efforts he made in the succeeding days to try to save his crew were really quite extraordinary. We might note here as well that he came back from the war, as many of the servicemen did, with a seriousness of purpose evinced to some degree before but deepened as a result of seeing combat. He was convinced that the U.S. would need to play a leading role in world affairs, even as he also had a skepticism about the use of the military’s power that he would carry with him for the rest of his days.

GAZETTE: His coming out against Joseph McCarthy seems to be a bit of a political turning point.

LOGEVALL: Well, he never fully came out in stark opposition, which was a problem. The relationship with McCarthy was complicated, partly because of family ties. He never felt the kind of personal connection to McCarthy that Joe Sr. felt and that Bobby felt. And there were a lot of aspects of McCarthy’s political persona that he found off-putting — the disdain for senatorial good manners, the disregard for facts, for reasoning from evidence. That said, liberals at the time had good reason to be frustrated by JFK’s reluctance to really condemn McCarthy. Even in 1954, when McCarthy’s influence was in decline and the Senate held a censure vote, JFK, recovering in the hospital following a serious surgery, did not instruct his aide Ted Sorensen to register his position on the vote. He could have done so, but he didn’t, and that caused a lot of grief for him with liberals later on. He preferred to sidestep the issue, aware that there were an awful lot of Irish Catholic voters in Massachusetts who still backed McCarthy. He didn’t want to get on their bad side.

A page in Kennedy’s diary from fall 1951. The first part reads: “Oct. 3 — Paris — I talked with General Eisenhower Biddle and MacArthur at SHAEF Headquarters. Eisenhower looking very fit — seemed disturbed at news of last few days.” Lt. Kennedy on board PT 109, July 1943.

Photo by Joel Benjamin (left), courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

GAZETTE: The book deals a lot with the influence of World War II on his character development. Do you think he took a lot from other aspects of American life at the time, including popular culture?

LOGEVALL: To a degree, certainly. When he returned from the war and was figuring out what he wanted to do, he had a fascinating stint as a journalist. He showed good reporting instincts and could have made it a career. In this period he also liked to pal around in Hollywood, where his father had been a movie mogul in the 1920s and still had connections. Jack dated actresses like Gene Tierney and liked to be on the set, liked to go to movies. Popular music I think interested him less, and until Jackie came along he evinced little interest in art. He did like poetry, and he memorized a lot of it starting already in prep school at Choate. But the Hollywood connection is interesting to me, and probably plays some role in his later skill at using images and film to advance his political career. He was among the first politicians to see that images matter, that the right use of film can make a powerful difference. Television was a huge emerging thing as his career builds, and he had that savvy understanding of the medium and how he could use it to his advantage, kind of like FDR used radio so effectively.

GAZETTE: Many of the reviews I’ve read have focused on his womanizing, which we already knew about. Do you think that’s ultimately that important a part of his character?

LOGEVALL:  Yes, the womanizing is an important part of who he is. His father led by example, carrying on with innumerable women in the 1920s and 1930s, and the older kids knew very well what was going on. Joe Sr. made clear he expected his sons to follow his ways. But I can’t have it both ways: If I’m going to argue that JFK was able to resist his father’s pressure and be his own man when it came to politics and career choices, I have to maintain that he could have broken with him on this issue too. Here he was his father’s son, with a tendency to see women as objects to be conquered. But there are paradoxes here, among them the fact that his administration took important progressive steps, establishing, for example, the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, with Eleanor Roosevelt as chair. In 1962, at the urging of the commission, Kennedy ordered federal agencies to cease sex discrimination in hiring.

Sen. John Kennedy and his then-fiancée Jacqueline Bouvier in Hyannis Port, Mass.

Photo courtesy of Harvard Fine Arts Library, Digital Images & Slides Collection

GAZETTE: In the second volume you’ll have to unravel the mystery around the assassination. Do you have a sense of how you will approach that?

LOGEVALL: There is certainly a fascination, and it shows few signs of fading. It is a vexing issue to any biographer of JFK, and it has spawned a whole cottage industry of its own. I haven’t yet written Volume 2 so I haven’t fully decided how I will proceed on this. But certainly I will talk about Lee Harvey Oswald’s background, about what led him to take this action, and will give the reader a full sense of how it all culminated in this terrible moment. And I think I will owe the reader my assessment of what I believe happened. So I will provide it. I don’t think I will get heavily into the deliberations of the Warren Commission or the various conspiracy theories that have sprouted up over the years. That’s another book, not to mention a potential morass.

GAZETTE: What do you think happened?

LOGEVALL: My reading of the evidence we have indicates pretty clearly to me that Oswald was the lone gunman. Claims to the contrary all come up short. Oswald’s associations and meetings in the weeks leading up to the assassination are worthy of investigation, however, and have been examined in recent studies. I will delve into that material and be interested to see what I find.

Interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.

Share this article

More like this.

JFK speaks from his Harvard past

A room fit for a president

Thoughts on JFK at 100

You might like.

Historian traces 19th-century murder case that brought together historical figures, helped shape American thinking on race, violence, incarceration

National security analysts outline stakes ahead of July summit

‘Spermworld’ documentary examines motivations of prospective parents, volunteer donors who connect through private group page 

Epic science inside a cubic millimeter of brain

Researchers publish largest-ever dataset of neural connections

Finding right mix on campus speech policies

Legal, political scholars discuss balancing personal safety, constitutional rights, academic freedom amid roiling protests, cultural shifts

Good genes are nice, but joy is better

Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier

Final thesis: Harvard copy

About folder.

• Utility Menu

JFK's Harvard | Harvard's JFK

Just as Harvard shaped “Jack” Kennedy during his time as a student, John Fitzgerald Kennedy influenced Harvard during his political career, first as US senator, then as President of the United States.

This year, a century after the birth of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the nation will reflect on the life and legacy of the man who became the 35th President of the United States. The objects in this exhibition, drawn from the collections of the Harvard University Archives, are presented as evidence of the important relationship between Kennedy and Harvard University. Kennedy, as a young politician, was in some ways shaped by his experience at Harvard before World War II; in turn, the policies he pursued as President would have an influence on Harvard as well.

JFK’s Harvard | Harvard’s JFK is a collaborative effort of the Harvard University Archives, Harvard Library Preservation Services, Harvard Library Communications, and Harvard Public Affairs & Communications.

harvard_library_horizontal_small_signature_rgb.png