costco personal statement essay

This essay got a high-school senior into 5 Ivy League schools and Stanford

High-school senior Brittany Stinson was accepted into five Ivy League schools — Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Cornell.

She also got into Stanford, which has an acceptance rate of 4.69% — a lower rate than any of the Ivy League schools.

"I'm sort of still in shock. I don't think I've processed everything yet," she excitedly told Business Insider.

The Ivy League is notoriously hard to get into, as the hundreds of thousands of other applicants to the eight elite schools are well aware.

Related stories

The schools Stinson was accepted into have acceptance rates ranging from 13.96% to 4.69%.

Stinson graciously shared her Common Application admissions essay with Business Insider, which we've reprinted verbatim below.

Prompt 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.

Managing to break free from my mother’s grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two­ year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother’s eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon­sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrial­sized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco. 

Notorious for its oversized portions and dollar­fifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I’ve developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weight­loss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more well­mannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity. 

While enjoying an obligatory hot dog, I did not find myself thinking about the ‘all beef’ goodness that Costco boasted. I instead considered finitudes and infinitudes, unimagined uses for tubs of sour cream, the projectile motion of said tub when launched from an eighty foot shelf or maybe when pushed from a speedy cart by a scrawny seventeen year old. I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirty­three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will? I experienced a harsh physics lesson while observing a shopper who had no evident familiarity of inertia's workings. With a cart filled to overflowing, she made her way towards the sloped exit, continuing to push and push while steadily losing control until the cart escaped her and went crashing into a concrete column, 52” plasma screen TV and all. Purchasing the yuletide hickory smoked ham inevitably led to a conversation between my father and me about Andrew Jackson’s controversiality. There was no questioning Old Hickory’s dedication; he was steadfast in his beliefs and pursuits – qualities I am compelled to admire, yet his morals were crooked. We both found the ham to be more likeable–and tender.

I adopted my exploratory skills, fine tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalo­chicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart–one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious. I sampled calculus, cross­country running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world. Whether it be through attempting aerial yoga, learning how to chart blackbody radiation using astronomical software, or dancing in front of hundreds of people, I am compelled to try any activity that interests me in the slightest. 

My intense desire to know, to explore beyond the bounds of rational thought; this is what defines me. Costco fuels my insatiability and cultivates curiosity within me at a cellular level. Encoded to immerse myself in the unknown, I find it difficult to complacently accept the “what”; I want to hunt for the “whys” and dissect the “hows”. In essence, I subsist on discovery.

Watch: Here's what Costco looked like when it opened in 1983 and the annual membership was $25

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The Costco Essay Deconstructed

Article updated on November 15, 2019

Students searching for exemplary examples of college admissions essays may already be familiar with what has come to be known as The Costco Essay , but it is worth digging a little deeper to understand how this essay that “ got a high school senior in to 5 Ivy League colleges ” actually works.

Many people have noted that the essay alone did not get the student admitted to all these schools, rather it was the totality of her application. This is of course true! We have ourselves written extensively about the 11 distinct criteria colleges use to evaluate applicants, but the fact remains that when so many students have great grades and test scores, your college essays are clearly an important opportunity to stand out.

I caution all my students not to read an excessive amount of examples, because it can become overwhelming to compare too many glowing finished essays to one’s own blank page or early draft in progress.  But if you read in the right spirit, I believe a few examples can be both instructive and inspiring. I have tried to explain some of what I find compelling about the Costco Essay.

Prompt 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.

Now more than ever, colleges are affirming the weight given to a student’s character as it comes through across all elements of an application. So have no illusions that grades and test scores make one applicant more qualified or deserving of admission to college than another. We are not looking at the whole application, but in addition to being well written, this essay demonstrates of the kind of character that Ivy League and all colleges want on their campus.

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How to Write a Costco Essay that gets you to Ivy League University

We live in times when anything can go viral and make one famous. That is the case with the famous Costco essay. A high school student by the name Brittany Stinson got accepted to five Ivies after penning a college admission essay that explored her life and her abiding love for Costco, and it got the internet cheering!

At just 18 years, Brittany Stinson from Concord High School found out that her noble admission essay got her accepted to five Ivy League Universities. We are talking about Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Dartmouth, Stanford University, and Columbia University.

Anybody who has been through high school would agree that after college, a period of emptiness and loneliness sets in. It is like one’s creativity freezes, and they begin to brainstorm in the future, which is always hazy.

Nevertheless, being accepted to higher learning institutions such as colleges or universities marks an important transition. Most students consider it a milestone. If your child is aiming to get acceptance to competitive universities, they must be ready to write something that beats the Costco college essay.

Agreeably, common app essays or personal statements define the thin line between being accepted or rejected from unis like Dartmouth or Yale.

Knowing how to write the Costco essay was written would probably help you to craft the best admission essay or a personal statement that convinces the admissions committee or board.

What is the Costco Essay? Anyway?

A stellar performance in both SATs and GPA scores cannot suffice as a criterion for admission. Instead, most universities and colleges will always demand that you write either a personal statement or an admission essay, for which they provide prompts.

The Costco Essay is an essay, also known as Brittany Stinson’s essay, and is a personal statement that got Brittany to all the Ivy League Universities or schools, including Stanford.

The Costco Personal statement is not a mere essay about Costco. Rather, it is a college essay about the experiences of the student at Costco stores. She submitted it in response to a college application prompt in 2016. The prompt read as below:

Prompt 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.

Given the prompt, Brittany wrote the admission essay to the best of her knowledge. And while at it, she exhibited creativity, critical thinking, and organization skills. She clearly described her meaningful experience that gave a clear description of her personality. The Costco essay also explored her relationship with the Costco wholesale retailer. Smartly, she captured the moments well relating her childhood, teenage, personal qualities, and strength and how they each related to her studies.

Thanks to her wisdom, she finally got accepted to the Ivy League, which is notorious for having a low acceptance rate, and it is hard to get to it.

You can check the Costco essay example from the Business Insider . Other essays have captured hearts, as reported by the Washington Post . Do you member the famous Pizza admission essay ? Well, it also went viral.

What can you learn on Admission Essay Writing from the Costco Essay?

A great student is one who learns through apprenticeship. The Costco college personal statement is a chance for students to learn how to write great personal statements, statements of purpose, and admission essays that win them admission to the colleges or universities of their dreams.

• Choose an outstanding topic. One of the most salient features of the Costco essay was its theme that was well reflected in the topic. Even with the personal statement prompt in place, always choose an outstanding topic for your admission essay and a personal statement alike. But the prompt is a great place to start when brainstorming about a topic. Everybody can win the hearts of the admissions committee by writing an essay about themselves or everyday experience. However, it takes a special kind of creativity to twin the theme with the topic carefully. When writing your personal statement, make sure your topic stands out. Make it short, memorable, and entertaining.
• Research and think outside the box. Although critics argue that the Costco essay or the Pizza essays, despite winning their authors admissions, are overrated, the truth is that they were well written. Each of the authors exhibits deep thinking, research, and reasoning. In her case, Brittany focused on how her family shopped at Costco. However, to make it appealing, she shared her personal experiences and how they affected the growth of her personality. In fact, she defied the mother’s wish and was willing to learn about free samples, goods, and even sales. In Papa John’s Pizza essay that won Carolina Williams an admission to Yale , the story is the same. It reflected her passion, which is an aspect that you must communicate in your college essay.
• Choose an underlying theme. Just like a poem or a book review, a personal statement with a realizable theme is not only informative but also entertaining. In the case of Brittany, she explored the themes of passion, defiance for the best purpose, commitment, and patience. The Brittany Costco paper reflects a good grasp of the English language, the flow of ideas, and use of vocabulary such as “finitude” or “juxtaposed” which makes the themes easy to spot. Even though, as this is a Costco essay analysis, we insist that you choose vocabularies that fit the context. But you do not have to write an essay on Costco, find the best experience that wows you, and nail it!
• Set the Tone. Another thing about the famous Costco college essay or the Brittany Costco essay is evident in the tone that the writer used. While it is official or formal writing, Brittany twisted the nuts and squeezed the juice right into the rightful mouths. Humor and seriousness are neatly woven into the essay in a manner that it attains its purpose. We have written the best personal statements for students, but reading this helped us set the bar higher. While she describes herself as obstinate with “chubby” legs, she acknowledges that she was driven with purpose - to acquire knowledge, which sarcastically elicits good moods. So, when you want to write a personal statement that will get you admission to any college or university, go the Costco personal statement way- make your tone memorable and conspicuous.

How to Write a Personal Statement and Get Accepted to Any University

There are great lessons we can learn from Costco's personal statement. Instead of creating something similar, follow the steps below to craft the best personal statement:

• Every excellent paper be it a personal statement was once an idea in the brain. When writing personal statements, we always encourage our writers to brainstorm with the clients. Go through your personal experiences growing up and trace when the passion kicked in to study what you yearn to study. Listen to yourself, sweep through your past, and relax as you plan the paper.
• Be Original, Always. Well, there are many personal statements and admission essay examples online. However, it would help if you only read through them as an inspiration and not a direct reference for your personal statement template. When writing a common app essay, imagine your personal experiences and relate them with the college essay prompts. For instance, if you liked watching baseball or playing hockey, critically show how they influenced you with team spirit, dedication, and resilience. Sometimes, connect your experiences to past academic performances.
• Simplicity is King! As with the Costco college essay, where Brittany totally kept everything straightforward and sporadically threw in vocabularies, your college essay should be simple. We have been writing college essays and how we simply connect experiences to academic performances, and passion always leaves our clients aghast!
• Be Confident and remain Unapologetic. The Costco essays show the side of Brittany that is unapologetic for the past, which makes her win over her audience. She boldly claims that she went against her mother’s wishes, but it was all for a great course. If your past mistakes made you fail, be bold enough to connect them with ideas that later got you on toes! And when you write a personal statement boldly and bravely, there is a 100% chance of getting accepted.
• Be truthful; do not fake it to make it. When writing a personal statement for college, do not let your creativity and imagination lead you to create unsustainable lies. Like in the Costco college essay, always maintain the truth as it is even when it hurts. Truth has its way of winning hearts, but that is only the opposite in the criminal justice system.
• Proofread, Re-read, edit, Repeat! It is always great to spend time combing through your completed personal statement. If you have that weakness or are too tired to do it, seek the services of essay editing services online . There are some glaring mistakes and latent ideas that can flaw an Ivy League equivalent essay, and a third eye can spot the errors.

Should Applicants Read the Costco College Essay?

Well, like many other free college essay samples, the Costco application essay can enthuse confidence for anybody writing an application essay. The example shows how to write a personal statement without fear. It is also a great personal essay template, especially for graduate school essays. The graduate school essays require a critical, in-depth, and logical approach.

Reading the Costco essay will acquaint you with how to use transition words, vocabulary, and hooks in personal statements.

Nevertheless, the Costco essay is not a gold standard. There are other essays that were written and published online to be accessed as free personal statement examples. So, even as you read, don’t be blinded not to research. There are many templated and formats on the internet. There is a risk of plagiarizing an essay such as the Costco college essay when many applicants read it.

So, only gain inspiration to write a well-crafted, edited, and organized college personal statement!

Can someone help with Writing College Personal Essays?

If you are getting ready to write an application essay and do not understand how we can help, our custom college essay writing service is all you need.  We offer personal statement writing assistance at affordable rates.

Even though you might feel like the Costco essay type is the best, our writers will surprise you even more. We have even related high-school failures to personalities and gotten many students admissions and acceptance to college.

Note that we only provide sample college admission essays and coach students through our essay writers. Gradecrest also offers other range of writing services such as paper writing services. We also help students with term papers, research papers, capstone projects, book reviews, article critiques, and book reports.

In short, you can trust us with an application essay for any program, and we will get you a great writer in your field.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

Essay About Love for Costco Wins Student Admission to Five Ivies

A college essay about one teen's drive to explore life — as well as her deep and abiding love for Costco — has won over admissions counselors at six of the most prestigious schools in the U.S.

Brittany Stinson, an 18-year-old senior at Concord High School in Wilmington, Delaware, found out last week that she got into five Ivy League universities — Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Cornell — as well as the similarly competitive Stanford.

Stinson, the only child of Terry and Joe Stinson, neither of whom are Ivy League nor Stanford graduates themselves, wants to be a doctor, and her mother says she has always been a strong student.

Special section: Get tips and advice about college at College Game Plan

“She’s always gotten straight As, takes the most rigorous courses she can, and is first in her class,” Terry Stinson, a Brazilian immigrant who became an American citizen only a few years ago, told NBC News.

Aside from her academics, Stinson's unusual essay made her college application stand out.

In response to the essay question, which asks students to share a "background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful," their application would be incomplete without it, Stinson described her admiration for America's largest wholesale warehouse — and how "the kingdom of Costco" was symbolic of so much more in her life.

“Just as I sampled buffalo ­chicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart–one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious,” she wrote. “I sampled calculus, cross-­country running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world.”

Writing about Costco felt natural to her, she told NBC News.

“I had always gone to Costco while growing up. It was a constant part of my childhood. I Iooked forward to trips on the weekends, and I had always treated it as a Disneyland of sorts. I was always curious about the place. The same attitude carried over to everything I tried in life,” she said.

While it was risky to write about something so outlandish, Stinson felt like she needed something to stand out amid other applicants with similar grades, extracurriculars, and SAT scores.

“I couldn’t afford to go via the traditional route. I would actually be more worried about taking a traditional route at the risk of blending in with other applicants,” Stinson said. “I knew that writing about my experiences at Costco would at least make for a memorable essay, whether [admissions committees] loved or hated it. On another hand, I felt that the essay ended up being such an accurate representation of me and my personality.”

Related: After Bouncing Between Foster Homes, Golf Caddie Gets Full Ride to College

Stinson’s father, Joe, said he believes his daughter’s greatest strengths are “her fortitude and tenacity, to choose among many.” Her English teacher for the past two years, Leslie Wagner of Concord High School, says writing is one of those strengths too.

“Brittany has always had a knack for finding just the right phrase. She has a quiet demeanor overall, but in her writing her wit and her skill with language is quite apparent,” Wagner told NBC News.

Now, Stinson has a tough choice ahead of her. She said she has “no clue” which of the universities that admitted her she will choose.

“Admitted student day visits are going to be so vital. We’ll also be comparing financial aid packages,” she said.

Read Brittany Stinson's full essay below, reprinted with her permission:

Managing to break free from my mother’s grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two­ year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother’s eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon­-sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrial­sized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco.

Notorious for its oversized portions and dollar-­fifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I’ve developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weight-­loss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more well­-mannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity.

While enjoying an obligatory hot dog, I did not find myself thinking about the ‘all beef’ goodness that Costco boasted. I instead considered finitudes and infinitudes, unimagined uses for tubs of sour cream, the projectile motion of said tub when launched from an eighty foot shelf or maybe when pushed from a speedy cart by a scrawny seventeen year old. I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirty-­three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will? I experienced a harsh physics lesson while observing a shopper who had no evident familiarity of inertia's workings. With a cart filled to overflowing, she made her way towards the sloped exit, continuing to push and push while steadily losing control until the cart escaped her and went crashing into a concrete column, 52” plasma screen TV and all. Purchasing the yuletide hickory smoked ham inevitably led to a conversation between my father and me about Andrew Jackson’s controversiality. There was no questioning Old Hickory’s dedication; he was steadfast in his beliefs and pursuits – qualities I am compelled to admire, yet his morals were crooked. We both found the ham to be more likeable–and tender.

I adopted my exploratory skills, fine tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalo­-chicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart–one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious. I sampled calculus, cross­-country running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world. Whether it be through attempting aerial yoga, learning how to chart blackbody radiation using astronomical software, or dancing in front of hundreds of people, I am compelled to try any activity that interests me in the slightest.

My intense desire to know, to explore beyond the bounds of rational thought; this is what defines me. Costco fuels my insatiability and cultivates curiosity within me at a cellular level. Encoded to immerse myself in the unknown, I find it difficult to complacently accept the “what”; I want to hunt for the “whys” and dissect the “hows”. In essence, I subsist on discovery.

How One Girl’s Trip to Costco Got Her Into All 5 Ivy League Schools and Stanford

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ICYMI- Why The Costco College Essay Is Crucial Reading for Future College Applicants

At this point, it’s almost been impossible to avoid reading about the amazing Costco college essay that secured one lucky applicant admission to several Ivies and Stanford. It’s a great essay, but not everyone seems to understand why, so CEA Founder Stacey Brook broke it down and offered some lessons that everyone can take away from this well-executed piece of prose:

By now you have probably heard about or read the college essay by high schooler Brittany Stinson detailing how her routine trips to Costco shaped her life and world. In the piece, now officially at viral status , Stinson paints a vivid picture of how wandering up and down the aisles at her favorite big box store inspired her to ponder the addictive nature of Nutella, imagine physics experiments involving 3-pound tubs of sour cream and converse with her father about historical figures who share their aliases with giant hams . The essay is clever, warm and highly observant and introspective. If Costco is a kingdom, as Brittany claims, she is currently its reigning Queen. […]

The Business Insider piece that originally introduced Stinson’s essay to the world framed her success in their title: “This Essay Got a High School Senior Into 5 Ivy League Schools and Stanford.” As a college essay expert and advisor, I would love to be able to tell you that a college essay can get you into the school of your dreams. But the truth is, a wide array of factors are considered in admissions decisions and the essay is just one of them. And media attention that focuses exclusively on students who gain admission to multiple Ivy League Institutions sends the wrong message to students (and parents) about what is important and why they should pay attention to Stinson’s writing.

Stinson’s essay was not her ticket to admission. It was a thoughtfully crafted, brilliantly executed piece of a very complex puzzle. Still, the college essay is a highly significant piece of the puzzle in that it is one of the only opportunities students have to speak to admissions officers in their own voices and highlight something about their personalities or passions that allows them to stand our from other, similarly qualified candidates.

So what should students and parents take away from the Costco essay?

Read the rest at Huffington Post .

About Thea Hogarth

View all posts by Thea Hogarth »

Written by Thea Hogarth

Category: College Admissions , Essay Tips

Tags: advice , college acceptance , college applications , college essay , costco , huffington post , tips

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A high schooler was accepted to five Ivy League colleges with an essay about Costco

It took just a few short hours on Apr. 1 for Concord High School senior Brittany Stinson to go viral. Not because she staged an epic prank—though more than a few skeptics assumed that her sudden notoriety was an April Fool’s Day fakeout—but for her very real, decidedly eccentric college applications essay that helped garner her admission to five Ivy League colleges and Stanford University.

The essay isn’t your typical exercise in academic humblebragging or lofty save-the-world aspiration: It’s a nostalgic, free-form musing on the  joys of shopping at Costco with her mom . And while it shows a young essayist’s tendency to overwrite (the Achilles heel of some of us older wordsmiths as well), it also provides insight into a mind that takes creative risks and thinks with expansive originality.

Coming as it does in the thick of a heated debate over  “holistic” evaluation standards  at elite colleges—admissions practices that extend beyond comparing grades and scores to include assessments of character and the impact of background and cultural identity on a student’s academic journey—Stinson’s essay has generated a whirling array of reactions. After being posted on Business Insider last week, her essay was read over a million times and shared many thousands more on social media.

Many have found it charming and compelling, while others have attacked it as an example of the antics holistic admissions practices encourage among applicants hoping to stand out. The truth is, these two opinions aren’t mutually exclusive. Stinson’s SAT scores were in the high 90-something percentile (she wouldn’t say exactly her score) and she’s on track to graduate as her class’s valedictorian. Meanwhile, she participated in highly competitive STEM programs, loaded up on AP classes, was a competitive cross-country runner, and an active participant in her local community.

“I’d definitely fit in with the nerds, although the kids at our school would probably categorize us as the overachievers, instead,” Stinson says. “I’d like to study neuroscience in college. I volunteered in a research lab working on a genetics project at the University of Delaware. This was one of my favorite extracurriculars. I’m definitely pursuing research in college.”

All of these factors mark her as a strong candidate for an elite university. Of course, tens of thousands of other applicants had similarly outstanding academic and extracurricular profiles this year. Stinson’s essay, however, must have suggested to schools that she would bring with her a unique and interesting point of view.

Stinson acknowledges that her status as the daughter of a Brazilian immigrant mother who identifies as black, and a white US-born father, likely gave her admissions case a boost.

“I did declare my race and ethnicity on my applications. I think my background likely made my application stand out and impacted it positively,” she says, noting that she is also a proponent of affirmative action policies. “Many who criticize affirmative action think that nearly all minority admitted students are somehow less qualified, undeserving, or that ‘they took a spot’ from a more deserving non-minority student. I think that affirmative action makes a well-qualified minority student stand out, but it will never cause an unqualified student to be admitted. Non-minorities are still benefiting from a system built in their favor.”

At the same time, as clearly evidenced by Stinson, striving for diversity isn’t just about redress for past and present inequities. It’s also about bringing together a group of people with different ways of looking at the world—people who will spend four or more years side by side, learning from and being shaped by fresh and unique perspectives.

”College is a place where we learn just as much outside the classroom as we do inside,” says Stinson. “By being exposed to people of different races, socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and religions, we can learn from their experiences. Diversity enriches an education.”

While surprised that her essay has received so much attention, Stinson said she thinks it may have resonated because of the universality of its thesis.

“I’ve seen negative comments online from people who weren’t familiar with the literary devices I was trying to use. I’ve seen people say that it’s ‘ridiculous’ that my essay involved Costco, but I don’t think they’ve even scratched the surface,” she says. “They think that in order for an essay to have depth, it needs to involve tragedy, inspiration, or overcoming adversity. I don’t know if many applicants usually explore the mundane in their essays—that seems to have taken a lot of people by surprise. I thought that this essay was a genuine representation of myself: I’m a sarcastic, dorky weirdo with a passion for science and I tried to demonstrate that I’m the kind of person who finds meaning in seemingly ordinary things.”

Which might well be the perfect summary of the college experience: It’s a chapter in life during which young people go off to find meaning in seemingly ordinary things—most particularly, in other people.

For universities, this means recruiting student bodies that represent the best and brightest of a world of worlds: Diversity of heritage and faith, of nationality and culture, of class and familial background, and yes, of race and ethnicity.

Evaluating students by scores and grades alone can’t deliver on that promise. Only by understanding the person behind the scholarly achievements, and the context in which they were earned, can universities build a student body that reflects the kaleidoscopic array of ideas, traditions, and perspectives of our increasingly global society. Which means that those who  attack holistic admissions  fail to recognize that diversity isn’t an irrelevant factor in the making of an elite college education—it is, as Stinson points out, the very thing that makes these schools worth attending.

Here is Stinson’s essay, republished below with her permission:

Prompt 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. Managing to break free from my mother’s grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two­ year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother’s eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon-­sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrial­ sized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco. Notorious for its oversized portions and dollar-­fifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I’ve developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weight­-loss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more well­mannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity.

While enjoying an obligatory hot dog, I did not find myself thinking about the “all beef” goodness that Costco boasted. I instead considered finitudes and infinitudes, unimagined uses for tubs of sour cream, the projectile motion of said tub when launched from an eighty foot shelf or maybe when pushed from a speedy cart by a scrawny seventeen year old. I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirty-­three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will? I experienced a harsh physics lesson while observing a shopper who had no evident familiarity of inertia’s workings. With a cart filled to overflowing, she made her way towards the sloped exit, continuing to push and push while steadily losing control until the cart escaped her and went crashing into a concrete column, 52-inch plasma screen TV and all. Purchasing the yuletide hickory smoked ham inevitably led to a conversation between my father and me about Andrew Jackson’s controversiality. There was no questioning Old Hickory’s dedication; he was steadfast in his beliefs and pursuits—qualities I am compelled to admire, yet his morals were crooked. We both found the ham to be more likable–and tender. I adopted my exploratory skills, fine-tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalo­-chicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart–one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious. I sampled calculus, cross­-country running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world. Whether it be through attempting aerial yoga, learning how to chart blackbody radiation using astronomical software, or dancing in front of hundreds of people, I am compelled to try any activity that interests me in the slightest. My intense desire to know, to explore beyond the bounds of rational thought; this is what defines me. Costco fuels my insatiability and cultivates curiosity within me at a cellular level. Encoded to immerse myself in the unknown, I find it difficult to complacently accept the “what”; I want to hunt for the “whys” and dissect the “hows”. In essence, I subsist on discovery.

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Read the College Essay About Costco That Got This Senior Into 5 Ivy League Schools

From Cosmopolitan

Meet Brittany Stinson, an 18-year-old senior at Concord High School in Wilmington, Delaware, who just last week found out she got into Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia, and Stanford. What is so special about Stinson, you might ask? Besides the fact she's undoubtedly an excellent student, she wrote her college essay on Costco. Yes, Costco.

"I'm sort of still in shock. I don't think I've processed everything yet," she told Business Insider , with whom she shared the entire essay.

The Common Application prompt was: "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." Stinson felt her background as a "Costco veteran" was meaningful enough to share and she was right.

Her essay begins:

Managing to break free from my mother's grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two­ year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother's eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon ­sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrial­-sized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco. Notorious for its oversized portions and dollar-­fifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I've developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weight-­loss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more well­-mannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity.

It takes a brilliant creature to elevate stuffing your face with free samples to a metaphor about having an appetite for life and approaching obstacles with curiosity instead of fear, but that's exactly what she did. You can read her essay in full over on Business Insider ... and spend the rest of the day thinking about what you plan to accomplish with the rest of your life.

Follow Tess on Twitter .

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Costco Essay: Analysis And How to Write a Better One

Writing Costco Essay

Costco is one of the largest retail stores that focus on lower prices for consumers. The company boasts of numerous warehouses that have more than 4000 different varieties of goods.

Through proper leadership strategies, Costco has been able to offer consumers high-quality prices at lower prices compared to its competitor stores.

They embrace a self-administration model of operation for customers thus reducing the need of employing workers. 

What is Costco Essay?

The famous Costco essay is a college admission essay that was written by Brittany Stinson, a former student of Concord high school.

As a requirement for high school students to write an admission essay before joining a college, Brittany chose the topic because of her love for Costco wholesale and retail stores. 

Shockingly, the essay got the internet and colleges cheering.

It received a high rating gaining her admission to top Ivy League learning institutions such as Cornell, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. 

Students who have gone through high school will all concur that the transition period between high school and college is challenging. It is a time when they experience a lot of emptiness because of the anxiety of going to a new learning environment.

To make it worse, gaining admission to the top schools is difficult if you do not come up with a good application essay. 

Even an outstanding performance in GPA and SAT is not enough to gain admission to a good college such as Stanford. Learning institutions provide a prompt for students to write an admission essay or personal statement to get a place in their classes.

Also known as Brittany Stinson’s essay, the Costco essay has been one of the most remarkable because of what it achieved. 

Analysis on What Makes The Costco Essay Good

The author did not write an ordinary essay about the topic. Instead, she made a summary of all her experience with the Costco stores. This was in response to the admission application prompt in 2016. 

After reading the prompt of the essay, the author made huge efforts to write the essay to the best of her knowledge while observing her personal experience of the stores.

Her writing was a pure demonstration of imagination, profound thinking, and outstanding organizational skills.

The coherence of ideas and personal experience in the essay was simply impeccable.

There was an in-depth and precise description of the author’s experience at the stores.

As such, the audience reading the personal statement found it easy to feel the explanation of her writer’s personality.

To give the reader more connection to the experiences, Brittany gives a deep exploration of the relationship she had with this wholesale retail store. 

All the moments are captured so that even the person who does not know the store can completely understand the events. Smartly, Brittany related the experience to her childhood and teenage age. The moments spent at the store were well correlated to her personal qualities as well as the studies.

The wisdom of the writer and the ability to relate all the details and experiences ranked the essay high. Getting recognition by the Ivy League learning institutions is not easy. This league of colleges has a low acceptance rate.

Many successful high school graduates fail to get admission even after scoring high in their GPA. 

How to Write a Similarly Good Costco Essay

Without a doubt, Brittany Stinson’s essay provides a good avenue for students to learn vital aspects of a successful college admission essay.

It teaches how to write great statements of purpose, admission essays, and personal statements that can secure admission to top institutions of higher learning. Below is what you can learn from this remarkable piece of essay:

1. Always choose an Outstanding Topic

If you are a keen reader, the topic is one of the most admirable features of the Costco essay. The theme was a clear reflection of the topic.

As such, always go for an outstanding topic even when you have been given the essay prompt. You only have to use the prompt given as a pillar for brainstorming good topic ideas . 

In the essay, it is clear that writing about yourself or everyday experience should never be an end in itself.

To entice the admission committee, strive to have creativity as you balance the theme with the topic. Let the topic stand out by making it not only striking but also precise and hilarious.

2. Research and think Deep

If you dig deep into the Costco essay, you will concur it is precisely written. There is no exaggeration whatsoever in the essay’s ability to win the hearts of the admission committee. Brittany showcases nothing but deep thinking, reasoning, and great research abilities. 

Even though her focus is on how her family had a shopping experience at Costco, she made it more appealing to the reader. The author gave a study of her personal experiences and the effect on her personality growth.

Brittany went against her mother’s wish to explore the sales of the store, goods, and free samples. In simple words, there is a pure reflection of the author’s passion which is a good ingredient in writing a catchy admission essay.

3. Go with a Realizable Theme

Admission essays share a lot of similarities with book reviews and poems. They both need an underlying theme to make them more informative. The Costco essay uses the theme of passion and boldness to show the commitment of the author.

Coupled with a good grasp of English and proper use of vocabulary, the essay achieved the ultimate goal of pleasing the admission. Writers need to select good vocabularies that are in line with the context of the essay.

4. Good tone

If you want to write a good admission essay, set your tone from the start. Know how to balance the tones so that you kill boredom and monotony. Know how to use formal and informal writing in your essay.

In the case of the Costco essay, Brittany’s theme was formal. Nevertheless, she also managed to squeeze in humor that does not affect the seriousness of the message. 

Costco Essay Example Topics to Write on

• The good and bad sides of Costco Company
• A favorite meal you always want to cook and share with family
• The food retailing industry in America
• A complete analysis of Costco’s retailing strategy
• Retailing and wholesaling lessons from the success of Costco 

With over 10 years in academia and academic assistance, Alicia Smart is the epitome of excellence in the writing industry. She is our chief editor and in charge of the writing department at Grade Bees.

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Student Writes Admissions Essay About Costco Hot Dogs; Gets Accepted by Stanford, 5 Ivies

Brittany Stinson is a high school senior who learned on Thursday that she has been accepted into Stanford University, as well as five Ivy League colleges and universities: Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell and University of Pennsylvania. All six are elite colleges that are ultra-competitive and typically have low acceptance rates. In addition to stellar grades and top-tier SAT scores, applicants typically have to set themselves apart in the essay portion of an application. What did Stinson write about in hers? Costco and hot dogs .

Read more:  This Teen Got into Every Ivy League School — His Story Will Make You Admire Him Even More

"I'm sort of still in shock," Stinson told  Business Insider . "I don't think I've processed everything yet."

On her Common Application admissions essay, Stinson chose prompt No. 1, which tasked her to write about "a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it."

Stinson wrote about her experience visiting Costco with her mother, envisioning herself as a conquistador "searching the land for El Dorado" — in this case, free samples.

The seemingly innocuous act of consuming a $1.50 hot dog combo eventually leads her to believe Costco is the "apex of consumerism," evolving into a philosophical discussion on free will and Nutella, and how the experience paralleled with her academic interests and curricular proclivities.

Read Stinson's manifesto below, which she shared in full to Business Insider .

Managing to break free from my mother's grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two­ year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother's eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon­-sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrial-­sized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco. 

How to Write a Costco Essay.

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If you are applying to college or a university, you are probably writing a Costco essay. Colleges ask for a Costco essay as an entry requirement for a student to be accepted in several ivy league schools. Writing a Costco essay is not easy for beginners, and thats why we exist. Our experts work day and night preparing Costco essays for students who want to know what works for Costco essays and what does not.

Students looking for examples of college admissions essays may be aware of what has become known as The Costco Essay. Still, it is worth delving deeper into how this essay “got a high school senior into 5 Ivy League universities” works.

Costco essay writing is an essential section of college applications since it is critical to determining one’s future. Simply put, a Costco essay is a type of essay that gets you accepted in a college or the ivy university you are applying to. Like personal statements, Costco essays have a writing structure and require skills. Are you writing a Costco essay and looking for professional writing help, seek help from our service, and we will help you secure a chance in your dream college.

Costco essay writing in summary.

A Costco essay is an essay that endorses a learner to join an ivy league school by exposing the child’s opportunities and showcasing what the child can do beyond their scores or extracurricular activities. As Brittany Stinson puts it, a custom Costco essay should incorporate the good things about our lives that we would otherwise feel incomplete without.

Brittany Stinson’s Costco individual statement is a college essay about Costco stores that she submitted in response to her application prompt in 2016. She needed to convey a meaningful experience that marked her somehow, so we decided to write about her life-long affinity with Costco stores.

Eddusaver excels in writing students’ Costco essays. Our Costco essay experts are talented in exploring your qualities to ensure you get from the most helpful world universities. All five ivy league schools will offer you a location when you follow our step-by-step writing guide below.

In writing a Costco essay, comparing too many samples and finishing your blank essay in time can be overwhelming. But reading the prompt below makes your Costco essay writing inspiring.

Persuasive prompts in Costco essay writing.

• What is your topic?- the most outstanding part of a Costco essy is its theme and topic. The prompt allows you to share your experiences about yourself more acutely and typically. A student should always check the job goal examples and create a similar typical essay. The end goal of this prompt is to create an essay that reveals individual components about you and places you a step ahead of your competitors. Additionally, the topic prompt must be unique and well-defined if you want your Costco essay to be recognized. It should leave a space for creativity and higher imagination to score major points that no other person would.
• The underlying theme prompt- as we read in Brittany’s essy, she concentrated more on her activities and characters combined with her character’s growth to win the admission board. Similarly, the underlying theme in your Costco essay should aim at exposing your hidden characters and abilities to secure your place in Ivy League institutions. In Costco essays, complex terms such as infinitude, juxtaposed, finitude, and surveyed are employed. The design is incredibly advanced and colorful, allowing the board to see every scenario as if they were physically present.
• The writer’s tone- Another outstanding aspect of the Costco essay is its tone. It’s both humorous and serious at the same time. Referring to Brittany’s essay, we see how she describes herself as an unruly child with “chubby” feet who is blinded by her need for knowledge and inevitably evokes laughs. Suddenly she starts acting more seriously, revealing her interests and where her desire to study comes from. This creative combination of two designs draws a lot of attention to this Costco individual statement and later makes her essay stand out many years after it was written. Follow this example and the sample in our service to create a compelling Costco essay that wins the admission board.

Many people have pointed out that the student’s application, not just her essay, got Brittany into these colleges. Of course, this is correct! We’ve written extensively about the 11 different criteria schools use to evaluate candidates. Still, the reality remains that in a world where so many students have excellent grades and test scores, your college essays are an essential opportunity to stand out, which is why our service exists. Contact us with a ‘please help me write my Costco essay,’ and we will do the rest.

How to write a personal statement and get accepted to any ivy league university.

Everyone who learns through an apprenticeship is an excellent student. Students can learn how to create excellent personal statements, statements of purpose, and admission essays by using the Costco college personal statement help from Eddusaver to get into the colleges and universities of their dreams. The personal statement of Costco contains many useful lessons for us. To write the finest personal statement, use the steps listed below.

• Start your essay with an idea in your mind. When writing your Costco essay or any other academic paper, we always encourage writers to brainstorm what they will write. Please remember that the more you struggle with your planning, the easier it becomes to write your essay. In Costco essay planning, a student should go through her personal experiences, trace her passion, listen to herself, and sweep through her past as you plan her essay.
• Originality is key to personal statement writing . Many personal statement essays are online, but none match your experience and interests. As a successful Costco essay writer, you should forget to fit your abilities and accomplishments into an already-written essay. Read through the sample to get the idea, but always focus on what’s written. Everyone is unique in character and giftedness; be yourself.
• Observe simplicity as you delve deeper into your Costco essay- Your college essay should be uncomplicated, similar to the Costco college essay, where Brittany ultimately kept things simple and randomly sprinkled in vocabulary. Our clients are consistently shocked by the ease with which we relate experiences to academic achievements and our passion!
• Remain unapologetic throughout your essay- Costco essay writing require a confident and skilled writer. As they show the other side of your past, you should be observant to avoid apologizing; instead, use your abilities to win your audience. If your past made you a failure, connect the ideas that later shaped your character and brought you on your toes! If you portray yourself as a brave writer, you increase your winning chances to 100%.
• Be genuine with yourself and do not fake it to make it happen- in Costco writing, students should not allow their creativity to swindle to create unsustainable lies. It is key to maintain the truths even when the truth hurts. True information has its way of winning people’s hearts. Please keep it real.
• Counter-check your essay to make it errors free- Spending some time reading through your finished personal statement is always a good idea. Use online essay editing services if you are incapable of doing it yourself or too exhausted to complete it. An Ivy League-equivalent essay may contain some glaring errors and latent concepts, but a third eye can catch the flaws.

Reading the Costco essay is critical for many candidates since it is a shining example of exactly how effective and successful a personal statement should appear. In this step, examine the language for yourself to see exceptional complexity, transitions, relationships between ideas, and a few thoughts. It may be inspiring, so after reading the university essay Costco, you will likely be brimming with thoughts.

How to write a Costco essay on your own.

Although writing a Costco essay is an engaging task, you realize your dreams easily with us. We have a big team of professional experts who help students select their topics, plan papers, and offer writing help to help students secure positions in Ivy League colleges. Your topic choice will work for you if you write about specific and true things which are meaningful to you.

At our Costco essay writing service, we have several prompts to help you make an informed choice in selecting your essay title. Here are some of the prompts you can use

⦁           Do you prefer spending weekends at a family activity, solo adventure, or company with friends? Tell us about one of the memorable days, and your essay will tick.

⦁           Do you have a special meal? Do you have a memory of when you helped someone prepare it? What does this meal mean to you?

⦁           What is that one thing you are obsessed with or your friends keep making fun of? Talk of sports, the team you support, or philosophical questions, and you will win your audience.

⦁           What childhood memory do you carry, and how has it affected your present life?

⦁           What’s that thing that admission boards should never guess about you based on your experiences?

⦁           Is there a unique leadership role you have taken before, and how did you use the position to bring your community together?

When these prompts are answered, you need to connect your topic to a more significant idea of who they are as an individual. The introduction of your essay should start as a reflection of discussing the evolving relationship with family and what makes a community.

As college life is all about writing, the Costco essay is an opportunity to get admission to ivy institutions; it is also the best place to showcase your writing abilities. Writing and editing can take a lot of effort, and several tries to find exemplary service; Eddusaver got you covered. Contact us now and have your Costco essay written and edited by a specialized expert.

In case you can’t find a sample example, our professional writers are ready to help you with writing your own paper. All you need to do is fill out a short form and submit an order

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.