college essays about relationships

Essays About Relationships: Top 5 Examples Plus 8 Prompts

With rich essays about relationships plus prompts, this writing guide could help you contemplate relationships, including your own.

Healthy relationships come with the rewards of intimacy, love, and the support we need. Learning to preserve healthy relationships and throw out harmful ones is a critical skill to lead a successful life. That is exactly why Warren Buffet , one of the most successful investors, said the most important decision you will make is your choice of a significant partner. 

There are several types of relationships your essay could focus on in your next piece of writing. Take a leap and tackle intimate individual-level relationships or community or even global-level relationships. You might also be interested in our list of books to read after a breakup .

5 Essay Examples

1. relationship weight gain is real — and can be a sign of happiness by angela haupt, 2. what does it mean to be ‘ready’ for a relationship by julie beck, 3. why adult children cut ties with their parents by sharon martin, 4. a relationship under extreme duress: u.s.-china relations at a crossroads by michael d. swaine, 5. how to build strong business relationships — remotely by jeanne m. brett and tyree mitchell, 1. strengthening communication in relationships, 2. helping children build healthy friendships, 3. how social media affects our relationships , 4. establishing relationships with influencers, 5. importance of police-community relationships, 6. dealing with challenging work relationships, 7. promoting cross-cultural relationships among schools, 8. why do long-term relationships fail.

“…[A]mong those who had been married for more than four years, happy couples were twice as likely to put on weight than couples who reported not being as content with their relationship.”

Gaining pounds when you’re in a relationship is real. This essay backs it up with research and even seeks to answer who puts on the most pounds in the relationship. For those hoping to transform their lifestyle, the essay offers practical tips couples can do together to lose pounds while protecting the relationship and preserving the joy that brought them together. You might also be interested in these essays about divorce .

“Readiness, then, is not a result of achieving certain life milestones, or perfect mental health. And checking off items on a checklist doesn’t guarantee a relationship when the checklist is complete.”

People have a variety of reasons for not being ready to commit to a relationship. They may be more committed to developing their careers or simply enjoy the solitude of singlehood. But this essay debunks the concept of readiness for building relationships. Through interviews, one finds that relationships can happen when you least expect them. You might also be interested in these essays about reflection .

“Parent-child relationships, in particular, are expected to be unwavering and unconditional. But this isn’t always the case—some adults cut ties with or distance themselves from their parents or other family members.”

No matter how painful it is, some adults decide to cut off family members to heal from a toxic or abusive childhood relationship or protect themselves if the abuse or toxicity continues. In exploring the primary causes of estrangement, the well-researched essay shows that estrangement may run deep with years of conflict and many attempts to recover the relationship, rather than merely being the whim of selfish adults.

“…Beijing and Washington are transitioning from a sometimes contentious yet mutually beneficial relationship to an increasingly antagonistic, mutually destructive set of interactions.”

The essay charts the 40-year relationship between China and the US and points out how both parties have mutually benefited from the bilateral relations. This starkly contrasts Washington’s accusation that the relationship has been a zero-sum game, one of the numerous oft-heard allegations in the Washington community. But with the looming increase in tension, competition, and potentially a devastating Cold War between the two, parties must work to find a middle ground.

“Although many managers have adapted to virtual meetings to replace face-to-face ones as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, developing new business relationships online presents a particular set of challenges.”

Authors interview 82 managers pre-pandemic and reconnect with some during the health crisis to find out how they have been building relationships with business partners through virtual meetings. Most admit the challenge of establishing trust and assessing partners’ competency, especially when billion-dollar deals are at stake. The authors offer four key pieces of advice to overcome these difficulties. You might find our guide on how to write a vow helpful.

8 Writing Prompts On Essays About Relationships

We all know that communication is what strengthens relationships. But this is easier said than done when both sides want to talk and not listen. For this prompt, discuss the importance of open communication in relationships. Then, offer tips on how to improve communication in relationships and deal with communication gaps. One scenario you can look into is discussing problems in a relationship without getting into a heated debate.

In this essay, you can help parents become effective coaches for their children to make and keep friends. Warn them against being too authoritative in directing their children and instead allow the kids to be part of the ongoing conversation. Give your readers tips on how to build friendships such as promoting kindness, sharing, and understanding from a young age. You may also enjoy these essays about friendships .

When writing this essay, list the positive and negative effects of social media on relationships. A positive outcome of having social media is 24/7 access to our loved ones. One negative effect includes decreased time for more meaningful physical bonding. So, provide tips on how people in relationships can start putting down their mobile phones and talk heart-to-heart again. 

Influencer marketing has become one of the most popular and effective ways to spread your brand message on social media. First, explore why consumers trust influencers as credible product or service review sources. Then, try to answer some of the burning questions your readers may have, such as whether influencer marketing works for big and small businesses and how to choose the perfect influencer to endorse your brand.

In a working police-community relationship, police officials and community members work together to fight crime through information-sharing and other measures. Discuss this interesting topic for an exciting essay.

First, look into the level of working relationship between the police and your community through existing enforcement programs. Then, with the data gathered, analyze how they cooperate to improve your community. You can also build on the United States Department of Justice’s recommendations to lay down the best practices for strengthening police-community relationships. 

Amid competition, a workplace must still be conducive to cooperative relationships among employees to work on shared goals. Create an essay that enumerates the negative effects of work relationships on employee productivity and an office’s overall performance. Then cite tips on what managers and employees can do to maintain a professional and diplomatic atmosphere in the workplace. You can include points from the University of Queensland recommendations, including maintaining respect.

Students in a foreign country tend to feel distant from school life and society. Schools have a critical role in helping them feel at home and safe enough to share their ideas confidently. Set out the other benefits school environments can reap from fostering robust cross-cultural relationships and cite best practices. One example of a best practice is the buddy system, where international students are linked to local students, who could help expand their networks in the facility and even show them around the area to reveal its attributes.

When couples make it through the seven-year itch or the average time relationships last, everything down the road is said to be more manageable. However, some couples break up even after decades of being together. Explore the primary causes behind the failure of long-term relationships and consider the first signs that couples are growing distant from each other.

Look into today’s social sentiments and determine whether long-term relationships are declining. If they are, contemplate whether this should be a cause for concern or merely an acceptable change in culture. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers and our essay writing tips .

610 Relationship Essay Topics and Examples

🏆 best relationship titles and essay examples, 👍 good relationship topics, 🎓 simple & easy titles about relationships, 🥇 most interesting relationship research titles, 👍 argumentative essay topics about relationships, ✍️ relationship essay topics for college, ❓ research questions about relationships.

Relationships essays are essential for many different fields of study, especially the social sciences. Whether the topic is that of friendship, mothers, fathers, siblings, distant relatives, or life partners, there is a vast wealth of information titles you can explore.

You can discuss the formation of various bonds between people, its expressions, and how relationships endure or fall apart over time.

Separation, both physical and spiritual, and its effects on existing bonds can be particularly pertinent topics in our age, where people feel that long-distance relationships have become easier due to the emergence of the Internet.

Similarly, you can observe the changes in family relationships that have emerged now that there is much more mobility, and relatives can live far apart. By combining these ideas with excellent writing guidelines, you will write a powerful essay.

The variety and complexity of human bonds is among the most fascinating relationship essay topics. A person will meet and get to know hundreds of people throughout his or her lifetime, and each such meeting establishes a relationship.

People can be friends, enemies, or in a variety of states in between, such as rivalry. These relationships allow them to work together well in case of friendlier attitudes but can impede their productivity if the people are hostile to each other.

This topic may be of interest to business managers and researchers who are interested in why cooperation succeeds or fails. However, keep in mind that the topic is still being studied, and no conclusive statements can be made.

The compatibility of various personalities is a source of many interesting relationship essay ideas. Psychology is a rapidly developing science, and its interpersonal component is of interest to a wide variety of people and organizations.

Considering how many different productive relationships can arise from interactions that are not necessarily friendly, the task of the researchers is large-scale and complex.

Some relationships can be vastly different despite involving similar pairs or groups of people, and it is the task of psychology to determine whether small differences in personality caused the changed outcome or it was a matter of chance.

The current research offers many interesting examples and explanations that you can use to make an impact.

Here are some additional tips for your writing process:

• Consider the influence of prolonged and forced close conditions, such as cohabitation, workplace interactions, or family relations on how people’s attitudes towards each other develop and dedicate some relationship essay titles to them.
• Some relationships are easier to establish than others, with distant relatives and friends of friends being examples. You may want to discuss how catalysts may influence the interactions between relative strangers.
• Discuss the persistence of relationships when various issues, such as separation, surface. Provide statistics on concepts such as the success of long-distance relationships.
• Conversely, you can try to discuss the role of emerging communication technologies on relationship formation and continuation. On the Internet, people can sometimes become friends without knowing each other’s name. Furthermore, many long-distance couples rely on web messaging and video chat features to stay close.
• Romantic relationships deserve special attention due to their prominence in contemporary research and public awareness. Services such as Tinder make finding a partner much easier than before, but pairs formed in this fashion may not last as long as traditional ones.

Check the IvyPanda website to find a diverse selection of relationship essay examples and other useful paper samples!

• Exploring Relationship in Raymond Carver’s “Why Don’t You Dance?” In the story, the author juxtaposes the young couple with the man to highlight the solitary existence of the latter. In contrast to the man, the boy and the girl feel as the people around […]
• Factors Affecting Employee Relationships They explained that government policies needed to check the excessive imbalance of power between employers and employees in the labor market.
• The Relationship Between Eliezer and His Father Essay Their experience at the concentration camp changes the relationship between son and father, and the despicable treatment by the Nazis helps Eliezer and his father develop a strong connection.
• Humans’ Relationship and A Good Society Thus for a society to be a good one, the people living in it should relate well and solve differences with maturity and diplomacy. A good society is one that makes it comfortable for people […]
• The Relationship of Attention and Perception Essay Once the brain gathers information from the surrounding environment, attention allows one to select on what they want to focus on from the brain.
• Hamlet’s Relationship with His Mother (Gertrude) – Attitude Towards Her The conversation between Hamlet and his mother brings back Gertrude to her senses where she feels guilty and ashamed of her actions.
• Ethics and Morality Relationship Ethics is a term used to refer to the body of doctrines that guide individuals to behave in a way that is ideologically right, fine, and appropriate.
• Relationship Between Language and Culture Essay The purpose of the essay is to clearly highlight the issue of intercultural communication with reference to language. Language is the first element that helps an individual to distinguish the cultural orientations of individuals.
• Philosophy and Relationship between Freedom and Responsibility Essay As a human being, it is hard to make a decision because of the uncertainty of the outcome, but it is definitely essential for human being to understand clearly the concept and connection between freedom […]
• Social Media and Interpersonal Relationships This has made some of the relations blossom It can be concluded that social media has both positive and negative effects on relationships.
• Relationships Between Dorian Gray, Lord Henry, and Basil Hallward The relationships between Dorian Gray, Lord Henry, and Basil Hallward are all different yet interesting to analyze. The Picture of Dorian Gray explores topics of male friendship and feelings.
• George Orwell’s 1984: Winston and Julia’s Relationship Essay In the relationship, Julia teaches Winston the idea of love, and the love feeling is then manipulated and directed towards Big Brother.
• Stanley and Blanche Relationship in A Streetcar Named Desire The “impurity” of Blanche’s past suggests the final of the play and it is a quite logical completion of the story.
• Relationships Between Gods and Mortals in Greco-Roman Mythology The popularity of the theme of love affairs between the gods and the mortals can be explained with the peculiarities of the concept of divinity in Greeks and Romans.
• McDonald’s Customer Relationship Management Evaluation Essay If the relationship between the customers and the company is short-term and capricious, the chances of timely and honest communication are low.
• Relationships. To My Beloved Spouse on How to Love In order to be fair to each other, and not leave us guessing about where we stand or how we expect each other to act within the confines of our marriage, I thought it best […]
• Relationship Between Fact and Theory Considering the philosophical direction of this paper and the need to discuss the importance of facts regarding theories and vice versa, it could be difficult to find out which domination is possible and reasonable.
• Phonology and Morphology Relationship Essay This study shows that morphemes as trends of phonemes may not be a valid point of view because of the role of the phoneme in language.
• What Is the Relationship between Language and Humanity? Biopolitics is crucial in the discussion of the relationship between humans and animals because it highlights the power of nature. In the same vein, man and animals have been differentiated by language, one of the […]
• Interpersonal Relationships The level of interdependence among partners in interpersonal relationships allows for the influx of opinions, thoughts and feelings but the success and longevity of interpersonal relationships basically thrives on communication as a basic component, determining […]
• The Puritans and the American Natives Relationship An important aspect that contributed to the religious conflict between the Puritans and the Natives was the means through which religious beliefs were shared.
• Clay Spheres: The Mass and the Diameter Relationship In this experiment, the aim was to derive a relationship between the mass and the diameter of clay spheres to obtain the density.
• Relationship Between Ethics and Religion Essay While a believer will pose that the two function as a couple, a non-believer, on the other hand will hold that morality is independent of religion.
• Does Age Matter in Relationships? However, it is important to note that this may be a source of conflict in a relationship. Another benefit associated with an age gap in relationships is maturity that the older partner is likely to […]
• BMW’s CRM This paper concentrates on the number of issues like conceptual framework of CRM, the adoption of CRM framework, CRM in the automobile industry, methodological framework, customer database, the effectiveness of CRM strategy on this company, […]
• Philosophy and Religion Relationships The most basic concept that is addressed by both religion and philosophy is the existence of good and evil. Education and the upbringing of a child are one of the key effectors on the forces […]
• Relationships’ Types and Differences Common types of relationships include family relationships, intimate relationships, professional relationships, and friendships. Each of these relationships is expressed in a different stage of development.
• Power and Knowledge Relationship: Michel Foucault View On the other hand, he was of the opinion that knowledge is an aspect of power and that power is able to produce knowledge as opposed to acting as a deterrent to it.
• Dance and Mathematics Relationship Choreographers, in teaching dance techniques, can use knowledge of mathematics, the knowledge is also used to arrange dancers on the stage and control their movements.
• Arthur Miller: Relationships in the “Death of a Salesman” It is a satirical play that highlights the life of Willy Loman, the main character, a traveling salesman who has worked for Wagner Company for thirty-four years and ends up a failure because it is […]
• Zora Neale Hurston & Langston Hughes: The Dispute That Ruined Their Relationship First, Hughes claims that he developed the plot of this play, did some characterizations and dialogues, whereas Hurston was supposed to recreate the atmosphere of Southern life as the action of Mule Bone took place […]
• Father-Son Relationship in The Odyssey by Homer In Odyssey therefore, it is expected that the relationship of Odysseus and Telemachus is as admiring as it is; the father is proud of his son, who is courageous and the son is proud of […]
• Ethical Theories and Nepotism Relationships Relating to the ethical theory of ethics of justice to nepotism, it should be mentioned that justice is considered to be fair on the basis of various human considerations.
• Discussion on Business-Government Relationship With the ever-changing dynamics of the business world, the government has assumed a senior role in protecting businesses and influencing the economy in an array of ways.
• Power and Culture: Relationship and Effects The relational determination in a particular society is a product of the role and function of power in a designated society.
• Father-Son Relationships in Hamlet – Hamlet’s Opinion In the case of Hamlet, he surrenders his own life and future to the will of his father, albeit following significant hesitation, not to mention the passage of an entire play.
• Human-Environment Relationships and Interaction The abundance of natural resources and the presence of different physical features might help not only to follow the trends of the global population but also to predict its movement and distribution of it. Interaction […]
• The Relationship between Politics and Economics Today, political economy can be used to refer to some sections of a country’s economy that are influenced by politics and law or just the country’s whole economy being in relation to politics and law.
• The Relationship Between Kafka and His Father The father was a burden to him and though at times he was to be good to the son, his deep feelings of hatred towards his father would not be shaken by any good gesture […]
• What Is the Relationship Between Mind and Body? As noted by the author, Socrates depicted the human body as the part or an instrument of the soul, admitting at the same time that the corporal health depended directly on the wellness of the […]
• Money, Happiness and Relationship Between Them The research conducted in the different countries during which people were asked how satisfied they were with their lives clearly indicated the existence of a non-linear relationship between the amount of money and the size […]
• What Is the Relationship Between Capitalism and Democracy? The importance of the roles played by the stock market in the capitalistic economy is related considerably to the aspects of democracy and free market.
• Heartland And Hinterland Relationship Concept in Canada The Net Migration Pattern The pattern of migration in relation to the hinterland and heartland was dictated by the socioeconomic opportunities at the place of destination and the flow of migrants was from the hinterlands […]
• Tourism – Environment Relationships Relationship between tourism and the environment There is a great dependency of tourism on the environment as described by Holden and Fennel’s book The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Environment.
• The Exchange Relationship: Description and Factors It can thus be argued that the said necessity drives people towards the unpleasant goods while the inevitability of necessity drives the maker of the good to have them in his/her stores because he/she is […]
• Relationships in “A Mercy” by Toni Morrison The women portrayed in the story are Rebekka, the wife of the farm owner Jacob Vaark, Florens, a black slave sold to the farmer, Lina, the Indigenous servant, and Sorrow, the woman with an unknown […]
• My Belief About Family Relationships I have chosen to discuss my belief about family relationships instead and how my father and family play an important role in shaping that belief. That is my belief in life and I know that […]
• Effects of Internet Addiction on Family Relationships Among Teenagers In the modern society, cyber bullying refers to the instances where the individual uses the internet to interfere with the rights and freedoms of others.
• Social Changes in Human Relationships and Interactions To achieve this goal, the paper will include the following sections: population social change, how the change is taking place, the engines driving the change, data demonstrating that this change is taking place and will […]
• Relationship Between Buyer and Supplier It involves a client and a contractor whereby the client needs the contractor’s services in terms of expertise, manpower, and machineries required to create a product or infrastructure necessary for the development of the business.
• Characters’ Relationship in ”The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson While Tessie is a free-spirited woman, the Old Man is superstitious and full of fears of the unknown. However, Tessie; driven by her free spirit, gathers the courage to question the results of the lottery […]
• Mother-Daughter Relationships in “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of “Two Kinds”, and to discuss the causes of differences between mothers and daughters and the moment of the conflict resolution.
• Theatre and Society Symbiotic Relationship Out of all the forms of art, theatre is the closest to society.”Theatre is the most social of the arts. Theatre is the most social form of art and the closest to society.
• Relationship Between Crime Rates and Poverty This shows that the strength of the relationship between the crime index and people living below the line of poverty is.427.
• Factors That Shape the Relationship Between the Buyer and the Suppliers The purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors that appear to shape the business-relationship between the supplier and the buyer.
• Thomas Hobbes’ and Classical Realism Relationship Neo-realism on the other hand is the modern realism practiced in most of the nations today. One of the greatest contributions that Hobbes made in realism was the definition of power.
• Jim Peterson: Why Don’t We Listen Better? Communicating & Connecting in Relationships? This is a bit assuring; it helps in assuring the readers that they too will learn how to listen from this.
• The Issue of “Man’s Relationship with the Divine” in Greek Mythology As the reader explores the idea of divinity throughout most of the Greek mythologies and epics, it becomes clear that there is a strong connection between the people of Greece and their gods thus making […]
• Effects of Body-Worn Cameras on the Relationships Between the Police and Citizens The reasons for carrying out this research are to learn the impact of BWCs on the relationships between the police and ordinary citizens and to clarify if some improvements can be offered at the moment.
• Survey to Study the Relationship Between Fast Food Consumption and Obesity The survey aims to analyze if there is any connection between consumption of fast food and obesity. The study aims to ascertain the relationship between fast food consumption and obesity.
• The Glass Menagerie: How Laura’s Relationship With Jim Changed the Tone of the Play Jim is Tom’s friend and was in the same school as Laura, he is engaged and when he tells this to Laura on their first meeting after school, she is heartbroken because she loved him.
• Historical Relationship of the Choctaws, Pawnees, and Navajos and How It Is Changing the Environment To begin with, the hunting practices of this native group, as well as the invasion of the European into their land, led to a great decline in the herds of the white-tailed deer in the […]
• Entity Relationship Diagrams for IT Projects The weakness is that the system caused a months delay in reimbursement of the expenses and this caused a financial loss for the sales personnel.
• An Analysis of Apple and Samsung’s Symbiotic Relationship Representatives from Samsung and Apple will be the first one to admit that both companies needed each other to survive.
• Parent-Child Relationships in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker The more distant and fractious relationship is between the narrator and Dee. The narrator is referred to as “Mama,” and a mama she is.
• The relationship between form and content The relationship between form and content has been affected by the advent of the Internet and the growth of Web publishing platforms.
• Interpersonal Relationship Theories The attraction theory states that people form relationships based on five principles of attraction: similarity, proximity, reinforcement, physical attractiveness and personality, socioeconomic and educational status, and reciprocity of liking. It is based on the economic […]
• Father-Son Relationships: Generation Gap The hierarchical relationship structure between father and son normally exists where directions and directives are given from a vertical order, that is, the father is all-knowing and gives all the directives, the son is supposed […]
• Friendship as a Personal Relationship Friends should be people who are sources of happiness to one another and will not forsake each other even when everybody around is against them.
• Marriage Relationships in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Hemingway Harry and his wife, Helen, are stranded in Mount Kilimanjaro and their interactions reveal that their rocky relationship is a result of a mixture of frustration, incorrect decisions, getting married for wrong reasons, and unreciprocated […]
• Marital Satisfaction Inventory for Relationship Therapy The Marital Satisfaction Inventory or the MSI is a data collection method in the form of a questionnaire. The MSI questionnaire is often used to diagnose the crisis of the marital subsystem at any stage […]
• People and World Relationships For me, the most exciting thing to think of is the relationship between people and the world in which they live.
• Love and Relationships in “The Notebook” Movie The paper explores the motion picture The Notebook because it is one of the vivid examples of a romantic story that demonstrates how love helps people to overcome challenges in life.
• Environmental Crisis: People’s Relationship With Nature It is apparent that people have strived to steer off the blame for the environmental crisis that the world is facing, but they are the primary instigators of the problem.
• Shinto and Its Relationship With China and Buddhism As such, those who identify with the two religions have continued to engage in practices of the Buddhist and Shinto faiths either knowingly or unknowingly.
• William Shakespeare: Father-Daughter Relationship in “The Tempest” One of the main conditions according to which a daughter is going to be protected in the future is the strong assuredness that a daughter is in good and loving hands, protected like under the […]
• Relationships in the “Crazy, Stupid, Love” Movie The process of the revaluation of the timeless values is not instantons and finite. The main theme of that film is the human relationships and the problem of miscommunication in the family.
• Conflict Communication in Family Relationships People in conflict have to be ready to analyze their situations and problems to achieve the goals and come to a certain conclusion.
• Relationship with Cell Phones Cell phones are people’s new relationship because people use them to execute many of their daily activities. They have encouraged multitasking and solitude because people spend a lot of time interacting with information and communication […]
• The Relationship Between Entrepreneurship and Creativity On the entrepreneurial front, creativity should ensure that the profitability of an innovation in both monetary and social terms is tapped.
• Relationship Between Average Cost and Marginal Cost The paper focuses on the relationship between average and marginal costs and importance of an entrepreneur’s knowledge about it.
• Creating a Healthy Loving Relationship Offering support to the other partner at all times and in all endeavors enhances the bonding and creates a path for commitment of either partner in his/her role in the relationship.
• Buyer-Supplier Relationship Management The major principles of cooperation are joint efforts and supported interdependency that can lead to the development of competitive advantages. According to the extended typology of buyer-supplier relationships suggested by Kim and Choi, the collaboration […]
• Long-Distance and Extended Time Effect on Relationships Despite the negative views that many people have regarding long-distance relationships, research shows that there are couples who are in such arrangements and happy with the way they relate to each other. On the other […]
• Customer Relationship Management Besides, lack of proper communication was also one of the reasons that contributed to the poor relationship between the IBM and its customers.
• The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Perceived Stress The last hypothesis is that there is a significant gender difference in the measures of self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and perceived stress.
• Customer Relationship Management of Royal Bank of Canada The data can also be used in creating the profile of each and every customer. The bank anticipates the needs of its customers and discourages mass marketing to huge customer segments.
• Good Parent-Children Relationship Characteristics of the children compared to those of the parents can also influence the relationships between the parents and the children.
• Relationship Between Politics and Leisure in Australia In conclusion, the understanding of the term “leisure time” depends on the individual point of view and attitude of the person rather than on the type or the location of the activity.
• Unethical Behavior in Teacher-Student Relationships The relationship between teacher and student should be one for the welfare of a student. It is also applicable to the students and the first amendment of the US constitution allows all the students to […]
• Tourism’ and Employment’ Relationship in the Present World Tourists’ payments act as a source of wages to employees in the tourism sector. Employees in the tourism sector require training and skill development as the industry requires different levels of skills.
• Gregor’s Relationship With His Father in “The Matamorphosis” This paper seeks to explore the father and son relationships in Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King and offers a comparison for the two.
• Kiko Milano UK Company: Customer Relationships In the United Kingdom, Kiko Milano faced a problem of reductions in the number of customers who buy products online and in stores located in different regions of the country.
• Animation and Live Action’ Relationship in Cinema With the advent of the digital technology, changes in the relationship between live action and animation have become difficult to comprehend.
• Mother-Child Relationship – Psychology In the study, the two researchers established that children explain the nature of the relationship existing between them and their mothers, but girls tend to express concern as opposed to boys.
• The Ideal Relationship This is because the woman is not supposed to be a follower of all the men in the planet. This and other roles should be clear to both of the parties involved in a relationship.
• Sustainable Development’ and Economic Growth’ Relationship The concepts of sustainable development and economic growth are interconnected with the aim of protecting the available wealth of the earth and at the same time creating more opportunities towards satisfaction of human needs.
• My Relationship with Time and Its Effect on Happiness Eventually, I think that it is necessary to use time correctly, to sleep well and to work in the most productive hours.
• Intercultural Relationships Importance However, this study does not mean that a person is born with a predetermined perception on things, only that genes can define the temperament of the person and can later suggest different preferences of beliefs […]
• The Cultural-Individual Dialectic and Social Nature of Intercultural Relationships This specific type of dialectics is based on the idea that communication of persons depends not only on cultural aspects and differences but also on their individual attributes and visions. Thus, the cultural-individual dialectic is […]
• Work Environment and Colleagues Relationships However, the work in the diverse environment can be a challenge and it is a task of the management to ensure that the working atmosphere is bias-free.
• Parental Involvement in Teenage Relationships Parents can monitor their child’s academic progress, engage them in conversations about romance and relationships, and give them career advice and guidance. Parental involvement in their children’s academic and social lives helps parents to understand […]
• Relationship of ’Community Engagement’ to Society Community engagement tries to harmonize the community regardless of the status in the society, and it does this by bringing people to the table – both the community members and the elites.
• Relationship Between Education and Professional Life In general, experimental and empirical learning facilitates the person’s socialization, intellectual and cognitive maturation, so that the student gradually, year by year, develops social competence and the ability to contribute to the maintenance of reformation […]
• Technology and Relationships: Positive and Negative Effects The research proposal provides an analysis of two topics namely ‘the positive effects of using technology to communicate in an organization’ and ‘the negative impacts of using technology for individual and family communication’.
• Economic and Music Industry’ Relationship in South Africa One of the main challenges, faced by the representatives of this industry is the low level of awareness about local composers and performers.
• Culture Influence on Intimacy and Human Relationships These intrigues emerge when understanding the influence of culture on human relationships by understanding the influence of collectivist and individualistic cultures on intimacy.
• The Relationship between Political Stability & Economic Growth The government is very crucial to stability and economic development in a country because it holds the responsibility of developing legislation.
• Analysis of the History of Biological Psychology and Its Relationship With Other Psychology Branches Biological psychology is a branch of psychology that applies the principles of biology to the study of behavior that is, the study of psychology in terms of bodily mechanisms.
• If “Love Is a Fallacy,” Are the “Loves” or Romantic Relationships Portrayed in the Story Logical or Illogical (Fallacious)? The purpose of this paper is to compare “love” as it is portrayed in two stories, “The gifts of Magi” and “Love is a fallacy”.
• Ecomap and Genogram Relationship Family members have been visiting the family regularly to monitor the condition of the child and give them moral and financial support for the child’s medication.
• Wal-Mart: The Challenge of Managing Relationships with Stakeholders Stakeholders to an organization are the individuals who are affected by the decisions and the actions that the organization takes. Stakeholders are very important to the survival of an organization and any organization should look […]
• PepsiCo’s Mission and Vision Relationship Moreover, the relations between the mission and vision statement of the company and the features of the ideal mission and vision statements will be evaluated.
• High Task & High Relationship Leadership Style Discussion of high task-high relationship leadership style The leadership underpinned by high-task-high relationship concerns with the inclusion of both tasks and relationships.
• Exploring the Relationship Between Education and Money A person cannot be able to change his/her ascribed status in the society, but only through education a person is able to change his/her Socio-economic status and to some extent that of his/her family once […]
• Love and Relationship Humans have always asked inexplicable questions about love such as, “Why do we fall in love?” or “What makes us love others?” We may not necessarily have perfect answers for all the questions regarding love […]
• Hamlet’s Parental Relationships The death of his father, the actions of his mother and his existing relationship with his uncle all have Hamlet confused regarding the true nature of the world.
• Customer Relationship: Best Buy, the Body Shop and Walmart The store operates on the Customer-to-Customer platform and Business-to-Business platforms. The most notable CRM strategy adopted by the Best Buy is the contact management since it provides a decision support system to select the best […]
• Relationship Between Body and Consciousness by Jean-Paul Sartre In this regard, he posits that it is only possible to reflect on the nature of the body by first establishing the order of reflection. He therefore claims that the body is in the order […]
• Social Media in Enhancing Social Relationships and Happiness Social media and technology assist to foster and maintain relationships where the people live in different geographical regions. There is a major concern that social media and technology poses a threat to the traditional fabric […]
• The Relationship Between Accounting Information and Stock Price Reaction The study aims to identify the relationship between Accounting Information and Stock Price Reaction in the Saudi Market. The study would also look at the characteristics of all the accounting information of all the companies […]
• Fashion and Architecture: Relationship The paper goes ahead and gives view of the positive aspects and negative aspects of the relationship of the field in view of the current, past and possible future trends. Areas of similarities between architecture […]
• Landlord-Tenant Legal Relationship Finally, the landlord is responsible for the habitability of the accommodation they provide; in other words, the landlord is obliged to assure the property does not inflict damage to the tenant’s possessions or health.
• International Business Relationships Between Australia and China: Impact of Cultural Issues The ability of the Australian managers to build trust among the Chinese staff determines the success or failure of the organisations in China.
• The Relationship Between Physical Therapist and Physical Therapist Assistant Conversely, the training offered to the PTA’s enables them to provide care, support, and physical handling of clients under a management strategy developed by the PT.
• The Relationship Between Religion and Abnormal Psychology But whose judgment will we use to separate the two contrasting elements of the psychology of normal and abnormal behaviors? Some religious beliefs permit the use of alcohol and it’s considered normal, yet others find […]
• Time and Change Relationship Besides, the thinker investigated the issue of freeze end highlighting the discreteness of time.’It is clear that the cause of the change that ends a total freeze cannot be, and cannot be part of, the […]
• Buyer-Supplier Relationships and Their Types These are as follows: Toyota: a federation of businesses dominated by a Toyota; the suppliers are partners, and the main company possesses partial ownership of these companies.
• Adult Nursing: Therapeutic Interpersonal Relationships The concept of interpersonal relationship in health practice is something that continues to influence the quality of services and care available to different individuals.
• Common Conflict Areas in Marital and Couple Relationships Measure of sexual intimacy among spouses maybe a possible cause of frequent conflicts between partners in a serious relationship. Disagreement in issues concerning how many children to have and how to raise them leads to […]
• The Relationship Between Liberty and Necessity – David Hume On the other hand, Hume defines the concept of necessity as the kind of uniformity observed in the unique operations and processes in nature.
• Relationship Between Neoliberalism and Imperialism As the western world, led by the United States, later attained the control of the world long after the Second World War, the idea of putting the state at the centre of the economic functionality […]
• The Relationship Between Audiences and Producers The discussion questions include the opportunities the new media present for audiences to become producers, internet as a “grassroots” medium as opposed to a “top-down” one, and the effect of creative “prosumers” on the diversity […]
• The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Development To this end, the author is going to discuss the relationship between economic development and economic growth Economic Development Overview Economic development is characterised by the initiatives put in place to spearhead improvement of the […]
• Price and Quality Perception Relationship It is evident that the presence of other quality inferences such as product information reduces the extent to which the price influences the quality perceptions of consumers. Advertising is an important inference that consumers utilize […]
• Relationship Between Population and Economic Growth Consequently, Solow argues that the rate of population growth will be equal to the rate of economic growth in steady states.
• Economic Growth and Environment Relation Although the relevance of the EKC and the focus on the stages of development as the important factors to speak about the relationship between the economic growth and environment are highly debatable issues, it is […]
• Dual Relationships in Psychological Counselling In this scenario, the dual relationship is seen when the psychotherapist acts as a protector of life and involves the police.
• The Role of Communication in the Relationships It is very possible to relate to the article and advice given because in the modern world, people often get preoccupied with the fast pace that is required by their work, responsibilities and necessities of […]
• Relationship between Form and Structure in Design They are the materials, climate and even a social structure that can dictate the form of a building. The form and function of a building can influence each other or even go separately.
• Modern Families: Intimate and Personal Relationships Since Queen’s family lived in the United States and my family resided in England, this paper presents an integrated comparison of household aspects in the two countries.
• Relationship Between Parents and Children The book is based on the story of a farmer and his family, who, due to the problematic nature of the head of the family, are forced to change their place of residence: “None of […]
• Culture and Public Administration Relationship in Canada Organizations in Canada can be characterized as ones who base their development on the principles not of the strong hierarchy and centralization, but on the possibilities for the communication and interaction on all the levels […]
• Public Relations and Crisis Management Link The significance of developing a CMP lies in the fact that it aids in the process of collecting the necessary information to deal with the crisis.
• Night by Elie Wiesel: Eliezer’s Changing Relationship With His Father He began to feel the loss and gripped with fear of losing his father, the forthcoming experiences and need for protection; he clings to his father.
• Relationship Between Law and History Code of Hammurabi made the society to be a culture made by people and their achievements through thoughts or physical existence.
• Football in Ghana and Its Relationship With the Rest of the World Due to the formation of the first regulating body of soccer in England, 1866 would prove to be one of the most crucial years in the sport’s history.
• Analysis of Marital Relationship Problems It is important to note the fact that the relationship between spouses is a direct reflection of the trends in the development of society.
• Business Relationship Report In terms of the following report, a potential B2B model of cooperation between the UK and Turkey will be developed with the help of an examination of the stages required to ensure the relationship realization.
• Relationship Between Psychology and Christian Faith Truly, I have realized that sincerity is found in Jesus discipleship and the study of persona, but the varying aspects guiding the honesty are the belief in Christ and analytical thinking.
• Economy and Crime: The Relationship Economic crime is a serious problem for the business world, and it has become more and more aggravating with the development of technologies and with the growing availability of internet access.
• The History of Dating and Romantic Relationships The dating scene has evolved significantly since the emergence of this practice in the early decades of the 20th century. However, the entry of the Internet in the 21st century has changed the way people […]
• Mother-Daughter Relationship: Is It Good of Bad? Therefore, the mother is also the first person who can explain to her daughter the basic purposes and roles that a woman should perform in life.
• Relationship Between Population and the Environment The results revealed after the statistical analysis was performed that there is a negative relationship between the population increase and the emissions of carbon dioxide in the case of developed countries while on the other […]
• Parent-Child Relationship in Early Modern England Moreover, the influence that parents had was significant, and it would not be an easy task for the government to monitor and review all the cases of unfair treatment. The author suggests that parents loved […]
• Psychology of Fathers and Daughters Relationships The focus of their study was to establish whether the quality of relationships between fathers and daughters are related in any way with the activities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the salivary cortisol, and the autonomic […]
• Relationship Between Mothers and Daughters The given article highlights the relationships between the mother and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee. Dee is not proud of her mother because she is not educated and she is bad-mannered.
• Relationship between Leadership and Management Additionally, it is apparent that the only constant in the business world is change, and for this reason, for employees to be sure of coping with such changes, there is need for them to acquire […]
• Effectiveness of Public Relations & Relationship Marketing to the Successful Promotion of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games To conclude, it is evident from the assessment that public relations and relationship marketing are effective to the successful promotion of international events.
• Positive relationships in an education Every single teacher has a role to play in ensuring that the students achieve the best in the process of leaning.
• Participative and Relationship Theories
• Compare the Relationship of Mothers and Daughters in Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea
• What Is the Relationship Between the Social Definition of Deviance and the Media’s Role in the Dissemination of Popular Culture?
• The Natural World, Human Identity, Human Relationships, and Civilization: A Perspective From the Book of Genesis
• Mother vs. Grandmother Relationships Comparison
• Respect and Self-Respect: Impact on Interpersonal Relationships and Personal Identity
• Finches’ Beak Size and Seed Size Relationship
• Bre-X Minerals Company: Management and Company’s Relationship
• Art and Freedom. History and Relationship
• Customer Relationship Management in B2B
• Airpower Tenets and Instruments Relationship
• Why Some Victims Stay in a Sexually Abusive Relationship?
• Starbuck’s Ethical Relationship with Stakeholders
• Relationships and Love: “Hippolytus” by Euripides
• Relationship between Individual and Society
• The Impact of Customer Relationship Management Systems on Businesses
• Thomas More and King Henry VIII, their Relationship
• Old-Young and Parent-Child Relationships in Early Chinese Society
• Managing Interpersonal Relationships in Family
• Attraction and Repulsion as the Drivers of Male-Female Relationships
• Christianity and Globalization – Relationship
• Belongings and Relationship With Past Experiences
• Starbucks Analysis: Identifying Key Transformation or Throughput Processes and Looking at the Relationships Between Them
• Forensic Psychology: Media and Crime Relationship
• Family Types, Relationships and Dynamics
• Business Ethics and Law Relationships in Examples
• Benedict De Spinoza Views on Religion and Politics Relationship
• Motivation, Emotion, and Behavior Relationships
• Fly Emirates: Customer Relationship Management
• Organizational Behavior: Business Relationships Hypotheses
• Relationship between Power and Leadership
• The relationship between employees’ job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in service business
• Pedagogy and Andragogy: Learner-Teacher Relationship
• What is the Relationship between Taste and Ideology?
• Maintaining Individuality in a Relationship
• Love in a Relationship Without Sex
• Public Relations and Relationship Marketing
• The Relationship Between Parental Influence and Juvenile Delinquency
• The Relationship Between Employee and Employer
• The Self-Sabotage Problem in Relationships
• Personal Code of Ethics and Interpersonal Relationships
• Healthy Versus Unhealthy Relationships
• Moral Responsibility: Ethics and Human Relationships
• Developing Relationship With Traditional Curriculum
• Relationships Between American Literature and American Society
• Relationship beetween Religion, Culture and Gender
• Counseling Interview in Family and Relationship Therapy
• Social Exchange Theory and Human Relationships
• Asking for Help in Patient-Therapist Relationships
• Walmart, Amazon and Dunkin’ Donuts Customer Relationship
• Relationship between Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
• The Relationships Between Science and Religion
• Elements of interpersonal relationships
• The Relationship Between Money Supply and Inflation
• Gender Stereotyping and Friendship: Women Relationships
• Collective to Individualism Employment Relationship HR
• Gender Communication in Romantic Relationship
• When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Gets … Polite: Establishing the Relationships With Employees
• Relationship Advice on Conflicts Between Romantic Partners
• Relationship Between Language and Thought
• Break up of a Relationship
• Blackboard and PostersPLUS Companies’ Relationship
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Social CRM
• Negotiation and Relationship Building
• Family Relationship Analysis with Use of Genogram
• Interpersonal Communication and Effective Relationships
• Relationships in Chinese Society
• Challenging Conversations for Relationship Elaboration
• Non-Verbal Cues in Close Relationships
• Inattention in Patient-Nurse Relationships
• Briggs and the Utku: Cultural Tendencies of Relationship
• Home, Work, and Relationships in Modern Families
• Interracial Romantic Relationships
• A Therapeutic Relationship with a Client
• University Students’ Relationships with Parents
• Causal Relationships in the Community
• Practitioner-Patient Relationships and Their Effects
• Social Networks’ Negative Impact on Relationships
• The Trade Relationship between Rising Action Bakery and Power Flour, LLC
• Responsibility in Romantic Relationships
• Men-Women Relationship in Ancient India
• Gender-Based Conflicts in Relationships
• Platonic and Familial Relationships in Emerging Adulthood
• The Settlers and Native American Tribes Relationship
• Learning Relationships with Consumers
• Power in Care Relationships
• Nurse-Patient Relationships and Implementation of Peplau’s Theory
• Apple vs. Nucor, Organizational Perspectives and Relationships
• The Person-Environment Fit and Intention to Leave Relationships
• Professional Relationships and Communication Qualities
• Relationship Between the Community and Law Enforcement
• Child-Parent Relationships in Contemporary International Cinema
• Familiar Human Relationships in the Fantastic Settings
• Negotiating and Managing in Supplier Relationships
• Patients and Care Providers Relationships
• Patient and Provider Relationships
• Fatherhood and Relationships Programs
• Business Relationships Aspects Analysis
• Discussion of Human Relationships
• The Americans and Indigenous People Relationships
• Interpersonal Relationships: Effects of Attachments Styles
• The Themes of Obsession and Relationship in the Stories
• Staging Relationships by Henrik Ibsen
• Emerging Adults With ASD and the Importance of Close Relationships
• The Europeans and Native Americans Relationships
• The US and Apple Relationship in the Field of Cybersecurity
• Reasons for Cohabiting: Gender, Class, and the Remaking of Relationships
• Relationship Satisfaction: Sexual, Emotional Intimacy, and Communication
• Grace in Interpersonal Communication and Intimate Relationships
• Mentoring in Science and Engineering and Interpersonal Relationship Training
• Parenthub as Resource for Parent-Child Relationships Building
• The Relationships Between Parents and Children and Keys to Their Success
• The Love and Marriage Relationship Analysis
• Adolescent Relationship and School Culture
• The Relationship Between Diabetes and COVID-19
• The Ethics and Law Relationship Analysis
• Coach-Player Relationship: Power Distance and Individualism-Collectivism
• Family Relationship: Life-Span Development
• Personal Relationship With Substance Abuse
• Economic Growth and Unemployment Relationship in the USA
• Relationship: Communication Between Family Members
• Economic Status and Severity of Punishment Relationship
• The Relationship Between Sexual Orientation and Suicide
• Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 and a Healthy Lifestyle Relationship
• “Family Relationships in What It Means to Say Phoenix Arizona” by S. Alexie
• The Relationship of Western Cultures to Aboriginal Children
• Obesity and COVID-19 Relationship Analysis
• Life, Technology and Relationships in Year of 2160
• The Relationship Between the Working Memory and Non-Conscious Experiences
• Consciousness: The Link Between Working Memory and Unconscious Experience
• Sociology of the Family: Love and Relationships
• The Relationship Between Single-Parent Households and Poverty
• Beowulf Defeats Grendel: Relationships With Family, Women, and His Own Gender
• Adolescent Romantic Relationships
• Relationship Between Sakuntala and Being a Single Mother in India Today
• Hamlet and Gertrude Relationships in Shakespeare’s Play
• Benefit and Honesty in Human Relationships
• How I Formed My Present Relationship to the Written Word
• Online Dating Platforms, Sex, and Relationships
• Empathy in Parent-Child Relationships
• Parent-Child Relationships in Later Life
• History and Technology Relationship Analysis
• Communication Conflict and Climate in Relationships
• Factors Making a Relationship Successful
• Gross Domestic Product and Quality of Life Relationship
• Personal Relationships in “Why Women Kill” TV Series
• Substance Abuse Impact on Intimate Relationships
• Leadership: Establishing Relationship and Influencing Change
• The Inter-Personal Relationships
• Religious Groups and Corporates Relationship
• Relationship of Hip-Hop With Race and Identity
• Relationship Between Pairs of Concepts
• Heroin Overdose and Socioeconomic Status Relationship
• Analysis of Situations in Relationships With Management
• The Relationship Between Qualitative Analysis and Evidence-Based Practice Research
• Relationship Characteristics in Glee
• Preceptor & Graduate Nursing Student Relationships
• The Relationship Between Epigenetics and the Effects of the Holocaust
• Researching Relationship Between Using Cannabis and Psychosis
• Gender Relationships in “Orange World” Stories by Karen Russell
• Therapeutic Communication and Relationships
• Children Trauma and the Effects on Relationship
• Mobile Devices and Personal Relationships
• The Causal Relationship of the Culture of Individualism
• “Relationships Among the Nurse Work Environment, Self-Nurturance…” by Nemcek
• Building Working and Trusting Relationships Through Negotiations
• The Relationship Between Personality and Infidelity Among Millennials
• Educator-Student Relationships: Friendship or Authority?
• Evaluating the Employer-Employee Relationship
• African Politics: The Impact of State-Society Relationships
• Self-Happiness and Its Impact on Romantic Relationships
• Russia and the United States Relationship in History
• Social Relationships, Assimilation, Substance-Use Disorders Among Adult Latinos
• Effect of Supportive Relationships on School
• Socioeconomic Status and Health Relationship
• Women in Relationships: Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” & Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”
• Negotiation and Emotions in Business Relationship
• Civilization’s ‘Blooming’ and Liberty Relationship
• Political Economy: Relationship Between Poverty, Inequality, and Nationalism
• The Relationship Between Gender Inequality and Women’s Economic Independence
• Language Without Numbers: Relationships Among Ecosystem Services
• Islam Akhun and His Relationship With Aurel Stein in the Silk Road
• Relationship Between the UK and European Union
• Literature: Relationships and Human Behavior
• General Motors and China’s SAIC Motors Relationship
• Attachment Styles and Relationships
• The Relationship Between Polygamy and Self-Esteem in Children in Saudi Arabia
• Flip-Flops Firm’s Customer Relationship Activities
• Promissory Notes and Trust Relationships
• The Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Tenure
• Family Relationship in the Thappad Film
• The Relationship Between Human Development Index and Socio-Economic Variables
• The Relationship Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Asthma Disease in Children
• The Relationship Between Patient’s Waiting Time and Office-Based Practice Satisfaction
• Relationship Between Asthma and the Body Mass Index
• Evidence of a Relationship Between Crime and Economy
• A Relationship Between Environmental Disclosure and Environmental Responsiveness
• American Policing: History, Contributions of Sir Robert Peel, Relationships Between the U.S. Government and Policing
• Factors Effecting Bank – Borrower Relationship in UAE
• The Relationship Between Prayer, Spirituality and Patients’ Health
• The “Slippery Slope” and Its Relationship to Gratuities
• The Relationships Between Marijuana and the Legal System
• Financial and Strategic Planning Relationship
• Relationship Between Ethnocentrism and Intercultural Communication
• The Relationship Between Cancer and Lifestyle
• Euro-Dollar Relationship and Changes in the Euro
• Contract Is the Basis of All Commercial Relationships
• The Renal System and Its Relationship to Metabolism
• Family Relationship, Childhood Delinquency, Criminality
• Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship
• Mobile Addiction and Anxiety: The Relationship Analysis
• The Relationship Between Acoustics and Human Voice
• Inter-Professional Relationships, Culture, and Diversity in Nursing: A Reflection
• Peer Articles Review About Doctor/Patient Relationship
• The Entity Relationship Diagrams
• Marriage and Crime Reduction: Is There a Relationship?
• Illegal Immigrants in Abusive Relationships
• An Entity-Relationship Model: New CQ Asset Management’s
• Relationship Between Nurse and Patient
• Relationship Satisfaction and Psychological Well-Being Among Greek People With Physical Disabilities
• Mental Illness Relationship to Crime
• Pain, Disease and Health Relationship
• Unemployment and Recession: Causes and Relationship
• Osteoporosis and Periodontal Disease Relationship
• Contract for the Physician-Patient Relationship
• Modality of Family Faith and Meanings and Relationships in Family Life
• The Problem of Business Relationships Built on Romantic
• Drug Design and the Qualitative Structure: Activity Relationship
• Contract Law and Legally Binding Relationship
• Folic Acid and Neural Tube Defects Relationship
• Nurse-Patient Relationship: Effective Communication
• Organizational Relationship of Merck & Co.
• The Relationship Between Hypothyroidism and Obesity
• The Social Relationship and the Causes of Violence in Female Gangs
• Patient-Doctor Relationship: Quality Improvement Intervention Plan
• Clubs’ Relationship With Fans and Internet
• Age-Crime Relationships and Motivations
• The Relationship of Drugs and Crime
• Lawyers and Ethics: Attorney-Client Relationship
• The Relationship of Type 2 Diabetes and Depression
• The Relationship Between the Principal and the Agent
• Relationship Among Mental Health, Hypertension and Telomere Length
• Investigation of the Relationship Between Adipose Tissue and Beef Quality
• “Relationships of Problematic Internet Use With Depression”: Study Strengths and Weaknesses
• The Psychology of Interpersonal Relationships
• Has Race Relationship in America Gotten Better or Worse?
• The Relationship Between Memory and Oblivion
• Personality and Marketing Practices Relationship
• The Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Relationship
• EU-USA Relationship Analysis
• Customer Relationship Management and Increasing Sales
• Private Equity: A Private-Public Investing Relationship Pattern
• Jazz and Activism Relationships
• The Influence of Robots and AI on Work Relationships
• Psychology and Enduring Relationships
• Importance of Agency Relationships
• The Positive Patient Relationships
• Central Outreach & Advocacy Center: Staff Relationships Analysis
• Domestic Violence in Women’s Experiences Worldwide
• Romantic Relationship: Main Aspects
• Al Pacino and His Relationship to Social Values
• Personal and Public Relationships in the Hooper’s Movie “The King’s Speech”
• Customer Relationship Management in Abu Dhabi
• The Story of Macbeth by W. Sheakspeare: Relationship and Strengths Between Macbeth and His Wife
• Power, Relationship & Influence
• A Model for Defining Relationships Between Variables
• Canada’s Role in the History of Money: The Relationship Between Ownership and Control
• Relationships in Japanese History and Culture
• Intimate Relationships: Conceptual Distinction Between Liking and Loving
• Interracial Relationships: The Problems and Their Solution
• Relationship Between Unemployment and Crimes
• Cell Phone Use and Our Ability to Build Quality Interpersonal Relationships
• Gendered Communication and Relationships
• Hamlet’s Relationship With His Mother and Uncle
• Relationship Dynamics in Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”
• “Opportunity, Fair Process and Relationship Value”: Analysis of the Article
• McDonald’s and Romantic Relationships
• Comparing and Contrasting Expectations in a Relationship Engagement
• The Relationships of Confucius’ Writings and the Articles in the ILRC List
• Work Climate, Job Attitudes, and Personal Relationships Study
• Relationship Between Language and Content in Poetry
• Dynamics of Intimate Relationships
• Biopsychology: Learning and Memory Relationship
• Stepfamily Genogram and Relationships
• The Relationship Between Political Power and Economic Elites in the UK
• Urban Relationship Between Poverty and Crime
• Risk and Trust – Internet Relationships
• Starbuck’s Services and Relationship Marketing
• The United States-Australia Trade Relationship
• Pornography and Its Impact on People’s Intimate Relationships
• Public School Quality and Its Relationship With Location Within the American Class Structure
• Conflict Resolution Strategies and Relationships
• Culture-Based Humor and Stereotypes: A Comedian’s Relationship With the Audience
• Stakeholder Relationships, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance
• Hospital Stakeholders: Roles, Responsibilities, and the Relationships
• The Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being and Wealth
• Israeli-Palestine Conflict and US-China Relationship
• Relationship Between Men and Women in the Literature
• “Why CRM Doesn’t Work: How to Win By Letting Customers Manage the Relationship” by Frederick Newell
• Politics and Religion Relationships
• The Relationship Between the High Rate of Urbanization in Africa and AIDS Spread
• Man-Woman Relationship in “The Flea” by John Donne
• Exploring the Relationship Between Education Funding and Student Performance
• Small Team and Group Relationships
• Family Relationships in Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Relationship Between Green Buildings and Operations Management
• The Relationship of Various Uniform Policies on Academic Achievement
• The Special Relationship and Future British Foreign Policy
• Simon Fraser University and Its Relationship With First Nations People
• The Importance of Business Relationship
• Command Relationships: Term Definition
• Relationship Between Democracy and Violence in Colombia
• Relationship Between Democracy and the State
• Native Indians and Europeans’ Relationships
• Long-Term Intimate Relationships
• The Relationships Between Male and Female in “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by D. K. Philip
• Relationships Between the Government and the Private Sector
• The Relationship Between Emotion Regulation Suppression and the Academic and Life Stress Levels
• Slaves-Masters Relationship in the United States
• United States-Columbia Aid Relationship
• Bridget Jones’s Diary: Human Relationships
• Unhappy Relationships in Hemingway’s Life and Fiction
• Relationship Between the Brain and the Nervous System
• The Relationships Between Physiotherapists and Educators, Parents, and Service Providers
• Relationship Between Lobbying and Corruption
• Great Depression and the American People’s Relationship With Their Government
• Theory and Practice Relationship in Social Work
• How to Ruin a Good Relationship
• Love and Culture; A Study of Relationships Among the Tamil, Fulbe, Inuit
• Heart of Gold Café: Establishing and Maintaining Business Relationships
• Victims and Witnesses of Violence: The Relationship.
• Traditional Marketing vs. Relationship Marketing
• Relationships Between Women: “Animal Dreams” by Barbara Kingsolver
• Relationship Between Illness and Digust Sensitivity
• The Relationship Between Divergent Thinking and Creative Process
• Interpersonal Relationship in “The Pushing Hands”
• South Africa and US Economic and Political Relationship
• Human Experiential Behavior and Love Relationship
• Mathematics and Business Relationship
• Interracial Relationships in Canada
• Pervasiveness and Attribution Bias in Relationships
• Family Relationship: Lawrence and Joyce
• Medical Anthropology. Doctor-Patient Relationships
• Relationship Marketing: Application to Thermal Spas
• Chinese Relationships With Foreign Business Partners
• Untreated Bipolar Disorder’s Impact on Relationships
• Analysis of Behavior Patterns in Heterosexual Relationships
• Psychological Theories for Human-Nature Relationship
• Family Relationships of an Anorexic Person
• Relationship Between the Supreme Court and the High Court Justice
• Diabetes Self-Management: Relationships & Expectations
• Atrium Health: Customer Relationship Management
• Managerial Accounting Control Orientation and Organizational Outcomes
• Jesus and the Jews: Reflection on the Relationship
• Brand Activism and Green Advertising Relationship
• Aramex Company’s Customer Relationship Management
• Social Customer Relationship Management in the UAE
• Key Aspects of Buyer and Supplier Relationship
• Group Counseling: Change in Relationships
• Legal Issues of Ending a Relationship
• “Data Mining and Customer Relationship Marketing in the Banking Industry“ by Chye & Gerry
• Relationship of Problem Solving to Leadership
• Relationships Between Governments and Organizations
• The Conceptual Relationship Between Memory and Imagination
• Personal Relationships Wellness Philosophy
• Freud and Hamlet’s Relationship with His Mother
• Stepfamily Relationships: The Blended Family Interview
• Empirically Supported Relationships in Counseling
• Sex at Dawn: Modern Relationships
• Race and Social Class Relationship
• Business as a Workplace: Building Relationships
• Abusive Intimate Relationships and Turning Points
• Renewable Energy and Politics Relationships
• The Nature of Intercultural Relationships in the US
• “Prophet” and “Salesforce”: Customer Relationship Management
• Gender Relationship: Food and Culture
• Interpersonal Communication: Relationship Climate and Conflict
• Sociology of Family: Control and Violence in Relationships
• Marketing Relationship and Communications
• Technology and Language Relationships
• Understanding Relationship Between Motivation and Performance
• Capability Education and Its Relationship to Heutagogy
• Exercise and Longevity Relationship
• “Public Policy and Couple Relationships” by Doherty
• Sexual Desire and Love Relationship
• Employment Relationship Management in Australia
• The US-Chinese Economic Relationship and Re-Shoring
• Learning and Behavior: Real Relationship Development
• Trust and Interpersonal Relationships
• Self-Disclosure in Personal Relationships
• Aspects of Labor Relationships in the USA
• Personality Conflicts in Professional Relationships
• Interpersonal Communication for Better Relationships
• Corporate Ethics and Organizational Culture Relationship
• Reader and Text Relationships
• Personality and Infidelity Relationship among Millennials
• Attraction and Relationships Analysis
• Vanda-Laye Corporation: Cost and Revenue Relationships
• Driverless Cars and Monopoly Relationship
• Trust in Employee-Organisation Relationship
• Family Systems and Relationship Development
• Gender Relationships and Behavior
• Epilepsy and Learning Disability Relationship
• Nonverbal Communication and Workplace Relationships
• Human and Business Relationship Challenges
• Nonverbal Communication and Relationships at Workplace
• Relationships and Online Dating
• Information Relationships for Actionable Knowledge
• Supervisory and Its Relationship to Change
• Relationship of Identity, Intimacy and Midlife Well-Being
• Free Relationship and Kant’s Principles
• Race and Education Level Relationships
• Online Relationships Are Real and Positive
• Inequality and Poverty Relationship
• Relationship Between Premarital and Marital Satisfaction
• Trust in Business Ethics and Customer Relationship
• Race Relationships Management: Knowledge Is Power
• Family Relationships Role in the Business
• Olfaction and Autism Spectrum Disorder Relationship
• Organizational Structure and Inner Relationships
• Yelp and Its Relationships With Companies
• Family Relationships in Media and Theories
• Abusive Behaviors in Close Relationships
• Does Sexual Satisfaction Change With Relationship Duration?
• How Does Bruce Lundgren Explores Relationship in His Poetry?
• Can Long Distance Relationships Work?
• Does Age Difference Matter in a Relationship or Marriage?
• How Does Infidelity Affect A Relationship?
• Can Relationship Bring More Provision in Rural Public Goods?
• Does Changing Gender Role Affect Family Relationship?
• How Does One’s Relationship to One’s Past Influence One’s Present?
• Can Romantic Relationship Quality Mediate the Relation Between Psychopathy and Subjective Well-Being?
• How Has Social Media Affected the Relationship Between Celebrities and Fans?
• Does Modern Day Communication via Social Network Put an End to True and Sincere Relationship?
• How Do Intimate Couples Act at Various Stages of a Relationship?
• Can Servant Leaders Fuel the Leadership Fire?
• How Can Nurse Establish Therapeutic Relationship With Patient?
• Does Peer Pressure Have an Influence on College Students Being in a Monogamous Relationship?
• Can Social Media Marketing Improve Customer Relationship Capabilities and Firm Performance?
• How Does Browning Present the Relationship Between Men and Women in His Two Poems?
• Does Relationship Quality Matter in Consumer Ethical Decision Making?
• How Does Attraction Work When We Build Up Our Social Relationship?
• Does Sibling Relationship Matter to Self-Concept and Resilience in Adolescents Under Residential Care?
• How Does Child Trauma Affect a Relationship Attachment?
• Does Subjective Well-Being Show a Relationship Between Parents and Their Children?
• How Does Communication Affect the Relationship Between Customer and Organization?
• Does the Positive Relationship Between Health and Marriage Reflect Protection or Selection?
• How Does Culture Shape the World and Form Relationships?
• Does the Between Person–Organization Relationship Fit and Work Attitudes Differ for Blue-Collar and White-Collar Employees?
• How Did Descartes Explain the Relationship Between Mind and Body?
• Counseling Paper Topics
• Cognitive Development Essay Ideas
• Human Development Research Ideas
• Behaviorism Research Ideas
• Leadership Development Essay Titles
• My Best Friend Titles
• Respect Essay Topics
• Work Environment Research Topics
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IvyPanda . "610 Relationship Essay Topics and Examples." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/relationship-essay-examples/.

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Modern Love

25 Modern Love Essays to Read if You Want to Laugh, Cringe and Cry

The popular column, which began in 2004, has become a podcast, a book and an Amazon Prime streaming series. Here are some of its greatest hits.

By Daniel Jones

Whether you’re new to Modern Love or a longtime fan, we think you’ll enjoy this collection of some of our most memorable essays. You’ll find some of our most read and most shared of all time, and others that really got readers talking (and tweeting, and sharing). We present, in no particular order, the quirky, the profound, the head scratching and the heartbreaking. (A handful of these essays and dozens more of our most memorable columns can also be found in the Modern Love anthology .)

To keep up on all things Modern Love — our weekly essays, podcast episodes and batches of Tiny Love Stories, along with other relationship-based reads from The Times — sign up for Love Letter , a weekly email. And check out the “Modern Love” television series , based on this column, on Amazon Prime Video.

1. No Sound, No Fury, No Marriage

By Laura Pritchett

After her peaceful marriage quietly dissolves, a woman comes to appreciate the vitality of conflict and confrontation.

2. Sometimes, It’s Not You, or the Math

By Sara Eckel

He didn’t care that I was 39 and hadn’t had a serious boyfriend in eight years.

3. Am I Gay or Straight? Maybe This Fun Quiz Will Tell Me

By Katie Heaney

A young woman seeks answers to her sexual orientation online, where the endless quizzes she takes deliver whatever label she wants.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Relationship — Romantic Relationships: Love, Trust, and Communication

Romantic Relationships: Love, Trust, and Communication

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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The foundations of romantic relationships, communication in romantic relationships, technology and the modern landscape of romantic relationships, cultural influences on romantic relationships.

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Essay Samples on Relationship

The enigma of crushes: navigating emotions and relationships.

Introduction Crushes, those ephemeral yet potent feelings of infatuation and attraction, have intrigued and confounded individuals across cultures and generations. From the flush of excitement to the pang of uncertainty, crushes embody a complex emotional landscape that often blurs the boundaries between friendship and romance....

• Relationship

My First Crush: A Journey into Innocent Affection

This essay has captured the essence of my first crush—a chapter that will forever hold a special place in my heart, reminding me of the innocence and wonder that accompanies the exploration of emotions during our formative years. Introduction The memory of my first crush...

About My Crush: A Tale of Feelings and Discovery

This essay has provided a glimpse into the world of having a crush, capturing the essence of the emotions, thoughts, and experiences that define this unique and exhilarating journey of self-discovery and emotional exploration. Introduction Embarking on the journey of having a crush is an...

Navigating the Complex Waters: About Relationship with Boyfriend

Introduction Relationships are multifaceted and can be among the most rewarding and challenging aspects of our lives. This essay will delve into the various dimensions of a romantic relationship with a boyfriend. From the initial stages of attraction and love to the significance of communication,...

Understanding the Impact of Broken Trust in Human Relationships

We all have emotional needs, please consider basic survival needs such as water, air, food, and shelter. Meeting these physical needs means you can live, but you need more to make life meaningful. You can see or touch things like friendship, feelings, security, or appreciation,...

• Communication in Relationships

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Navigating the Path to True Love: the Journey to Finding "The One"

Can you truly know whether you have met “the one”? Sadly, there is not a certain test to answer if they are the one, but you can be optimistic in your relationship if you see such signs that are features of a very unique bond...

• Falling in Love

Love and Social Hierarchy: An Analysis of Half Girlfriend

Perception of Love in Unmarried Couple as Represented in Bhagat’s Novel According to the Oxford Dictionary says LOVE is a strong feeling of affection and sexual attraction for someone. Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being. Love only decides everything...

Understanding Love: Emotions, Behaviors, and Attitudes

Introduction Love is the most giant thing in human life. Each science and each and every single literature masterwork will inform you about it. Humans are additionally social animals. We lived for centuries with this way of life, we have depended on one some other...

• Types of Love

"A Rose For Emily": Emily Grierson Character Analysis

Well, everybody knows Emily. She fell head over heels crazy and she thought that a man would marry her so she poisons him with such suspense. In my opinion, she was crazy because, when her father died, she was very depressed because she was sad...

• A Rose For Emily

Alcohol-Related Deaths Due to Peer Pressure

I am standing here today to fight for our independence and liberty of freedom to decide. I am here to raise an awareness about an issue that is faced by a lot of kids, teenagers and young adults worldwide. Would you do something that you...

• Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure in Teenage Society

Every day, many teens are influenced by way of matters that their friends do or the matters that their pals push them to do. So the sense that it is imperative for them to do it themselves as well. Things such as smoking, having sex,...

The Concept of Perception and Poor Relationship in 12 Angry Men

“12 Angry Men' centres around a jury's thoughts in a capital homicide case. A 12-man jury is sent to start thoughts in the primary degree murder preliminary of an 18-year-elderly person blamed in the wounding demise for his dad, where a liable decision implies a...

• 12 Angry Men

The Role of Comprehensive Test for a Duty of Care

Duty of care refers to the circumstances and relationships that the law recognizes as giving rise to a legal duty to take care. This essay will explain the two ways in which the existence of a duty of care is established under the case of...

Examining Relationships in Indian Horse and Only Drunks

Examining Relationships and Identity in Indian Horse and Only Drunks and Children tell the truth. Saul, Janice and Barb both emphasize the importance of Family and tradition, and show us examples throughout the play and novel. Indian horse and Only Drunks and Children Tell the...

• Indian Horse

The Question Of Whether Age Matters In A Relationship

The issue of age factor in a relationship is a serious one. I believe you might have thought about it either once or twice. I can’t date him, I am older than him. He was born a week after I was born and all of...

The Expectations Of Love At First Sight Set By The Movies

This feeling is not something you can describe in one word. It’s when you can listen to his voice all day no matter the time or the place. You may have bad eye sight, but you can still spot him walking in a whole crowd....

Insight On The Love At First Sight And Its Progression

What is love and how do we know when you are in love? What hormones are produced when you are in love? What happens when you are attracted to someone? What is romance? How do you know when you want to have sex and are...

Social Media Ruins The World And Is Ruining Relationships

Imagine living in a world with no social media ; who would you know, would you be a happier person, how different would the world be? Social media has changed the world in many good ways such as connecting us to everyone all over the...

• Effects of Social Media

Social Media: Effects On Society’s Social Aspects and Ruining Relationships

Social Media has had a great effect on Society. From texting to posting, it has taken a toll on many people in the world today. Social Media has become an important tool for today’s society. It creates the opportunity for people to interact online with...

Treasuring Best Friend: A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

Best Friend refers to a person that honours beyond more friends in your life, someone you enjoy, someone is trustworthy and the person whom you always discuss your secrets or good news. A best friend is constantly there to listen to your situations when you’re...

Being A True Friend: A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

It is a common fact that no human being can exist alone in the world and indeed friendships are the pearls of human lives. Friendships are mutual bonds that make our lives enjoyable. Friends are very critical for our daily lives as they help us...

Loyalty And Disloyalty In Relationship

Loyalty, a simple word, that holds an incomparable, powerful meaning. According to the dictionary, loyalty is the quality or state of being loyal. However, it really means being faithful and devoted to someone or something. It means creating a bond and forming a relationship that...

Polygamy As The Opposite Of Monogamy And Tradition

The depiction of the difficult circumstances and position of the African woman was well revealed by Mariama Ba, who illustrates the reality of the multiwives as an oppressed group with no power. Mariama Ba’s depiction has opened a critical inquiry about the natural form of...

Monogamy And Polygamy: No Wrong Way To Love

Introduction: There is no single evolutionary pathway that results in social monogamy; rather, it has evolved separately across mammalian species (as reviewed by French et al., 2018). Social monogamy describes multiple factors, including spatial proximity of a male-female pair, exclusion of strangers, biparental care, and...

Learning Patience And Its Importance In Life

How to learn patience when you don't see what you want to happen materialize in your life. You make an effort, but you would like it to go anyway faster! Here are some ways to allow time for things to build naturally: Everything you learn...

• Personal Growth and Development

Interview Research on the Ideal Partner Qualities for Male and Female Genders

In the past, there was an huge differences between the standards of male and female choosing their ideal partner. While male mainly focused on the partner's personality and female will focus on the outer factors such as financial statement. However, for the standards of ideal...

• Marriage and Family

Analysis of the Movie Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky: A Tragic Story of Self-Destruction

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan is a heart-wrenching and spine-chilling horror film starring Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers and Mila Kunis as Lily. Nina is a dedicated 28 years old ballerina who lives with her obsessive and controlling mother, Erica Sayers (Barbara Hershey). When...

The Role of Jealousy in the Conflict in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

Jealousy is a powerful trait that can lead to conflict and influence decisions. It is something that can impact relationships and pull people apart. In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, jealousy seems to drive one’s emotions to manipulate another out of...

• A Midsummer Night's Dream

Analysis of the Changes in Character of Andrea in The Devil Wears Prada

Andrea’s commitment to her work life destroys her relationship with her loved ones as she no longer has time for them. Firstly, due to Miranda’s demands, Andrea’s personal life begins to crumble under the weight of her career commitments. Andrea no longer has time for...

• The Devil Wears Prada

Reciprocity Of The Gift And Mauss' Obligation To Reciprocate

Introduction This essay will critically discuss reciprocity of the gift. Firstly, the essay will explain the type of the gift I have received and the relationship between me and the gift giver, the feeling I felt during the moment, how it affected our relationship and...

Overview of Advantages Co-Ed Schools Have Over Single-Sex Schools

Let’s turn back time to the 16th century, where mixed gender schools were unheard-of and considered blasphemous. The preference for the education of boys over girls was obvious. Nevertheless, Sparta, a city state in ancient Greece took it up a notch and introduced an education...

• American Education System
• Single Sex Schools

Relationships As The Reason For Downfall In Tess And Atonement

McEwan and Hardy both use relationships as a plot device to drive conflict and opposition towards the protagonists eventual downfall however both authors use this concept of relationships differently by tailoring the way in which relationships are perceived to the characters personal attributes. This acts...

• Tess of the D'Urbervilles

"Compassion and the Individual": Article Summary and Response

In the article “Compassion and the individual,” the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso talks about the importance of love and compassion for one’s well-being. He argues that the purpose of life is to be happy, but the achievement of happiness is impossible without love and...

Cheryl Flake: The Famous Alumni of Brigham University

They say behind every great man is a great woman, and while the famous phrase may no longer fit the beliefs and opinions of modern feminist rhetoric, its sentiments about the value of a good partner remain true. So far, that is something former US...

• Brigham Young University

The Nature of Love in Percy Bysshe Shelley's Love's Philosophy

The theme of “Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a mixture of love, nature and disappointment. The author puts himself out there by suggesting him and his beloved should become one by contrasting how natural it would be for them to kiss. While using...

• Percy Bysshe Shelley

Beatrice's Character Analysis in "Much Ado About Nothing"

Everyone in this world wants to be loved and to feel like they are wanted but unfortunately love also comes with consequences. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, the main characters demonstrate that love leads to hardship. Beatrice and Benedick are perfect evidence...

• Much Ado About Nothing

The Psychological and Political Factors of Infidelity and Adultery

It is often said that, in the case of infidelity, once a cheater, always a cheater. Infidelity is a moral dilemma for people involved in extradyadic relations because it undermines the foundation of trust and love established between partners, as well as violates the social...

The Charm of Marilynne Robinson's Epistolary Novel Gilead

Gilead is a book written by Marilynne Robinson; the book is an epistolary novel, meaning that it is told in the form of letters. the book is about a dying man named John Ames III who is a third-generation Congregationalist minister in Iowa struggles most...

Giovanni Boccaccio's Ideas on Love and Gender Roles in The Decameron

In The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio presents new ideas about love and physical love, women, and their role within society through one hundred novellas. Boccaccio dedicates The Decameron to women, expressing his prolonged dedication to them throughout his life. In fourteenth century Florence, women did not...

• Gender Roles
• The Decameron

The Inevitable Tragedy of Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is an unforgettable tale of two young lovers caught in a bitter feud between their families. While the play is widely recognized as a story of love and tragedy, it is equally important to understand why the death of Romeo...

• Romeo and Juliet
• Teenage Love

The Unconditional and Diverse Loves Of Twelfth Night

Love, one of the most impactful and meaningful words in the English language. Stories have been told about it, poems and sonnets, and even grandiose gestures. It is what keep the heart pumping. In Twelfth Night we see evidence of this “true love” but in...

• Twelfth Night

Spiritual Bond In A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

In this poem, Donne suggests a woman to “grow erect” and undermines her femininity by comparing her to “stiff twin compass” and show his “firmness” in this male-dominating society. The marginalization is the reason for feminism. Feminists believe that women are equal to men. Many...

• A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
• Gender Equality

Religious Spiritualism in A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

A metaphysical poet, John Donne was renowned for his work, many of which employed the use of conceits, a striking parallel between two highly dissimilar things. In his poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” Donne employs the use of symbols and rhetoric to combine the underlying...

Attachment Theory and Romantic Relationships

The topic I chose for my essay is attachment theory and romantic relationships. I will first start off with a story of a romantic relationship that will portray one of the attachment styles. Then, I will give a brief description of the attachment theory and...

• Attachment Theory
• Self Esteem

An Analysis of Babylon Revisited: Creating a Relationship Between Narrator and Character

This is the most anthologized short story that Scott Fitzgerald had wrote through his writing career. It is considered by many to be his best work. Also, it is possible to compare the background material of the story according to his own biography in order...

• Babylon Revisited

The Lifestyle of Cohabitation and Domestic Life

In today’s society, cohabitation has become a open lifestyle which is not so new and strange towards the youth around the world. “Cohabitation” is the word that usually refers to the couples who live together and share a common domestic life in a close-knit relationship...

• Cohabitation
• Women's Health

The Tradition of Cohabitation in the Western Countries

Cohabitation is when two people who are romantically involved choose to live together without making the formal commitment of marriage (Gilles 1988). In these days, cohabitation becomes a norm in Western world with the number or people living together before tying the knot is rising...

The Comparison of Marriage Versus Cohabitation

Love makes the world go round. It’s not money, neither is it corruption. It is Love. Love can be seen as having strong intense affection for something or someone. Love’s role is very vital in this argument. I will start with marriage first. According to...

Unrequited Love and Obsession in Enduring Love

‘A mighty pain to love it is, And 'tis a pain that pain to miss; But of all pains, the greatest pain It is to love, but love in vain.’ - Abraham Cowley Cowley portrays all-compassing love as ‘the great pain’ when it is not...

"The Reader": Guilt as a Central Theme in Hannah and Michael's Relationship

“The Reader” by Bernhard Schlink read in class. In the beginning of the book, I was open-minded in order to see how the relationship between a young boy and an older woman could develop. As I kept reading, I became more interested in how their...

Fifty Shades of Grey: Fanfiction as a Valid Form of Literature

If you’ve ever read Fifty Shades of Grey, you may or may not know that the bestselling novel started as Twilight fan fiction. Popular opinion states that it is a bad book with terrible writing yet there were enough people to disagree because the story...

• Fifty Shades of Grey
• Human Sexuality

The Pleasure and Purpose of Music in Fifty Shades of Grey

The piece of music that I chose is titled “Love me like you do”, performed by Ellie Goulding, co-written by Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ali Payami và Tove Lo with producers are Max Martin and Ali Payami. This is an electronic pop power ballad with...

The Human Relationships in the Life and Death of Ivan Ilych

The book tells the story of Ivan until his death. It belonged to the elite, to the Russian aristocracy, a class very coveted socially and very rich, this bourgeoisie occupied the highest social positions, that is, had a great status and therefore, always wanted more,...

• The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Self-Deception as the Ruination of Our Society

“We fight because we love each other.” A couple months before leaving for college I started to get seriously involved with a guy from my high school. I knew we were only hurting ourselves by progressing with the relationship despite knowing I would be moving...

The Three Advantages of Teenage Love

Everyone might experience a captivating relationship during adolescence. Normally the relationship we call early love is known as a crush and romantic love relationship between teenagers during adolescence, especially in high school. We also call it puppy love popularly. In the 1920s, American media widely...

Positive And Negative Sides Of Teenage Love

As a teen, love is confusing but love is also a beautiful thing that can be an enjoyable one not the painful one. Us, teenagers by this time we are testing the depth of our emotions, we are testing how comfortable we are to each...

Importance of Nurturing Relationships in Life

Each and every one of us are connected in some way or the other. Usually a family comprises of parents and their children. They are either related as a husband-wife, father-child, mother-child or siblings. Likewise larger families (or) joint families have more relations like for...

The Attractive Complexity of Human Relationships in the Play King Henry IV

To capture the audience’s interest in this text, Shakespeare applies an in-depth, prolonging text set up upon human relationships. In William Shakespeare’s, King Henry IV, Part 1 he uses human relationships to speak to his audience not only in the Elizabethan period but also for...

• William Shakespeare

The Role of Uncertainty Reduction Theory in Online Dating

This study tries to analyze how the Uncertainty Reduction Theory plays a role in the world of online dating. Specifically between the behaviors, self-disclosure, and privacy concerns of the online dating partakers. The three researchers, Jennifer L. Gibbs, Nicole B. Ellison, and Chih-Hui Lai, focused...

• Online Dating
• Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Advise About Staying Friends with Your Ex After a Break-Up

What people do after a break up varies from couple to couple and may depend on the sort of break up they had. There’s a possibility the couple can patch up or be friends if the breakup was a mutual choice. While this is also...

Analysis of Storyline of The Fault In Our Stars

My Opinion on the Storyline In my opinion, the storyline of The Fault In Our Stars is really interesting and original. This was the first book I read in which the main character was suffering from a disease. In my opinion, the plot structure was...

• The Fault in Our Stars

The Archetypal Characters in Friends and How I Met Your Mother

What is the difference between a good comedy series and a great one? Certainly, humor has to be in place and it should be of high quality. However, even when the viewers laugh every third minute of the show, there is no guarantee that they...

The Survey to the Child's Behaviour in Mother-Daughter Relationship

In patriarchal traditional family sex-segregated relationship is portrayed as a norm. Father-son and mother-daughter relationship is seen more prevalent pattern of family relationship. The mother-daughter relationship is arguably the closest and most important parent-child relationship, particularly with regarding to interactions between generations, communication and interpersonal...

• Parent-Child Relationship

Relations Between Substance Abuse and Crime

Substance use, like other risky behaviors, is initiated and escalates during adolescence (Colder, Campbell, Ruel, Richardson, & Flay, 2002). Indeed, the rates of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use are very low prior to about 11 years of age, and increase dramatically from eighth to 12th...

• Substance Abuse

Character Relationships in The Help

The story shows the good relationship between the color maids and the children of the white people they are working for, and how they took care of them and loved them like their own children. Constantine and Skeeter have a really good relationship and Aibileen...

Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s Relationship in the Epic of Gilgamesh

From the beginning of the epic, we find out that Gilgamesh is the son of a king and a goddess. This in turn makes Gilgamesh half god and half human. This is due to who his parents are, Gilgamesh is very spoiled as a kid...

• Epic of Gilgamesh

Concept of the Butterfly Effect: Playing with Cause-Effect Relationships

Have you ever laughed at somebody’s situation only to be struck with the thing that goes around comes around? Do you believe that whatever you do will come back to get you, such as an injustice? If you have experienced these events, you have either...

Childhood and Relationship with Father in the Fun Home

Fun Home, by Alison Bechel, is a tragicomic based on Alison’s childhood and distant relationship with her father, Bruce. Alison and Bruce want to believe they are different when in reality they face similar inward struggles that ultimately result in broken ties between them. Bruce...

Instagram's Hidden Flaws and Harm to the Relationships

Instagram is one of the visited organize site with long associating relational correspondence for young people. While it may have points of interest, for instance, interfacing one with allies, it may in like manner have especially negative effects that could be irreversible. One may not...

Falling in Love: The Past Experiences and Defintion of Love

When asked about love; what love is, who we love, and why we love, it is oftentimes difficult for one to pin-point simple definitions to answer these questions. Is it because no one really knows? Or is it that there is no single correct definition...

Lack of Respect in the Modern and Digital Dating and Relationships

Dating can be a very complicated thing to some’ but an easy thing to others. Dating back then was better than dating now. Back then, dating was something that was taken very seriously. It was like an early stage of getting married. In order for...

• Digital Communication

The Most Important Basics of Nonverbal Communication

Communication is key to success when it comes to a personal and professional relationship. Whether it’s a body language, gestures, facial expression, and voice they are believed to be the strongest communication tools. Facial expression tends to be more expressive, as we can read through...

• Nonverbal Communication

Positive Nonverbal Communication in Bussiness Relationships

In today’s global business world, communication plays vital role in maintaining a good quality of understanding with each other so that there comes no problem in linking up with fellow workers. Workplace’s success and efficiency wholly depend upon how effective the communication takes place. Many...

A Comprehensive Movie Analysis of Eran Riklis' Lemon Tree

Movie Review: Lemon Tree (2008) The film is about, Salma, a Palestinian widow - living there for decades - has to stand up against her new neighbour, the Israeli Defense Minister, when he moves into his new house opposite her lemon grove, on the green...

• Movie Review

Well-Being and Spirituality: Understanding the Relationship

Abstract Well-being and spirituality have been examined for quite some time throughout history. The study presented examined the relationship between level of spirituality and well-being (Lun et al., 2013). There were 49,943 participants in the study. Participants answered eight surveys related to the study. Results...

• Spirituality

How Conflict Can Be Normal In All Relationships

While conflict can be normal in all relationships, it should be a last resort by all means. Relationships should be a mutual effort and be based on communication. Reason being, it can lead to an unhealthy relationship, create a negative perception of the relationship, and...

Human Sexuality Research On Beverly Whipple

Dr. Beverly Whipple is not only a sex researcher, but a certified sexuality educator, and sexuality counselor. Her research has been emphasized primarily in women’s health issues and the sexual physiology of women. Her education history started in getting a BS in Nursing from Wagner...

• Sex, Gender and Sexuality

Our Treatment Of Kids Affects How They Create

Older upbringing and educating are frequently recognized by an inability to comprehend what kids can do or understanding, or to give the help they require and the regard they merit. However, does that mean children are being belittled — or overestimated? The appropriate response is...

Some Hardships In Human Relations

For a great deal of untouchables who don't know there is a tremendous measure of reason that causes this tormented condition. Infer a 2006 review by DivorceMagazine.com that asked scrutinizes what had caused their parcel or separation, I found that unfaithfulness or extramarital issue is...

The Bilateral Relationship Between Malaysia And Indonesia

The relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia is known to be a diplomatic pleasantry among the region with a special relationship of shared values and common cultural traditions originating from the same ancestors. This bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia is considered as one of the...

The Five Love Languages According To Dr. Gary Chapman

Lao Tzu once said that being able to love someone deeply is what gives us courage and being loved by someone deeply gives us strength and he was very right. Normally when in romantic relationships, we all tend to show love and affection to our...

The Impact Of Cultural Differences On A Couple's Relationship

Opposites attract? Perhaps, most durable and happiest are marriages of people who are compatible and perfectly matched. Two people should get married no matter what races they are. In the United States, the number of interracial marriages has nearly tripled since 1980. At the same...

• Cultural Diversity

The True Understanding Of Love

Famous advice communist Anna Landers once said “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. ” I...

What Is True Life & How To Save Your Happy Love Life

As we know that getting falling in love with someone is a natural feeling that comes in everyone’s life. Basically, It will happen when a boy and a girl having some attraction or some kind of strong feeling that automatically force both people to fall...

The Importance Of Self-Concept In The Development Of Human Relations

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187 College Essay Examples for 11 Schools + Expert Analysis

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 187 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 187 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2024
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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• Relationships

Relationships 101: How to Have Strong College Relationships

Navigating relationships in the first year of college is tough. science helps..

Posted August 11, 2021 | Reviewed by Vanessa Lancaster

• Why Relationships Matter
• Take our Relationship Satisfaction Test
• Find a therapist to strengthen relationships
• Long-distance relationships the first year of college may be healthy and viable and not as problematic and one may think.
• Love is not enough for a healthy relationship. One must be a good communicator, avoid drama, and be with someone who is respectful.
• A third of college relationships experience dating violence. To help see the signs, see what close friends or family think of a chosen partner.

College is all about new experiences: starting a new life, new friends, new freedom, and new relationship experiences. Not surprisingly, romantic relationships are responsible for life’s happiest moments. 1 For that reason, it’s important to avoid problematic relationships that could not only jeopardize your college education but your happiness as well. Here are several common relationship experiences that students encounter during their first year in college:

Long Distance Relationships

When you left for college, you brought your favorite pillow and best clothes, but did you also bring along your high school sweetheart? If not, and your partner is still back at home or another school, you’re in good company since 75% of college students have a long-distance relationship at some point during their college career . 2

These relationships can be difficult because you don’t get to see your partner as much, and you may feel lonely . 3 Don’t worry, though; long-distance relationships are generally no worse off than relationships with nearby partners. 4 You should fight the urge to leave school to be near them (either at home or another school) because long-distance relationships also have some benefits such as viewing each other more positively and being more satisfied with the communication in the relationship. 5 It may just take a bit of extra effort to maintain closeness with your partner (texting, FaceTime, Zoom).

Dealing With Break-up

For a variety of reasons, break-ups are common in the first year of college. Maybe your high school relationship didn’t work out, or a new college relationship fizzled out. Break-ups can result in negative emotions and feeling less sure of who you are. 6 Yet, when college students predict how bad things will be after a break-up, they think it’ll be worse than it is. 7 In fact, over 41% of college students view their break-ups as positive experiences, with this being even more likely if the former partner was holding them back. 8 To get over a break-up, try writing about the positive aspects of the experience, 9 relying on social support, 10 and avoiding getting back together with your former partner. 11 In fact, rather than jumping right back into a relationship, spend some time alone and focus on yourself because having a clear sense of who you are will lead to better relationships down the road. 12

Starting a New Relationship

One of the quintessential college experiences may be the quest to form new relationships. But where should you look? A lot of times, attraction is a matter of convenience. 13 Hello neighbor! However, living down the hall from someone may not be the best foundation for a healthy relationship. If there were a law of attraction, it would state that you should find someone as similar to you as possible. 14

If you’re studious, like the beach, and enjoy binging Netflix , your partner should as well. When looking for a partner, you’ll want to detect whether the other person is interested. Did the object of your affection give you “the look,” or was there simply something in his or her eye? Here it is important to realize that men tend to see interest where it may not exist. A woman’s innocent “hi!” may be interpreted as “she wants to hook up.” 15

Building a Healthy Relationship

Everyone wants to have a great relationship. To accomplish this goal, you should build your relationship around a solid friendship founded on trust, closeness, honesty, and a sense of openness that includes mutual self-disclosure. 16 To achieve this, good communication is important, especially when discussing problems.

Many people (mistakenly) believe that disagreements are destructive in relationships. However, you should be secure enough in your relationship to discuss the small issues that inevitably arise so that they don’t turn into major drama. Most importantly, avoid negative forms of communication like criticizing partners, being overly defensive, refusing to talk/shutting them out, or lacking respect or contempt. 17

The research shows that relationships with this type of communication are nearly certain to end. Ultimately, healthy relationships and good communication both rely on mutual respect and caring. Demonstrate these qualities to your partner by clearly and calmly discussing problems, stating how you feel without blaming or attacking, and taking the time to listen to your partner’s perspective truly. 18

Love Is Important, but It Isn't Enough

Being in love is obviously a key feature of a romantic relationship. But it may not be the type of love that you think. There are two main types: companionate love, which is based on friendship, and passionate love, which is based on attraction and preoccupation with the partner. 19 Although passion may get a relationship started, it fades. A romance with a partner who is also your best friend is more likely to stand the test of time.

When thinking about love, avoid the mistaken belief that love conquers all. Love is a key ingredient, but it does not mean that you should tolerate disrespectful or abusive behavior. A person who truly loves you cares for you, makes you a priority, treats you with kindness and respect, and wants only what is best for you.

Relationship Abuse

Although most relationships don’t experience physical or verbal abuse, the prevalence of dating violence is growing and occurs in approximately 1 out of 3 college relationships. 20 Yet, people in abusive relationships often believe that it must be normal and happening in most relationships because it happens to them. 21

But look back at the statistics. Most college students are in happy, healthy relationships. Be sure to steer clear of factors that can promote relationship violence, such as high levels of dependency 22 and alcohol use. 23 If you or a friend experiences relationship abuse, seek help from your campus counseling center. The bottom line is that abuse should be an automatic deal-breaker because relationships should be one of the happiest and most fulfilling parts of your life.

Staying in a Bad Relationship

Obviously, no one aspires to be in a bad relationship, so why would anyone get stuck in one? First, people may stay because their expectations are too low or think they can’t do any better than the current partner. 24 Second, we tend to prefer people who reinforce our self-views. 25 If you have a negative self-view, you’ll tend to seek out others who also see you that way.

To make matters worse, a partner who views you negatively isn’t likely to treat you well, which may lower your relationship expectations and self-esteem even further. It is also important to avoid losing your own sense of identity by becoming too close to a romantic partner. 26 To help recognize if you are in a bad relationship, you should turn to close others (roommates, friends, parents) who, research shows, are better judges of your relationship than you. 27 If people close to you suggest that you get out of a relationship, it may be wise to consider their advice seriously.

A strong and healthy relationship will help make you a happier and better person without requiring you to forsake your friendships or educational goals . Learning these basics of healthy relationships will come in handy during your first year of college and will also benefit your future relationships in a way that will lead you to experience a happier and more fulfilling life.

1 Berscheid, E., & Reis, H. T. (1998). Attraction and close relationships. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.) , The handbook of social psychology, Vols. 1 and 2 (4th ed.) (pp. 193-281). New York, NY US: McGraw-Hill.

2 Merolla, A. J. (2010). Relational maintenance and noncopresence reconsidered: Conceptualizing geographic separation in close relationships. Communication Theory, 20 (2), 169-193. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2010.01359.x

3 Le, B., Loving, T. J., Lewandowski, G., Feinberg, E. G., Johnson, K. C., Fiorentino, R., & Ing, J. (2008). Missing a romantic partner: A prototype analysis. Personal Relationships, 15 (4), 511-532. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2008.00213.x

4 Van Horn, K., Arnone, A., Nesbitt, K., Desilets, L., Sears, T., Giffin, M., & Brudi, R. (1997). Physical distance and interpersonal characteristics in college students’ romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 4 (1), 25-34. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.1997.tb00128.x

5 Stafford, L., & Merolla, A. J. (2007). Idealization, reunions, and stability in long-distance dating relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24 (1), 37-54. doi:10.1177/0265407507072578

6 Lewandowski, G., Aron, A., Bassis, S., & Kunak, J. (2006). Losing a self-expanding relationship: Implications for the self-concept. Personal Relationships, 13 (3), 317-331. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2006.00120.x

7 Eastwick, P. W., Finkel, E. J., Krishnamurti, T., & Loewenstein, G. (2008). Mispredicting distress following romantic breakup: Revealing the time course of the affective forecasting error. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44 (3), 800-807. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2007.07.001

8 Lewandowski, G., & Bizzoco, N. (2007). Addition through subtraction: Growth following the dissolution of a low quality relationship. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2 (1), 40-54. doi:10.1080/17439760601069234

9 Lewandowski, G. (2009). Promoting positive emotions following relationship dissolution through writing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4 (1), 21-31. doi:10.1080/17439760802068480

10 Frazier, P. A., & Cook, S. W. (1993). Correlates of distress following heterosexual relationship dissolution. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10 (1), 55-67. doi:10.1177/0265407593101004

11 Dailey, R. M., Pfiester, A., Jin, B., Beck, G., & Clark, G. (2009). On-again/off-again dating relationships: How are they different from other dating relationships?. Personal Relationships, 16 (1), 23-47. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01208.x

12 Lewandowski, G. W., Jr., Nardone, N., & Raines, A. J. (2010). The role of self-concept clarity in relationship quality. Self and Identity, 9, 416-433. doi: 10.1080/15298860903332191

13 Berscheid, E., & Reis, H. T. (1998). Attraction and close relationships. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, G. Lindzey, D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, G. Lindzey (Eds.) , The handbook of social psychology, Vols. 1 and 2 ( 4th ed.) (pp. 193-281). New York, NY US: McGraw-Hill.

14 McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Cook, J. M. (2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27415-444. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.415

15 Abbey, A. (1982). Sex differences in attributions for friendly behavior: Do males misperceive females’ friendliness?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42 (5), 830-838. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.42.5.830

16 Fletcher, G. O., Simpson, J. A., & Thomas, G. (2000). The measurement of perceived relationship quality components: A confirmatory factor analytic approach. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26 (3), 340-354. doi:10.1177/0146167200265007

17 Gottman, J. M., Coan, J., Carrere, S., & Swanson, C. (1998). Predicting marital happiness and stability from newlywed interactions. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 60 (1), 5-22. doi:10.2307/353438

18 Miller, S., & Sherrard, P. D. (1999). Couple Communication: A system for equipping partners to talk, listen, and resolve conflicts effectively. In R. Berger, & M. Hannah (Eds.) , Preventive approaches in couples therapy (pp. 125-148). Philadelphia, PA US: Brunner/Mazel.

19 Fehr B. (2001). The status of theory and research in love and commitment. In G. J. O. Fletcher & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes (pp. 331-356). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

20 Amar, A. F., & Gennaro, S. (2005). Dating violence in college women: Associated physical injury, healthcare usage, and mental health symptoms. Nursing Research, 54, 235-242. doi:10.1097/00006199-200507000-00005

21 Pipes, R. B., & LeBov-Keeler, K. (1997). Psychological abuse among college women in exclusive heterosexual dating relationships. Sex Roles, 36, 585-603. doi:10.1023/A:1025665907856

22 Charkow, W. B., & Nelson, E. S. (2000). Relationship dependency, dating violence, and scripts of female college students. Journal of College Counseling, 3, 17-28.

23 Lewis, S. F., & Fremouw, W. (2000). Dating violence: A critical review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 105-127.

24 Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. Oxford England: John Wiley.

25 Swann, W. Jr., & Pelham, B. (2002). Who wants out when the going gets good? Psychological investment and preference for self-verifying college roommates. Self and Identity, 1 (3), 219-233. doi:10.1080/152988602760124856

26 Mashek, D. J., & Sherman, M. D. (2004). Desiring less closeness with intimate others. In D. J. Mashek & A. P. Aron (Eds.) , Handbook of closeness and intimacy (pp. 343-356). Mahwah, NJ US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

27 MacDonald, T. K., & Ross, M. (1999). Assessing the accuracy of predictions about dating relationships: How and why do lovers’ predictions differ from those made by observers? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25( 11), 1417-1429. doi:10.1177/0146167299259007

Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., Ph.D., is the author of Stronger Than You Think: The 10 Blind Spots That Undermine Your Relationship...and How to See Past Them .

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4 Winning College Essay Examples from Top Schools

When you apply to colleges, you will do plenty of writing. Aside from filling in information and completing a resume, you will have to write essays or short answers based on prompts universities give you. Looking at college essay examples can be a helpful way to prepare for this important part of the application.

Generally, your college entrance essays are meant to convey something about you that could not be known from other parts of your application. For example, your essays should do more than show you are a hard worker because good grades and a busy resume already do this. Some essays for college will ask for something very specific. For example, the “why this college” essay tries to gauge your knowledge and commitment to the institution. For the personal essay on the Common Application, expectations are less clear. This is a college essay about yourself, and you will submit one for all schools that require the Common Application . 

The Common App essay is supposed to give admissions officers a sense of your personality. This is a chance to make you stand out in a way that other parts of the application could not. That being said, the best college essays do more than just display the author’s quirks but create a picture of a dynamic person who offers something to a college community. This will help set you apart during the college admissions committee review process . 

4 winning college application essay examples that can help you get admitted

Here are some examples of college essays that worked. Pay attention to how students used one part of who they are (a memory, their background, a challenge) to paint a larger picture. Overall, this is a great way to communicate a lot of information in a relatively small space. 

College essay example #1

This first essay was submitted to Harvard University during the 2021 college admissions cycle: 

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.

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.

A pleasure to read, filled with witty remarks and earnest self-reflection. This essay uses humor, along with meticulous attention to detail, to convey certain personal truths. The opening anecdote demonstrates the student’s passion for order and organization, while the second half of this essay shows the student’s willingness to contradict themself to engage with others meaningfully. 

Not only is this essay creative and entertaining, but it also demonstrates how this student is eager to challenge themself and embrace a wide variety of perspectives. Furthermore, the specific details this student includes, especially their literary references, help express their academic interests and values. Overall, this essay is witty, creative, and memorable, while engaging in a larger meaningful discussion.

College essay example #2

This second essay was submitted to Hamilton College during the 2021 college admissions cycle: 

I dreaded their arrival. The tyrannical cicadas swarmed DC and neighboring areas in 1987, 2004, and again in 2021. I was freaking about Brood X, the worst of them all. Brood X is a cluster of cicadas that descend on Washington, D.C., every 17 years. I live in the epicenter of their swarm. Cicadas battled with mosquitoes for first place in the top tier of the human annoyance pyramid. I hate these off-brand cockroaches.

For 17 years, cicadas live underground feasting off of sap, running free of danger. Then, they emerge and face the real world. That sounds familiar. I have lived in the same house, in the same town, for 17 years, with my parents feeding me pasta and keeping me safe.

Is it conceivable that I have more in common with cicadas than I previously thought? Cicadas have beady, red eyes. After a year of enduring Zoom classes, attending tele-health appointments, and spending too much time on social media and video games, I too feel a little blurry-eyed and disoriented. But what about their incessant hum and perpetual noise? That is not me. OK, maybe I do make protein shakes with a noisy blender at all hours of the day. Maybe I do FaceTime vehemently with friends, blare music while I shower, and constantly kick a ball around both inside the house and out.

At least I do not leave damaged wings, shedded skin, or rotting carcasses everywhere. Smelly soccer socks on the clean carpet after a long practice? Check. Pools of turf in the mudroom after sliding all over the field? You got it. Dirty dishes and trail mix stains after accidentally sitting on a mislaid M&M are hardly as abhorrent as cicada remains, right?

The more I reflected, the more I realized these bugs and I are more alike than different. After 17 years of being cooped up, we are both antsy to face new experiences. Of course, cicadas want to broaden their wings, fly, and explore the world, even if it means clumsily colliding into people’s faces, telephone poles, and parked cars. Just like I want to shed my skin and escape to college, even if it means getting lost on campus or ruining a whole load of laundry. Despite all my newbie attributes, I am proceeding to the next phase of my life whether I am ready or not.

Only the hardiest of cicadas survive their emergence and make it to trees to mate, lay eggs, and ensure the existence of their species. I want to be a tenacious Brood X cicada. I will know what it means to travel into the wrong classroom before getting laughed at, bump into an upperclassman before dropping textbooks everywhere, fail an exam after thinking I aced it. I may even become the cicada of the lecture hall by asking a professor for permission to go to the bathroom. Like cicadas, I will need time to learn how to learn.

No matter what challenge I undergo that exposes and channels my inner-cicada, novice thought process, I will regroup and continue to soar toward the ultimate goal of thriving in college.

When I look beyond our beady red eyes, round-the-clock botherment, and messy trails, I now understand there is room for all creatures to grow, both cicadas and humans. Cicadas certainly are on to something … Seventeen years is the perfect amount of time to emerge and get ready to fly.

This essay uses a humorous extended metaphor to express their eagerness to attend college — as well as their inner trepidations. Mostly this essay is about resiliency and embracing change. What makes this essay stand out, however, is its subject matter. By comparing themself to a cicada, an organism they’ve already admitted to strongly disliking, the student demonstrates humor, humility, and a willingness to approach the world with creativity and curiosity. 

While this essay isn’t necessarily about a particular interest or experience, it characterizes the student exceedingly well. Overall, this essay is memorable and creative, using humor and humility to express a greater truth about how this student views themself and how they approach their surroundings. 

College essay example #3

This third essay was submitted to Tufts College  during the 2019 college admissions cycle: 

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,” and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn’t allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn’t expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find — with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials “RK-1” — that cyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB’s, and students’ apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody’s surprise). Ironically, it’s through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry’s book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I’m learning that it isn’t the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek — I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

This essay uses a humorous childhood anecdote to introduce an impressive series of scientific projects and inquiries. As evident through their various scientific projects, this student is very talented and driven. Furthermore, by periodically revisiting the playful language of the opening anecdote, the student’s scientific achievements are further emphasized through its contrasting language and tone. 

Overall, this essay strikes a really good balance between playful and scientific language, which ultimately ties into the student’s parting conclusion that they want to use their love of storytelling to make scientific discoveries more accessible to a wider audience. This essay is memorable, highly detailed, and leaves a lasting impression. 

College essay example #4

This final essay was submitted to John Hopkins University as a part of the 2018 college admissions cycle: 

The sound was loud and discordant, like a hurricane, high notes and low notes mixing together in an audible mess. It was as if a thousand booming foghorns were in a shouting match with sirens. Unlike me, this was a little abrasive and loud. I liked it. It was completely unexpected and extremely fun to play.

Some instruments are built to make multiple notes, like a piano. A saxophone on the other hand doesn’t play chords but single notes through one vibrating reed. However, I discovered that you can play multiple notes simultaneously on the saxophone. While practicing a concert D-flat scale, I messed up a fingering for a low B-flat, and my instrument produced a strange noise with two notes. My band teacher got very excited and exclaimed, “Hey, you just played a polyphonic note!” I like it when accidents lead to discovering new ideas.

I like this polyphonic sound because it reminds me of myself: many things at once. You assume one thing and get another. At school, I am a course scholar in English, but I am also able to amuse others when I come up with wince evoking puns. My math and science teachers expect me to go into engineering, but I’m more excited about making films. Discussing current events with my friends is fun, but I also like to share with them my secrets to cooking a good scotch egg. Even though my last name gives them a hint, the Asian students at our school don’t believe that I’m half Japanese. 

Meanwhile the non-Asians are surprised that I’m also part Welsh. I feel comfortable being unique or thinking differently. As a Student Ambassador this enables me to help freshmen and others who are new to our school feel welcome and accepted. I help the new students know that it’s okay to be themselves.

There is added value in mixing things together. I realized this when my brother and I won an international Kavli Science Foundation contest where we explained the math behind the Pixar movie “Up”. Using stop motion animation we explored the plausibility and science behind lifting a house with helium balloons. I like offering a new view and expanding the way people see things. In many of my videos I combine art with education. I want to continue making films that not only entertain, but also make you think.

A lot of people have a single passion that defines them or have a natural talent for something specific. Like my saxophone I am an instrument, but I can play many notes at once. I’m a scholar and a musician. Quiet but talkative. An athlete and a filmmaker. Careful but spontaneous. A fan of Johnny Cash and Kill The Noise. Hard-working but playful. A martial artist and a baker. One of a kind but an identical twin.

Will polyphonic notes resonate in college? Yes. For instance, balancing a creative narrative with scientific facts will make a more believable story. I want to bring together different kinds of students (such as music, film, and English majors) to create more meaningful art. Understanding fellow students’ perspective, talents, and ideas are what build a great community.

I’m looking forward to discovering my place in the world by combining various interests. Who I am doesn’t always harmonize and may seem like nothing but noise to some. But what I play, no matter how discordant, can be beautiful. It’s my own unique polyphonic note.

The opening anecdote is unique, engaging, and succinct. It also allows the student to include a lot of personal details and interests in a way that feels natural and matches the tone of the opening anecdote. In less than a page, we learn that this student is a musician, athlete, filmmaker, jokester, twin, martial artist, baker, lover of literature, and twin. We also learn that the student is half-Japanese, half-Welsh, and has learned to embrace her cultural differences and personal nuances while encouraging others to do the same. The upbeat, excitable tone of this essay also helps characterize this student as well as demonstrate how she would enhance the school’s campus culture. 

Key takeaways from college essay examples

Writing a successful personal statement is a key factor in holistic college admissions practices . This is because your personal statement is your opportunity to share more about who you are as a person and what you’re passionate about. Every year thousands of qualified students apply to highly-selective colleges, such as Ivy League institutions , but only a small fraction of students are admitted. So how do you stand out in a pool of equally qualified applicants? Your personal statement. 

This is why it is important to learn more about components of a strong personal statement , as well as overused college essay topics that are best to avoid. Reading examples of successful Common App essays is a great way to start thinking about how to best approach your college essays. By identifying key strategies and characteristics that helped set these essay examples apart, you are one step closer to writing your own successful personal statement.

Need college essay help?

Prepory offers a college admissions essay help package to assist high school students with the most important part of the college application process. Our expert editors have degrees in writing, attended elite colleges and universities, and have hundreds of success stories editing college essays. Our college essay review process goes further than editing for a missing comma or period. We dig deep to learn more about who you are and what you want to tell admissions officers. 

Our college admissions team helps students write compelling college essays and construct, edit, and flesh out their resumes, too! If you feel like you could benefit from professional guidance during this college application season, reach out to learn more about our services .

Related blog posts

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32 College Essay Examples That Worked

Reading college essay examples is a great way of preparing yourself for writing your own. Whether you’re aiming to get into your local college or looking to attend an Ivy League school , your college essay is a key component of your college application.

In this blog, we have 32 awesome college essay examples from some of the top universities in the world, including Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, UPenn, Yale, and more! Plus, you will learn how to craft an outstanding college essay step by step, so that your own personality and experiences will really shine. This is the same exact proven strategies our college essay advisors share with our own students in our much sought-after college admissions consulting program . We're not holding back. So, let's dive in!

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free initial consultation here <<

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Article Contents 54 min read

Why a college essay matters.

A personal statement essay or a college admissions essay is the part of your college application that allows the admissions committee to get a stronger sense of who you are as a candidate. The admissions committee is not only seeking academically strong candidates for their school – they want to find students who will also be a good fit for the culture and values of their institution. The personal statement essay is your chance to show the committee why you are the best all-around candidate for admission.

Your essay will reveal both your hard and soft skills to the admissions committee. From a technical angle, it will showcase your writing skills in terms of organization, clarity, narrative ability, and spelling and grammar. In terms of content, a compelling personal statement should tell a story that reveals something about your personality and what formative experiences you have had in your life. Since the personal statement essay reveals so much about you as an applicant, crafting an outstanding essay is crucial! 

Writing a strong college essay requires significant time and effort. The best way to ensure success is to be properly prepared before you even begin to write:

How to Structure Your College Essay

Most personal statements tend to range from 250 words to 650 words in length. The specific format requirements can vary depending on if you’re writing a common app essay or a unique college admissions essay for a specific school. The structure of your essay will follow the structure of an academic paper, with an introduction, main body, and a conclusion. As our sample above shows, it is usually written in response to a prompt provided by the school. It is important to pay attention to and answer the prompt, as it demonstrates what the school is hoping to learn about you.

While this task may seem challenging, we are here to guide you through the writing process and the strategies you should apply each step of the way.

Great content requires a solid structure to really shine:

For example: \u201cAlthough being a member of a community isn\u2019t always easy, my experiences have taught me that helping others is also a gift to ourselves \u2013 perhaps solitude isn\u2019t the \u2018best society\u2019 after all.\u201d ","label":"Conclusion","title":"Conclusion"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

Here’s a short guide on how to write a college essay !

6 Tips for Effective Essay Writing

No matter what the prompt is, here are some tips and strategies that are essential for effective writing in any essay:

1. Do not plagiarize.

Your essay needs to be an honest representation of your abilities. It also needs to tell your story, not someone else’s. Copying someone else’s essay violates the rules of academic integrity. Always make sure that you are writing about your own experiences in your own words.

2. Say it with feeling.

Choose topics that you are passionate about – if you aren’t enthusiastic about what you’re sharing, then your audience won’t be excited to read what you have to say, either. Write about how situations made you feel, what you learned from your experiences and how it will serve you in the future. An essay written on a topic that you are passionate about will have a more genuine voice and will make for a more compelling and memorable read. Be sure to avoid clichés like “I know how to think outside of the box” that will sound impersonal and uninspired, and instead express yourself in your own unique and meaningful way. The personal statement essay is your one chance to showcase your personality and character, so let your natural voice shine through!  

3. Show, don’t tell.

Here is one of the best college essay tips : it is important to always give examples and use specific experiences to illustrate what you wish your reader to know about you, instead of merely summarizing or listing facts about yourself. Your experiences are stories, and when you tell your story in a well-organized and vivid way, it makes it easier for the reader to stay engaged and remember afterwards what you have shared with them. For example, simply stating, “I have a strong sense of community” can sound like an empty claim. Showing your reader how and why you have a sense of community is both far more memorable and far more effective in offering proof for what you’re saying (e.g. sharing an experience about working in a soup kitchen, and what it taught you about community). 

If your essay is over the word limit set by the school, you will appear to either not care about the rules in place or to have failed to pay attention to them. Either way, you will damage your standing as an applicant! Check your word counts to make sure you are within the proper range. If you have written too much, edit your work to make it shorter. Clear and succinct writing will create a good impression, so being under the word limit is acceptable as long as you have answered the prompt and effectively conveyed your experiences. 

5. Proofread your work.

As mentioned above, your college essay reveals a lot about your writing skills to the admissions committee. A compelling personal narrative can still end up undermined or muddled by poor spelling, grammar, and confusing syntax. Don’t let typos and grammatical errors let your essay down! You need to commit to proofreading your essay multiple times at each stage of the process, to make sure it is clearly and correctly written.

Additionally, get someone else to proofread it too! Ask a college essay review service or editor if you addressed the prompt effectively, if your essay makes sense, and if your message is clear. Ask them for their impression of the person writing the essay. How would they describe this person? Does that match with what you were trying to convey? What did they think of the tone of your essay? 

Ask a good teacher, a counselor, or another professional to go over your draft. However, choose your proofreader with care: if you let too many people read it, you may end up with too many conflicting suggestions and opinions. Ideally, your proofreader should be someone you trust, and who can provide you with honest feedback on the content and grammar of your essay. Be sure to share the essay prompt with your reader so that he or she can tell you whether you have answered the prompt effectively.

6. Read that prompt one last time!

It’s an excellent idea to go back and re-read the prompt one last time after you’ve completed the final draft of your personal statement essay. This way, you’ll be absolutely sure that you have responded to the prompt effectively. Double-checking before submission also ensures that you did not go too far off-topic in any way during the multiple re-writes you’ll have to do in perfecting your college admission essay. 

Don’t forget about supplemental college application essays ! Here’s a guide on how to write one:

College Essay Examples #1/32: Harvard

Prompt: The Harvard College Honor code declares that we "hold honesty as the foundation of our community." As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty. (650 words)

"I sit in a hot SUV winding it’s way over a bumpy African road, a scarf protecting my nose and mouth as dust streams in through the window. Returning from a teaching session with the Maasai women, the other students' excited chatter dances around me as they discuss our invitation to the Maasai coming of age ceremony. The ceremony centers on the circumcision of pubescent males and females; often performed with a sharp rock and no anesthetic. It is a rite of passage for the Maasai. My stomach is a tight knot, picturing the children we met today and imagining the painful procedure they will soon undergo. The other students, excited about the feast and intricate costumes, hope that accepting the invitation will strengthen our bond with the community. I, however, am weighed down by a profound sense of unease when it comes to the main attraction, the circumcisions. Further, the leader of the organization is absent; should she not be consulted? Do I go along with the group, and participate in something that I am morally opposed to? Or do something about it?

For me, the strength of a person’s character is defined by their ability to act on their values and stand up for what they believe in. Having strong moral values only becomes a powerful agent of change when one is willing to follow through on them with action. Situations, such as this one, where I feel a sinking sensation deep in my gut, help to cue me to conflicts with my own values, prompting me to gather more information, thus taking the first step towards informed action.

In this situation, the knots in my stomach came from being asked to participate in the celebration of female genital mutilation; a practice which is decidedly against my personal values of reducing human suffering and promoting women’s rights. My visceral reaction came specifically from the idea of watching while doing nothing to intervene. Further, I worried that, as students, our group would be woefully ill-equipped to navigate the nuances of the situation, potentially resulting in harm to our relationship with the community. Plus, due to our association with a medical organization, our presence could be mis-interpreted as an endorsement of the safety of these procedures. With the potential to do harm and without an actionable plan in place for stopping genital mutilation, I concluded that I could not, in good conscience, attend the ceremony.

Though I had decided that I could not go, I still felt concerned about the potential impact of the group's attendance, and wanted to gain more insight into the situation before deciding on a course of action. I shared my concerns with my partner and another student. My partner agreed with me, and we decided to consult his physician father. We quickly learned that Canadian physicians are not legally permitted to condone female genital mutilation, meaning that our attending the ceremony could have legal ramifications for our physician-run organization. With this information in hand, I knew I had to contact the organization lead about the excursion. She forbid our group from attending, requesting that I inform the other students, who were obviously disappointed that I had 'gotten the trip cancelled'.

Though I believe my course of action was the right one and I would not change the outcome, looking back, I wish I had voiced my concerns earlier; it may have made the end result easier for the other students to swallow. In spite of this, being honest when expressing my discomfort with a situation and choosing an alternative course of action that is aligned with my values has never led me to make a decision that I regret. Though standing up for what you believe in, and doing what is right, is not always easy, it is always worth it, and arguably the only way of living a life without regrets."

College Essay Examples #2/32

Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

When I was a child, I loved to play the video game Pokémon. My favorite part was having to go to different places and collect all the animals. Around the same time, I entered Boy Scouts and got engrossed in the idea of merit badges. Each badge could be earned by learning about a topic or a challenge and then doing a series of projects related to it. From fishing to first aid, I quickly found that I loved learning about each new task. In my first year in Scouts, I earned double the required number of badges, and it took off from there. My love of collecting trophies was once again reignited. 

My passion for collecting the Pokémon animals was transferred to Boy Scouts. I had set my mind on earning every merit badge, so I had to tell my parents and my troop. My parents were on board instantly, but my troop took some convincing. Many of them said that it would take too much time; that I’d have to travel to different states for some badges like the snow sports merit badge, or that I’d have to build up the endurance to bike for 50 miles at one time for the bicycling merit badge. I told them that I was eager to do this and that I needed their help to find where the badges were being taught. They chuckled and let me have access to the citywide list. Over the next six years I hiked up mountains, swam across rivers, and camped outside with nothing but a long jacket. As I kept going, my troop's attitude slowly turned from apprehensive to encouraging. Members of the community started popping up to teach some of the more obscure merit badges like atomic energy and bugling. Word of what we were doing spread thought-out the local scouting community and other scouts started joining our mission when someone offered one of the uncommon badges. There was a little boy who must have weighed 80 pounds when he took the computers merit badge with me, and last time we talked, he had been offered a job at Google.

A scout must collect all the badges before his 18th birthday. With the strength of the community behind me, I was able to get my final merit badge a month before my 18th birthday – right before I had to sit for my final interview for the Eagle Scout badge. During that interview, the scout leader asked if I had completed every single merit badge. When I confirmed, he informed me that I had broken a new world record as the first Boy Scout in history to earn every merit badge before earning my Eagle! As he stood up and shook my hand, I was overcome with gratitude for everyone who had gotten me to this point. Every late night with my parents, every merit badge counselor, every teacher, every fellow scout, and every scout leader who helped me achieve that goal. This was about so much more than one scout. This was about a community coming together to make history. Even though this was a few years ago, I look back fondly on all the people who made it happen, and today I am a merit badge counselor myself working to give back to scouting more than what it has given me, even though that might take a while. 

Prompt: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find, so engaging it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

I have always been fascinated by history: the rise and fall of empires, the evolution of humanity, innovation, politics, and everything else that made us who we are today. What amazes me so much about history are the moments when everything could have gone differently had it not been for one decision: what if Lincoln was never elected? What if the French Revolution never took place? What if the Magna Carta was never signed?

My love of history likely started in middle school with Mr. Flickerson. He was a very thin, tall man with a giant white mustache who always wore a tweed jacket. He was our history teacher and he always claimed that books didn’t always have everything right. Mr. Flickerson often encouraged us to do our own research and see what else we could find on a topic of interest. If someone could find something from a reputable source that disagreed with the textbook, we got five bonus points on a test.

I still remember how excitedly he recounted old battles. He would do gruff voices for generals and deftly switch to a hilarious high pitched voice for the ladies. His passion for history greatly affected his students, and by the end of the year, we were shooting history reenactment videos in full costume. Since then, history has always held a special place in my heart.

Now when I exercise, half of my podcasts are all history related. I remember once getting so engrossed in a podcast about Genghis Khan that I stayed at the gym for three hours! On the one hand, he was a vicious warrior and tyrant, but he was also an innovator and loyal leader. He allowed women to serve in leadership positions. He even promoted freedom of religion. There are many stories of him eating on the ground or from an old wooden bowl while his guests dined using the fine silver. 

From history, we can learn a lot about the complexities of humanity. We can see how people in the past dealt with issues and what their results were. In its way, history sheds light on our present and future. 

College Essay Examples #4/32

Prompt: The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission? (650 words max)

The phrase “citizen-leader” is important to distinguish from conventional ideas about leadership. Rather than leading by trying to single oneself out among peers, I believe that real leadership comes through effecting palpable change in the lives of those around you. Effective leaders don’t stand apart from their communities, but rather strive to become as deeply rooted within them as possible. A real leader is first and foremost a citizen, a peer, and a support for those around them.

My sense of leadership has been shaped by my father, whose nearly 25 years in public education have positively impacted hundreds of students. Each year he would come home on the last day of a school year with dozens of cards and gifts, from both current students graduating and former students who stopped by to thank him sometimes years after being his students. He was a leader—someone who helped others learn to find themselves, rather than direct their actions or words through conventional authority. I’ve come to believe that power it is the ability to encourage people to evolve, and that sustained, successful leadership is measured only by the success and wellbeing of the people around you.

As a result of this understanding, I’ve maintained an active presence in my high school’s peer tutoring program throughout my junior and senior years. Since I also hope to become a teacher, this has provided important experience that helped me better understand the kind of communication and time management skills needed to help people overcome their educational obstacles, specifically regarding their writing skills. The Academic Resource Center’s Peer Tutoring program at Harvard is one of the central ways in which I’d like to help lead my fellow students toward a better understanding not only of rhetoric and composition, but of the world in general.

Coaching in sports is another mode of leadership that I hope to maintain at Harvard. Powerlifting has had a major place in my extracurricular life during high school and I was thrilled to learn that Harvard boasts a competitive powerlifting club. This goes back to the metric of encouraging success and wellbeing of others — the powerlifting club presents an opportunity in which I can further develop these skills along with my fellow barbell enthusiasts. I’ve found strength sport environments to be really egalitarian and accessible, with a continual emphasis on collaboration and mutual support that’s unique among team sports. The path to becoming a more effective leader comes from forging bonds and developing skills alongside other people, so that eventually your ability to lead follows naturally from the experience and abilities you’ve honed over years of work. By lifting up oneself and others, we eventually pass a threshold into becoming beacons of knowledge, exemplars of ethical and effective action, and citizen-leaders.

This all further galvanizes my desire to teach following my time at Harvard. I feel incredibly fortunate that my current passions in writing and powerlifting will provide opportunities in which I can further develop my leadership skills in a way that will improve my ability to teach them to others. I will strive to continue being a supportive peer and collaborator which is an important foundation for becoming a true leader and educator. Harvard is in every sense the best possible environment for continuing this evolution and encouraging it in my fellow students as well. (556 words)

Write a killer college essay for Harvard by reading some of the best Harvard supplemental essay examples .

College essay examples #5/32: cornell.

Prompt: What is your "thing"? What energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time? Everyone has different passions, obsessions, quirks, inspirations. What are yours? (maximum of 650 words)

“Bam!” These were the energized words of Emeril Lagasse as he added a touch of parmesan cheese to perfectly top off the dish he had just cooked on live television. Growing up, my sisters and I became hooked on watching chefs like Emeril cook on The Food Network. I never liked mushrooms and despised when my parents included them as we sat down to eat dinner together each night. My parents said that if I did not like it, I could cook dinner myself. I had been watching cooking shows, so I decided to try my hand at cooking our family meals. My parents were thrilled to have someone else making dinner for the night and I was ecstatic to be put in the decision-making seat for what we would be eating for dinner. Over the years, I continue to cook with my family as a way to grow closer together and I also cook by myself as a form of stress relief. As I chop vegetables, I get lost in the repetitive nature of the task and it becomes a form of meditation for me; something for my mind to focus on that allows me to forget about the troubles of the day. While my love for cooking stemmed from a desire to not have to eat mushrooms with dinner, it has grown into one of my favorite hobbies. At Cornell, I know I will meet a wide range of people and even the typical college student that does not know now to cook and relies on a microwave, pop tarts, and ramen to get through arduous study sessions. I hope to bring my hobby of cooking to Cornell where I can use it to make it through my own stressful hurdles but also to build relationships with my new classmates who may be missing a home-cooked meal.

The college admissions essays for Cornell are a bit different than other Ivy League schools. Brush up on writing Cornell essays and review the essay prompts to start your writing! ","label":"Note","title":"Note"}]" code="tab3" template="BlogArticle">

College Essay Examples #6/32:

School: Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

Prompt: What is your "thing"? What energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time? Everyone has different passions, obsessions, quirks, inspirations. What are yours? (650 words)

It’s 4 a.m. and I’m bent over my computer screen. In front of me is one of the photographs I intend to submit for the Charles Lewin Digital Photo Essay Competition. It is a silhouette shot of a tall, smiling woman – my mother – framed against the backdrop of a gorgeous red sunset. Though I’d used the whip-pan technique to give the photo the same dynamic, inspiring, whirlwind energy I associate with my mother, it’s not quite right. I’ve been fiddling with the white balance and color pallet for hours, trying to capture the perfect amount of luminosity in my mother’s eyes. At that moment, my mother herself comes in, asking why I’m up so late on a school night. When I show her the picture, her eyes light up in exactly the way I’ve captured in the photo. That photo essay, capturing the beauty of three generations of women in my family, went on to win me first place in the competition. And yet the moment that I shall carry with me forever is the one from 4 a.m. that night. The moment when my mother’s eyes lit up in joy and wonder as she understood exactly what I was trying to say through my photography. In that moment, I knew for sure that I’d be chasing this feeling for the rest of my life.

Though that moment cemented my love for photography, I’ve been playing around with a camera since I was 5 years old, when my father first introduced me to his favorite hobby. I was a shy, quiet kid and photography allowed me to experience the world and communicate my feelings like I never could before. Most of our weekends were spent taking pictures, from micro nature photography on our camping trips to event photography for every community event. Even back then, I was constantly asking questions about why one picture looks better than another. I credit my father for helping me develop my photographic “eye”. The training of those early years helped me develop my sense of aesthetic placements, framing, and positioning. 

To this day, I am obsessed with learning about the technical side of photography. I have a natural analytical bent of mind that exists along-side my artistic vision; and so, I gravitate towards understanding exactly how aperture, depth of field, shutter speed, exposure, composition, and white balance can be used as a tool of artistic control in photography. My favorite way to unwind is to read books and online articles about photography and techniques I’m currently obsessed with. I also love experimenting with different styles of photography. Though art photography is my passion, I spent a couple of years as the staff photographer for my high school newspaper. This foray into the journalistic arena helped to broaden my horizons and consider the social impact of photography.

Lately, I’ve become passionately interested in the philosophy and psychology of photography. There are two books that inspired this journey - “The Art of Photography” by Bruce Barnbaum and “Studio Anywhere” by Nick Fancher. These books led me to think deeply about the artistic merit and social impact of photography and inspired me to sign up as a volunteer photographer at the local community center. I remember when an older lady, a little self-conscious about her appearance, asked me to take a photo of her in her evening dress at a fund-raising event. When I showed her the photo I took, her expression transformed from anxiety and discomfort to pride and confidence, just like my mother on that fateful Tuesday night. That’s another moment of joy I’ll carry with me forever.

Alfred Stieglitz once said - “In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” Every photographer has a vision of their own reality and the greatest joy I feel is when I successfully communicate this philosophy using my work. (648 words)

School: Cornell College of Arts and Sciences

Prompt: Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s “any person…any study” founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College. (650 words)

Growing up, I was your average troublesome kid. I rarely turned in homework on time, I frequently landed in detention, and I preferred video games to any other activity. This was me until the age of 14 – and that was when it all changed, thanks to Mr. Robert Brown. I was placed in Mr. Brown’s English Literature class in freshman year. Mr. Brown believed that every student could become interested in English Literature, given the right bait, and for me the bait was science fiction novels. He identified my nascent inclination towards science-based, fantasy worlds, based on my interest in video games, and handed me some choice works by Isaac Asimov, Ursula Le Guin, and Frank Herbert. In a matter of days, I was hooked. 

Looking back, I can appreciate how deeply transformative that period of my life was. Science fiction fulfilled all of my natural inclinations towards an exploration of imagination and wonder within the limits of a rule-bounded world. At the same time, it awoke in me a deep and abiding interest in larger questions of philosophy, sociology, technology, and ethics. I had a new-found love for not only English Literature, but also Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Math and my overall grades improved tremendously. I often took up projects for extra credit just so I could explore a particular new topic I was obsessed with. Specifically, I loved to take up parallel projects in different classes since I loved exploring two different sides of the same essential question. For instance, in my sophomore year, I wrote a paper on Darwinian Evolution in Mid-Century American Fiction for my English Literature class, while also working on an extra-credit class presentation on the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution for Biology. This kind of dual-natured exploration of topics is something I want to pursue throughout my life.

Over time, my interest in the fictional explorations of socio-scientific questions expanded to the real world. In particular, I developed an interest in biotechnology innovations such as gene-therapy, drug engineering, and agricultural biotechnology and I even started a YouTube channel to provide commentary on the latest scientific news. My scientific interests led me to real-world activism in my junior year when a biotechnology company came to our town to offer “free” genetic sequencing for the population. I organized an informational campaign highlighting their lax privacy and data protection terms. Thanks to our efforts, the company revised their terms to ensure greater privacy for the genetic information of all participants.

This experience sparked my interest in medical ethics as a career and I am now actively seeking an education that will allow me to pursue both the scientific and philosophical questions related to technology, society, and ethical limitations. I believe the Science & Technology Studies major at the Cornell College of Arts and Sciences offers a unique opportunity to pursue the holistic, balanced education I seek. 

Though I know what I eventually want to major in, it is also particularly important to me to continue building my knowledge base in both humanities and sciences, before declaring my major. The holistic, balanced curriculum at your school allows me this freedom. At Cornell, I will have the chance to acquire philosophy AND biology mentors, interact with students who have varying subject matter interests, and complete an independent research study in any topic of my choosing. 

It’s strange to think that just a few years ago, I cared about nothing more than my League of Legends avatar and Minecraft cohorts! And yet, that love for video games was the first step in my journey towards finding answers to the greatest socio-philosophical and scientific questions of our times. I hope Cornell College of Arts and Science can be the next step in that journey. (623)

College Essay Examples #8/32: Princeton

Prompt: At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future? (250 words)

As captain of my high school basketball team, I have led my team to many hard-earned victories and a few crushing losses. Yet the most difficult moment of my football career took place off the field. It was the morning after our last game of the season, when Tyler, one of my classmates, approached me to ask for a favor. He said that a group he was a part of called the Hands-On organization were planning a new campaign that they’d love my support with, as captain of the football team – a campaign to request a different school mascot. You see, our school team was called the “Lincoln Indians” and our mascot was a stereotypical representation of an Indian. In our small town located in rural Montana, this has never even been recognized as an issue and initially, I, too, didn’t comprehend why it might be one. Tyler took the time to explain to me how it made him feel to see his identity masqueraded as a costume. It was a revelation to me to learn how traumatized he felt at every game. It was a brief conversation which made me re-think a lot of things I had taken for granted; ultimately, I was enlightened and humbled. Thanks to Tyler’s efforts, we have a new team mascot. As for me, I am now a member of the Hands-On organization myself, and I want to continue to use my voice to create awareness around the issues affecting minorities in our country. (250) 

If you\u2019re planning to apply to Princeton, read some more Princeton essay examples to get you started! ","label":"College Diversity Essay","title":"College Diversity Essay"}]" code="tab4" template="BlogArticle">

College Essay Examples #9/32:

School: Princeton University 

Prompt: Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. (250 words)

I was 14 when I met Jennifer at the local Literacy Volunteers and Advocates (LVA) chapter. At this time, I was going through the basic motions of volunteering without truly understanding the impact or significance of what I was doing. Jennifer was an immigrant from Mexico and attended my computer literacy class at LVA. She was one of the few new immigrants who could speak English fluently, and so she served as the unofficial translator at our LVA center. Once, I asked her if she didn’t find it annoying to always have to leave her own tasks and go running off to translate for other people. She told me that for her, it was a privilege to be able to do this for others and the biggest annoyances were the authority figures who displayed impatience, discrimination, and cruelty towards immigrants. Her words had a lasting impact on me and from that moment, I saw so many instances of inequity, cruelty, and injustice that I had not even registered before. At the same time, I recognized the potential I had to make a real difference in people’s lives. I decided to take on a full-time Spanish tutor and in a couple of years, I was near-fluent in Spanish. My life’s goal is to continue practicing my Spanish language skills through my undergraduate education and to eventually enact provisions in politics and society to counter the language barrier that so many immigrants face. (241)

Prompt: The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. (100-250 words)

I have always enjoyed my English Literature classes and Mrs. Sutherland’s junior year Lit class was no different. Our assigned reading was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It was my first Austen novel, and in fact, it was the first classic novel I had read from that historical period. I knew I’d enjoy the romantic story of the novel; what I didn’t expect was how the social structure of the novel would grip me as I deep-dived into it for our class. When Mrs. Sutherland gave us the freedom to write our English Lit finals paper about any topic, I chose to write about the social fabric of the Regency era. I was fascinated by how the Regency-era economic and military events formed the backdrop for Jane Austen’s social realism. This paper sparked my interest in social history as a field of study, and subsequently, I read as many books as I could about the social, cultural, and economic history of England. Each new topic I read about made me reflect on how social mores and day-to-day social rituals are formed as a result of the major economic, military, and business events of the time. That one semester of English Literature introduced me to a whole new world of learning, questioning, and debating, and eventually helped me define what I wish to study in college. Thank you Mrs. Sutherland! (230)

College Essay Examples #11/32:

School: Stanford University

Prompt: Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—get to know you better. (100-250 words)

Dear future roommate,

The number one thing you should know about me is that I live in a state of organized chaos, both in my mind and outside it. For example, I love learning about new topics and my favorite way to learn is to read as much as I can while drinking copious cups of tea. Prepare to often see large piles of books about my latest hyper-obsession lying around! 

Yes, I still like checking physical books out of the library rather than downloading digital copies – that’s another one of my quirks. While I’m open to learning and I enjoy new experiences, I also like the comfort and stability of tradition. In fact, I am also a very traditional student. For me, learning is not just about classes and homework and assignments. I like to bring my learning home with me, and to talk about topics that sparked my interest with my friends. 

For example, yesterday in AP Biology, we learned about invasive species and their impact on ecology. This got me thinking about how human beings could, in our current form, be considered an invasive species, and I later had an interesting conversation with my friend about whether natural corrections could already be occurring in response. 

Along with my piles of books, you can expect me to bring home many ideas, experiences, and speculations to discuss with you, maybe over a cup of tea! (236)

College Essay Examples #12/32:

Prompt: Tell us about something that is meaningful to you, and why?(100-250 words)

I am a passionate advocate for universal healthcare and specifically, equitable, and non-discriminatory access to healthcare for people of all communities. One of my goals in pursuing an education in medicine combined with public health policy is to take tangible actions towards my beliefs. 

Growing up, my family and I never considered “going to the hospital” an option. My parents both had minimum wage jobs with no benefits. Without health insurance, without coverage, healthcare was, to us, a luxury. If we were seriously injured or ill, we would call on “unofficial” doctors – a friendly nurse, a local vet, or the knowledgeable pharmacist who lived above us. I remember when I was 12, my mother, who at the time had an undiagnosed diabetic condition, went into insulin shock, and almost died. Riding to the hospital in the ambulance, I could see that even in that moment, my father couldn’t purely worry about his wife’s life; he also had to worry about the medical bills he’d be stuck with, even if she lived. 

My mother survived, and so did our family, but the suffering of that time still lives with me. It informs my desire to be the best possible doctor I can be, serving communities that need my help. And it’s why my greatest ambition is to one day be in a position to implement effective policies that address the imbalances in our healthcare system. (234)

Is Stanford your #1 choice? Get ready for supplemental applications and read some Stanford essay examples !

College essay examples #13/32:.

School:  Stanford University

Prompt: Tell us about something that is meaningful to you, and why? (Max 250 words)

Cold water splashed my exposed calves as I helped pull the rubber dingy safely to shore. I kept thinking about the line of a poem by Warshan Shire: “no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.” I noted that there were more than 15 small children in the boat. My family and I had been vacationing on a Greek island when we heard cries coming from the sea. We rushed to help and with the aid of locals, we pulled the boat to shore. Luckily everyone survived. A few of those on the boat spoke English; they explained that they were refugees and had fled conflict in Syria. Until that point in my life the concept of a refugee was opaque. Now I understood in a visceral way what it meant to flee one’s country.    

Since this trip one year ago, I have devoted most of my extracurricular hours to a local NGO that helps to resettle refugees. I have convinced many friends to join me as a “buddy” to incoming refugees. We teach each other about our cultures by cooking together, sharing stories, and exploring nature. The more I learn about other cultures, the more I realize that I have much more to learn. What I now know is that is my duty to advocate for those who do not have the power to advocate for themselves and to fight for the rights of those at home and abroad. (248 words)

Prompt: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

As a child, I was considered the “fat” kid. I grew much faster than any of my peers and was over a foot taller than every other person in my 5th-grade class. With that speedy growth came a lot of eating and I tended to be overweight for most of my childhood. However, by the start of grade 7, I started to lean out and at the end that year I was finally “in shape.” This new status and change in my appearance led to major changes in most of my relationships: it was easier to make friends, teachers treated me better, and I was picked first for sports teams. Everything seemed to improve. Yet, I remembered what it had been like to be an “outsider” and suffer humiliation for my appearance and weight.

I learned to appreciate the power of humor very early on in my life. Initially, when a classmate went on about how giant or stupid I was, I could not stand up for myself. It was painful and infuriating, but I took the abuse quietly. However, once I learned that I shouldn't take myself and my appearance too seriously, I was able to make fun of myself too. This change in my attitude was life-altering. My classmates' taunts didn't hurt anymore and most of my peers did not want to bully someone who reacted to their abuse with laughter. As the years went on, I would hone this ability, always ready to deflect mean words with a quick joke or a clever comment. I even started using it to swing in and save other outsiders like myself. The key was to distract the bully long enough to escape or to get the bully to start laughing, perhaps even turning them into friends. Once I dropped the weight and became conventionally “normal”, I never forgot what it was like to be different. Since then, I have always worked to include everyone. Inclusion has become a priority to me, as I do not want anyone to experience what I did. A kind word or a quick joke makes strangers feel like friends and speaking from experience, sometimes that’s all we need.

Children can be brutally honest. If they see something different than what they are used to, they have no problem pointing it out. As an adult, this is an endearing trait to see in children, but as a fellow kid, it was difficult to endure. Growing up is hard for everyone, but it is especially rough for people who are different. One of my best friends as a child was a kind girl from Spain whose family always made very fragrant foods. Other children mocked the smell of her lunches, but I was always friendly, and we often enjoyed her delicious lunches together. Together, our respective challenges did not seem so severe.

Growing up as an outsider taught me a lot. Negative experiences are also valuable: knowing what it’s like to be made fun of and excluded teaches you the value of friendship and companionship. I didn’t know it at the time, but hardships can be helpful gifts. The spice of life is variety. If everyone looked, acted, and thought the same, we’d have such a boring world. But instead, we have artists, craftsmen, philosophers, and writers - people who change the world through their uniqueness. 

College Essay Examples #15/32: University of Pennsylvania

Prompt: How did you discover your intellectual and academic interests, and how will you explore them at the University of Pennsylvania? (300-450 words)

Realizing how infinitely fascinating biology could be is a memory steeped in the peculiar odor of formaldehyde. My tiny hand, 9 years old and perpetually snack-sticky enough to leave fingerprints on the glass, reached out and lightly rested on the jar holding what I then called “monster hands”. In reality, this was an impeccably preserved pair of hands from a gout sufferer, one of the thousands of wet specimens in Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum, a place I didn’t know existed prior to my first visit but have not forgotten since.

Though the sight was unusual, I wasn’t scared by this display at all. My parents have since told me that I was overcome with fascination in that moment, genuinely transfixed by what surrounded me. My now-hazy recollection is one of wonder, and a feeling I couldn’t quite describe at the time but now understand to be empathy. “Was he sore?” I asked my parents. My mother laughed and my father calmly tried to explain, in toddler terms, just how much pain this person suffered.

This planted a seed that has since matured into a profound appreciation for the complexity of living systems. And, in more somber terms, a sensitivity to how these systems can short-circuit and create a domino effect of dysfunction that results in everything from uric acid crystals in knuckles to conjoined twins. I’ve since tempered my childhood fascination with more extreme medical conditions, but I can still see, feel, and smell that room in the Mutter. Strange as it may be, my lifelong obsession with medicine and biology comes out of this oddity-packed room, its vaguely astringent air, and impossibly large intestine sitting halfway up the stairs.

Penn’s Musculoskeletal Center is therefore one of the biggest reasons for my application for admission. The center’s current research in both ossification disorders and tissue engineering is incredibly exciting to me, and while I know participation in high-level research is quite limited for undergraduates, nothing would make me happier than to contribute to the MC’s singular work in some small way. Even more generally, the strength of Penn’s biology department will provide an incredible launching pad for more specialized work in medicine following graduation. (363 words)

College Essay Examples #16/32:

School: University of Pennsylvania

Prompt: At Penn, learning and growth happen outside of the classroom, too. How will you explore the community at Penn? Consider how this community will help shape your perspective and identity, and how your identity and perspective will help shape this community. (150-200 words)

In addition to my academic interests, music will be my main means of exploring Penn’s community. Growing up in a small town of just 600 people meant that my high school was perpetually underfunded and unable to support any music programs. Penn’s symphony orchestra and jazz combos would be my first opportunity to utilize years of private lessons and practice I’ve undertaken since early childhood. Moreover, working with such a renowned orchestra will be my first commitment to musical performance outside of small community ensembles. This would enable a previously underdeveloped part of who I am to bloom in the company of incredibly talented musicians and directors. 

Shifting from very introverted, isolated artistic practice to genuine collaboration and community would be a massive evolution for me as both a musician and a person. I would look forward to unbottling the energy I've built up playing along to Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane over the last ten years, energizing and encouraging my fellow musicians and adding a unique perspective as someone who's new to—but very grateful for—larger ensemble performance. (178 words)

Check out some more UPenn essays to find inspiration before writing your own!

College essay examples #17/32: yale university.

Prompt: Yale’s extensive course offerings and vibrant conversations beyond the classroom encourage students to follow their developing intellectual interests wherever they lead. Tell us about your engagement with a topic or idea that excites you. Why are you drawn to it? (250 words or fewer)

Art is always a snapshot of a given cultural and artistic moment, but the physicality of this information in pottery has always fascinated me and encouraged me to be both a voracious researcher and experimenter in my own creative practice Pottery is rightly considered an art, but its underpinnings in chemistry are what have attracted me to this practice and kept me engaged with it over the years. Glazes in particular are endlessly complex, rife with history and a sense of cross-cultural collaboration. In a sense, something as simple as the type of cobalt luster on a Hispano-Moresque plate contains centuries of history, telling stories of resource availability, migration, commerce, and even theology. Yet all of this information must be unlocked through understanding a piece's chemical underpinnings, and specifically the nearly infinite variations in fluxes and ensuing chemical interactions that have shaped—or more accurately, colored—earthenware and stoneware art throughout history.

Yale’s Chemistry BS/MS program will be a demanding course of study, but a big part of my extracurricular and personal development involvement throughout it will remain in the molecular magic of pottery. Much the same way surgeons often engage in very dexterity-dependent arts in their downtime, I look forward to continuing my personal explorations in art-oriented chemistry while further developing my academic proficiencies in the science itself. (217 words)

School: Yale University 

Prompt: Yale students, faculty, and alumni engage issues of local, national, and international significance. Discuss an issue that is important to you and how your college experience could help you address it. (250 words or fewer)

Being called “short stack” is probably common for a lot of 5 year-olds, and it certainly didn’t bother me throughout my kindergarten year. But just a few years later, I came to understand that I was not only significantly shorter than my friends but was in fact growing at a much slower pace. 

I had grown up in a so-called “food desert”. As is the case for most families in these areas, mine rarely had enough money to afford what scarce high-nutrient food we did have access to. This experience has shaped a big part of not only my sense of self but of my desire to pursue a career in policy analysis to help prevent other kids from having food insufficiencies. Legislation around food and specifically its insufficient supply in poorer areas would therefore be a central focus in my individual research in Yale’s Urban Studies program, as well as my graduate and professional work thereafter. 

I feel extremely strongly that I have an ethical duty to utilize the privilege afforded to me by an education at Yale to help other kids grow up happier, healthier, and in more self-sufficient communities. (192 words)

Applying to Yale? Here are some Yale supplemental essays examples !

College essay examples #19/32: columbia university.

Prompt: Columbia students take an active role in improving their community, whether in their residence hall, classes or throughout New York City. Their actions, small or large, work to positively impact the lives of others. Share one contribution that you have made to your family, school, friend group or another community that surrounds you. (200 words or fewer)

The biggest impact I’ve had on my friends and peers was small enough to fit in a shoebox. It started simply: one day in 8th grade, a friend forgot to pack any money, so the rest of us pitched in to buy her lunch. The next day she wanted to pay us back, but I suggested we just stash the $5 in case any of us forget our lunch money in the future. After a few weeks of saving our spare change, we had enough to move our cache to a small shoebox, which then became our friend group’s bank. This caught on quickly, and by ninth grade we began to maintain a class-wide “shoebox bank,” available to anyone who needed lunch money or a few dollars for anything else. 

By the end of high school, this grew into a formal “leave what you can / take what you need” policy that allowed us to donate $400 to our city’s food bank at the end of the year. I couldn’t have done this alone, and so one of the most important things I learned from the success of our shoebox was that a good idea needs community support to succeed. (200 words)

College Essay Examples #20/32:

School: Columbia University

Prompt: Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? (200 words or fewer)

Columbia has long been my magnetic North in the world of American literature. I was an early reader, and became interested in poetry, first the romantics and transcendentalists, then the beats. Tracing the biographies of figures like Kerouac and Ginsburg more recently, I began to realize that they and many other writers whose work had found its way to me spontaneously came with the common thread of Columbia.

My own poetic practice has therefore been deeply informed by the textures and philosophical milieus which stem from Columbia, and a big part of my desire to matriculate. Professor Arsić’s book On Leaving was especially transformative, awakening me to a fuller sense of the interrelatedness of so many American writers like Emerson, and galvanizing beyond any doubt the sense that literary studies was my calling. And on a more concrete level, the resources of both the Burke and Butler libraries would play a central part in my proposed thesis, allowing me to fully enmesh my own academic work with the history that has shaped it. (173 words)

The \u201c why this college \u201d is a common essay prompt for admissions. Be sure your reasons for applying are clear and sound. Outline 2 or 3 reasons why you want to attend and what you will bring to the program, especially if you\u2019re writing to an Ivy League school! Read some Columbia essay examples to see what other prompts you can expect. ","label":"Tip","title":"Tip"}]" code="tab5" template="BlogArticle">

College Essay Examples #21/32:

Prompt: Please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you noted in the application. (200 words or fewer)

My first visit to a planetarium at the age of 10 infected me with a specific obsession: infinity. The idea of an ever-expanding universe was so thrilling and puzzling to me that I couldn’t shake trying to understand it. 

For months after my first trip to the Hayden planetarium, I pondered infinity, barely understanding the word itself. This matured into a lasting fascination with number and number theory specifically, and by the time I was in high school I was committed to following this path of knowledge without reservation. The history of number theory formed a prominent part of my elective work as an undergrad, during which I undertook both bibliographic and technical research on Cantor's paradox and "actual infinity" in relation to his lifelong mysticism. 

My commitment to mathematics has grown and become much more specialized since my early bedazzlement by cosmology, but the experience of seeing mathematics as a way of thinking beyond conventional scales and frameworks has remained a central part of my love for the discipline ever since. A life spent exploring the outermost reaches of number and logic has been and still is my deepest desire. (191 words)

Prompt: Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about an academic interest (or interests) that excites you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue it. (250 words)

Looking through the eyepiece of a microscope, I was amazed to see the individual cells of a sea urchin embryo. In my high school cell and molecular biology class, we were studying the cell cycle and we had the opportunity to harvest embryos from sea urchins to view under the microscope. I had used a microscope before, but only to look at prepared slides containing preserved tissue samples. This was my first time viewing a live sample that I had prepared myself. This experience opened my eyes to the wonders of cell biology and how our scientific world has been expanded with the technology of microscopes. I knew that I wanted to continue to incorporate microscopes into my own learning and to learn as much as I could about cells and their inner workings. With Brown’s Open Curriculum, I am excited to broadly study biology while also diving deeply into the world of cell biology. The excitement I felt when looking through the microscope at a sea urchin embryo is one that I look to bring with me to Brown as my classmates and I embark on expanding our academic horizons and building the foundation needed to be successful in our future scientific careers. 

College Essay Examples #23/32:

School:  Brown University

Prompt: Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective? (250 words)

When I was a child, I was upset to learn that my parents had decided we would be moving houses. I did not want to leave the place I had called home for the past thirteen years, the place where I had friends and happy childhood memories. Since this period in my life, I have moved several times and now when I think of home, the first thought that comes to mind is my parents. I realized that home is not a specific place; it is the people that surround you that make you feel at home. This perspective allows me to travel to new places and embark on new adventures with the understanding that I can make any place feel like home. The key is building friendships and relationships with those around you so a place does not feel foreign but rather a place in which you feel supported. As I join your community, I look forward to establishing these relationships as my peers and I build a new home at Brown University.  

If you’re applying to Brown University, be sure to read some more Brown essay examples !

College essay examples #24/32:.

School:  Tulane University

Prompt: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. 

My arms began to shake as the bag filled up. Soon it became almost too heavy to manage. Finally, the massive Leatherback Sea Turtle had finished laying her eggs and my team and I could move them to a nursery we had prepared. I was in Costa Rica for an AP class in Tropical Ecology and we were tasked with saving these eggs from poachers. We brought the eggs to safety and when we returned two months later, we were able to watch as hundreds of baby sea turtles hatched and made it out to sea. 

This experience was particularly formative for me. I learned two important lessons. The first is the importance of environmental stewardship. Due to trawling, harvesting for consumption, light pollution and other human factors, many sea turtles are now critically endangered. It will be left to my generation to continue the fight to preserve the natural world. I also learned how inequality can contribute to environmental degradation. The poachers, for example, were working-class families who sold the eggs as aphrodisiacs for $USD 1-2 in order to survive. When I heard this, I had to act. By saving the eggs, we may have unintentionally denied these families their means of survival. I therefore, asked my school program if we could brainstorm a solution that would help both the turtles and the locals. We decided to buy their handicrafts at a higher price, to sell back at home. We also established a yearly fundraiser. To date we have helped transition 10 local families from relying on turtle eggs, to selling handmade items. Through this new partnership with the community, we have also established a cultural exchange, in which a few of our youth spend one month in Costa Rica each year while their youth come to the United States. I hope that this will continue to flourish in the years to come. 

With privilege comes responsibility: those of us who have grown up in wealthy societies have largely benefitted from an unequal global system. I believe that it is my duty to use this privilege to help both the world’s human and non-human inhabitants.

Prompt: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (600 words)

I had not lived long, but at that moment, I was sure this was the worst day of my life. I was only eleven years old, and I had to listen to a doctor tell my mother that I would have to inject myself every day for the rest of my life. Being diagnosed with Type I diabetes felt almost like a death sentence; my life changed in an instant, and I was terrified of not being able to cope with a chronic disease and afraid that I would never get to be a normal child. Little did I know that this condition would later on allow me to give back to my community through my volunteering initiatives and would make me want to pursue a career where I could help others.

The impact that my disease had on my family was profound. We all had to learn to adjust to a new reality, and I went from having a normal life, to having to mature in a matter of weeks. I knew that it was up to me to make this work, but I felt lost and did not know how to deal with this immense responsibility of managing a new diet, an insulin shot four times a day, and my emotions. After a few days, the initial shock was replaced by denial, then came anger, and little by little, I later gained acceptance. By exercising determination and courage, I decided that even though my disease was now a part of my life, I would not let it dictate who I was or what I could become. I was resolute to do great things.  

Besides the discipline and resilience that I had to muster to live my life as a diabetic, I realized that some things in life are better dealt with by having a support system. With this in mind, I looked for volunteering positions where I could share my experience with others and listen to their own struggles. After I got involved in different initiatives, I decided to organize a support group in high school for students who were dealing with difficult situations and just needed someone to talk to. The group was so successful that I was invited to other schools to talk about what we did and about the difference we made in our members’ lives by just listening to one another. Today, we have more than twenty volunteers, and our meeting times have doubled since we started. Additionally, this group has been a platform for other initiatives that I have helped launch such as fundraising campaigns and mental health events. I do this as I keep looking for ways to get involved in my community and create spaces for people to support one another in difficult times. 

We all have challenges in life. Being diagnosed with a chronic disease at such a young age was devastating for me and my family. However, form this experience I have learned that being disciplined is the key to living a healthy life and that being compassionate is the first step to helping those who need it. When I see how many people have been benefitted from our group, I look back and remember being a scared eleven-year-old, and I feel proud of what I have become. What felt like a death sentence at first turned into a way of supporting others in my community proving that the lessons we take from the obstacles we encounter can, in fact, be fundamental to later success.

Are you applying to any UC schools ? Familiarize yourself with some UC personal statement samples and prompts , since these can be very different from common app prompts! ","label":"Note","title":"Note"}]" code="tab6" template="BlogArticle">

College Essay Examples #26/32:

Common App Essays

Prompt: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Staring down at my scuffed Converse Chuck Taylors, I distinctly remember the feeling of heat rising in my cheeks. Somehow, I had landed myself in the principal’s office at the beginning of the school year in tenth grade. I blame it on the growth spurt I experienced the summer before that had single-handedly taken half of my wardrobe out of commission. The polka dot dress skimmed the tops of my knees on the first day of high school was now, apparently, so short that it would “distract the young men” in class. Though I respected the rules at my school, I was infuriated, embarrassed, and confused about being made to feel as though I had done something morally wrong as a result of my height making my skirt length criminally deficient. After sheepishly explaining the situation to my mom, I was relieved to find her just as angry about the school’s actions, and even more relieved when she supported my desire to challenge them.

Challenging the school’s actions ended up being a little more, well, challenging than I thought. Growing up in a conservative area, my defiance was met with disdain and whispers in the hallway about not knowing my place. Thankfully, however, not all of my peers were so resistant to change. After weeks of emails campaigning the student government’s faculty advisor, I was finally permitted to make a presentation about the sexism inherent in the school’s dress code before the student government representatives, who grew excited about the potential to change school policy for the better. Collaborating with each grade’s representative, we organized a school-wide awareness-raising campaign to engender support for our initiative. At after-school sports practices, band rehearsals, and art club meetings, I pleaded with my peers to realize how antiquated these restrictions on girls’ dress were. It was a blatant sexualization of minors’ bodies at best and spread the message that male students were not responsible for their actions when faced with such temptations as exposed kneecaps and bare shoulders. I knew that our school could do better.  

Finally, after months of work, my team of advocates and I obtained 1,000 student signatures and 2,000 parent signatures supporting an initiative to reconsider my school’s dress code through a gender equity lens. I distinctly remember the heat rising in my cheeks as I stepped up to the podium to address the school board, but this time they were flushed with excitement and pride, not shame or embarrassment. Though I did abide by my mother’s censorship of my wardrobe that time—admittedly, scuffed Chuck Taylors did not reflect the gravity of that event—I was so proud to be advocating for gender equity in my school and saving so many of my female peers the trouble of disciplinary action for their bodies being seen. The results of the reconsideration are not yet in, but I learned the power of using my voice for positive social change – something I look forward to continuing in college.

College Essay Examples #27/32:

Prompt: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Nothing compares to the feeling of the first pass of a pigment-soaked brush on a clean canvas. The first slice into a beautifully iced birthday cake or the powerful print of a first footstep in snow may come close, but I can never lose myself in a sugary confection or icy landscape the way I can when standing at my easel. The thrill I felt as a small child when finger painting never left me, though my technique may have improved a bit.

Technique aside, the value of self-expression through artistic endeavor has only grown for me as I mature. Many find cathartic release through journaling or sharing their thoughts with others in conversation, but I feel most connected to my feelings and the world when I put paint brush to canvas. Not all sentiments can be captured in words, which is where art takes over for me. Just as a piece of music can engender poignant emotions in its listener, a piece of art can make a person feel seen in a large and often lonely world. Nobody knew this better than my middle school art teacher Mrs. Williams. She often let me stay in the studio after school to put continuous rounds of final touches on my latest masterpiece, knowing that sometimes my piece did not need those additional strokes, but my soul did. A true artist herself, Mrs. Williams understood how art could tell a story and that sometimes the artist’s need to tell their story in color and shape was more important than the finished product. Over the years following middle school, I visited Mrs. Williams every once in a while and each time was always like no time had passed. We would set our easels side by side and paint, sometimes chatting a bit, but often sitting in comfortable silence as we watched colors blend and form new hues with the flick of a paint brush.

In the middle of my junior year of high school, I received the tragic news that Mrs. Williams had suffered a massive heart attack and passed. Devastated and trying to make sense of the first death I had ever experienced, I turned to my mother for advice. “Well, how would you deal with this if Mrs. Williams were here?” she asked me. Of course. I should have known that was the answer to working through my grief. Grabbing my easel and a stool, I set up on the front porch where I could see the sun filtering through the oak leaves in green and yellow shards of glass, smiled at the memory of Mrs. Williams, and began to paint.

I think by the time we graduate high school, we all fall into the trap of thinking we know ourselves pretty well by now. The truth is, we are only just discovering who we are. And at that point in our lives, we are entering into an incredible period of self-discovery and personal growth. I know I am no exception, and my post-high school years have included some of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Last year was my first opportunity to travel abroad. For someone who rarely strayed more than 100 miles from where they grew up, this was a pretty intimidating choice, but I was excited to travel, to learn about another place and people. For this unique experience, I chose to travel to Japan; a country so unlike my own, I was both excited and worried. Excited for the opportunity, but worried because I speak no Japanese and had never left home before. I wasn’t sure what to expect of myself.

After first arriving, everything seemed to be going well, and I had few problems getting around. The locals were friendly and spoke enough English that I had no troubles. Aside from learning to adapt to a new culture, I had no qualms. That is, until I decided to take a bus trip, by myself, into a rural area of the country to do some sightseeing.

I was traveling alone, and all the other bus passengers spoke little English. After we arrived at our destination, I got off the bus and toured around, taking photos and enjoying some lunch. Unfortunately, when I went to catch the bus back to the city, I discovered it was gone. And from what I could gather at the bus stop, there would be no more buses running until the following week, since it was the weekend. Now that I was in a smaller village, there were virtually no English speakers, but I managed to communicate in the limited Japanese I’d learned.

Basically, there were no options for transport back to the city. I could walk down a mountainside throughout the night, or I could wait until Monday to catch the next bus back. Through some creative communication, I managed to get a place to stay for the weekend. The village didn’t have an official inn, but the owner of the restaurant where I’d eaten lunch was kind enough to rent me her vacant upstairs room for the two days. Even with her limited English and my poor Japanese, we found a way to make it work. She was even nice enough to invite me to eat with her family that night, and give me some suggestions for a hike the next day. When I got on the bus to leave on Monday morning, she waved me goodbye and sent me off with a homemade meal for the journey.

Although the setback I experience seemed at first to confirm my fears that I wouldn’t be able to get myself out of a jam, I still managed to sort the problem out, with some help from a kind woman.

If anything, this experience taught me that I am still learning and still growing. It also showed me that I am much more adaptable and resourceful than I give myself credit for. By being open to new experiences and expanding horizons, I can allow myself to expand, too.

My trip taught me some invaluable things about myself, and definitely changed my perspective of who I am. It also taught me the importance of planning ahead and having a backup travel plan!

College Essay Examples #29/32:

From the time I was in grade school, I thought I was destined to become a scientist. Specifically, I wanted to become a marine biologist. Other students in my class would change their minds from week to week, switching their ideal future careers from doctor to astronaut to musician, never settling on anything and always exploring new possibilities. But I was stuck on marine biology. I was obsessed. Every weekend, I asked to visit the local aquarium.

I imagine my parents were quite pleased with my choice of interest, as they were both scientists themselves. My mother is a molecular biologist, and my father is a neuroscientist and professor. They encouraged my love of science, from bringing me to the aquarium to teaching me to snorkel and scuba dive as I grew up.

In high school, I excelled in the sciences and received high grades. Every academic performance was another step towards my goal of becoming a marine biologist, of being admitted to a good school and focusing on science. But somewhere along the way, my love for science was changed. Not diluted, or split, but evolved into something more. Through science, I discovered a love for art. I can’t pinpoint exactly when this love began, but it was somewhere in the cool, bluish space of the aquarium observation room. Having spent so many hours there, observing the hundreds of different species, studying their patterns, it’s easy to forget that I used to draw sketches of them.

I dug through some old boxes, and as often happens when you’re looking through childhood memories, I found something unexpected. Sketchbooks, crammed full of sketches, diagrams and notes of my favorite aquatic species. There were sketches from things I’d seen while scuba diving or visiting the aquarium—fish with colorful stripes and waving fins, coral with intricate patterns and shapes. I was surprised at the details I’d put into the drawings. After showing them to some friends and receiving positive reviews, a friend of mine convinced me to show my drawings in an art show. I’d never considered art as something other than a tool I used in my scientific studies. It never occurred to me that there was an intersection between art and science. An undeniable connection. How could two disciplines, seemingly opposites, come together seamlessly?

The scientist in me was intrigued that there was an existing relationship between the two I had yet to discover. So, I took my friend’s advice and let them arrange an art show for me. I selected my best pieces drawn in pencil. Then I went back to visit my favorite aquarium. I brought my tools with me, and I commenced my experiment.

For hours, I sat on the benches, drawing sketches, scribbling notes on color differentiation, environment and behavior. Taking my new sketches home, I started experimenting with an entirely new medium: paint. With some help from my friend, I began learning the techniques and methods to create fully colorful paintings of my favorite marine creatures. The results were surprising and stunning.

By the end of a few weeks, I had dozens of pencil sketches and half a dozen smaller paintings. I’d seen how I could develop an eye for color, and use it to capture the exact hues of the creatures I observed. Or how to translate the natural movement of coral and their incredible patterns into flecks of paint. The realism I could create with a few simple things was astounding. I nervously displayed my artwork and waited for my first art exhibition.

The exhibition was a great success, and I even sold some of my paintings. The most notable part of my experience was how it changed my idea of myself. It was surprising and delightful to discover that my passion for science could be expressed so creatively. And that art could understand and capture the beauty of science.

Prompt: Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Sample College Essay #30

College essay examples #31/32:, sample college essay #31, college essay examples #32/32:.

Prompt: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Sample College Essay #32

Yes, your college admission essays are important. Although the committee can evaluate your academic abilities based on your grades and test scores, the essay is your chance to present a full, unique story of your experiences. While many students have great marks and scores, the essay is usually the weak link in many students’ applications. You must work hard to create an essay that will make your application stand out.

Each school will have specific instructions regarding the length of the essay, but the range is usually between 250 and 650 words. You need to review the instructions and the word limit carefully before you begin to write.

Writing a strong essay requires a significant commitment of time and energy. Ideally, you should plan on spending 6-8 weeks writing and rewriting your essay. Always remember that a truly effective essay will require multiple drafts!

The essay prompts are typically very open-ended. You can choose to write about any topic you like as long as it directly relates to the prompt. Remember, you must answer the prompt, do not ignore it! As I already said, essay prompts are open to interpretation, so try to be original. Instead of writing about common topics like a sports victory or a difficult test, brainstorm unique ideas for your college essay. Rather than playing it safe, take your chance to be unique and unforgettable.

Your essay is your chance to be personable, real, and honest. Discuss what shaped you and your world view, or what concerns you about humanity’s future, or discuss a painter or a filmmaker who changed your life. Do not be afraid to explore different topics. Put yourself in the shoes of an admissions committee member, wouldn’t you want to read something exciting, new, and different?

Give yourself ample amount of time to prepare your essay. It might take you weeks or even months to shape it into a great paper. Give yourself at least 8 weeks to prepare your submission.

First, make sure you have set aside enough time for your personal essay (6-8 weeks). Then, take some time to familiarize yourself with the culture and values of your school and program of choice, to get a general sense of what sort of person they would value having has a student. Read and re-read the essay prompt several times to ensure that you understand what they expect you to address in your essay. Make a list of qualities and experiences that you may wish to include in your essay. Review your list of experiences carefully to narrow them down to the most significant ones. Once you know which experiences you wish to feature in your essay, brainstorm how you would like to tell your story. Create an outline or some notes sketching out what each section of your essay should cover, and keep it close by for reference while writing.  

It might be a good idea for someone to review your essay. Do not let too many people read it, as too many reviews could make your essay into a melting pot of ideas and opinions. Ideally, your reader is someone you trust and who can provide you with honest feedback on the content and grammar of your essay.

Remember, this is your story. Instead of writing about topics often used in college essays, reflect on your own unique experiences and choose something that will intrigue and interest the admissions committee. You might not think that your life and experiences are very interesting, but you are wrong. Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and look at your life objectively – dig deep and give yourself time to brainstorm a variety of options.

Your essay will feature an introduction, main body, and conclusion. Good organization is essential in creating a compelling, logical narrative for your reader to follow, so always pay close attention to your essay’s structure. Your introduction should open with an attention-grabbing sentence that captures your reader’s interest and helps to reveal or foreshadow what your essay will be about. Your main body highlights the formative experience (or 2-3 experiences) that you wish to share, and what you learned from that experience. Your conclusion ties your essay together and should leave your reader with an interesting and memorable final thought, which will leave your reader wanting to learn more about you. 

Some colleges may ask you to submit a curriculum vitae, or a CV. This is not a requirement for all schools, but most colleges have some kind of variation of the CV. For example, UC schools ask their applicants to fill out an activities list.

*Please note that our sample essays are the property of BeMo Academic Consulting, and should not be re-used for any purpose. Admissions committees regularly check for plagiarism from online sources.

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Good Post! Amazing tips to me. I also want to study abroad. I have to improve my English. Every night I usually use duolingo to learn more, except for class hours, apkdownload is a reasonable choice for old android users like me. I will try very hard, to study abroad, open my eyes

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I think this was a really good articile, I was able to learn a lot for my class!

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• Choosing Your College Essay Topic | Ideas & Examples

Choosing Your College Essay Topic | Ideas & Examples

Published on October 25, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on July 3, 2023.

A strong essay topic sets you up to write a unique, memorable college application essay . Your topic should be personal, original, and specific. Take time to brainstorm the right topic for you.

Table of contents

What makes a good topic, brainstorming questions to get started, discover the best topic for you, how to make a common topic compelling, frequently asked questions about college application essays, other interesting articles.

Here are some guidelines for a good essay topic:

• It’s focused on you and your experience
• It shares something different from the rest of your application
• It’s specific and original (not many students could write a similar essay)
• It affords the opportunity to share your positive stories and qualities

In most cases, avoid topics that

• Reflect poorly on your character and behavior
• Deal with a challenge or traumatic experience without a lesson learned or positive outlook

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Spend time reflecting on and writing out answers to the following questions. After doing this exercise, you should be able to identify a few strong topics for your college essay.

Writing about yourself can be difficult. If you’re struggling to identify your topic, try these two strategies.

Start with your qualities

After identifying your positive qualities or values, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.

Start with a story

If you already have some memorable stories in mind that you’d like to write about, think about which qualities and values you can demonstrate with those stories.

Talk it through

To make sure you choose the right topic, ask for advice from trusted friends or family members who know you well. They can help you brainstorm ideas and remember stories, and they can give you feedback on your potential essay topics.

You can also work with a guidance counselor, teacher, or other mentor to discuss which ideas are most promising. If you plan ahead , you can even workshop multiple draft essays to see which topic works best.

If you do choose a common topic, ensure you have the following to craft a unique essay:

• Surprising or unexpected story arcs
• Interesting insight or connections
• An advanced writing style

Here are a few examples of how to craft strong essays from cliché topics.

Here’s a checklist you can use to confirm that your college essay topic is right for you.

College essay topic checklist

My topic is focused on me, not on someone else.

My topic shares something different from the rest of my application.

My topic is specific and original (not many students could write a similar essay).

My topic reflects positively on my character and behavior.

If I chose to write about a traumatic or challenging experience, my essay will focus on how I overcame it or gained insight.

If I chose a common topic, my essay will have a surprising story arc, interesting insight, and/or an advanced writing style.

Good topic!

It looks like your topic is a good choice. It's specific, it avoids clichés, and it reflects positively on you.

There are no foolproof college essay topics —whatever your topic, the key is to write about it effectively. However, a good topic

• Is meaningful, specific, and personal to you
• Focuses on you and your experiences
• Reveals something beyond your test scores, grades, and extracurriculars
• Is creative and original

Yes—admissions officers don’t expect everyone to have a totally unique college essay topic . But you must differentiate your essay from others by having a surprising story arc, an interesting insight, and/or an advanced writing style .

To decide on a good college essay topic , spend time thoughtfully answering brainstorming questions. If you still have trouble identifying topics, try the following two strategies:

• Identify your qualities → Brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities
• Identify memorable stories → Connect your qualities to these stories

You can also ask family, friends, or mentors to help you brainstorm topics, give feedback on your potential essay topics, or recall key stories that showcase your qualities.

Most topics are acceptable for college essays if you can use them to demonstrate personal growth or a lesson learned. However, there are a few difficult topics for college essays that should be avoided. Avoid topics that are:

• Overly personal (e.g. graphic details of illness or injury, romantic or sexual relationships)
• Not personal enough (e.g. broad solutions to world problems, inspiring people or things)
• Too negative (e.g. an in-depth look at your flaws, put-downs of others, criticizing the need for a college essay)
• Too boring (e.g. a resume of your academic achievements and extracurriculars)
• Inappropriate for a college essay (e.g. illegal activities, offensive humor, false accounts of yourself, bragging about privilege)

Here’s a brief list of college essay topics that may be considered cliché:

• Extracurriculars, especially sports
• Role models
• Dealing with a personal tragedy or death in the family
• Struggling with new life situations (immigrant stories, moving homes, parents’ divorce)
• Becoming a better person after community service, traveling, or summer camp
• Overcoming a difficult class
• Using a common object as an extended metaphor

It’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic. However, it’s possible to make a common topic compelling with interesting story arcs, uncommon connections, and an advanced writing style.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

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University of Rochester dean of undergraduate admissions offers college applicants some dos and don’ts in writing the personal statement.

By robert alexander, the dean of undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management for arts, sciences & engineering, university of rochester..

Many universities ask applicants to include a college application essay—usually a personal statement or similar essay—along with their application materials. With more students applying to selective colleges than ever, and with many of those colleges placing less emphasis on standardized test scores, the admissions essay can be a crucial component of the applicant’s file.

We’ve made that shift in emphasis away from testing at the University of Rochester . As a selective private research university with programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and engineering, the undergraduate college draws from a global pool of high-achieving students. Since nearly all of those candidates are at or near the top of their class, we use a holistic approach to select those with strong ethical character who align with our institutional values. So, as an applicant, how can you distinguish yourself?

One of the most important ways is through your college application essay.

Many students may dread this part of the process. Yet with the right attitude and strategy, you can write an essay that will improve your candidacy for admission. A good college application essay will not overcome poor grades for a student at the lowest end of a school’s applicant pool, but it can help a qualified candidate stand out from the crowd.

Tackle the college essay topic

The traditional college application essay usually requires an open-ended personal statement in response to broad or general prompts that might have you share a story, reflect on an event, or discuss a topic. The Common Application, Coalition for College Application, and other online college application forms typically provide a set of options from which you can choose.

Of course, some college and universities require you to respond to a specific prompt or question. In that case, you want to make sure to answer that prompt or question clearly and directly.

Whether the guidelines are open-ended or specific, the topic itself is less important than how you express yourself.

And above all: Don’t write an admissions essay about something you think sounds impressive or that you think the admissions officer wants to read. While it’s fine to look at college application essay examples, don’t simply mimic one. Write about something truly important to you.

Breadth versus depth?

• Dig deep into one aspect of your topic instead of trying to cover many aspects superficially in your college essay. Be brief in explaining who, what, and where; leave plenty of room for why and how .

→  For example : If you’re writing about a life-changing trip, don’t spend six paragraphs on where you traveled, how long it took to get there, and the weather. We want to know why you went and why the experience was meaningful. How are you different now because of it?

Details bring your application essay to life

• Be specific. It’s the details, rather than any general statements, that bring your essay—and hence, you—to life for an admissions officer who is reading hundreds of personal statements.

→  For example : If you’re writing about how much you loved playing your high school sport, tell a story about a specific game-winning play (or a devastating loss), how you felt, and what you learned.

Writing a college application essay: dos and don’ts

Here are a few guidelines for crafting a college application essay that effectively conveys who you are while also helping you stand out from the thousands of other applicants.

• Present yourself in a dimension that reaches beyond grades, recommendations, and test scores. Think of the things that built your character—maybe a special relationship in your life, your most meaningful extracurricular activity, or a class or idea that changed the way you think. We want to know what makes you tick, how you might fit into our community, and how your distinctive qualities and experiences would contribute to our interesting and dynamic campus.
• Be sure your essay reflects you.   Ask yourself: Am I the only person who could have written this essay? Or could everyone else in my senior class have written it?
• Tell a story about yourself with a beginning, middle, and end. Hook the reader with a compelling opening paragraph—surprise us, teach us something we didn’t know, or share something vulnerable and make us curious to read more. Close with a clear ending that ties back to your opening or provides a captivating conclusion to your story.
• Ask someone to proofread your essay or to offer feedback—but be sure your essay is written in your own voice and style. It won’t serve you well for someone else to write your essay for you!
• Stay within the required—or suggested—length.  Usually it is about 650 words. This shows that you can follow directions. Plus, good writers can adhere to a word limit and still get their point across.
• Pay attention to formatting. If you compose your essay in a word processing software program (like Microsoft Word or Google Docs) in order to use spellcheck or other features, be sure to review it again after copy-and-pasting into the application itself. Some of the original formatting might be lost because different combinations of word processing and web browsers can cause errors.  Double-check before clicking “submit”!

And a few don’ts:

• Humor and creativity can work, provided they are not taken to an extreme. Remember: You don’t know your reader’s sense of humor—and it might not be the same as yours.
• Don’t be controversial or sensational for its own sake; but it’s OK to take a risk if you’re sharing a unique viewpoint or a particularly strong conviction that you hold dear.
• You’re not writing a legal brief for the Supreme Court or trying to sway the audience to your side of an argument. Instead, you’re attempting to share something of yourself with the admissions committee.
• Avoid using words that are not in your regular vocabulary. Again, be yourself.
• Don’t repeat information available in other parts of your application, unless you’re using your college admissions essay to expand upon an activity or academic opportunity that was particularly meaningful to you.
• Avoid regurgitating your resume or writing about your entire life’s history. Listing every award and semester you made honor roll is unnecessary, but sharing how you felt when a beloved yet demanding English teacher said you were his best student has more potential.

Ultimately, your college application essay is a chance to tell the admissions committee who you are and what is important to you. We want to know: What are your values?

At the University of Rochester, for example, we have a motto: Meliora, meaning “ever better.” So, it stands to reason that when we read an application essay, we want to know: How will you make yourself, your community, or the world better?

Tell us your story. This may be your best chance to come through as an individual, so make the most of this opportunity!

About Robert Alexander

Robert Alexander, the dean of undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management for Arts, Sciences & Engineering at the University of Rochester, has more than 22 years of enrollment management experience in higher education. He joined Rochester in June 2020 and previously served in senior admissions, enrollment, and communications roles at Millsaps College, University of the Pacific, and Tulane University.

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Harvard Grad Shares The College Essay About McDonalds That Got Him Into Almost Every University He Applied To

"keep in mind that the admissions officer is some dude lying on a couch reading your essay at 10 pm.".

• Megan Quinn

Written on Sep 23, 2024

As high school seniors prepare their college essays, they are often pressured to compose a story about their monumental, life-altering experiences — the more dramatic, the better!

However, the reality is that you don’t have to climb Everest to write an effective essay.

One man proved this with his brief college essay about studying in a local McDonald's, which he credits getting him into nearly every institution he applied to, including Harvard.

A Harvard graduate shared the genius McDonald’s essay that got him into nearly every college he applied to.

Jeffrey Wang , a Harvard alum who graduated as Valedictorian from his high school class in 2015, is assuring modern-day high schoolers that they do not have to craft a masterpiece about how they wrote a symphony while balancing a full course load of honors classes in order to get into college.

RELATED: High-Performing Student Accepted To Duke & USC Reveals Why She Turned Both Down To Go To A State University

He should know — his entire essay was centered around a local McDonald’s restaurant he studied at throughout high school. However, it had quite an unexpected takeaway and humanized him beyond the average applicant attempting to impress recruiters.

Wang shared a screenshot of his essay on X (formerly known as Twitter), and it has since been viewed over 2 million times.

“Some people study best at the library. Others occupy a corner in a coffee shop where inspiration and creativity flow with a cappuccino. Personally, I do some of my best work while sipping a one dollar plus tax McIced Tea at a plastic table on which my laptop and a book rest,” his essay began.

I got into Harvard + almost every college I applied to w/ an essay about studying at McDonalds. Had multiple admissions officers write me handwritten letters complimenting me on it To any frantic high school senior, the best advice I got was - keep in mind that the admissions… pic.twitter.com/94sKmcQGSD — Jeffrey Wang (@wangzjeff) August 8, 2024

“The subtle scent of grease fills my nose, and the shouting of order numbers rings in my ears. I’ve found an unconventional place of contentment beneath the Golden Arches.”  Wang goes on to tell a story about one summer night when he stumbled across his local McDonald’s restaurant and decided to order a meal and sit down for a bit.

As he was eating, he found serenity in all of the hustle and bustle, the aroma of hamburgers and fries, and the sound of children begging their parents for a McFlurry .

“I realize that there is nothing on my mind but my surroundings and my stomach. I’m completely at ease; no pretension exists in this global franchise that has more stores in the world than people in my town,” he wrote. 

After finishing up his meal, Wang went to his car, retrieved his books, and went back inside to study at the same table. It was hours later, when he lifted his head up from his books, that he realized it was the most productive he’d been in months.

Since that summer night, Wang made the McDonald's his go-to study nook.

RELATED: Girl Accepted By Yale And Columbia Despite Only Having A 3.8 GPA Had One Thing On Her Application No One Else Did

While the Harvard grad recognized that McDonald's may not be the ideal place for others to get their work done, he claimed that it was the perfect place for him.

“While attention-catching sights and sounds sometimes divert my attention, they’ve helped me to work by forcing me to focus harder,” Wang wrote.

“Better yet, I’ve found meaningful the array of diversions I’ve experienced, from a conversation with my quirky, retired seventh-grade English teacher about how fast (not quick, he had taught me) life passes by, to companionship with employees here like Milly, who works the cash register, and Maureen, the manager.”

For Wang, McDonald’s became a crucial place for him to escape and study — and it certainly helped that he had some delicious options from the dollar menu!

“For this, McDonald’s speaks to me,” he wrote. “Sometimes, I put my pencil down or stop typing into a Google Doc just to appreciate the simple utility of the location in a sort of wistful way. I see my life as a sort of quest to find ultimate authenticities, and while I know that there will be more truths to discover and that they will most certainly be more difficult to find, my being content at McDonald’s is one conclusive victory.” 

RELATED: College Expert Replies To Kids Who Say Universities With High Acceptance Rates Are For ‘Dumb’ Students

The takeaway from the Harvard graduate's essay was simply that contentment can be found in the most unexpected places — like a McDonalds restaurant.

Wang concluded his essay by declaring that in the chaos of everyday life, many people have difficulty focusing and being content exactly where they are. 

“I’ve learned that contentment can exist in imperfect and unforeseen places when you simply observe your surroundings, adapt, and maybe even eat a french fry,” he wrote.

Wang claimed that some college admissions officers took the time to write him personal handwritten letters praising him for his work and sharing how much they enjoyed it.

He also had a message to high school seniors stressing out about composing a masterpiece essay.

“To any frantic high school senior, the best advice I got was — keep in mind that the admissions officer is some dude lying on a couch reading your essay at 10 p.m.,” he revealed.

“Make sure that this person is entertained and thinks that you're an authentic human being.” 

Teenagers should focus on the profound beauty of ordinary life when composing college entrance essays.

Most 16 or 17-year-olds have never experienced anything earth-shattering, and that's OK. 

Wang illustrated beautifully that college essays do not have to be extraordinary tales to make an impact. They can be as simple as how your morning cup of coffee is your favorite part of the day.

“The truth is that most of us don’t live in a superhero movie where one event just changes the course of our lives,” Pratik Vengal , who offers advice to incoming college students, said in a video. 

Vangal explained, “The most common fallacy that I see online is that you need to have experienced some major disturbance, or grief to write a good college essay, and that’s simply not true.”

“The most successful college essays that I’ve read take a small moment, something even as modest as waiting at the bus stop in the morning, and transform it into an essay that truly shows colleges who you are. Your goal is not to prove your intelligence, they know you’re smart! Colleges want to hear an authentic and genuine story written in your voice.”

When you think about it, college admissions officers have to read over endless paperwork from thousands of applicants. They are more than likely sick of having to read the same essays that deal with fabricated themes of teenagers saving an entire population or curing a mystery illness just to impress them.

They want to read something that is simple, to the point and depicts you as a human being and not an applicant number or a superhero.

As Wang, who is now the co-founder of his very own company, has proven to us, you do not have to have extraordinary experiences to receive extraordinary opportunities.

RELATED: How A High School Student At The Bottom Of His Class With A 2.1 GPA Wrote A ‘Cliche’ Essay About Bowling And Got Into Yale

Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships. 

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12 Effective “Why This College?” Essay Examples

What’s covered.

• Essay 1: UPenn Nursing
• Essay 2: UPenn
• Essay 3: UW Madison
• Essay 4: Northwestern
• Essay 5: NYU
• Essay 6: NYU
• Essay 7: Boston University
• Essay 8: Boston University
• Essay 9: Tufts
• Essay 10: Tufts
• Essay 11: Georgia Tech
• Essay 12: Georgia Tech

Where to Get Your Essays Edited

The “ Why This College?” essay is one of the most common supplemental prompts. These school-specific essays help colleges understand if you’re a good fit for them, and if they’re a good fit for you.

In this post, we’ll share 12 “Why This College?” essay examples from real students and explain what they did well, and what could be improved. Read these examples to understand how to write a strong supplemental essay that improves your chances of acceptance.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized.

Essay Example #1: UPenn Nursing

Prompt: How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying (650 words).

Sister Simone Roach, a theorist of nursing ethics, said, “caring is the human mode of being.” I have long been inspired by Sister Roach’s Five C’s of Caring: commitment, conscience, competence, compassion, and confidence. Penn both embraces and fosters these values through a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and unmatched access to service and volunteer opportunities.

COMMITMENT. Reading through the activities that Penn Quakers devote their time to (in addition to academics!) felt like drinking from a firehose in the best possible way. As a prospective nursing student with interests outside of my major, I value this level of flexibility. I plan to leverage Penn’s liberal arts curriculum to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges LGBT people face, especially regarding healthcare access. Through courses like “Interactional Processes with LGBT Individuals” and volunteering at the Mazzoni Center for outreach, I hope to learn how to better support the Penn LGBT community as well as my family and friends, including my cousin, who came out as trans last year.

CONSCIENCE. As one of the first people in my family to attend a four-year university, I wanted a school that promoted a sense of moral responsibility among its students. At Penn, professors challenge their students to question and recreate their own set of morals by sparking thought- provoking, open-minded discussions. I can imagine myself advocating for universal healthcare in courses such as “Health Care Reform & Future of American Health System” and debating its merits with my peers. Studying in an environment where students confidently voice their opinions – conservative or liberal – will push me to question and strengthen my value system.

COMPETENCE. Two aspects that drew my attention to Penn’s BSN program were its high-quality research opportunities and hands-on nursing projects. Through its Office of Nursing Research, Penn connects students to faculty members who share similar research interests. As I volunteered at a nursing home in high school, I hope to work with Dr. Carthon to improve the quality of care for senior citizens. Seniors, especially minorities, face serious barriers to healthcare that I want to resolve. Additionally, Penn’s unique use of simulations to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application impressed me. Using computerized manikins that mimic human responses, classes in Penn’s nursing program allow students to apply their emergency medical skills in a mass casualty simulation and monitor their actions afterward through a video system. Participating in this activity will help me identify my strengths and areas for improvement regarding crisis management and medical care in a controlled yet realistic setting. Research opportunities and simulations will develop my skills even before I interact with patients.

COMPASSION. I value giving back through community service, and I have a particular interest in Penn’s Community Champions and Nursing Students For Sexual & Reproductive Health (NSRH). As a four-year volunteer health educator, I hope to continue this work as a Community Champions member. I am excited to collaborate with medical students to teach fourth and fifth graders in the city about cardiology or lead a chair dance class for the elders at the LIFE Center. Furthermore, as a feminist who firmly believes in women’s abortion rights, I’d like to join NSRH in order to advocate for women’s health on campus. At Penn, I can work with like-minded people to make a meaningful difference.

CONFIDENCE. All of the Quakers that I have met possess one defining trait: confidence. Each student summarized their experiences at Penn as challenging but fulfilling. Although I expect my coursework to push me, from my conversations with current Quakers I know it will help me to be far more effective in my career.

The Five C’s of Caring are important heuristics for nursing, but they also provide insight into how I want to approach my time in college. I am eager to engage with these principles both as a nurse and as a Penn Quaker, and I can’t wait to start.

What the Essay Did Well

This essay has many positive aspects, but the most impressive one is the structure. Utilizing the Five C’s of Caring to discuss Penn’s offerings was a genius way of tying in this student’s passion for nursing while also making their essay exciting and easy to read. Beginning each paragraph with the respective adjective helped focus the paragraph and allowed the student to demonstrate how they exemplify each quality without explicitly stating it. The student wasn’t afraid to think outside the box and add creativity to their essay structure, which really paid off.

Another positive is how specific and specialized the Penn resources and opportunities the student mentions are. This essay did not fall into the trap of name-dropping professors or programs. In every paragraph, there was a connection to something the student wants to do at Penn to further themselves in the respective characteristic they were describing.

Not only did this student mention a resource at Penn—whether it was a professor, a class, or a club—in every paragraph, but they elaborated on what that resource was and how it would help them achieve their goal of becoming a nurse. The what and how is what sets this essay apart from other supplements that just name-drop resources for the sake of it. The amount of detail this essay went into about some of these resources makes it clear to the admissions officers reading the essay that this student has seriously looked into Penn and has a strong desire to come to campus and use these resources.

What Could Be Improved

One thing this essay could do to make it stronger is improve the first paragraph. The student does a good job of setting up Sister Roach and the Five C’s, but they don’t mention anything about their desire to study or pursue nursing. The first paragraph mentions both Sister Roach and Penn, but left out the student. This could be fixed by simply adding something along the lines of “I can’t wait to embody these values as a nursing student at Penn” to the paragraph.

Essay Example #2: UPenn

Prompt: Considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected, how will you explore your academic and intellectual interests at the University of Pennsylvania?  For students applying to the coordinated dual-degree and specialized programs, please answer these questions in regard to your single-degree school choice; your interest in the coordinated dual-degree or specialized program may be addressed through the program-specific essay. (300-450 words)

I always loved watching the worms when it rained. I used to put my little raincoat on, sit on the doorsteps, and watch them move toward the puddles. My younger brother, forever intent on destroying the world around him, would try to stomp on the worms, and I would run after him screaming. In my imagination, the brain looked like a pile of squiggly worms. However, my neuroscience curiosity has since grown beyond a worm’s habits.

For example, my mother thought that I was insane when I wanted to watch American Murder: The Family Next Door . To her immense relief, I was interested in the psychology of the criminal rather than the crime itself. Although neuroscience is my primary interest, I also hope to learn more about the intersection between law and medicine at the UPenn College of Arts and Sciences. I’ve been able to explore this topic through various projects at school such as presentations on juvenile crime and the death penalty.

At the University of Pennsylvania, I look forward to taking classes like Forensic Neuroscience (BIBB 050) as well as Neuroscience and Society (PSYC 247) both of which directly combine my two interests. Hopefully, the Take Your Professor to Dinner program resumes as I would make sure to talk to Dr. Daniel Langleben about his research on forensic functional brain imaging over a meal of Philly cheesesteaks.

I also hope to participate in the Race, Science, and Society Program where I can discover how race biases and neuroscience go hand-in-hand and contribute to the fight against racism. The Beyond Arrests: Re-Thinking Systematic-Oppression Group immediately caught my attention while looking at Penn’s opportunities to engage in relevant dialogue. My fascination with the criminal system began with reading Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment , and Penn will both fuel that curiosity as well as introduce new questions about the world of justice reform.

As an eight-year Latin scholar and a five-time reader of the Percy Jackson franchise, I would like to take classes in the Penn Classical Studies department where I can learn more about the impact of ancient cultures on society today. Classes such as Greek and Roman Medicine (CLST 271) would intersect my interests in medicine and classical civilizations.

Although I do harbor a deep love for Philly cheesesteaks and enjoyment of running in strange places like the Woodlands Cemetery, the range of programs to support my diverse interests and unmatched opportunities to put learning into action make me confident that the University of Pennsylvania is the best university for me to succeed.

The real strength in the essay lies in the sheer number of details this student is able to include in a short space, without sacrificing style and flow. The first two paragraphs really have nothing to do with Penn, but the inclusion of them makes this response feel like an essay, rather than a list of offerings at Penn. Striking the balance is important, and the anecdote at the beginning ultimately humanizes the writer.

From the three unique courses to the specific professor and his research to the race and criminal justice programs, this student has clearly done their homework on Penn! The key to this essay’s success isn’t just mentioning the offerings at Penn that excite the student, but the context that explains how each opportunity fits into the student’s academic interests.

Adding book titles like Crime and Punishment and Percy Jackson to support their passion for the criminal justice system and classics are extra details that help us learn more about how this student pursues their passions outside of the classroom. Finding little ways to humanize yourself throughout the essay can take it from good to great.

One area of improvement for this essay is the structure. It follows a very traditional “ Why This College? ” framework—start with an anecdote, then discuss classes, and then extracurriculars and programs—that gets old quickly for admissions officers.

A great way to add some spice to the format would be to use a sample schedule for the day. This essay mentions three different classes, two different groups, and a Take Your Professor to Dinner opportunity. Together, that’s the recipe for a full day at UPenn!

There are a few ways to play around with an essay that follows a typical day-in-the-life. Maybe each paragraph starts with a time and explains what they do during that hour. Maybe they narrate walking through campus on their way from one class to the next and what they just learned. However they choose to go about it, adding in a playful spin to the traditional essay structure is one of the best ways to instantly set an essay apart from the crowd. 

Essay Example #3: UW Madison

Prompt: Tell us why you decided to apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, please include why you are interested in studying the major(s) you have selected. If you selected undecided, please describe your areas of possible academic interest. (650 words)

Essay – # Day 117

7:30 am… As I open my eyes, I look at the pinboard in front of my bed. Written in red block letters are two of the many goals of my life: “Make life better and more independent for the Visually impaired; Inspire kids to explore the field of STEM, making them the future problem solvers.“

Keeping these goals afresh in mind, I freshen up and prepare for the first class of the day, ​ECE 533 Image Processing. As the professor explains the Applications of Image Processing in Computer Vision, a light bulb sparks in my mind. I can modify the head contraption of PERIPHIS to identify objects in peripheral vision and alert the wearer via an earpiece using Text to Speech (TTS). 

After the class, I see Professor Mohit Gupta at the WISION Lab, where he shares his insights from the Block World Cameras system, which helps to geometrize 3D Man-made environments. We brainstorm ways we can implement this system on PERIPHIS.

Deep in the discussion and intrigued by my curiosity, he asked me where my interest in this niche field sparked during high school, and then I recount the incident from 9th grade: 

“In Hindi – Agar aaj mere paas paise hote to ye din na dekhna padta” (If I had money, I would not have had to see this day.) 

These were the words of Aadiya, a glaucoma patient, who couldn’t help but cry in despair as she injured herself in an accident just because she couldn’t sense the incoming traffic. During my visit to “Baroda Association for Blind (BAB)” for a survey, I saw and experienced firsthand how hard and inaccessible it is for an underprivileged visually impaired to locomote without anyone’s assistance. 

What happened next was my first adventure into the world of Computer Science and Engineering. I dedicated the next four years to find an affordable solution to a pressing problem. It was called PERIPHIS, a smart wearable that helps alert the visually impaired wearer of impending danger while locomoting.

When I finally presented this device to Aadiya, the smile on her face made me realize how big an impact technology can make in one’s life.

11:00 am… As I head to the Engineering Hall to complete my assignments of COMP SCI 570

Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction, I crossways with my roommate from the Chadbourne Residential College, who is also interested in researching applications of Computer Vision in real life. We fix a time to chat later. 

1:20pm… After a quick bite, I head to Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory. I expand my knowledge on different applications of Computer Science to make human life better than I found. I get fascinated when I see a few students building a child-friendly humanoid robot to teach kids the principles of Coding and AI. I hop in and share insights from my experience of being the President at AiGoLearning and kindling interest in STEM for young children. I explain how crucial the UI is when it comes to technology for the young.

5:00pm… To blow off some steam and socialize, I meet up with my fellow countrymen and artists at the Indian Graduate Students’ Association. We discuss and plan the upcoming Diwali Night Music at Shannon Hall. I feel proud to share my national identity while bringing out my musical self by contributing as a Tabla player at the student organization. 

As I close my day, I reflect and think of the most unique resource at UW. It is not the labs, research facilities, classes, but the people, including the professors and students, all aligned to a single goal: “Solving problems to make society a better place.”

10:00pm… I find my way back to my dorm room and write with red block letters on my pinboard: “Meet with at least 1 Badger every day and gain new insight from them.”

This essay is a stellar example. The day in the life formatting is a common way to spice up your “Why This College?” essay, but the way this writer executes it is nearly flawless.

Opening with the vision board makes the student’s college goals clear from the very start, and this was cleverly done since vision boards are naturally one of the first things you see when you wake up.

The student then takes us to specific courses and labs and shares their thoughts on how they could improve their invention, PERIPHIS. The author seamlessly includes background information on PERIPHIS by including this hypothetical conversation with a professor who speaks their native language.

As we go through the day, we can see that this student will not only be involved academically, but also socially. We learn how important their culture is to them and how they plan to share it with the campus community.

This essay does everything a “Why This College?” essay should: it shares the student’s goals and motivations behind them, how the university can support those goals, and how the student will engage with the campus beyond academics.

There’s not much this essay could improve, besides a few formatting and wording issues. The first line of this essay—“ Essay – # Day 117”—is a great attention-grabber, but the placement of the # symbol is confusing and perhaps should’ve been in front of the number.

There are also a couple spots where wording is a bit awkward, such as these lines:

I crossways with my roommate from the Chadbourne Residential College, who is also interested in researching applications of Computer Vision in real life. We fix a time to chat later. 

It should instead say something like “I run into my roommate” and “We schedule a time”. This is likely due to English not being the student’s native language, but could’ve easily been caught by proofreading from a native speaker.

Essay Example #4: Northwestern

Prompt: While other parts of your application give us a sense of who you are, we are also excited to hear more about how you see yourself engaging with the larger Northwestern community.

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

For as long as I can remember, I have seen my parents, both farmers, struggling to produce food because of the challenges presented by the environment. Joining Northwestern’s community, and majoring in Environmental Engineering, will allow me to understand what are the reasons behind climate change and learn how to stop them and/or prevent them from happening. 

Having witnessed how plant diseases affect crops, I would like to collaborate in the PLANT-Dx project and in its widespread application. I strongly believe that it will be able to help farmers to improve the quality and quantity of their production, and reduce famine around the world. At some point in my education, I want to take advantage of the study-abroad programs Northwestern has to offer and learn about farming practices in a different part of the world. In addition, I want to conduct research on sustainable alternative farming methods that adapt to the new environmental conditions and that can be practiced in countries with fewer resources.

Apart from having access to outstanding professors, rigorous academics, and cutting-edge research resources, I will be able to be part of a close-knit community genuinely curious about others’ activities, truly passionate about what they do, and not afraid to step out of their comfort zone to make of this world a better place. Being part of Engineers for a Sustainable World at Northwestern will allow me to get to know people that share one of my passions in addition to learning and teaching how to apply sustainable practices in daily life.  

I am already looking forward to marching through the Weber Arch.

This essay is extremely cohesive, as it focuses on the student’s agricultural background and desire to study environmental engineering. The student mentions a couple resources specific to Northwestern, such as the PLANT-Dx project and Engineers for a Sustainable World.

Because of the background information the student provided, their motivations for participating in these opportunities is also clear. We can see that Northwestern would be a school that would help them achieve their goals.

There are two main aspects of the essay that could be improved: the writing and its specificity.

To begin with, the intro paragraph is a bit clunky and vague.  The student should have specified the challenges the environment has presented to their parents’ farming with detailed imagery about droughts or torrential rain. The final sentence about climate change is also much too broad, and the student should’ve stated a goal in a smaller niche of environmentalism.

For example, here’s what a rewritten strong intro paragraph might look like:

The drought this year was bad, and the once-flourishing tomato crops on my family’s farm were afflicted with Southern Blight. As my family and our community struggled to put food on the table for the third year in a year, I resolved to major in Environmental Engineering at Northwestern to learn how to preserve our agriculture in the face of climate change.

Another writing error is the typo in the final paragraph, where they write “to make of this world a better place”. It’s important to proofread your essay and have others help you proofread as well!

Finally, while the essay mentions a couple specific Northwestern resources, the other resources they mention are too vague.  The student could’ve improved by mentioning a specific study abroad program and a current research project on sustainable alternative farming methods. Most colleges let you study abroad and conduct research, so you need to explain why Northwestern is the best place for your goals.

Essay Example #5: NYU

Prompt: We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses. We want to understand – Why NYU? (400 words)

“A futuristic way of looking at academics,” the student panelist said during a New York University virtual information session. I reflected on a conversation I had with my grandma; she couldn’t understand how her vegetarian granddaughter could build a career in the food industry. However much I tried convincing her that vegetarianism was the future, as it offers substantial benefits to the environment and can offer health benefits to a growing population with the same environmental resources, she insisted that tofu would never provide the same satiation as meat. She was raised in a community where meat consumption was embedded in the culture, and its production is a large part of the country’s economy. In contrast, I had the privilege of living a few steps from San Francisco, with many restaurants and grocery stores dedicated to plant-based meat alternatives. Trying innovative recipes and products eventually allowed me to develop my own recipes. Upon my move to Nicaragua, where my grandmother is from, I found my food options to be limited, expensive and hard to find. So I developed my own small-scale solutions that did not break the bank and satiated grandma.

An institution that implements forward-thinking is what I need to reach my goals of changing the future of plant-based diets and people’s views on vegetarianism. NYU’s Nutrition and Food Studies program offers multiple disciplines of food studies that I will apply to my aspirations as a vegetarian. I plan to study under Adjunct Faculty Kayleen St. John, whose success in the plant-based industry and her teaching of the ‘Foundations of Plant-Based Nutrition’ in The Vegetarian Times excites me. The variety of classes like Introduction to Food History, Food Photography, and Food Systems: Food & Agriculture will give me an overview of what is available in the food industry to be prepared for all fields. Not to be cliche, but NYU’s proximity to the city is essential for the rapidly changing vegetarian industry. The multiculturalism available in NYC and NYU will allow me to understand the food system and diets of various cultures, religions, and areas. I can explore the extremes of the food industry, from fancy restaurants to public school cafeterias. These juxtapositions, much like the one I experienced after my move to Nicaragua, will allow me to broaden my reach and demonstrate that the vegetarian diet is not something reserved for select groups but a diet attainable to all. 

A core strength of this essay is the fact it takes its time to provide the reader with ample background on why this student is interested in nutrition and food studies and how they have grappled with difficult questions and surrounding this topic in the past. It’s okay to not mention anything about NYU for a whole paragraph if you are using that space to bring depth to your interests and tell the reader the crucial backstory behind pursuing your intended degree.

Another positive aspect is the inclusion of New York City for a purposeful reason. NYU admissions officers read thousands of essays that just talk about living in NYC for the sake of NYC—this is not what they want to hear. In contrast, this essay focuses on the vast and lively food scene in New York that the student considers to be an invaluable asset to her NYU education. This is a time where including New York actually plays to the appeal of NYU, rather than making it seem like the student is simply applying for the city.

Finally, this student clearly demonstrates that they are someone who wants to change the world for the better, but through their personal niche. NYU is looking for people who express this desire to be a changemaker, but oftentimes sweeping statements like “I want to change the world” come across as vague and disingenuous. The essay does mention changing diets and looking to the future, but it is focused within the student’s specific area of interest, making the claim to change the world more determined and authentic.

This essay could be made stronger if there was a bit more personal reflection included. The first paragraph provides a lot of details on the student’s vegetarianism and how it conflicts with her grandmother and her heritage. What it doesn’t include very much of is how the student thinks and feels about her diet being at odds with that of her family. 

Does this student feel they are betraying their heritage by being vegetarian? What emotions do they feel when people criticize vegetarianism? Why did they go vegetarian in the first place? Probing questions like these that get to the emotional core behind the story in the first paragraph would really help to build out this student’s backstory. We want to understand what their emotional responses and reasoning processes look like, so finding ways to include those into an already expositive paragraph would further bolster this essay.

Essay Example #6: NYU

My mother never takes off her Cartier necklace that my father gave her 10 years ago on their anniversary. As a child, I didn’t fully understand this attachment. However, on my 15th birthday, my aunt gifted me a ring, which was uniquely designed and made up of three rings linked together. Wearing it every day and making sure I would never lose it, I didn’t treat it like my easily replaceable childhood necklaces; it was my piece of luxury. This sparked my deep curiosity for the luxury world. The niche strives to provide the finest and most memorable experiences, as equally as my Japanese attention to detail and my French appreciation towards aesthetic beauty. In a constantly shifting environment, I learned that luxury chases timeless excellence.

NYU Stern’s BS in business and a co-concentration in management and marketing will fully immerse me in the business side of luxury fashion that I aim to pursue a future career in. The luxury marketing track, offered only by NYU, will enable me to assemble the most suited classes to reflect my interests. Specifically, NYU Stern’s exciting electives such as The Dynamics of the Fashion Industry seminar and Brand Strategy & Planning will encourage me to develop the skills that I was introduced to and grew keen on when running a virtual sustainable fashion auction.

As someone who has moved around from Paris to Tokyo, to Chicago and now Athens, I thrive in meeting and collaborating with others from diverse backgrounds. The school’s strong global outlook, demonstrated through Stern’s International Business Exchange Program, further sets NYU apart for me, as it is crucial to building essential soft skills. This opportunity allows me to experience new cultural approaches to luxury business which I can bring back with me to New York, and therefore push me to become a well-rounded business student. Similarly, I am excited to take part in the array of student clubs offered, such as the Luxury and Retail Association (LARA), which I learned about after connecting with and talking to current students. Seeing past talks from employers of companies like Conde Nast, I am eager to learn outside of the classroom from future speakers. 

Finding myself in new situations constantly, I always seek new challenges and explorations – to me, it is clear that NYU Stern will push me to create the finest and most unique learning experiences of timeless excellence.

This essay has an amazing introduction paragraph. It doesn’t mention anything about NYU or what this student is planning on studying, which is what makes it so intriguing. The reader doesn’t know where this student is headed after making such a seemingly unrelated statement about jewelry, but we want to find out. 

Not only does this essay immediately capture the reader’s attention, it maintains a succinct and direct tone that helps the reader effortlessly flow from one paragraph to the next. The student chose to include three opportunities at NYU that excite them and fully elaborate on them. This serves as an excellent example of more is less. 

We aren’t bombarded with a laundry list of classes, professors, and clubs the student wants to take. Instead, the student took a focused approach and described why they were excited by each offering they highlighted. Going deeper into a smaller number of opportunities at the college still shows this student did their research, but it allows for their backstory and goals to be discussed in far greater detail.

While this student does a good job of elaborating, they also mention a few key aspects of their personality as throw-away lines, when it would have been great to elaborate further on them. For example, they mention running a virtual sustainable fashion auction (cool!), but don’t provide us with any details on what that actually entails, how they got involved with it, what they enjoyed about it, etc. They also mention moving around a lot in the context of developing a diverse perspective, but they don’t include any emotional insight into what that was like.

Although there are only 400 words available, and you don’t want to spend too much time discussing the past, it would be nice to see just a sentence or two that delves into the details of this student’s background. The fashion auction and moving around clearly had an impact on the student, so we want to know what that was. If they are choosing to include these details, they must be important in the student’s decision to pursue business at NYU, so they shouldn’t be afraid to divulge the emotional significance to the reader.

Essay Example #7: Boston University

Prompt: In no more than 250 words, please tell us why BU is a good fit for you and what specifically has led you to apply for admission.

Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) attracts me because of its support of interdisciplinary study among its wide array of majors. In fact, the CAS now offers a course that combines biology, chemistry, and neuroscience. As I hope to conduct medical research into brain disorders, I plan to pursue all three areas of study. These cross-disciplinary connections at BU will prepare me to do so.

CAS’s undergraduate research program would allow me to work with a mentor, such as Dr. Alice Cronin-Golomb or Dr. Robert M.G. Reinhart related to their research on neurological disorders. With them, I can advance the work I have already completed related to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). In a summer class at our local university, my partner and I extracted data from fMRI and PET studies and inputted them into a coding program. We then created an indicator map, which we imported into another software program, AFNI, to display significant activity in the brain regions affected by DID. Seeing the representation of our data thrilled me because I knew it could eventually help people who live with DID. I want to experience that feeling again. Successfully analyzing these fMRI and PET studies and learning to code drives me to pursue more research opportunities, and this desire motivates me to study at a university that offers research opportunities to undergraduates. BU’s interdisciplinary approach to psychology and support for independent undergraduate research will optimally prepare me for a career as a neurological researcher.

This student clearly outlines BU-specific resources (the interdisciplinary course and undergrad research program), plus how these resources align with their professional goals (to become a neurological researcher). They do name professors, but since their work clearly relates to the student’s interests, it doesn’t look disingenuous, and shows that the student has done research on their fit with BU. The student also provides background on why they want to pursue research, and shows that they already have experience, which makes their interest in the undergrad research program more concrete.

The only thing missing from this essay is the student’s fit with BU in terms of extracurriculars and social life. “Why This College?” essays should also cover extracurriculars, as colleges are also interested in how you’ll contribute to their community. 

In general, these essays should be academic-leaning (especially if they’re under 250 words), but you should still address some social aspects of the college that appeal to you (we recommend about 70% academics, 30% social, with more or less focus on social aspects depending on the word count). 

Since the student probably already detailed their previous research in their Common App activities section, they could’ve just summarized their research background in one sentence (instead of 78 words, which is 31% of the total word count!), and used that valuable space to talk about a specific social aspect of BU that interests them. 

Essay Example #8: Boston University

Prompt: In no more than 250 words, please tell us why BU is a good fit for you and what specifically has led you to apply for admission. 

I am fascinated by research, though completely uninterested in the disciplines traditionally associated with it, such as STEM fields. I need to find a school that will balance my desire to conduct research with my interest in political science. 

While many schools boast in-depth student research programs for those looking to cure diseases or develop solutions to global warming, few tout their support for humanities research. Additionally, many universities that do allocate funding to social science research typically reserve these monies for graduate students or upperclassmen. BU, with the help of its Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, will allow me to conduct research on the topics that most intrigue me, such as gender disparity in politics, or the relationship between dominant parties in power and the country’s economy and involvement in foreign affairs. Furthermore, I can begin these studies as early as my first year. Not only can I take classes with professors like Sandra McEvoy or Dino Christenson to develop my interests in a classroom setting, but I could also work with one of them to develop new knowledge in the topics that we both enjoy learning about. With this knowledge base and experience conducting studies with top professors in a respected research institution, I will be well-prepared for my future law career. I want to learn in an environment that encourages independent study no matter one’s field of interest or experience, and BU’s support of intellectual curiosity for all of its students makes it a perfect fit for me.

This student knows exactly what they want, and they’re not afraid to state it bluntly. Their intro paragraph is totally honest about their interests (or lack of interest), and we immediately understand one of their main college goals: to conduct political science research.

The student mentions a specific resource, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, as well as an alignment with BU’s value of encouraging independent study in all fields. Showing alignment with a specific value of the university is a great way to take your essay to the next level.

This essay shows us that the student would be a great fit for BU and would take advantage of its research opportunities.

The writer mentions some of their research interests, but doesn’t explain the motivation behind them. We don’t actually learn very much about the student themself, which is a common flaw of “Why This College?” essays. The essay would’ve been stronger if they’d explained why they’re interested in “gender disparity in politics, or the relationship between dominant parties in power and the country’s economy and involvement in foreign affairs.” For example, maybe they feel strongly about abortion rights and are upset about the way men have been legislating women’s rights.

The student also names two professors whose classes they’d like to take and with whom they’d like to do research, but we aren’t told which classes they’re interested in, or which topics they could cover together. You want to avoid “name-dropping” professors without context in your essay. If the student shared the names of specific classes or research topics and why they’re interested in them, that would’ve strengthened their essay.

Essay Example #9: Tufts

Prompt: Why Tufts? (100 words) 

When Deanne, Tufts’ admissions counselor, visited my school, she immediately caught my attention by emphasizing Tufts’ diverse yet unified campus. Tufts’ inclusive definition of diversity goes beyond merely recruiting students from a variety of backgrounds. Tufts seeks to integrate these categories of diversity and pushes its students to learn from one another. One such intersectional program that attracts me is CAFE (Conversation, Action, Faith, and Education). By joining CAFE, a community that promotes interfaith education, I will learn from my peers, become more understanding of other religious backgrounds, and apply this broader understanding to my academic work at Tufts.

It’s hard to write a “Why This College?” essay in 100 words. This essay does a good job sticking to one unique element of Tufts—its intersectionality. Since Tufts also cares about demonstrated interest, it’s great that the student also mentioned speaking with an admissions counselor. 

We unfortunately don’t learn very much about the student from this essay. Why do they care about diversity and interfaith programs? How does this relate to their academic and career goals? While the word count is super short, they could’ve cut these lines and jumped right into the specific resource they’re interested in: Tufts’ inclusive definition of diversity goes beyond merely recruiting students from a variety of backgrounds. Tufts seeks to integrate these categories of diversity and pushes its students to learn from one another.

Here’s an example of a stronger version of this essay:

When a Tufts admissions counselor visited my school, she immediately caught my attention by emphasizing Tufts’ diverse yet unified campus. As a Muslim hoping to go into International Relations, I want to attend a school that not only recruits diverse students, but pushes them to learn from one another. I hope to join intersectional programs such as CAFE (Conversation, Action, Faith, and Education). By joining this community that promotes interfaith education, I will gain the necessary perspective and compassion to become a human rights lawyer in countries with religious conflict, such as my homeland Azerbaijan.

Essay Example #10: Tufts

Prompt: Why Tufts? (100 words)

Someday I hope to conduct medical research in developing countries; Tufts attracts me because of its wide array of majors it offers and support for undergraduate research. To understand the human brain, I hope to study biology, neuroscience, and psychology. In addition to outstanding faculty in each of these areas, Tufts also organizes initiatives including the International Research Program. Through this program, I would work with other students and faculty members on an international project related to brain diseases. This opportunity will give me a taste of my future career and help me narrow the scope of my later studies.

This essay does a better job of sharing the student’s goals with us compared to the previous Tufts essay. We learn that the applicant is interested in medical research in developing countries on brain diseases, and that Tufts has a program to support international research.

The essay still mentions some resources that could apply to many schools, which is not an effective use of the tiny word count. For example, they say: “Tufts attracts me because of its wide array of majors it offers and support for undergraduate research” and they mention the “outstanding faculty” in the fields they plan to study.

They also don’t tell us their motivation behind studying brain diseases abroad, and it feels like there’s a significant story there. Giving some background would’ve further strengthened their essay.

Finally, they mention that they still need to narrow the scope of their studies; while it’s fine to be undecided on your career and majors, you don’t need to spend your precious word count saying that in your essay. They could’ve instead shared a couple potential avenues they’re considering.

Here’s what the student could’ve written instead:

Outcomes for schizophrenia patients are better in developing countries than in developed ones. I hope to research the reasons behind this and improve the treatment options in the US for the cousin I grew up with. In college, I want to study biology, neuroscience, and psychology. Tufts attracts me because of its unique interdisciplinary BS in Cognitive and Brain Science and its International Research Program. Through this program, I could do the research I’ve dreamt of doing with a faculty member and other students, preparing me for my future career as either a researcher or clinician.

Essay Example #11: Georgia Tech

Prompt: Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech? (300 words)

Climate change is a human rights issue.  

There the headline was, screaming on my phone screen. I think about those suffering from a lack of clean water. I think about those suffering from a lack of clean air. 

I often think back to that headline – it’s what drives my passion for environmental engineering. As an environmental engineer, I can mitigate air pollution and design water treatment systems that address the water injustices that people face. However, it’s not just about creating a technology that cleans water; it’s about changing people’s lives. New technologies can make a lasting difference in humanitarian issues worldwide; Georgia Tech’s research on creating a toilet that turns human waste into clean water for those in need of improved sanitation aligns perfectly with my interests.   

At Georgia Tech, through the student-led organization, Engineers for a Sustainable World and the InVenture Prize, I can translate the knowledge gained from my classes into a concrete vision. I can design and implement hands-on sustainability projects around Atlanta and invent a water sanitation system for the on-site acquisition of clean water. 

Georgia Tech can also provide me with ample research opportunities, such as the broad area of Healthy Communities in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I can further pursue my interest in developing solutions to deliver clean water while welcoming new areas of inquiry. An area I would like to explore would be the controlling of dangerous matter in the air to reduce health hazards; reducing the impact of climate change is of utmost importance to me. 

Studying environmental engineering at Georgia Tech would well prepare me to develop solutions to climate-related issues. With the countless opportunities that Georgia Tech has to offer, I know there is nowhere else where I can receive a better environmental engineering education.

What the Essay Did Well l

This essay begins with an attention-grabbing statement that leaves the reader wondering how this will relate to the student’s interest in Georgia Tech. They then transition seamlessly into how climate change and human rights motivate their desire to become an environmental engineer.

The student mentions several resources specific to Georgia Tech that would help them achieve their goals, such as the research on the toilet turning waste into water, Engineers for a Sustainable World, InVenture Prize, and Healthy Communities research. It’s clear that they did their research and have reflected on their fit with the campus community.

They end the essay explicitly stating that Georgia Tech is the best place for them to grow, and the reader is certainly convinced of this by the end.

This essay is quite strong, so there’s not much that the student could’ve improved. That said, there is one sentence that is a bit awkwardly worded: New technologies can make a lasting difference in humanitarian issues worldwide; Georgia Tech’s research on creating a toilet that turns human waste into clean water for those in need of improved sanitation aligns perfectly with my interests.

Instead, the student could’ve written:

New technologies can make a lasting difference in humanitarian issues worldwide; Georgia Tech aligns with this value of mine and is even developing a toilet that turns human waste into clean water for those who need improved sanitation.

Essay Example #12: Georgia Tech

From my first Java project, a somewhat primitive graphing calculator, I realized that CS unlocks a different way of thinking. My brain races at speeds it seldom touches with other subjects. Every part of CS, from conceptualizing a plan to executing a solution, is another piece of a puzzle I’m eager to solve and affords the most opportunities for creative problem-solving and application. 

“Progress and Service,” Georgia Tech’s motto, tells me there’s no better place to explore my curiosity and deepen my CS skills while simultaneously helping make the world a better place, my ultimate goal for a college education. 

In the classroom, I look forward to GT’s threads program, where I can tailor the curriculum to suit my career choice after exposing myself to all technical aspects of CS.

I’ll apply my specialized learning with Tech’s fascinating research opportunities. Professor Pandarinth’s brain-machine interfacing software means a lot to me. My uncle passed away from a freak accident after extensive paralysis because potential treatments were unaffordable. Exploring this revolutionary brain decoding software wouldn’t just involve me in cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology research, I’d be personally driven to ensure its success and accessibility. 

I’m at my best building towards tangible results. I learned this on my robotics team using design skills to create a technically complex robot that tackles anything from shooting balls to hanging on a balance beam. I’m excited to expand my skills on the RoboJackets team, applying my career interests to build ferocious BattleBots and autonomous race robots that compete on the Indy Speedway, two events that sound ridiculously fun. 

Of course, I can’t skip hackathons. These competitions molded my interest in coding so I want to give back to Georgia Tech’s Hack-Community by planning HackGT and the Catalyst Mentorship program as a member of the Hexlabs team. 

The student’s passion for CS shines through this essay. They explain what they love about the subject (the problem-solving aspect) and they share that they hope to make a difference through CS, demonstrating alignment with Tech’s motto of  “progress and service”.

It’s clear that this student has done their research, mentioning specific academic programs, research, and clubs. We can see that they’d be greatly engaged with the campus community.

Finally, this essay is also down-to-earth. The student doesn’t try to use impressive vocabulary or formal language. In fact, they even describe some extracurriculars as “ridiculously fun.” While you shouldn’t get too informal in your essays, this student’s casual tone in this context makes them feel more approachable and more excited about the prospect of going to Georgia Tech.

This essay has a couple sentences that are confusing to read:

Every part of CS, from conceptualizing a plan to executing a solution, is another piece of a puzzle I’m eager to solve and affords the most opportunities for creative problem-solving and application.

This sentence could’ve been broken up and rewritten as:

Every part of CS, from conceptualizing a plan to executing a solution, is another piece of a puzzle I’m eager to solve. For me, the field affords the most opportunities for creative problem-solving and application.

This sentence also uses incorrect grammar—the comma should be replaced with a semicolon:

Exploring this revolutionary brain decoding software wouldn’t just involve me in cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology research, I’d be personally driven to ensure its success and accessibility. 

These details would make the essay more readable.

The organization of the essay could also be reworked. The student mentions Tech’s motto of “progress and service,” but doesn’t follow up until later with an example of how they’d use CS for the greater good. Using CS for social good isn’t ultimately the theme of their essay, so this section would’ve been better placed at the end of the paragraph about AI technology research, or at the very end of the essay. The essay actually ends abruptly, so placing the section at the end might’ve tied it up nicely, if the student could’ve placed more emphasis on how they plan to use CS to improve society.

Do you want feedback on your “Why This College” essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Influence of interpersonal relationship on subjective well-being of college students: The mediating role of psychological capital

Roles Writing – original draft

Affiliation College of education science, Guizhou Education University, Guiyang, China

Roles Conceptualization

Affiliation School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China

Roles Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

Roles Funding acquisition

Roles Resources

• Jinyong Zhang, 
• Shouying Zhao, 
• Huaiqing Deng, 
• Chuan Yuan, 

• Published: September 20, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198
• Reader Comments

Nowadays, the contradiction between the rapid improvement of people’s material living standard and the loss of spiritual pursuit or the increase of pressure is becoming more and more serious.With the impact of the new corona-virus pandemic, the employment situation of college students is more severe. This leads to the growth of psychological problems and alienation behavior of college students. In the promoting positive psychology and enhancing the happiness of the whole people, the relationship between interpersonal relationship and subjective well-being of college students is an interesting and valuable research topic.

The structural model with AMOS21.0 was used to verify the mediating effect of psychological capital between interpersonal relationship distress and SWB from the survey data of 673 college students.

The interpersonal distress has a negatively correlated with psychological capital and SWB, while psychological capital has a positively correlated with SWB. Psychological capital has Partial mediating effect between interpersonal distress and SWB, and the indirect effect accounts for 57% of the total effect.

This study indicates that schools should pay attention to education and intervention in psychological capital, except for strengthening knowledge and skill training of college students in how to communicate with others.

Citation: Zhang J, Zhao S, Deng H, Yuan C, Yang Z (2024) Influence of interpersonal relationship on subjective well-being of college students: The mediating role of psychological capital. PLoS ONE 19(9): e0293198. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198

Editor: Jing Cheng, Shenzhen University, CHINA

Received: December 23, 2022; Accepted: October 7, 2023; Published: September 20, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Funding: The study was supported by the general project of the national educational planning project (BKA210227).This article is part of the research content of this funded project. It plays the role of topic leader.

Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Introduction

In recent years, the contradiction between the rapid improvement of people’s material living standards and the loss of spiritual pursuit or increased pressure has become increasingly prominent. The employment situation of college students is more severer for the impact of the COVID-19. This leads to the growth of college students’ psychological problems and alienation behavior [ 1 – 3 ]. In the advocating positive psychology and improving the sense of well-being of the whole people, college students’ Subjective well-being (SWB) become an interesting and valuable topic. At the same time, due to the long-term impact of the new corona-virus pandemic, the college delay the opening time and carry out online teaching. The activities and exercises of college students’ were greatly limited, resulting in some problems in college students’ interpersonal relationships.

SWB, as the ultimate goal of an individual’s life, becomes a comprehensive psychological index to measure the quality of individual life [ 4 ]. Downie thinks that health must also include both "true well-being" and "physical fitness" and be able to adjust to the imbalance between positive and negative health [ 5 ]. This shows that happiness is an integral part of mental health. Studies have shown that SWB is beneficial to health and longevity, supportive social relationships and resilience [ 6 ]. It has specific positive significance for specific groups. SWB plays a promoting role between Muslim religious beliefs and healthy lifestyles [ 7 ]. Couples with subjective happiness pessimism are also easy to establish healthy interpersonal relationships [ 8 ]. In the hotel industry, it affects employee knowledge sharing and willingness to leave [ 9 , 10 ]; It helps to improve the consumption of saturated fat [ 11 ]. Even it can reduce college teachers’ network teaching anxiety [ 12 ]. Generally speaking, positive SWB is beneficial in life activities. Therefore, a college student with a high SWB experience must be conducive to the healthy growth and creative stimulation of college students.

Many factors affect SWB, such as heredity [ 13 ], basic material needs and psychological needs [ 14 ], income [ 15 ], temperament [ 6 ], partnership [ 16 ], patience [ 17 ], character optimism and resilience [ 18 ]. These factors can be divided into two categories: personality and situation. The personality-situation interaction theory shows that the interaction between personality and environment affects SWB [ 19 ]. Interpersonal relationship is an important part of social situation, and psychological capital is the main element of personality traits. Psychological capital is a positive psychological element formed in the process of individual growth and development, including self-efficacy, optimism, resilience and hope [ 20 ]. This study aims to explore the relationship between interpersonal relationship, psychological capital and SWB of college students and its internal mechanism.The purpose of this study is to provide a theoretical basis for the improvement of college students ’ happiness education.

Theoretical basis

Personality-situation interaction theory holds that the interaction between personality and environment affects SWB [ 19 ]. Here, psychological capital and interpersonal relationship are selected to represent personality and situation respectively to study the influence on SWB. Erickson’s personality development theory tells us that college students are in the development stage of intimacy and loneliness. Positive traits pays special attention to the positive quality of individuals, which is the source of strength for individuals to cope with crises and obtain happiness [ 21 ]. SWB is the emotional component of positive psychology and the core of positive psychology. Psychological capital is the foundation and premise of SWB.

Interpersonal relationship and SWB

An individual’s interpersonal relationship is harmonious, his SWB experience will be stronger. It can affect the formation of a positive personality. On the contrary, an individual has been plagued by interpersonal relationships, it will reduce his SWB. Zhang XX study shows that parent-child, mates, and teacher-student relationships can positively predict SWB in junior and high school students [ 22 ]. Zhao HL studied results showed that emotional support had the greatest predictive effect on SWB [ 23 ]. Children’s interpersonal relationship is associated with SWB satisfaction [ 24 ]. Good interpersonal relationships have a significant predictive effect on SWB [ 25 ].

Psychological capital and SWB

Psychological capital refers to a positive state of mind, which exists in the individual in the process of growth and development. It can be acquired and developed through training. Psychological capital has a promoting effect on their mental health and SWB. Specifically, students’ well-being and psychological capital is significantly positive correlation [ 26 ]. Psychological capital also has a strong predictive effect on the SWB in the old people [ 27 , 28 ].

Interpersonal relationship and psychological capital

Self-expansion theory holds that individuals seek to obtain resources, such as positive interpersonal relationships, to promote growth and achievement [ 29 ]. Psychological capital can correctly guide interpersonal relationship [ 30 ]. There is an approximately linear correlation between psychological capital and interpersonal communication [ 31 ].

Studies have shown that the peer relationship of migrant adolescents can also indirectly predict subjective well-being through academic burnout or academic engagement [ 32 ]. Based on the above research results, this study intends to investigate the relationship between interpersonal relationship, psychological capital and SWB, and explore the intermediate mechanism between interpersonal relationship and SWB from the perspective of personality and psychological capital. This study proposes the following research hypotheses:

• There is a significant negative correlation between interpersonal distress and psychological capital.
• There is a significant positive correlation between psychological capital and SWB.
• Interpersonal relationship distress and psychological capital have a significant predictive effect on SWB.
• Psychological capital plays an intermediary role in the influence of interpersonal relationships on SWB.

The mediation structure model is shown in Fig 1 .

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.g001

Materials and methods

Ethics statement.

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University (GZNU-PSY-2022-003). Before giving out the questionnaire, the researcher read out the instruction to the participants, including the words of thanks, questionnaire Guideline, the research purpose, and the right of participation, which can be terminated halfway. All subjects signed informed consent before investigation.

Participants

The investigation time was in April 2022. There were 700 undergraduate students enrolled in this survey with the support of faculty members at three universities in Guiyang. The participants were psychologically healthy college students. After providing oral guidance and explaining the purpose of the study, the students willing to participate in the experiment were required to provide informed consent form after their data will be confidential. If any missing information was found when retrieving the questionnaire, participants were required to refill in. Perfunctory and problematic questionnaires were excluded, such as the same option in selection of multiple consecutive items. Finally, 673 questionnaires were valid, with an effective rate of 96.1%. The subjects included male and female, Han and ethnic minorities, and freshmen to juniors ( Table 1 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.t001

Informed consent

All participants in this study orally agreed to take part in the experiment.

Research tools

Interpersonal relationship comprehensive diagnosis scale..

The scale was compiled by Deng RC. There are 28 questions within four dimensions: interpersonal communication problems, interpersonal friendship problems, interpersonal relationship problems, heterosexual communication problems [ 33 ]. Each dimension have 7 questions, using 2-level scoring, no reverse scoring, choose ‘Yes’ get 1 point, ‘No’ get 0 points. The scores ranged from 0 to 8, indicate good interpersonal skills. The scores ranged from 9 to 14, indicate a certain degree of trouble in communicating with people and the interpersonal skills are average. The scores are between 15 and 28, indicating that there is a great deal of trouble in getting along with people and a serious lack of interpersonal skills. This scale has good reliability and validity. In this study, the overall scale showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s = 0.86). and the internal consistency coefficients of the four dimensions were also higher (Cronbach’s = 0.60~0.72). The AMOS21.0 software was used to construct structural equation with interpersonal communication distress, interpersonal friendship distress, interpersonal relationship distress and heterosexual interaction distress as latent variables, and their corresponding topics as explicit variables. The results of confirmatory analysis were as follows: x 2 /df = 3.25, GFI = 0.92, AGFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.78, RMSEA = 0.058.

Psychological capital scale.

The scale was compiled by Luthans and revised by Song, including 16 questions and four dimensions: self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience [ 34 ]. The reliability of the revised scale was 0.89, and the retest reliability was 0.70. The reliability of each sub-scale ranges from 0.73 to 0.81, and the retest reliability ranges from 0.50 to 0.62. Likert 5 scale was used for positive scoring, the “Very inconsistent” to “Very consistent” were recorded as 1 ~ 5 points, no reverse scoring. The higher the score is, the better the level of psychological capital. In this study, the psychological capital scale indicated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s = 0.88). and The internal consistency coefficients of the four dimensions are also higher (Cronbach’s = 0.65~0.81). Taking self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience as latent variables and their corresponding topics as explicit variables, the structural equation was constructed by AMOS21.0 software.The results of confirmatory analysis were: X 2 /DF = 2.67, GFI = 0.95, AGFI = 0.94, CFI = 0.96,RMSEA = 0.050.

The scale was compiled by Diener. It is consisted of three sub-scales: life satisfaction, positive emotion and negative emotion, with 19 items [ 4 ]. The scale adopt the 7-grade scoring method; each item marks 1–7 points. The total score of the scale was the sum of 19 items. The higher the total score, the better the SWB. In this study, the overall scale indicated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s = 0.81). and The internal consistency coefficients of the three dimensions are also higher (Cronbach’s = 0.80~0.87). Taking life satisfaction, positive emotions and negative emotions as latent variables, and their corresponding topics as explicit variables, the structural equation was constructed by using AMOS21.0 software. The results of confirmatory analysis were: X 2 /DF = 6.68, NFI = 0.83, IFI = 0.85, CFI = 0.85, RMSEA = 0.092.

Statistical analysis

The software SPSS21.0 was used for data analysis. Pearson correlation analysis was carried out on interpersonal relationship, psychological capital and SWB. The regression analysis was conducted with SWB as the dependent variable, interpersonal distress and psychological capital as predictive variables. Finally, according to the requirements of testing the mediating effect, all independent variables are standardized firstly [ 35 ]. Taking interpersonal relationship as independent variable, psychological capital as intermediary variable and SWB as dependent variable, the intermediary structure model was constructed using AMOS21.0. According to the model fitting index and Bootstrap test results, the latter is based on 5000 repeated sampling, and 95% of the deviation correction confidence interval is selected. If the indirect effect path interval does not contain 0, this shows that psychological capital is the intermediary effect of interpersonal relationship on SWB. Otherwise, there is no intermediary effect.

Common bias method

To prevent common method bias, corresponding controls were made in questionnaire setting and implementation, such as anonymous responses, differentiated scale scoring parties and reverse question setting. The Harman one-way test was used to test common method bias. All items were subjected to dimensional reduction analysis. The results showed that the total number of factors with unrotated eigenvalues greater than 1 was 13, and the variance explained by the first factor was 16.38, which was less than the critical criterion of 30%, which indicated that the common method bias was not significant [ 2 , 36 ].

Comparison of socio-demographic variables of interpersonal relationships, psychological capital and SWB

The independent sample t-test showed that there was no significant difference between male and female college students in interpersonal distress, psychological capital and SWB; but ethnic minorities was significantly higher than Han Chinese in the mean value of psychological capital. The one-way ANOVA results showed that there were no significant difference between the three grades ( Table 2 ). so it was not necessary to control for demographic variables.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.t002

Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis of the main variables

In this study, mean and standard deviation, and Pearson product difference correlations were conducted for the relationships among interpersonal relationships, psychological capital, SWB, and their dimensions ( Table 3 ). The average score of interpersonal problems was between 9 and 14 points, which indicate that there was a certain degree trouble of college students’ in interpersonal communication. The overall level of psychological capital was above average, and the overall level of SWB was higher. Interpersonal relationship distress was negatively correlated with psychological capital and SWB (r = -0.37, p<0.01; r = -0.48, p<0.01), while psychological capital is positively correlated with SWB (r = 0.45, p<0.01). The findings are consistent with the first three hypotheses.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.t003

Regression analysis of interpersonal relationship and psychological capital on SWB

The regression analysis was conducted using the "enter" method, SWB as the dependent variable, and interpersonal distress and psychological capital as predictor variables. The fit of the regression equations for interpersonal distress and psychological capital was high (F = 196.62, p<0.001; F = 165.99, p<0.001) ( Table 4 ). The interpersonal distress had significant negative predictive power on SWB (β = -0.476, t = -14.02, p<0.001) and psychological capital had positive predictive power on SWB (β = -0.445, t = -12.88, p<0.001). This results verified hypothesis 3.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.t004

Relationship between interpersonal relationship and SWB: The intermediary role of psychological capital

We use a structural equation model to investigate the intermediary role of psychological capital、 interpersonal distress and SWB ( Fig 2 ). The fitting indexes of the model are good ( Table 5 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.g002

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.t005

The mediating effect of psychological capital between interpersonal distress and SWB was examined according to the bootstrapping method ( Table 6 ). The results showed that the confidence interval for the prediction of SWB by interpersonal distress through psychological capital did not include 0 (-0.567~-0.168), after 5000 replicate samples, 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals, which indicate that the mediating effect of interpersonal distress to predict SWB through psychological capital could be obtained to hold. Meanwhile, the confidence interval of interpersonal distress directly on SWB did not include 0 (-0.095~ -0.003), indicating that there is a partial mediating effect of interpersonal distress to predict SWB through psychological capital, which accounts for about 57% of the total effect. At this point, hypothesis 4 was tested.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.t006

The characteristics of interpersonal distress, psychological capital and SWB

This study showed that there are certain problems in interpersonal relationship distress among college students. Those with scores above 9 were 53.5%, which is consistent with the results of "47.8% of college students have some or serious interpersonal relationship problems" by Tan [ 37 ]. This indicates that college students lack basic interpersonal skills, and it may also be related to the restriction of their living space and activities due to the epidemic. Interpersonal distress can affects mental health [ 38 ]. Therefore, education and training in this area need to be enhanced to improve the quality of life. The psychological capital scores of college students are above the median, which indicates that college students have some positive traits and better psychological resilience. This result is consistent with the findings of Xu that "college students’ psychological capital and the development of each dimension are at an intermediate level"[ 39 ]. But, the overall SWB of college students is relatively high, which is contrary to the results of Chen [ 40 ], who thought that college students have a "moderate to low" level. The difference of the results may be related to the different measurement instruments used or the different study time. It may be also related to the low academic stress and the richness of recreational and sports activities among college students in these colleges.

The relationship between interpersonal distress, psychological capital and SWB of college students

The correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between interpersonal distress and psychological capital, which is consistent with the findings of Zhang’s [ 41 ]. This indicates that interpersonal distress is an important factor in weakening psychological capital. The interpersonal distress was negatively correlated with SWB and effectively predicted SWB, which is consistent with the findings of Liu’s that "interpersonal relationship satisfaction and SWB are both significantly positively correlated" [ 42 ]. This indicates that the poorer the interpersonal relationship, the lower happiness. Psychological capital was significantly positively correlated with SWB and positively predicted SWB, which is consistent with the findings of Xiong’s [ 43 ]. It indicates that the amount of positive traits a person possesses directly affects his level of happiness.

The influence of college students’ interpersonal distress on SWB: The mediating effect of psychological capital

The mediation analysis found that the partial mediating role of college students’ psychological capital between interpersonal distress and SWB was statistically significant, suggesting that interpersonal distress directly affects the level of SWB and can also indirectly act on the level of SWB through psychological capital. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the need for interaction is a developmental need of individuals, especially in today’s advanced Internet communication, college students need realistic interaction space. As college students have just got rid of the monotonous and stressful learning environment in secondary school, they are bound to lack the corresponding knowledge and skills in interpersonal conversation, making friends, treating others and interacting with the opposite sex. Luthans argue that psychological capital is a state of positive psychological development that individuals exhibit during their growth and development, that contains four aspects of self-confidence or self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience [ 34 ]. Both states and traits, psychological capital has positive significance for individuals. A college student who has great psychological capital tends to have one or several psychological qualities. If the individual has a high sense of self-efficacy, he will has a positive and optimistic attitude with interpersonal distress. The fact that interpersonal distress indirectly affects SWB through psychological capital supports the view of personality trait theory of well-being that individuals have positive personality traits and this personality tends to experience life in a positive way, in which happiness is generated. In conclusion, psychological capital not only plays an important role in mitigating and protecting against interpersonal distress, but also contributes to the enhancement of well-being. The psychological capital mediating effect model is further revealing the mechanism of interpersonal relationships and subjective well-being.

The individuals with high psychological capital have positive expectations about future outcomes and they show higher beliefs in dealing with challenges and difficulties that arise at work [ 44 ]. Guo found that psychological capital of knowledge employees has a significant positive effect on innovation performance [ 45 ]. Psychological capital not only affects individual performance but also indirectly affects group work efficiency. Zhang’s study found that psychological capital is beneficial to improve organizational performance [ 46 ]. Also psychological capital has a positive predictive effect on mental health [ 47 ]. In conclusion, psychological capital, as a positive psychological resource for individuals, facilitates individuals to face the difficulties and setbacks, and promotes their healthy growth. This also validates again the mediating effect of psychological capital on SWB.

Educational suggestions

Strengthen the knowledge and skills training on how to interact with others..

The university is the front door to the society. Social interaction will become a compulsory course in college students life. The students should strengthen their knowledge of social interaction, especially interaction etiquette, and understand the importance of interpersonal interaction to personal growth and environmental adaptation. In recent years, due to the impact of the epidemic, universities often implement closed management, which limits the way and space of college students’ activities to a certain extent. Interpersonal communication is also affected, and even some college students have some psychological obstacles. The school should build various social platforms for college students and encourage students to participate in various after-school activities, The school should Also actively organize appropriate social science lectures or offer relevant courses to improve the humanistic and comprehensive quality of college students.

Education and intervention of college students’ psychological capital.

Psychological capital can be developed by intervention [ 25 ]. Psychological traits are the inevitable result of the development of psychological states. Psychological capital mainly includes qualities such as self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. College students should learn to self-regulate and self-reinforce. The schools should provide more opportunities for students to practice and set appropriate goals. Exercise is an effective way to enhance psychological capital. Qin found that moderate intensity physical exercise enhanced the psychological capital of college students through a group experimental intervention study [ 48 ]. These suggestions have important value for the enhancement of well-being of primary and secondary school students. Even psychological capital has a positive impact on encouraging Organizational commitment [ 49 ] and organizational citizenship behavior [ 50 ]. This proves the universal significance of enhancing psychological capital ability.

Strengths and limitations

The advantage of this study was using the questionnaire to quickly confirm that psychological capital plays a mediating role in the influence of interpersonal relationships on SWB. But, this study took a cross-sectional approach so that the variable relationships could only be causal in a statistical sense. The longitudinal studies or experimental methods should be used for more reliable scientific conclusions in the future. In addition, the four dimensions of psychological capital can be considered to be tested separately when studying the mediating role of psychological capital in interpersonal relationship and SWB.

Implication of this study

This study intends to investigate the relationship between interpersonal relationship, psychological capital and SWB, and explore the intermediate mechanism between interpersonal relationship and SWB from the perspective of personality and psychological capital. Further enrich the theory of subjective well-being, and at the same time, this study explores the direct and indirect factors that affect subjective well-being, providing theoretical support for improving the practical path of college students’ subjective well-being.

Our research shows that psychological capital is a modifiable factor in the relationship between interpersonal distress and SWB. Psychological capital has a significant positive correlation with SWB. Specifically, on the one hand, the interpersonal distress has a negatively correlated with SWB of college students; on the other hand, due to the protective role of college students’ psychological capital, interpersonal relationships are greatly reduced, thereby enhancing their subjective well-being. Therefore, the university should not only strengthen the knowledge and skills of interpersonal communication, but also improve the psychological capital ability of college students through labor and frustration education, so as to improve the subjective well-being of college students.

Supporting information

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293198.s001

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