the food college essay example

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How An Essay About Food Landed Me at My Top College

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May 1st is fast approaching, and the time for the high school class of 2019 to make their final college decisions is dwindling. Choosing which college to go to is overwhelming, but the dozens of essays one has to write to merely apply is even more daunting. It also doesn't help when you apply to way too many schools (13 to be exact), nearly all of which want you to outline what makes their school stand out. It was all too easy to get trapped in the cycle of repetitive phrases and "smart-sounding language."

However, when it came to writing my actual college essay which was to be sent to every school, it seemed to just flow onto the paper. Despite not choosing a specific Common App prompt, I knew exactly what I was going to write about—food. 

Unlike fellow applicants, I did not have an incredible story to tell, nor an obstacle that I overcame worth a college admission officer's time. What I did have standing behind me was a passion for peanut butter and jelly , the best desserts in New Jersey , and outlandish food gadgets that probably no one needs .

I am a massive foodie. By definition, I am a person who really appreciates a good meal. It also makes me the person who makes dinner reservations for a vacation before the plane tickets and hotel rooms are booked, and one that celebrates a ten mile run with a slice of  Cheesecake Factory’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake . Is it the most healthy hobby? Probably not. But fun? Of course.

I am not sure what drew me to food, but maybe it is the fact that my earliest memories are of grabbing every sample possible at Sam’s Club, eating holiday dinners of kugel and brisket, and standing on the countertop making a batch of Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. I learned to read a nutrition label before I could read a book and I learned the basics of food before I could count to ten. From childhood until now, although my taste buds have changed, and I have grown a liking for broccoli and lasagna, my infatuation with food remains constant.

Or maybe it is because I love how food is a social event. My family makes a point to eat our dinners as a unit. You can even count on my dog joining us in the kitchen when dinner is served. Whether we are eating one of my mom’s extravagant home-cooked meals or scarfing down a delivery pizza before we have to run out of the house, my family congregates at the table to catch up with each other.

Fridays are our nights out to dinner to celebrate the fact that we made it through another week. The choice of restaurant depends on whoever’s turn it is. My brother, not at all a food fanatic, always says anywhere. My dad loves to joke that Anywhere is too far or too expensive or whatever excuse he could make to get a chuckle out of me. To this day, I can always count on Friday night plans, even if it means eating dinner out with my parents. After dinner, you might discover my sister and I binge-watching the latest documentary about the juice cleanse (we’ve seen all three) while munching on a bag of Chex Mix.

This communion continues with my friends. You can find me on any given Saturday night chatting about the latest gossip and sharing our opinions on last night’s Bachelor in Paradise episode. This conversation isn’t complete unless we are chowing down on a smorgasbord of chicken chow mein , mozzarella sticks, and Pringles. Our way of celebrating our gratefulness towards one another is by hosting a Friendsgiving. Our annual feast boasts piles of our favorite foods. Luckily, when you are with friends, calories do not count.

I adore food. Not in the way where I don’t have a limit, but in the way that food just so happens to be a vital part of so many happy moments. I’m not a glutton, I just really like to smile. I cannot remember a time when food did not in one way or another make me or someone else happy. Even during the saddest or most stressful of situations, spending some quality time with Ben and Jerry can make it all better. Food is one of the most basic human needs, but it has grown into an integral aspect of our society where people look to it for comfort. When you are surrounded by foods and people who care for you, you don’t need much more. Although, extra dessert never hurts.

Where the Essay Led Me

After a few rejections, long college road-trips, and some delicious college cookies as seen in the photo above, I have officially committed to Northeastern University. I am so excited to start the next journey of my education as a Husky. Although my time at Spoon High School comes to a close, Spoon Northeastern awaits. 

So no one told you Thanksgiving was gonna be this way.

I'm lovin' it., adventurous, no time to wine. buff it out with your ro-say cheeks..

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Six brilliant student essays on the power of food to spark social change.

Read winning essays from our fall 2018 “Feeding Ourselves, Feeding Our Revolutions,” student writing contest.

For the Fall 2018 student writing competition, “Feeding Ourselves, Feeding Our Revolutions,” we invited students to read the YES! Magazine article, “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,”   by Korsha Wilson and respond to this writing prompt: If you were to host a potluck or dinner to discuss a challenge facing your community or country, what food would you cook? Whom would you invite? On what issue would you deliberate? 

The Winners

From the hundreds of essays written, these six—on anti-Semitism, cultural identity, death row prisoners, coming out as transgender, climate change, and addiction—were chosen as essay winners.  Be sure to read the literary gems and catchy titles that caught our eye.

Middle School Winner: India Brown High School Winner: Grace Williams University Winner: Lillia Borodkin Powerful Voice Winner: Paisley Regester Powerful Voice Winner: Emma Lingo Powerful Voice Winner: Hayden Wilson

Literary Gems Clever Titles

Middle School Winner: India Brown  

A Feast for the Future

Close your eyes and imagine the not too distant future: The Statue of Liberty is up to her knees in water, the streets of lower Manhattan resemble the canals of Venice, and hurricanes arrive in the fall and stay until summer. Now, open your eyes and see the beautiful planet that we will destroy if we do not do something. Now is the time for change. Our future is in our control if we take actions, ranging from small steps, such as not using plastic straws, to large ones, such as reducing fossil fuel consumption and electing leaders who take the problem seriously.

 Hosting a dinner party is an extraordinary way to publicize what is at stake. At my potluck, I would serve linguini with clams. The clams would be sautéed in white wine sauce. The pasta tossed with a light coat of butter and topped with freshly shredded parmesan. I choose this meal because it cannot be made if global warming’s patterns persist. Soon enough, the ocean will be too warm to cultivate clams, vineyards will be too sweltering to grow grapes, and wheat fields will dry out, leaving us without pasta.

I think that giving my guests a delicious meal and then breaking the news to them that its ingredients would be unattainable if Earth continues to get hotter is a creative strategy to initiate action. Plus, on the off chance the conversation gets drastically tense, pasta is a relatively difficult food to throw.

In YES! Magazine’s article, “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” Korsha Wilson says “…beyond the narrow definition of what cooking is, you can see that cooking is and has always been an act of resistance.” I hope that my dish inspires people to be aware of what’s at stake with increasing greenhouse gas emissions and work toward creating a clean energy future.

 My guest list for the potluck would include two groups of people: local farmers, who are directly and personally affected by rising temperatures, increased carbon dioxide, drought, and flooding, and people who either do not believe in human-caused climate change or don’t think it affects anyone. I would invite the farmers or farm owners because their jobs and crops are dependent on the weather. I hope that after hearing a farmer’s perspective, climate-deniers would be awakened by the truth and more receptive to the effort to reverse these catastrophic trends.

Earth is a beautiful planet that provides everything we’ll ever need, but because of our pattern of living—wasteful consumption, fossil fuel burning, and greenhouse gas emissions— our habitat is rapidly deteriorating. Whether you are a farmer, a long-shower-taking teenager, a worker in a pollution-producing factory, or a climate-denier, the future of humankind is in our hands. The choices we make and the actions we take will forever affect planet Earth.

 India Brown is an eighth grader who lives in New York City with her parents and older brother. She enjoys spending time with her friends, walking her dog, Morty, playing volleyball and lacrosse, and swimming.

High School Winner: Grace Williams

Apple Pie Embrace

It’s 1:47 a.m. Thanksgiving smells fill the kitchen. The sweet aroma of sugar-covered apples and buttery dough swirls into my nostrils. Fragrant orange and rosemary permeate the room and every corner smells like a stroll past the open door of a French bakery. My eleven-year-old eyes water, red with drowsiness, and refocus on the oven timer counting down. Behind me, my mom and aunt chat to no end, fueled by the seemingly self-replenishable coffee pot stashed in the corner. Their hands work fast, mashing potatoes, crumbling cornbread, and covering finished dishes in a thin layer of plastic wrap. The most my tired body can do is sit slouched on the backless wooden footstool. I bask in the heat escaping under the oven door.

 As a child, I enjoyed Thanksgiving and the preparations that came with it, but it seemed like more of a bridge between my birthday and Christmas than an actual holiday. Now, it’s a time of year I look forward to, dedicated to family, memories, and, most importantly, food. What I realized as I grew older was that my homemade Thanksgiving apple pie was more than its flaky crust and soft-fruit center. This American food symbolized a rite of passage, my Iraqi family’s ticket to assimilation. 

 Some argue that by adopting American customs like the apple pie, we lose our culture. I would argue that while American culture influences what my family eats and celebrates, it doesn’t define our character. In my family, we eat Iraqi dishes like mesta and tahini, but we also eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast. This doesn’t mean we favor one culture over the other; instead, we create a beautiful blend of the two, adapting traditions to make them our own.

 That said, my family has always been more than the “mashed potatoes and turkey” type.

My mom’s family immigrated to the United States in 1976. Upon their arrival, they encountered a deeply divided America. Racism thrived, even after the significant freedoms gained from the Civil Rights Movement a few years before. Here, my family was thrust into a completely unknown world: they didn’t speak the language, they didn’t dress normally, and dinners like riza maraka seemed strange in comparison to the Pop Tarts and Oreos lining grocery store shelves.

 If I were to host a dinner party, it would be like Thanksgiving with my Chaldean family. The guests, my extended family, are a diverse people, distinct ingredients in a sweet potato casserole, coming together to create a delicious dish.

In her article “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” Korsha Wilson writes, “each ingredient that we use, every technique, every spice tells a story about our access, our privilege, our heritage, and our culture.” Voices around the room will echo off the walls into the late hours of the night while the hot apple pie steams at the table’s center.

We will play concan on the blanketed floor and I’ll try to understand my Toto, who, after forty years, still speaks broken English. I’ll listen to my elders as they tell stories about growing up in Unionville, Michigan, a predominately white town where they always felt like outsiders, stories of racism that I have the privilege not to experience. While snacking on sunflower seeds and salted pistachios, we’ll talk about the news- how thousands of people across the country are protesting for justice among immigrants. No one protested to give my family a voice.

Our Thanksgiving food is more than just sustenance, it is a physical representation of my family ’s blended and ever-changing culture, even after 40 years in the United States. No matter how the food on our plates changes, it will always symbolize our sense of family—immediate and extended—and our unbreakable bond.

Grace Williams, a student at Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Missouri, enjoys playing tennis, baking, and spending time with her family. Grace also enjoys her time as a writing editor for her school’s yearbook, the Pioneer. In the future, Grace hopes to continue her travels abroad, as well as live near extended family along the sunny beaches of La Jolla, California.

University Winner: Lillia Borodkin

Nourishing Change After Tragedy Strikes

In the Jewish community, food is paramount. We often spend our holidays gathered around a table, sharing a meal and reveling in our people’s story. On other sacred days, we fast, focusing instead on reflection, atonement, and forgiveness.

As a child, I delighted in the comfort of matzo ball soup, the sweetness of hamantaschen, and the beauty of braided challah. But as I grew older and more knowledgeable about my faith, I learned that the origins of these foods are not rooted in joy, but in sacrifice.

The matzo of matzo balls was a necessity as the Jewish people did not have time for their bread to rise as they fled slavery in Egypt. The hamantaschen was an homage to the hat of Haman, the villain of the Purim story who plotted the Jewish people’s destruction. The unbaked portion of braided challah was tithed by commandment to the kohen  or priests. Our food is an expression of our history, commemorating both our struggles and our triumphs.

As I write this, only days have passed since eleven Jews were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. These people, intending only to pray and celebrate the Sabbath with their community, were murdered simply for being Jewish. This brutal event, in a temple and city much like my own, is a reminder that anti-Semitism still exists in this country. A reminder that hatred of Jews, of me, my family, and my community, is alive and flourishing in America today. The thought that a difference in religion would make some believe that others do not have the right to exist is frightening and sickening.  

 This is why, if given the chance, I would sit down the entire Jewish American community at one giant Shabbat table. I’d serve matzo ball soup, pass around loaves of challah, and do my best to offer comfort. We would take time to remember the beautiful souls lost to anti-Semitism this October and the countless others who have been victims of such hatred in the past. I would then ask that we channel all we are feeling—all the fear, confusion, and anger —into the fight.

As suggested in Korsha Wilson’s “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” I would urge my guests to direct our passion for justice and the comfort and care provided by the food we are eating into resisting anti-Semitism and hatred of all kinds.

We must use the courage this sustenance provides to create change and honor our people’s suffering and strength. We must remind our neighbors, both Jewish and non-Jewish, that anti-Semitism is alive and well today. We must shout and scream and vote until our elected leaders take this threat to our community seriously. And, we must stand with, support, and listen to other communities that are subjected to vengeful hate today in the same way that many of these groups have supported us in the wake of this tragedy.

This terrible shooting is not the first of its kind, and if conflict and loathing are permitted to grow, I fear it will not be the last. While political change may help, the best way to target this hate is through smaller-scale actions in our own communities.

It is critical that we as a Jewish people take time to congregate and heal together, but it is equally necessary to include those outside the Jewish community to build a powerful crusade against hatred and bigotry. While convening with these individuals, we will work to end the dangerous “otherizing” that plagues our society and seek to understand that we share far more in common than we thought. As disagreements arise during our discussions, we will learn to respect and treat each other with the fairness we each desire. Together, we shall share the comfort, strength, and courage that traditional Jewish foods provide and use them to fuel our revolution. 

We are not alone in the fight despite what extremists and anti-semites might like us to believe.  So, like any Jew would do, I invite you to join me at the Shabbat table. First, we will eat. Then, we will get to work.  

Lillia Borodkin is a senior at Kent State University majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Child Psychology. She plans to attend graduate school and become a school psychologist while continuing to pursue her passion for reading and writing. Outside of class, Lillia is involved in research in the psychology department and volunteers at the Women’s Center on campus.   

Powerful Voice Winner: Paisley Regester

As a kid, I remember asking my friends jokingly, ”If you were stuck on a deserted island, what single item of food would you bring?” Some of my friends answered practically and said they’d bring water. Others answered comically and said they’d bring snacks like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or a banana. However, most of my friends answered sentimentally and listed the foods that made them happy. This seems like fun and games, but what happens if the hypothetical changes? Imagine being asked, on the eve of your death, to choose the final meal you will ever eat. What food would you pick? Something practical? Comical? Sentimental?  

This situation is the reality for the 2,747 American prisoners who are currently awaiting execution on death row. The grim ritual of “last meals,” when prisoners choose their final meal before execution, can reveal a lot about these individuals and what they valued throughout their lives.

It is difficult for us to imagine someone eating steak, lobster tail, apple pie, and vanilla ice cream one moment and being killed by state-approved lethal injection the next. The prisoner can only hope that the apple pie he requested tastes as good as his mom’s. Surprisingly, many people in prison decline the option to request a special last meal. We often think of food as something that keeps us alive, so is there really any point to eating if someone knows they are going to die?

“Controlling food is a means of controlling power,” said chef Sean Sherman in the YES! Magazine article “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” by Korsha Wilson. There are deeper stories that lie behind the final meals of individuals on death row.

I want to bring awareness to the complex and often controversial conditions of this country’s criminal justice system and change the common perception of prisoners as inhuman. To accomplish this, I would host a potluck where I would recreate the last meals of prisoners sentenced to death.

In front of each plate, there would be a place card with the prisoner’s full name, the date of execution, and the method of execution. These meals could range from a plate of fried chicken, peas with butter, apple pie, and a Dr. Pepper, reminiscent of a Sunday dinner at Grandma’s, to a single olive.

Seeing these meals up close, meals that many may eat at their own table or feed to their own kids, would force attendees to face the reality of the death penalty. It will urge my guests to look at these individuals not just as prisoners, assigned a number and a death date, but as people, capable of love and rehabilitation.  

This potluck is not only about realizing a prisoner’s humanity, but it is also about recognizing a flawed criminal justice system. Over the years, I have become skeptical of the American judicial system, especially when only seven states have judges who ethnically represent the people they serve. I was shocked when I found out that the officers who killed Michael Brown and Anthony Lamar Smith were exonerated for their actions. How could that be possible when so many teens and adults of color have spent years in prison, some even executed, for crimes they never committed?  

Lawmakers, police officers, city officials, and young constituents, along with former prisoners and their families, would be invited to my potluck to start an honest conversation about the role and application of inequality, dehumanization, and racism in the death penalty. Food served at the potluck would represent the humanity of prisoners and push people to acknowledge that many inmates are victims of a racist and corrupt judicial system.

Recognizing these injustices is only the first step towards a more equitable society. The second step would be acting on these injustices to ensure that every voice is heard, even ones separated from us by prison walls. Let’s leave that for the next potluck, where I plan to serve humble pie.

Paisley Regester is a high school senior and devotes her life to activism, the arts, and adventure. Inspired by her experiences traveling abroad to Nicaragua, Mexico, and Scotland, Paisley hopes to someday write about the diverse people and places she has encountered and share her stories with the rest of the world.

Powerful Voice Winner: Emma Lingo

The Empty Seat

“If you aren’t sober, then I don’t want to see you on Christmas.”

Harsh words for my father to hear from his daughter but words he needed to hear. Words I needed him to understand and words he seemed to consider as he fiddled with his wine glass at the head of the table. Our guests, my grandma, and her neighbors remained resolutely silent. They were not about to defend my drunken father–or Charles as I call him–from my anger or my ultimatum.

This was the first dinner we had had together in a year. The last meal we shared ended with Charles slopping his drink all over my birthday presents and my mother explaining heroin addiction to me. So, I wasn’t surprised when Charles threw down some liquid valor before dinner in anticipation of my anger. If he wanted to be welcomed on Christmas, he needed to be sober—or he needed to be gone.

Countless dinners, holidays, and birthdays taught me that my demands for sobriety would fall on deaf ears. But not this time. Charles gave me a gift—a one of a kind, limited edition, absolutely awkward treat. One that I didn’t know how to deal with at all. Charles went home that night, smacked a bright red bow on my father, and hand-delivered him to me on Christmas morning.

He arrived for breakfast freshly showered and looking flustered. He would remember this day for once only because his daughter had scolded him into sobriety. Dad teetered between happiness and shame. Grandma distracted us from Dad’s presence by bringing the piping hot bacon and biscuits from the kitchen to the table, theatrically announcing their arrival. Although these foods were the alleged focus of the meal, the real spotlight shined on the unopened liquor cabinet in my grandma’s kitchen—the cabinet I know Charles was begging Dad to open.

I’ve isolated myself from Charles. My family has too. It means we don’t see Dad, but it’s the best way to avoid confrontation and heartache. Sometimes I find myself wondering what it would be like if we talked with him more or if he still lived nearby. Would he be less inclined to use? If all families with an addict tried to hang on to a relationship with the user, would there be fewer addicts in the world? Christmas breakfast with Dad was followed by Charles whisking him away to Colorado where pot had just been legalized. I haven’t talked to Dad since that Christmas.

As Korsha Wilson stated in her YES! Magazine article, “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” “Sometimes what we don’t cook says more than what we do cook.” When it comes to addiction, what isn’t served is more important than what is. In quiet moments, I like to imagine a meal with my family–including Dad. He’d have a spot at the table in my little fantasy. No alcohol would push him out of his chair, the cigarettes would remain seated in his back pocket, and the stench of weed wouldn’t invade the dining room. Fruit salad and gumbo would fill the table—foods that Dad likes. We’d talk about trivial matters in life, like how school is going and what we watched last night on TV.

Dad would feel loved. We would connect. He would feel less alone. At the end of the night, he’d walk me to the door and promise to see me again soon. And I would believe him.

Emma Lingo spends her time working as an editor for her school paper, reading, and being vocal about social justice issues. Emma is active with many clubs such as Youth and Government, KHS Cares, and Peer Helpers. She hopes to be a journalist one day and to be able to continue helping out people by volunteering at local nonprofits.

Powerful Voice Winner: Hayden Wilson

Bittersweet Reunion

I close my eyes and envision a dinner of my wildest dreams. I would invite all of my relatives. Not just my sister who doesn’t ask how I am anymore. Not just my nephews who I’m told are too young to understand me. No, I would gather all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins to introduce them to the me they haven’t met.

For almost two years, I’ve gone by a different name that most of my family refuses to acknowledge. My aunt, a nun of 40 years, told me at a recent birthday dinner that she’d heard of my “nickname.” I didn’t want to start a fight, so I decided not to correct her. Even the ones who’ve adjusted to my name have yet to recognize the bigger issue.

Last year on Facebook, I announced to my friends and family that I am transgender. No one in my family has talked to me about it, but they have plenty to say to my parents. I feel as if this is about my parents more than me—that they’ve made some big parenting mistake. Maybe if I invited everyone to dinner and opened up a discussion, they would voice their concerns to me instead of my parents.

I would serve two different meals of comfort food to remind my family of our good times. For my dad’s family, I would cook heavily salted breakfast food, the kind my grandpa used to enjoy. He took all of his kids to IHOP every Sunday and ordered the least healthy option he could find, usually some combination of an overcooked omelet and a loaded Classic Burger. For my mom’s family, I would buy shakes and burgers from Hardee’s. In my grandma’s final weeks, she let aluminum tins of sympathy meals pile up on her dining table while she made my uncle take her to Hardee’s every day.

In her article on cooking and activism, food writer Korsha Wilson writes, “Everyone puts down their guard over a good meal, and in that space, change is possible.” Hopefully the same will apply to my guests.

When I first thought of this idea, my mind rushed to the endless negative possibilities. My nun-aunt and my two non-nun aunts who live like nuns would whip out their Bibles before I even finished my first sentence. My very liberal, state representative cousin would say how proud she is of the guy I’m becoming, but this would trigger my aunts to accuse her of corrupting my mind. My sister, who has never spoken to me about my genderidentity, would cover her children’s ears and rush them out of the house. My Great-Depression-raised grandparents would roll over in their graves, mumbling about how kids have it easy nowadays.

After mentally mapping out every imaginable terrible outcome this dinner could have, I realized a conversation is unavoidable if I want my family to accept who I am. I long to restore the deep connection I used to have with them. Though I often think these former relationships are out of reach, I won’t know until I try to repair them. For a year and a half, I’ve relied on Facebook and my parents to relay messages about my identity, but I need to tell my own story.

At first, I thought Korsha Wilson’s idea of a cooked meal leading the way to social change was too optimistic, but now I understand that I need to think more like her. Maybe, just maybe, my family could all gather around a table, enjoy some overpriced shakes, and be as close as we were when I was a little girl.

 Hayden Wilson is a 17-year-old high school junior from Missouri. He loves writing, making music, and painting. He’s a part of his school’s writing club, as well as the GSA and a few service clubs.

 Literary Gems

We received many outstanding essays for the Fall 2018 Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we’d like to share some excerpts that caught our eye.

Thinking of the main staple of the dish—potatoes, the starchy vegetable that provides sustenance for people around the globe. The onion, the layers of sorrow and joy—a base for this dish served during the holidays.  The oil, symbolic of hope and perseverance. All of these elements come together to form this delicious oval pancake permeating with possibilities. I wonder about future possibilities as I flip the latkes.

—Nikki Markman, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California

The egg is a treasure. It is a fragile heart of gold that once broken, flows over the blemishless surface of the egg white in dandelion colored streams, like ribbon unraveling from its spool.

—Kaylin Ku, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Princeton Junction, New Jersey

If I were to bring one food to a potluck to create social change by addressing anti-Semitism, I would bring gefilte fish because it is different from other fish, just like the Jews are different from other people.  It looks more like a matzo ball than fish, smells extraordinarily fishy, and tastes like sweet brine with the consistency of a crab cake.

—Noah Glassman, Ethical Culture Fieldston School,  Bronx, New York

I would not only be serving them something to digest, I would serve them a one-of-a-kind taste of the past, a taste of fear that is felt in the souls of those whose home and land were taken away, a taste of ancestral power that still lives upon us, and a taste of the voices that want to be heard and that want the suffering of the Natives to end.

—Citlalic Anima Guevara, Wichita North High School, Wichita, Kansas

It’s the one thing that your parents make sure you have because they didn’t.  Food is what your mother gives you as she lies, telling you she already ate. It’s something not everybody is fortunate to have and it’s also what we throw away without hesitation.  Food is a blessing to me, but what is it to you?

—Mohamed Omar, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri

Filleted and fried humphead wrasse, mangrove crab with coconut milk, pounded taro, a whole roast pig, and caramelized nuts—cuisines that will not be simplified to just “food.” Because what we eat is the diligence and pride of our people—a culture that has survived and continues to thrive.

—Mayumi Remengesau, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Some people automatically think I’m kosher or ask me to say prayers in Hebrew.  However, guess what? I don’t know many prayers and I eat bacon.

—Hannah Reing, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, The Bronx, New York

Everything was placed before me. Rolling up my sleeves I started cracking eggs, mixing flour, and sampling some chocolate chips, because you can never be too sure. Three separate bowls. All different sizes. Carefully, I tipped the smallest, and the medium-sized bowls into the biggest. Next, I plugged in my hand-held mixer and flicked on the switch. The beaters whirl to life. I lowered it into the bowl and witnessed the creation of something magnificent. Cookie dough.

—Cassandra Amaya, Owen Goodnight Middle School, San Marcos, Texas

Biscuits and bisexuality are both things that are in my life…My grandmother’s biscuits are the best: the good old classic Southern biscuits, crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Except it is mostly Southern people who don’t accept me.

—Jaden Huckaby, Arbor Montessori, Decatur, Georgia

We zest the bright yellow lemons and the peels of flavor fall lightly into the batter.  To make frosting, we keep adding more and more powdered sugar until it looks like fluffy clouds with raspberry seed rain.

—Jane Minus, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

Tamales for my grandma, I can still remember her skillfully spreading the perfect layer of masa on every corn husk, looking at me pitifully as my young hands fumbled with the corn wrapper, always too thick or too thin.

—Brenna Eliaz, San Marcos High School, San Marcos, Texas

Just like fry bread, MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) remind New Orleanians and others affected by disasters of the devastation throughout our city and the little amount of help we got afterward.

—Madeline Johnson, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama

I would bring cream corn and buckeyes and have a big debate on whether marijuana should be illegal or not.

—Lillian Martinez, Miller Middle School, San Marcos, Texas

We would finish the meal off with a delicious apple strudel, topped with schlag, schlag, schlag, more schlag, and a cherry, and finally…more schlag (in case you were wondering, schlag is like whipped cream, but 10 times better because it is heavier and sweeter).

—Morgan Sheehan, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

Clever Titles

This year we decided to do something different. We were so impressed by the number of catchy titles that we decided to feature some of our favorites. 

“Eat Like a Baby: Why Shame Has No Place at a Baby’s Dinner Plate”

—Tate Miller, Wichita North High School, Wichita, Kansas 

“The Cheese in Between”

—Jedd Horowitz, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

“Harvey, Michael, Florence or Katrina? Invite Them All Because Now We Are Prepared”

—Molly Mendoza, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama

“Neglecting Our Children: From Broccoli to Bullets”

—Kylie Rollings, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri  

“The Lasagna of Life”

—Max Williams, Wichita North High School, Wichita, Kansas

“Yum, Yum, Carbon Dioxide In Our Lungs”

—Melanie Eickmeyer, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri

“My Potluck, My Choice”

—Francesca Grossberg, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

“Trumping with Tacos”

—Maya Goncalves, Lincoln Middle School, Ypsilanti, Michigan

“Quiche and Climate Change”

—Bernie Waldman, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

“Biscuits and Bisexuality”

“W(health)”

—Miles Oshan, San Marcos High School, San Marcos, Texas

“Bubula, Come Eat!”

—Jordan Fienberg, Ethical Culture Fieldston School,  Bronx, New York

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Essay Samples on Food

The subject of food becomes even more important as the world is going through turbulent times and armed conflicts. Even when the times are relatively calm, there are complex aspects like logistics, supply chain management, and accessibility of food in remote areas. If you are not sure what essays on food might be about, do not hurry to focus on consumption and delivery because you can also turn to historical subjects or explore the culture of food as an option. To save yourself time and effort, consider checking our free food essay examples. These will provide you with an extensive list that you should check before you start writing. It’s always good to explore more than one paper as you compare the writing approach and determine what tone has been used. Some examples will include the culture of fast food and the use of various diets. It’s quite challenging unless you see how it has been narrowed down because it is easy to get lost in the myriad of subjects. Do not forget to provide statistical information and add a personal touch after each citation that you use! It will help you to support your arguments and avoid plagiarism risks.

Why Is Fast Food So Popular: A Multifaceted Appeal

In a world where time is of the essence and convenience often takes precedence, fast food has emerged as a ubiquitous and widely consumed option. The popularity of fast food extends beyond its quick service and affordability, encompassing a complex interplay of factors that cater...

Why Fast Food Should Be Banned: Overview of the Arguments in the Debate

Fast food, characterized by its convenience and affordability, has become a ubiquitous part of modern society. However, amidst the convenience lies a host of health concerns that cannot be ignored. This essay delves into the reasons why the idea of banning fast food warrants serious...

The Importance of Healthy Food for Students

As the demands of modern education continue to grow, providing students with the right tools for success becomes paramount. One such tool, often overlooked, is healthy food. A well-balanced diet not only fuels the body but also nurtures the mind, enhancing cognitive function, concentration, and...

• Healthy Food

Cause and Effect of Fast Food: the Impact on Health and Society

Fast food, a convenient and readily available option, has significant effects on individuals' health and the broader society. This cause and effect essay delves into the reasons why people consume fast food and examines its far-reaching consequences on physical well-being, cultural practices, and the economy....

Indian Retail Wine Industry: Opportunity for Growth and Development

This paper studies the factors favouring the growth of the Indian retail wine Industry in Mumbai. With the rapid increase in wine consumption amongst the 20-30 year-olds due to high disposable incomes and enhanced lifestyles, wine is seen to be gradually moving away from the...

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The Truth About Genetically Modified Food: Pros and Cons

The proposition team claimed that genetically modified food or for short GM Foods are safe for humans. This is not true since for example GM crops have not been proven to be safe for human consumption and scientists don’t know what the long-term effects of...

• Genetically Modified Food

Understanding the Relationship between Aging and Appetite

1.0 Introduction Aging is a natural phenomenon of progressive physiological changes or a decline of biological functions in an organism. It takes place in a cell, a tissue to the whole human organism. Many factors accelerate the aging process and affect human beings both physically...

The Evolution of Beer in Egypt and Mesopotamia

Beer has been around since 10000 BCE and has evolved to a higher degree than ever. The effect that beer has had on history has been momentous because, for example, the Egyptians used beer as a form of payment, and if the Egyptians didn’t have...

• Ancient Civilizations

Genetically Modified Organisms As a Part Of Our Life

  Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are everywhere in this day in age, which is causing a lot of controversy. Some saying there are potential risk and others saying it’s a great way to protect and increase yields which cut cost. Commercial sale of genetically modified...

You Are What You Eat: What Will Come To Our Plate

You are what you eat. It is a phrase that is as much of a friendly insult as it is a warning against poor dietary choices. Within the last twenty years, this overarching adage has created a paradigm shift in the minds of consumers throughout...

• American Food and Nutrition
• Eating Habits

Chickens Artificially Hatching: Statistics and Main Hatchers

51.4 Billion Chickens are artificially hatched, fattened up, and slaughtered each year. Processed, Unprocessed, Fried, Baked, Boiled, Stir fry, Grilled, and air fried chicken are all Chemically different. The chemical reactions show how it effects our health and the flavor of chicken. What happens to...

• Fast Food Nation

Cognitive Decline and Diet: Influence of Western Diet

Cognitive decline refers to an age progressive process of cognitive deterioration which can eventually lead to a more serious recession into mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and then dementia. It is estimated that 15-20 percent of individuals aged 65 or above suffer from MCI in the...

• Western Diet

Multiple Types of Food Additives

Food additives have been around for millennia. The most famous traditional food additive being salt which was used mostly to cure meat. There are multiple types of food additives and they all do different things e.g. preservatives make it possible for food to last longer...

• Food Additives

The Biggest Threat to the Human Population: Food Security

When you think of the most prevalent problems facing the world, you may not think hunger to be high on the list, but hunger around the world has slowly grown since 2015 after decades of a gradual decline. In 2018, there were an estimated 821...

• Food Security
• Human Population
• World Problems

Developing the Habit of Eating Fast Food

Nowadays, with the rapid development of economy, modern people pay more attention to efficiency, the pace of life is accelerated, people tend to be perfunctory about food problems, many people turn to fast food to cut down their time spent in eating, resulting in more...

Wine Tourism as a Wine Business Function

Wine has a more soothing effects than any other drink. It can be said that wine has the capability of infusing its consumers with different pleasure by opening their senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch like no other drink. It appeals from the moment...

Healthy Living Is Very Important in Our Society

Healthy living is very important. We all need to eat healthy and exercise. By checking your blood pressure you can check how fast your heartbeat is. In my paper you’ll learn about what normal blood pressure. You’ll also find out how doing yoga, drinking only...

• Healthy Lifestyle

The Creation and Commercialisation of Chewing Gum

The idea of chewing gum was evident long before the creation and commercialization of what we know today as chewing gum. Within groups such as Mayan Indians, early American Indians, and the ancient Egyptians, it was popular to chew tree resins, sweet grasses, waxes, and...

• Chewing Gum
• New Product Development

The Increased Number of Fast Food Consumption

Approximately 50 million Americans eat at fast food restaurants in the United States daily, and you may count yourself as one. Hopping into your favorite fast-food restaurant or swinging through the drive-thru tends to happen more often than some would like to admit. Crazy statistics...

Unripe Mangoes Trigger Havoc In The Digestive System

Candy and juicy mangoes have a protracted historical past of appreciation by people. The primary documented references to mangoes are in Hindu writings that date again to about 4000 B.C. The mango is taken into account sacred in some locations as a result of it's...

A Comparison of Western Diet With Other Countries, and the Contribution of Western Diet in Diabetes

Diet is an important factor that determines the health of a human being. Due to the change of time, diet has changed dramatically. The practice of how we purchase food, cook, and the way of dining has also shifted completely. If we are comparing our...

Burger King’s History, Its Operating Environment, and Branding Issues

Consistency and flexibility in marketing approaches and strategies are necessary for an industry to create a brand and value. Generally, companies should understand that they should only be involved in selling values to their customers. As such, it is only through selling value that these...

• Burger King

An American Teen Movie "The Breakfast Club"

The BreakFast club is an American teen movie, written and produced by John Hughes in 1985, who later went on to make Home Alone. The movie starts at Shermer High School, as they are reported for Saturday's detention on march 24, 1984 at 7 a.m....

American Fast-Food Chain Burger King

Burger King is an American fast-food chain founded in 1953. As of today, it is considered as one of the largest companies in the world with more than 17,000 restaurants. During the National Bullying Prevention Month of 2017, Burger King has decided to stand against...

Why Alcohol Should Be Made Illegal to Heavy Drinkers

There are many people who enjoy drinking alcohol. Alcohol is a chemical substance which is considered an intoxicating agent found in distilled liquors. This substance is usually consisting of 95 percentage ethanol and 5 percentage water. Drinking alcohol can affect harmfully if consumers drink alcohol...

• Alcohol Abuse

Natural Source of Caffeine and Its Role

Humans have been consuming caffeine since the Stone Age in which they found that through chewing the seeds, bark or leaves of certain plants enable them to reduce fatigue, increase alertness and elevating their mood. Only much later, they realized effects are more effective by...

• Energy Drink

Why Teenagers Are Developing Eating Disorders

Nowaday, Teenager have feeling that their body isn’t perfect.It decreases their confidence and giving them an eating disorder this is called Teenage Anorexia . Even though this eating disorder is very dangerous but people continue doing it. It can harm themselves and may cause to...

• Eating Disorders

Consume Carcinogens and Mutagens Such as Caffeine

Every day we are exposed to and even consume carcinogens and mutagens such as caffeine, UV radiation, industrial pollutants, pesticides, food additives, and natural substances such as tobacco. Caffeine is known to be mutagenic to bacteria and fungi and can be mutagenic to mammalian cells...

Breakfast Catering Service In Brunswick

Eat breakfast sort of a king, lunch sort of a prince, and dinner sort of a beggar. This old-age adage just shows how important it's to possess an enormous and hearty breakfast. It is your first meal for the day, and it'll provide you with...

If Caffeine Contains the Properties of a Mutagen

Many common products, like preserved foods, cleaning agents, and vehicle airbags, contain known mutagens that are hazardous to humans. Caffeine is present in coffee and energy drinks, beverages consumed on an everyday basis by many people. It is important to recognize how interactions with these...

Everyone’s Favourite Fast Food - the Hamburger

Craving fast food? Well, there’s nothing more appetizing than a juicy, cheesy hamburger to calm the rumbling in your stomach. Hamburgers have carved a special place in everyone’s hearts irrespective of their age. Teenagers and young adults were mesmerized by this delicacy-turned-fast food when they...

How to Switch to Healthy Food and Snacks

There are actually so many reasons why we should switch to healthy food that you will wonder why you have not yet done this already a long time ago. It all starts with the fact that being healthy should be everyone’s priority, which means that...

Non-dependent Parental Alcohol Misuse Impact

This study had limitations which may have affected the findings. Future research should take account of these limitations. Firstly, this study had a cross-sectional design, therefore causality between the significant associations such as parental alcohol misuse and MHS cannot be inferred, and a temporal relationship...

Mineral And Water Functions In Water Consumption

Some specialized doctors recommend consuming cold water, especially after physical exertion, because it regulates body temperature. There are other doctors who argue that cold water consumption forces the body to expend energy to warm itself, and that this results in the immediate loss of the...

• Digestive System

Junk Food: Why The Government Shouldn’t Regulate A Person’s Intake Of Unhealthy Foods

Health is an important factor that influences our everyday lives. The way in which we care for our bodies affects how our future wellbeing can and will play out for the rest of our lives. For example, if someone is careful with what they eat...

Eat To Live Or Live To Eat: Incorporating Healthy Eating Habits

Incorporating a healthy lifestyle in my life by choosing to make better food choices and exercising consistently and whole heartedly can be a major factor in increasing my life span for the future. By choosing to live a healthier lifestyle I hope to live longer...

Considering If Genetically Modified Food Should Be Banned

Introduction Transgenic, or genetically modified (GMO) plants are plants who‘s DNA has been genetically modified using various methods. Original method used for adding or removing genes include gene guns, electroporation, agrobacterium and microinjections. Newer methods, such as CRISPR and TALEN are more precise and convenient,...

The Necessity Of Genetically Modified To Be Banned

What is a GMO? According to Stevie Shepard, the science writer for BBC Good Food, a GMO is “any living thing that’s had its DNA altered using genetic engineering”. He says that genetic alteration is used to give an organism a “desirable trait”. He gives...

Animal Eating: To Eat To Live Or Live To Eat

Eating is one way that can deepen relationships from friendships to romances and so much more. But eating can signal a devotion to a culture, religion or lifestyle choice based on what animals we eat (Thames, 2018). Many believe that animals should not be eaten...

• Importance of Food

Underage Drinking And The Effects On The Body

Alcohol is a toxin that alters your brain's frontal lobe which is responsible for decision making and many more important tasks. Alcohol is also responsible for creating numerous health problems like heart disease, Liver disease, and an increased chance of getting Alzheimer's at an older...

• Underage Drinking

Why War On Drugs Doesn't Make That Much Sence Nowadays

Drugs have been utilized for a tremendous number of years, and have been constrained for under 1% of that time. The present War on Drugs has effectively affected society financially and socially. The remedy anticipation endeavors have had little impact on the stockpile of unlawful...

• Drug Addiction
• War on Drugs

The Problem Of Underage Drinking Among Teenagers

Teenagers tend to be peer pressured into experimenting with drugs or alcohol because they want to seem “cool” or to “fit in”. Unfortunately, Teenagers don’t see the consequences that could occur because of drinking or doing any type of drug. The only issue students and...

Vegetarianism: Meat Eating Versus Nutrition

Vegetarianism may seem like a popular diet fad, but it has been advocated by many cultures around the world. Restaurants advertising “vegetarian options” on their menu is becoming customary. Vegetarianism is a dietary choice, to abstain from meat, that people adopt for many reasons. There...

• Vegetarianism

Organic Vs. Conventional Food: Usage Of Fertilizers In Farming

Several years ago, people used organic fertilizers to cultivate fruits and vegetables in their environment, depending not on the size of the plant, but on its flavor and valuable qualities. Furthermore, the Industrial Revolution supplied farmers with viable means of pest management, development boosters, and...

• Organic Farming
• Organic Food

The Need To Change Eating Junk Food To Healthy Food

How often do you eat junk food? Do you know exactly what you’re eating? Most junk food companies use artificial ingredients in their snacks or foods, this can cause multiple health problems for people later on in their lives. This is just one of the...

Problem Solving Ability And Adjustment In Relation To Vegetarian And Non Vegetarian

Introduction Adolescence is considered as a nutritionally critical period of life for several reasons. Firstly, manifold increase in physical growth and development put greater pressure on the need for nutrients. Secondly, adolescence can be the second opportunity to catch up with growth, if nutrient intake...

The Pros Of Home Cooking As Compared To Fast Food

There is only so much time in the world, people are constantly busy and in a rush. Busy with work, school and other extra activities. Who has time to cook nowadays? Families are constantly going out to eat at restaurants and fast food places rather...

An Attempt To End Obesity With Junk And Healthy Food

In an article published by The Atlantic magazine David H Freedman poses the statement “How junk food can end obesity.” the article focuses on how the media, and Health Food enthusiasts have been demonizing industrialized, and processed foods. When I came across David’s article, the...

Vegetarianism And Practice Of Not Eating Meat

Why would anyone consider becoming a vegetarian? Is a vegetarian diet healthier, or are there too many risks? The article, “Vegetarian Diets: Health Benefits and Associated Risks” by Navneet Kumar Kaushik, Anup Aggarwal, Mohita Singh, Shelja Deswal, and Priyanka Kaushik discusses the popularity in recent...

The Values Of Organic Food Over Genetically Modified Conventional Food

First, organic food has more values for human bodies, as it’s play more important edge in lifestyle of sportive man. So, organic food makes your brain fresher healthier and it’s gone back in your brain function. In addition to that, it’s rechange the molecular of...

Organic Food Is Better Than Non Gmo Food

The distinctions between GMOs, non-GMOs and organic food labels are essential to understand. There are more agricultural products on the market as 'non-GMOs' and many of us may not even know the difference. You may have wonder why non-GMO foods are not the same as...

Home Cooked Meals Vs. Fast Food: Comparing Nutritious Benefits

Nowadays many people of all ages are becoming more obese simply because they choose to take the easier route when it comes to their appetite; however, the easier route may not be the one that’s healthiest. The vast majority are not cooking as much, which...

The Consumption Of Non Organic Food Versus Organic Food

Is consuming non-organic food worth your health or our pocket? Non-organic Food that fulfill your consumption and nutrition. With the increasing population of world, the demand for food is higher than ever. Non-organic is when synthetic chemicals are used on the crop or product to...

Organic Ginger Powder And Its Therapeutic Characteristics

Organic ginger powder is sourced from dried ginger roots (Zingiber officinale). The organic powder has multiple applications which range from health and wellness to culinary ones. The powder contains plenty of antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory compounds. The earliest use of the powder can be...

• Herbal Medicine

Health Benefits Of Ginger Consumption

Ginger is almost one of the ordinary ingredient in most of the cooking and many other items and it is in it for good for welfare of ginger are almost countless in change of state as well as medically ginger has been used in medically...

Review Of Eric Schlosser Book Fast Food Nation: How Fast Food Chains Poison Us

Eric Schlosser builds his ethos by not only describing the various fast food chains that are involved in almost all aspects of society but by describing the effect that this has on the American people and the American economy as a whole. By delving into...

My Experience Of Savoring Traditional Guatemalan Breakfast During The Family Visit

The last Sunday morning before I came to MSU my family and I decided to get together for breakfast. Since it was one of the last days that I was going to be in Guatemala we decided to make the traditional Guatemalan breakfast, the “Desayuno...

• Cultural Identity

Analysis Of The Company Ethics Of Mcdonald's And How The Company Slowly Kills People

Obesity has been a global concern in the United States for quite some time now. However, there has been a significant amount of marketing and promoting the consumption of unhealthy food and drink products. In most cases, marketing of these products is targeted at younger...

Formulation Development And Nutritional Analysis Of Breakfast Cereals

The usual breakfast meal of every household worldwide mainly consists of traditional cereals and millets. Both of these two are chief carbohydrate sources and hence are the main calorie provider. They also provide substantial amount of protein, minerals and vitamins (FAO 2002). Traditional cereals such...

Artificial Intelligence Application In Poultry Industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as computer systems replicating human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages. At a simplistic level, predictive modelling such as that used in feed formulation might be a form of artificial intelligence, but the use...

• Artificial Intelligence

Story Of My Food Aversion Towards Bivalves

It was a gloomy afternoon and exactly fifteen years ago when I had my worst nightmare, and I had to say “bye!” to the bivalves. My great dislikes in bivalves started with a single mussel and as time passed by, I eventually disliked the sight...

Types Of Spices Used In Indian Cuisine

What are Indian spices ? Asnwer to this question is that the Indian spices are the heart of Indian cuisine and they are the only element which provide taste to the food. India is blessed with number of the spices like red chili, salt, turmeric...

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (haccp) In Nutritional Installation

The hospital is an organized place in providing health services to patients, both basic, specialistic and subspecialistic.[1] One of the hospital facilities and infrastructure that must exist is a Nutrition Installation. Nutritional installation is used in the process of handling patients' food and drinks which...

• Food Safety

Analysis Of The Fast Food Industry In India And Challenges It Faces

Literature review The economic growth of a country Comes along with the increasing spending capacity of the citizen. The leisure time in India is mostly spent on dining out with friends and families and fast food are the most favorite option of Indian while they...

Reasons Behind American Fixation On Unhealthy Food

On the off chance that you drive on any roadway in the United States, you'll discover drive-through eateries at each exit and administration region. On the off chance that you stroll through any market, you'll see arranged nourishments that state 'make it in minutes' and...

Positive And Negative Impacts Of Chewing Gum On The Planet Earth

The planet is filled with diverse matter. Everything that is on Earth has an origin. Throughout time Earth has evolved and soon later organisms have evolved from it. Even humans can create a story for anything, for example chewing gum. Chewing gum is gum that...

Market Selection With Justification And Opportunity Statement For Baiada Poultry

The purpose of this study is to shed light on describing the market opportunities can be faced by the company while entering in the UK market. In the market opportunity analysis process, the study has highlighted the position of the competitors and those operational impacts...

• Marketing Plan
• Marketing Research

The Role Of Learning Theories In Forming Food Preferences

Discuss the role of learning theories in the development of eating preferences Learning theories help us understand actions and are important in one’s life in building personality and grooming. In my assignment I will be discussing each theory and elaborate each one of it with...

• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning

History of Wendy’s: Analysis of the Dave’s Single Advertisement

Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio. on January 29, 2006. The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries, and their...

• Advertising

Deadly Consequences Of Sugar And Glucose Epidemic In The United States

Questions Obesity rate in the United States have been increased since the past 20 years because of the amount of food we eat which contains a lot of sugar. In addition to the obesity rate, studies have shown a connection between to large amounts of...

• High Fructose Corn Syrup

Understanding The Next Epidemic In North America: Lactose Intolerance

The two main animals that North Americans receive their milk from are either cows and goats, and yet, within the past five years, the rise of almond, soy, oat, and coconut milk have become the most popular versions of milk in our society. Most often,...

• Lactose Intolerance

Health Benefits Of Durian And Types Of The Most Controversial Fruit Ever

Introduction Introductory Remark Durian is the native fruit in South-eastern Asia and known as the 'king of fruits'. Durian has a distinct large size, unique and strong odour and hard thorn-covered husk. Different people have different thoughts about durian, some may think that durian has...

Origins of Sushi and How They Evolved Throughout the Years

In today’s day and age food has become a major topic when it comes to trends and social media. Social media models travel the world and explore new cuisines and post them on their social media accounts. That influences the rest of modern society to...

• Japanese Food Culture

My Future Journey to the Goal to Become a Pastry Chef

My name is Chinelle Ann Hooper; I am a student at New York City College of Technology, completing a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management. My primary purpose and motivation to earn a bachelor’s degree is to pursue a career as a pastry chef and eventually...

• Career Goals
• Pastry Chef
• Personal Goals

Ethics in the Food Industry-Dairy Farming

Introduction A dairy is a business enterprise which is established for harvesting or processing of animal milk – from cows or goats, and also from buffaloes, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. The word dairy refers to milk-based products, derivatives and processes, and...

• Animal Ethics

"Indian Horse" Novel Analysis: the Role of Alcohol in Saul's Life

Alcohol is a drink which causes a person to lose his consciousness. Reading the novel Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese narrates how Saul resorts to alcohol in order to escape the reality he has been living in. Now the question arises what causes Saul to turn...

• Indian Horse

History of Rice and the Benefits of Rice Cultivation in Australia

Rice has become a very important food source for millions of people since the realization of its potential in 2800 BC until now. It has provided those with nothing to make a living selling and growing rice while also providing a stable food source for...

The Issue of Excessive College Drinking and Drinking Age in US

During the freshman year of college, students are more prone to stepping outside of their comfort zone, and experience new opportunities. Entering a new environment, without any parental supervision, encourages these students to branch out even more, and partake in activities that most parents would...

• Drinking Age in America

Reaping the Health Advantages of Lemon Water

Lemons square measure healthy. Most people associate lemons with vitamin C, however that’s not all they need to supply. They’re low in sugar and per the USDA National Nutrient info, contain everything from adermin, vitamin A, vitamin E, folate, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and B complex...

The Imperial Sugar Plant Explosion and Its Effect on Sugar Industry

On February 7, 2008, at around 7:00 pm, an Imperial Sugar Plant exploded and went up in flames at Port Wentworth, GA. There were many reasons as to how it exploded. One of the main reasons was the poor maintenance of the plant itself. The...

• Problem Solving
• Sugar Trade

The Nutritious and Diet-Friendly Formulation of Breakfast Cereals

Yeu et.al. (2008) studies shown the beneficial effects of soy and high-protein diets on weight loss and also claim dipping the risk of cardiovascular diseases. 4 formulations with soy meal content of 41, 47, 54 and 60% (w/w) were processed by extrusion and flavored with...

Effects of Ginger on LDL-Cholestrol, Total Cholestrol and Body Weight

Abstract Hyperolestrolemia (one type of hyperlipidemia), due to high level of LDL (bad) cholestrol in the blood, inreases the deposition of fats in arteries and cause coronary artery disease. This condition can be prevented or treated by allopathic drugs but they can develop severe side...

• Weight Loss

The Harsh Truth of the Fast Food Industry in Fast Food Nation

Eric Schlosser in the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal exposes the inconvenient truth that what we are putting in our mouth has a dark story behind it. This book informs readers about how fast food has completely infiltrated our...

The Perfect Agenda for Single People on the Valentine's Day

All lonely women: He returned. Good V word. When a terrible day draws near, we are all surrounded by Valentine's Day attributes. The sweet Hallmark cards make us laugh; The heart shaped chocolate box gives us evil and constantly reminds us that we must be...

• Valentines Day

Cleaning Solutions to Get Rid of Chewing Gum

If you have a gum attached to the sofa, either fabric or leather, you must first take into account the material of your furniture, so you can then perform the proper procedure and thus be able to remove the gum without damaging the surface. We...

The Environmental Impact of Mars Wrigley Confectionery, Chewing Gum Producer

Mars Wrigley Confectionery is a global leader in the manufacture of chewing gum, confections and chocolates. The main manufacturer, Mars Inc. bought Wrigley in 2008 for $23 billion. It is the manufacturer of popular chewing gum brands like PK, Juicy Fruit, Double-mint, Orbit and Big...

The Impossible Burger as the Staple of Vegan Food

The growing popularity of vegan food has become an apparent currency in cultural exchange in the US. Los Angeles isn’t just all about Hollywood glitz and glamor, it’s also all about the healthy and plant-based lifestyle. Eating healthy and cleansing oneself from meat, fried food,...

Burger and Other Nostalgia Food of the People

There are certain foods that trigger nostalgia and bring back memories from our past. Famous chefs and food influencers who have a strong relationship with food have one thing in common: the nostalgia connected to the first moment they fell in love with food. It’s...

Statistics on Death Associated with Alcohol and How to Recover from Alcohol Abuse

If we have a tendency to take a glance at the statistics place along by the workplace of National Statistics, we discover that alcohol statistics may be quite shuddery. Since the 1990's there has been Associate in Nursing constant rise within the quantity of alcohol...

• Death Rates

Rice Shortage in Philippines and the Rice Importation Controversy

Although the our country is an agricultural-based with rice as its main crop, we still import rice from other countries than consuming the harvest of the Filipino farmers, the country almost relies on Rice Importation even though we can increase the rice production in our...

• Food Shortage
• Philippines

Nuances of Food Preparation for Astronauts

Summary Astronauts do not only rely on food for their physical well being. Food provides emotional benefits and can lessen the psychological effects of being in space for extended periods of time. However, food on the International Space Station must be specifically prepared for space...

• Space Exploration

Healthy Junk Food Substitutes: An Opened Door to Healthier Food in Future

According to Dictionary.com, Junk food is defined as a substance that is appealing and is energy dense, but does not offer much nutritional value (Junk Food, N). Junk food often has substances that scientists create to mimic the way products like Sugar taste. This process...

Link Between the Beverage Consumption and Body Fat in U.S Children

Abstract Soft drinks have become a major contribution to obesity and other health related problems in America. The soft drink epidemic provides many calories with added sugar. it has been linked to overall diet quality and meeting nutrient requirements. Additional eighty-five empty calories or five...

Why High Fructose Corn Syrup Is the One to Blame for Unhealthy American Diet

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there will be a higher amount of Americans that will die of diseases related to obesity than there will be Americans who will starve to death (CDC, 2019). This is a major issue. Processed foods have overtaken...

The Impact of Sweets on Dr. Pepper Industry

Sweets have a huge impact on various industries, not just the dessert and culinary industry. Sugar has become a duplicitous agent in several parts of the world and is an active ingredient in anything and everything we eat. From sweet treats to savory meals, sugar...

Mistake That One Should Avoid During Baking

Spell baking can be a great deal of fun, it likewise needs one serious part of accuracy and meticulousness. Commit one modest error or miss one little fixing and you can wager everything that the dish will be a debacle. I have dependably said that...

Traditional Cuisine of the Carribeans, Southern India and Northern France

One of the most important aspects of any culture is food. The reason why traditional cuisine is passed from one generation to another is to preserve the food culture and also express the cultural identity. When one’s traditional food is frequently cooked, there is a...

BreadTalk Company History: Providing Staple Food to Many

Established in April 2000, BreadTalk started up Singapore's customary pastry kitchen industry with an interesting situating: it was anticipated as an expertly run business; its stores were situated in the significant shopping centers in focal pieces of Singapore; the kitchens were open arrangement so clients...

• Cost Benefit

Composite Bread Fruit-Sweet Potato Flour Substitution In Bread Production

Introduction Breadfruit and sweet potato are Traditional staples consumed in the Caribbean region. These traditional staples are particularly appealing to the region not only because of their nutritional and caloric value and contribution to livelihood systems, but also because of their adaptability to a wide...

Origin and Domestication of Yellow Corn and Bread Making

The starting place and growing of yellow corn has been a problem in evolution; even though maximum scientists accept as true with the crop originated from Mexico, other scientists have additionally proposed multiple- origins of the crop; based totally on studies on chromosome knob positions...

Best topics on Food

1. Why Is Fast Food So Popular: A Multifaceted Appeal

2. Why Fast Food Should Be Banned: Overview of the Arguments in the Debate

3. The Importance of Healthy Food for Students

4. Cause and Effect of Fast Food: the Impact on Health and Society

5. Indian Retail Wine Industry: Opportunity for Growth and Development

6. The Truth About Genetically Modified Food: Pros and Cons

7. Understanding the Relationship between Aging and Appetite

8. The Evolution of Beer in Egypt and Mesopotamia

9. Genetically Modified Organisms As a Part Of Our Life

10. You Are What You Eat: What Will Come To Our Plate

11. Chickens Artificially Hatching: Statistics and Main Hatchers

12. Cognitive Decline and Diet: Influence of Western Diet

13. Multiple Types of Food Additives

14. The Biggest Threat to the Human Population: Food Security

15. Developing the Habit of Eating Fast Food

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Essays About Food: Top 5 Examples and 6 Writing Prompts

Food is one of the greatest joys of life; it is both necessary to live and able to lift our spirits. If you are writing essays about food, read our guide.

Many people live and die by food. While its primary purpose is to provide us with the necessary nutrients to carry out bodily functions, the satisfaction food can give a person is beyond compare. For people of many occupations, such as chefs, waiters, bakers, and food critics, food has become a way of life.

Why do so many people enjoy food? It can provide us with the sensory pleasure we need to escape from the trials of daily life. From the moist tenderness of a good-quality steak to the sweet, rich decadence of a hot fudge sundae, food is truly magical. Instead of eating to stay alive, many even joke that they “live to eat.” In good food, every bite is like heaven.

5 Top Essay Examples

1. food essay by evelin tapia, 2. why japanese home cooking makes healthy feel effortless by kaki okumura, 3. why i love food by shuge luo.

• 4.  My Favorite Food by Jayasurya Mayilsamy 
• 5. ​​Osteria Francescana: does the world’s best restaurant live up to the hype? by Tanya Gold

6 Prompts for Essays About Food

1. what is your favorite dish, 2. what is your favorite cuisine, 3. is a vegan diet sustainable, 4. the dangers of fast food, 5. a special food memory, 6. the food of your home country.

“Food has so many things in them such as calories and fat. Eating healthy is important for everyone to live a healthy life. You can eat it, but eating it daily is bad for you stay healthy and eat the right foods. Deep fried foods hurt your health in many ways. Eat healthy and exercise to reduce the chances of any health problems.”

In this essay, Tapia writes about deep-fried foods and their effects on people’s health. She says they are high in trans fat, which is detrimental to one’s health. On the other hand, she notes reasons why people still eat foods such as potato chips and french fries, including exercise and simply “making the most of life.” Despite this, Tapia asserts her position that these foods should not be eaten in excess and can lead to a variety of health issues. She encourages people to live healthy lives by enjoying food but not overeating. 

“Because while a goal of many vegetables a day is admirable, in the beginning it’s much more sustainable to start with something as little as two. I learned that with an approach of two-vegetable dishes at a time, I would be a lot more consistent, and over time a large variety would become very natural. In fact, now following that framework and cooking a few simple dishes a day, I often find that it’s almost difficult to not reach at least several kinds of vegetables a day.”

Okumura discusses simple, healthy cooking in the Japanese tradition. While many tend to include as many vegetables as possible in their dishes for “health,” Okumura writes that just a few vegetables are necessary to make healthy but delicious dishes. With the help of Japanese pantry staples like miso and soy sauce, she makes a variety of traditional Japanese side dishes. She shows the wonders of food, even when executed in its simplest form. 

“I make pesto out of kale stems, toast the squash seeds for salad and repurpose my leftovers into brand new dishes. I love cooking because it’s an exercise in play. Cooking is forgiving in improvisation, and it can often surprise you. For example, did you know that adding ginger juice to your fried rice adds a surprisingly refreshing flavor that whets your appetite? Neither did I, until my housemate showed me their experiment.”

In her essay, Luo writes about her love for food and cooking, specifically how she can combine different ingredients from different cuisines to make delicious dishes. She recalls experiences with her native Chinese food and Italian, Singaporean, and Japanese Cuisine. The beauty of food, she says, is the way one can improvise a dish and create something magical. 

4.   My Favorite Food by Jayasurya Mayilsamy 

“There is no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap. My love for Pizza is very high. I am always hungry for pizza, be it any time of the day. Cheese is the secret ingredient of any food it makes any food taste yummy. Nearly any ingredient can be put on pizza. Those diced vegetables, jalapenos, tomato sauce, cheese and mushrooms make me eat more and more like a unique work of art.”

Mayilsamy writes about pizza, a food he can’t get enough of, and why he enjoys it as much as he does. He explains the different elements of a good pizza, such as cheese, tomato sauce, other toppings, and the crust. He also briefly discusses the different types of pizzas, such as thin crust and deep dish. Finally, he gives readers an excellent description of a mouthwatering pizza, reminding them of the feeling of eating their favorite food. 

5. ​​ Osteria Francescana: does the world’s best restaurant live up to the hype? by Tanya Gold

“After three hours, I am exhausted from eating Bottura’s dreams, and perhaps that is the point. If some of it is delicious, it is also consuming. That is the shadow cast by the award in the hallway, next to the one of a man strangled by food. I do not know if this is the best restaurant on Earth, or even if such a claim is possible. I suspect such lists are designed largely for marketing purposes: when else does Restaurant magazine, which runs the competition, get global coverage for itself and its sponsors?”

Gold reviews the dishes at Osteria Francescana, which is regarded by many as the #1 restaurant in the world. She describes the calm, formal ambiance and the polished interiors of the restaurants. Most importantly, she goes course by course, describing each dish in detail, from risotto inspired by the lake to parmesan cheese in different textures and temperatures. Gold concludes that while a good experience, a meal at the restaurant is time-consuming, and her experience is inconclusive as to whether or not this is the best restaurant in the world. 

Everyone has a favorite food; in your essay, write about a dish you enjoy. You can discuss the recipe’s history by researching where it comes from, the famous chefs who created it, or which restaurants specialize in this dish. Provide your readers with an ingredients list, and describe how each ingredient is used in the recipe. Conclude your essay with a review of your experience recreating this recipe at home, discuss how challenging the recipe is, and if you enjoyed the experience.

Aside from a favorite dish, everyone prefers one type of cuisine. Discuss your favorite cuisine and give examples of typical dishes, preparations for food, and factors that influence your chosen cuisine. For example, you could choose Italian cuisine and discuss pasta, pizza, gelato, and other famous food items typically associated with Italian food.

Many people choose to adopt a vegan diet that consists of only plant-based food. For your essay, you can discuss this diet and explain why some people choose it. Then, research the sustainability of a plant-based diet and if a person can maintain a vegan diet while remaining healthy and energized. Provide as much evidence as possible by conducting interviews, referencing online sources, and including survey data. 

Fast food is a staple part of diets worldwide; children are often raised on salty bites of chicken, fries, and burgers. However, it has been linked to many health complications, including cancer and obesity . Research the dangers of fast food, describe each in your essay, and give examples of how it can affect you mentally and physically. 

Is there a memory involving food that you treasure? Perhaps it could be a holiday celebration, a birthday, or a regular day when went to a restaurant. Reflect on this memory, retelling your story in detail, and describe the meal you ate and why you remember it so fondly.

Every country has a rich culture, a big component of which is food. Research the history of food in your native country, writing about common native dishes and ingredients used in cooking. If there are religious influences on your country’s cuisine, note them as well. Share a few of these recipes in your essay for an engaging piece of writing.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

For help picking your next essay topic, check out the best essay topics about social media .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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The Food and Culture, Essay Example

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There are many factors that influence the food habits of the cultures throughout the world.  By looking at the historical context of the culture’s habits and examining the underlying processes that created these influences, it becomes apparent that there are various factors that can be presented.  Not only are the cultural food habits rooted in the environmental and economic factors that are associated with the regional or political constraints that those societies are presented with, but also the religious and social orders that make up the rituals and habits of the communities within those societies.  In this way, the factors governing the influence of cultural food habits can be examined in order to see how these various associations are effected by the societies in which they are found.

Those factors that influence the food habits of various cultures are primarily determined by those same factors that influence many other aspects of cultural life.  These factors include not only the location and environmental setting of their culture, but also the historical context in which the culture exists and identifies with.  “Cultural cuisines reflect the geography, climate, and history of the location where the culture developed.” (Massachusetts, 2006).  In this way, the landscape plays as vital a role in the food that the culture comes to rely on as their habits and preferences.  The constraints that the land and environment present upon the people will have a direct impact on how they grow their food and the manner and extent to which it is consumed in a ritualistic sense.

Throughout Asia and much of the Middle East, for example, the people rely heavily upon the production of rice.  This is not only because there was a rich historical framework that is dedicated to this crop within these societies, but also because the climate and landscape are beneficial for this particular crop to grow in abundance.  “Today rice is an important food product used both as a daily dish as well as in more elaborate festival dishes in Central Asia and adjacent regions including Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.” (Nessbit, 2006)  For this reason, the cultures eventually came to revere the plant as a gift to their people and it became a cultural identification for them.  Many myths and legends revolve around the history and production, as well as the health benefits of rice in China, and throughout much of Asia and the Middle East.

Other factors that influence the habits of cultures include those that allow the cultures to attain or retain a specific identity.  These identities are an important way for the cultures to maintain their unique characteristics.  These are not only those that relate to religious identification, but also social and racial identifications as well.  “The obvious ones are ethnic, religious and class identifications.” (Fox, 2006)  By doing so, the various cultures are able to retain the various historical frameworks that influenced the creation of the food that is important to them.  This is an essential factor in the retention of the food habits of the specific cultures and their identities.

The preservation of food as a symbol of class still continues to this day.  Since ancient times, people have presented food as a way to show their social and economic success.  In order to show this, people often presented great spreads for their guests.  “Lavish food entertainment is part of the ancient tradition of food hospitality used mainly to impress strangers.” (Fox, 2006)  While not to the extent that it was in the past, this is still done throughout the world.  Many cultures consider the presentation of food to be of vital importance in the realm of good social practice and manners.  When presented with food in many cultures, it is, in fact, considered rude to deny or to turn down food from a host.

Furthermore, the expression of religious rituals through food is still in practice today.  The sacraments of wine and bread for Christians as well as the kosher-laws that govern the food habits of the Jewish faith are examples of this. “Most civilizations have been built on the cultivation of one staple food crop, which is almost invariably endowed with religious significance, the origin of which is usually shrouded in myth.” (Claxton, 1996)  Whether this is usually because the food was something that was plentifully available or that it had some historical significance that the culture or society had become attached to at some point is difficult to discern, but historians and anthropologists are continuously developing new methods and theories to address this issue further.

Beyond the religious and societal pressures that influence the types of food and the habits that are associated with them are the needs of the individuals within society to express their communal ties and to show their gratitude to others that are within the scope of their social and cultural frameworks.  In this way, the customs and rituals that are associated with food within a society are expressed through the individual desires of the people to express the communal responsibilities that they feel are important and to show their faith in regards to the other people who make up those communities.

In this sense, people are able to show their expressions of dedication to their communal values and their societies through the promotion of their cultural foods and the free distribution of this food to their communites as well as to those that they wish to create a sense of camaraderie with.  “Food is also an occasion for sharing, for distributing and giving, for the expression of altruism, whether from parents to children, children to in-laws, or anyone to visitors and strangers.” (Fox, 2006)  The creation of these rituals expresses the dedication that these people have towards the other people in their lives, and their sharing of particular types of food is their expression of thanks that they have towards their communities as a whole.  In this way, food can also serve asa way to make to social or personal contracts with those who the individuals are sharing their food with.

Claxton, Mervyn. (1996). Culture, Food, and Identity. Sixth in a Series on Culture and Development. 1-17.

Fox, Robin. (2006). Food and Eating: An Anthropological Perspective. The Myth of Nutrition. Social Issues Research Centre. 1-22.

Massachusetts Department of Education. (2006). Culture and Food. Child and Adult Care Food Program. 99-120.

Nesbitt, Mark. (2006). History of Rice in Western and Central Asia. 312-334.

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Home — Application Essay — National Universities — About Food: Exploring My Favorite Word

About Food: Exploring My Favorite Word

• University: University of Virginia

About this sample

Words: 606 |

Updated: Nov 30, 2023

Words: 606 | Pages: 1 | 4 min read

When I think of food, the first thing I think of is happiness: memories of my family and friends eating, chatting, and laughing together flash through my head. In particular, I am drawn back to a birthday dinner for my dad. I can almost taste all of the mouthwatering cuisine we ordered: juicy steak, creamy pasta, crispy crab bites, and refreshing raspberry lemonade. But the thing I truly remember most is how my family – my mom, dad, and sister – formed an even closer bond that evening. My sister was laughing so hard her hands were shaking, causing her to spill her lemonade. Instead of yelling, my parents just laughed. It made me realize that even though we may make mistakes, those with whom we eat will forgive us for them.

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Out of the estimated 1,025,109.8 words in the English language, my favorite is “food.” It’s not because I love food (although I really do love to eat); it’s because of the impact food has had historically and culturally, as well as the way it helps forge lasting memories. Food is a unifier, a common ground for people across the globe. Without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today (literally).

Every culture has different foods that they eat on a daily basis, yet the one thing that all cultures have in common is that the foods they eat bring them together. It makes them who they are. It will always amaze me that food, a necessity for individual survival, plays a greater role than just sustenance: its roles are multifaceted in enhancing our lives culturally and mentally while helping forge lasting memories.

Food is more than just sustenance; it's a cultural cornerstone that defines who we are and where we come from. It's a passport to different worlds, allowing us to explore diverse flavors and traditions. One of the most beautiful aspects of food is its ability to transcend language barriers and connect people from different backgrounds. Whether you're sharing a bowl of ramen in Tokyo, enjoying a plate of pasta in Rome, or savoring a spicy curry in Mumbai, food serves as a universal language that fosters understanding and appreciation of each other's heritage.

Food not only brings cultures together but also creates lasting memories. Think about the aroma of your favorite homemade dish that instantly transports you back to your grandmother's kitchen. Or the taste of a childhood treat that evokes a sense of nostalgia. These sensory experiences have the power to evoke emotions and bind us to our past. Food becomes a vessel for storytelling, a way to pass down traditions, and a source of comfort in times of joy or sorrow.

As I explore the significance of the word "food," I am reminded of the countless moments when it has played a pivotal role in my life. From family gatherings and celebrations to intimate dinners with loved ones, food has been a constant companion, enriching my life in ways beyond mere sustenance. It has taught me the importance of sharing, forgiveness, and the bonds that are formed when we break bread together.

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So, when I say that "food" is my favorite word, it's not just because of my love for eating. It's a recognition of the profound impact that food has on our lives, our cultures, and our memories. It's a reminder that in a world of over a million words, this one simple term embodies the essence of what it means to be human—our need for nourishment, our desire for connection, and our ability to create moments of joy and togetherness through something as simple and universal as a shared meal.

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663 Interesting Food Essay Topics, Examples, and Ideas

Food essays are an excellent way to demonstrate your awareness of current nutrition and health issues. Obesity is a significant concern that is present in many people throughout the world and can lead to a variety of deadly conditions.

Obesity is often associated with eating junk food or food made with unhealthy ingredients and emphasizing taste or longevity over safety. Its opposite, healthy food, is a combination of many factors, which include food consumption patterns and monitoring your calorie intake.

As such, many ideas for innovative diets that circumvent some of the complexities have emerged, but most of them are flawed due to oversights. This article will provide you with topics about food and some tips for your essay writing process.

🏆 Best Food Topics & Essay Examples

👍 good essay topics about food, 🎓 popular nutrition and food topics to talk about, 🥇 most interesting food essay examples, 💡 simple topics related to food, 📌 good research food and nutrition topics, ❓ research questions about food.

Nutritionists generally agree on a single definition of healthy eating patterns, one that is supported by a vast body of research. They involve controlling your nutrient and calorie intake by adjusting your meat and plant intake balance as well as the portion size. You should also avoid preserved foods, as their preparation processes tend to ruin the nutrients present in the ingredients while introducing a variety of unhealthy substances.

For optimal effects, you should understand various fats and their influences on the human body as well as your need for each type and the foods that can supply it. The topic about food offers many different avenues of investigation.

However, not all people have the willpower and willingness to learn and use the knowledge to change their food patterns. As such, new fad diets, which try to circumvent some of the ideas and offer a more convenient way to lose weight, keep emerging every year.

These approaches may sometimes work for their intended purpose, but they do not contribute to health. While the person may lose weight because of new eating habits, they may become malnourished as a result. People will then have to take supplements and still risk developing issues before the imbalance is discovered and addressed. You may address the approaches described above when selecting argumentative essay topics about food.

He or she will then have to take supplements and still risk developing issues before the imbalance is discovered and addressed, something you can address in your food essay titles.

Here are some additional tips for the essay:

• Discuss how not all natural food is equal, with different examples of vegetables or meat displaying varying nutrient amounts. Healthy eating involves choosing food that is good for your health and balancing it appropriately.
• Follow general essay guidelines, which include using a proper structure, writing in an academic style, and separating topics with informative titles. Nutrition is a scholarly topic with a significant body of research contributing to its findings.
• Make sure to cite recent scholarly research or statistics when stating facts about nutrition and eating patterns. The body of research is constantly expanding and discovering new information, which may show past facts or findings in a new light.
• You should talk about the reasons why junk food is unhealthy, as it extends beyond poor nutritional values. Research shows that people are compelled to eat more when consuming unhealthy foods, regardless of their diet awareness.
• Discuss the alternate ways of losing weight in detail and identify their advantages and flaws. With proper precautions, they can be as effective and safe as traditional healthy eating patterns, but they will require the same effort or more as a result.

Visit IvyPanda to get many different food essay examples and other useful samples!

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• Quality and Value of Food Preparation of food of good quality means use of ingredients of good quality thus food production by farmers affects directly the quality and value of food.
• Global Food Crisis: Political Economy Perspective In effect, the loss of power to international institutions, decentralization of resources and privatization of powers are political economic factors that have worsened political and economic stability of developing countries making them more vulnerable to […]
• Fritter’s Fast Food Restaurants: Overview Very fast and inexpensive to manufacture, Fritters can find their customers both in restaurants and kiosks, and in pre-prepared form.
• Chinese New Year Foods: Chinese Culture and Traditions This piece of work will give an in depth discussion of Chinese culture with the central focus being on the Chinese New Year Foods and its relationship with the changes that have been experienced in […]
• The Negative Consequences of Employing High School Students in Fast Food Restaurants In addition, high school students should be advised that education and their careers are more important as compared to working at fast food restaurants.
• McDonald’s Corporation: Analyzing Fast Food Industry A glance of the profit margins of the major players in the US industry will provide a more clear perception of the fast food industry’s success in 2009 in global perspective: Key Competitors Profits 2009 […]
• Food Waste Recycling Benefits Through the analysis of Gupta and Gangopadhyay, it was noted that food waste was one of the leading preventable contributors towards the sheer amount of trash that winds up in many of the today’s landfills.
• The Egyptian Diet: Sociology of Food and Nutrition This paper compares and contrasts the concept of food and the culinary practices of the Indian and Egyptian cultures and their effect on the health outcomes of the people.
• Chocolate Ice-Cream: Food Product Case In the case of Chocolate ice-cream, the flavouring added is normally chocolate. Chocolate ice cream is the second most common type of ice cream in the world after vanilla.
• Eco-Friendly Packaging for Food and Beverage Industry This product was chosen because of the direct impact of the quality of food products on the health of ordinary people regardless of the region of living of country of origin.
• The World’s Food Problems’ Solving When the population of a country increases, there are some associated problems that will automatically arise such as increase in the level of unemployment which leads to food problems in the developing countries.
• Food Ethics Pojman notes that the government has enough resources and manpower to monitor operations of various food processors and determine the health conditions of the food they present to the public.
• Global Challenges Faced By Fast Food Companies For instance the price strategy is usually determined by a number of factors such as the number of competitors in the market, the availability and costs of raw materials and the existent product substitutes in […]
• Food Analysis and Its Methods in Practice Food analysis is the field that handles the use of diagnostic processes to characterize food substances and their components. The purpose of this experiment was to conduct a food analysis of an unknown sample and […]
• Food Security and Growing Population Thus, nations have to address the problem of feeding the increasing global population amid the challenges of the production of adequate food.
• Analysis and Significance of Food Moisture Content Fish food had the least moisture content and the lowest water activity of 0. The meat had the highest moisture content and a high level of water activity of 0.
• Food Products: Tomatoes and Juice Preservation This Unico package only states that tomatoes are from the Mediterranean, which reflects on such food consumption trends as gourmet convenience and cleaner labels.
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos in the Food, Inc. Documentary In the documentary, there are many instances of its makers providing viewers with the factual information, as to the discussed subject matter, which is supposed to convince the latter in the full legitimacy of people’s […]
• McDonald’s New Strategy Toward Healthy Food The identification of current challenges faced by McDonald’s reveals that the future strategy needs to address the problem of healthy food, help to improve the public image of the company and renovate the franchising system […]
• The Fast Food Industry Lots of people claim that the growth of the rate of obese people correlates with the growth of fast food chains in the region.
• Chemicals in Foods: Natural Components and Their Toxic Properties In order to ensure the safety and health of the consumer upon the consumption of foods, it is important to establish procedures that are in a position to assess the types of health risks that […]
• The Consequences of Fast Food The most evident effect of fast food is obesity among others and these effects are what will be considered as the basis of discouraging the intake of fast food while encouraging other healthier options.
• Wendy’s Fast Food Restaurant The design has the potential to elaborate on the cause of failures inherent in the establishment and possess the capacity to make recommendations on combating the challenges.
• Food Contamination and Adulteration: Environmental Problems, Food Habits, Way of Cultivation The purpose of this essay is to explain reasons for different kinds of food contamination and adulteration, harmful contaminants and adulterants and the diseases caused by the usage of those substances, prevention of food contamination […]
• Quality Management in Food Industry: PDCA and Six Sigma This cycle, which is widely used in food industry, represents the essence of realization – the so-called “general functions of management”.
• Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture by Marvin Harris Good to eat is a thought provoking and intellectual journey that the author takes, in terms of the different kinds of food habits adopted by various groups of people and the reasons behind such habits.
• Checkers and Rally’s Fast-Food Chain Analysis This paper includes a brief analysis of Checkers & Rally’s, one of the leading fast-food chains in the USA. It is necessary to note that the threat of entry is quite serious as many entrepreneurs, […]
• Food and Beverage Development This paper focuses on how food production and food consumption has affected the eating habits and led to the introduction of junk foods because of the production and consumption factors.
• Influencing Consumer Behavior: the changing image of ‘fast food’ Some of the factors that consumers may be influenced with include the cost, what their friends and family members say, where the restaurant is located, the duration the meal takes, and by how the consumers […]
• Food Preferences and Nutrition Culture I gave my mother the recipe and nowadays, each time I visit her, she makes me a bowl of chicken noodle soup.
• Analysis of a Look at the Fast-Food Industry by Eric Schlosser For the presentation of various arguments, the use of statistics involved in the employees and the increased amount of production due to division and specialization of labor and the production process improved the validity of […]
• Small Mobile Food & Drinks Shop: Business Project Time constraints are often decisive in the world of business, which is a good point for healthy shops to switch to a mobile food service offering delivery as an option.
• New Food Product Development In most cases the food may be free of pathogens but if the environment of preparation is full of normal flora, the possibility of gross contamination of food may take place and this is the […]
• Using Food Preservatives Ethical At present, the use of chemical food preservatives have gained prevalent use as many people have become tailored to the convenience of buying food that is already prepared, instead of preparing and preserving their food.
• The Impact of Food Habits on the Environment The topic of this research is based on the issue of human-induced pollution or another environmental impact that affect the Earth and dietary approaches that can improve the situation.
• Causes and Effects of Fast Food: Reputation for Unhealthy Eating By setting this price to a low value, fast food companies can exclude traditional restaurants from the selection, improve throughput, and increase their brand equity.
• What Role Does Food Play in Cultural Identity? From the point of view of cultural studies, such a model of nutrition speaks more about the absence of global roots, the absence of deep moral guidelines, and not about the convenience of the process.
• Food Service System: Overview Through the system, quality control is achieved through the quality of components, menus, and recipes chosen by the director. The rationale for ready-prepared system involves mass-generation and freezing of food items which might lower labor […]
• The Food and Beverage Sector There is no doubt that there are many substitutes to this industry and the best investors can do is to try to retain the available market by offering quality services.
• Environmental and Industrial Analysis of UK Food Manufacturing Companies Technological Analysis The technological analysis has affected the Tasty Bake Company positively in that the global transport infrastructure has greatly improved in the recent past and this has enabled it to market its products widely.
• Food and Nutrient Security Situation in Pakistan In this respect, Pakistan needs to deepen its understanding of the scales of the food insecurity problem, highlight future problems, and define agricultural policies and food security programs that could reduce the vulnerability of rural […]
• Oxidative Rancidity in Lipids and Food Storing The purpose of this paper is to discuss the factors influencing oxidative rancidity in relation to food with lipids and to analyse techniques applied to storing such foods.
• What Are the Benefits of Organic Foods? The proponents of organic foods believe that organic foods have greater benefits as compared to conventional foods, while the opponents believe they have are unsafe.
• A Food Truck Business: Project Summary Steps to be followed in starting the business will be researching local food trucks and laws, developing the business name and concept, registering, raising funds, and seeking permits and licenses. The next steps will be […]
• Making Healthy Foods Available to the Poor People Instead of giving artificially prepared and canned food, the donors should raise funds and buy whole grains in bulk to be given to the poor who in turn prepare the food in a healthy way.
• Dubai’s Food, Dress Code and Culture Religion is an important in aspect in Dubai because it influences the lifestyle of the people and forms the foundation of their culture.
• Molecular Gastronomy Trend: Gastronomy and Food Science The use of science and other disciplines in restaurants and home cooking is therefore having a beneficial influence in a highly public area, lending credibility to the topic as a whole. The popularity of this […]
• Food Safety and Its Application The realization that low temperatures slow down the growth of microbes and the process of food spoilage led to the invention of refrigeration.
• Should All Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled? According to this scholar, members of the public are always comfortable with the idea of not labeling the genetically modified food.
• Dog Food: Pedigree Company’s Case The attractiveness of the dog food category is manifested through the intense competitive nature of the various stakeholders. The third and final phase of the segmentation is to label the category of dog food as […]
• Major Reasons for Food Prices Increase Admittedly, one of the major reasons for food prices increase is the use of corns for fuel production. The increase of fuel prices created a great temptation for farmers to produce ethanol instead of corn […]
• Hotpot Concept and Cultural Value The history of the Chinese hotpot goes back to the past 1000 years even though the roots of the delicacy are in Mongolia.
• Food: How Technology Has Changed the Way We Eat? These foods could cause harm to the consumers, who in most cases are not sure of the ingredients used to prepare them, and that may pose a health risk.
• Why Junk Food Should Cost More Than Healthy Food In order to persuade the audience that a solution to this problem is the change of prices to make healthy food more affordable, a problem-cause-solution approach will be used. According to Elementum, to understand the […]
• Fast Food and Gender: Is There a Relation? The study was to observe the gender that formed the majority of the customer base in respect to fast foods. In this case, it was important to select a predetermined restaurant that specializes in fast […]
• The Importance of Food Safety in Live The food control system is an internationally recognized system that details various elements that are involved in food handling and to ensure safety and fitness for human consumption.
• Fast Food Drive-throughs In this respect, the drive-through services are aimed at reducing the throughput time and serving a maximum number of clients in the minimum time compared to other similar services.s such, it is necessary to compare […]
• Globalization Effects on Food Industry, Trading, Education The major benefit enjoyed by the developing nations is the capability to import the raw materials from the industrially developed countries, to facilitate the production of goods required in the country.
• The Junk Food’s Risks Junk food has high content of fat and cholesterol that leads to clogging of the heart arteries. The content of many junk foods is unhealthy and it may expose the brain to premature aging and […]
• Improvements of Supply Chain Processes in the Fast Food Industry: Subway The purposes of the research are to analyze the service delivery stage of the internal supply chain process typical of the Subway restaurants located in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; identify drawbacks in these areas […]
• The “In Defense of Food” Book by Michael Pollan As a nutritionist, Michael Pollan wrote the book In Defense of Food, highlighting the effects of the Western diet and providing guidance on healthy eating.
• The Asian Food Industry After the COVID-19 Outbreak In addition, the closure of most manufacturing and food processing companies in Asia led to major shortage of raw materials used in the preparation of cuisine.
• Impact of Fast Food on Human Body Firstly, it is the economics of fast food fast food is the cheapest food on the market in terms of a calorie per dollar.
• Food Hygiene Inspection of a Food Premises and the Intervention Strategies The need to conduct this inspection was necessitated by the complaints that were received from the customers about the food served at this store.
• Beef Industry: Nutrition and Food Safety Analysis The amount of saturated fat in the six leanest beef cuts is almost equal to that in the chicken’s leanest cut, the skinless chicken breast.
• Food, Eating Behavior, and Culture in Chinese Society The majority of the food and the cookies were not an actual part of the Chinese cuisine. The issue of the origin of the fortune cookies demonstrates the global intersections.
• Geography of Food. Restaurant Review Carino’s Italian grill was located in Doral at the center of Miami making it accessible to most people. The food was of moderate quality.
• Jamie Oliver and Leadership in the Food Industry He has a strong mastery of the market and the exact requirements of the customers to be his businesses end up matching the needs of the customers.
• HRM in the Fast Food Industry: US, Germany, and Australia It should be mentioned that the term human-resource relations refers to the programs that an organization puts in place in order to ensure that the employees receive the benefits that are guaranteed by legislation.
• Changes in Food Production Over Time The new system of farming replaces the holistic thinking and the recycling of the nutrients through the use of crop rotation and animal rotation to produce food.
• Weird Chinese Foods: Cultural Practices and Eating Culture The Chinese are also known to eat crocodile meat for a number of reasons. The other fascinating Chinese cuisine is eating of private parts that are used mostly in adding aroma to whisky and wine.
• The Jungle and Fast Food Nation Though both books talk about the food industry and the ills that plague it, it is important to establish that, Eric Schlosser’s aim of writing Fast Food Nation was to make the public know the […]
• Multinational Food Corporations & Eating Patterns in New Zealand In this report, the connection between eating patterns in New Zealand and the performance of multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s will be investigated and disclosed.
• Organic Food: Eco-Friendly Attitudes and Behavior The knowledge of the concept, education of people about organic food qualities, and availability in the stores are among them. The attention to health consequences of consuming non-organic and organic products is one of the […]
• Supply and Demand Influences on Food in the Recent Years A rise in the supply of food at a constant demand causes the prices of food commodities to fall. On the other hand, a fall in the supply of food commodities at a constant demand […]
• Food Security: The Main Challenges The attainment of food security is a key challenge faced in the contemporary world; it is caused by industrialized agriculture, which affects the climate, problematic balancing between agriculture and the environment, and the inability of […]
• Inventory Control in the Food Industry To formulate a mathematical model to optimize cost in inventory control, it is critical to consider different aspects of inventory control that significantly contribute to the formulation of the model and the reorder policies.
• Problem-Solution on Convenience Food in Singapore The overconsumption of convenience food and ready-to-eat meals is an acknowledged problem for many countries that endangers the population’s health and lifespan.
• Is Genetic Engineering an Environmentally Sound Way to Increase Food Production? According to Thomas & Earl and Barry, genetic engineering is environmentally unsound method of increasing food production because it threatens the indigenous species.
• Poverty and Global Food Crisis: Food and Agriculture Model Her innovative approach to the issue was to measure food shortages in calories as opposed to the traditional method of measuring in pounds and stones.
• Fast Food Industry in the US This paper will discuss the fast food industry in the US with an emphasis on the positive as well as the negative impacts it has on American economy.
• Food Motif in Bartleby the Scrivener The food motif is also manifested in the naming of other characters in the story. The food motif is very prominent in this story.
• Food Culture and Obesity The marketers pass a message to the consumers that they need to eat the fast foods to experience the goodness and the refreshing memory that cannot be found in any other food.
• Food Web and Impact of Environmental Degradation In the course of this paper, ‘conservation’ refers to the preservation of natural resources that are, in any way, involved in the functioning of the food web.
• Food Security Solutions for Kenya The purpose of this whitepaper is to discuss the topic of food insecurity in the world and Kenya in particular and propose potential technological solutions to the problem.
• Food and Culture Links Many publications have tried to convince people that the food they eat is a product of their culture and that culture defines the different tastes they have for foods.
• The Concept of Food as a Leisure Experience In the modern day lifestyle, the scope of leisure activity has been extended to include food with majority of the people increasingly finding it to be a new form of leisure.
• The Fast Food Mass Production Problem Mass production was planned as a phenomenon to ensure the supply of food in sufficient quantities to cover the loss of production in the sale and, at the same time, meet the economic needs of […]
• American Food Industry: Panera’s Value Chain One of its main weaknesses is that bread and bakery are the primary brands of Panera, and these products are simple carbs that are not healthy for people.
• Food Security: Sustainable Development While reading this part of the chapter, I realized that the majority of the land is used to produce meat products.
• Food in The Book of the Dead. The Food History The Book of the Dead was a specific handbook written in order to help the dead in the afterlife and guide them in the underworld.
• How Fried Foods Affect Nutrition for Young Adults The main question is the impact of these fast foods on the health of young adults and what triggers consumption of fast foods.
• The Environment of Fast Food Chains The basic research question is based upon the fact as what is actual scenario of HK fast food industry and what marketing strategies are being used commonly by the industry?
• Personal Reflection of the Book “In Defense of Food” This means that when people eat food they are not supposed to fall sick or develop health conditions that will eventually be the cause of their death.
• Menu Foods Tainted Pet Food Crisis, 2007 Notably, Menu Foods did not disclose the results of the previous examination but asked the laboratory to test the food for pesticides and insecticides as if the cats were refusing to eat it.
• Genetically Modified Foods and Pesticides for Health There is fear that insects such as bees could bring about the emergence of insects that are resistant to insecticides due to coming in contact with the genetically modified pollen.
• Food Industry’s Quality Function Improvement The Taipei Spring Vegetarian Restaurant is the object of the research, and the intention of the investigation is to find ways of improving service quality in the vegetarian industry [2].
• Kasih Food Company’s Export Strategy Kasih Food is a recognized high-quality producer of Mediterranean food in the Middle East that follows the principles of responsibility and transparency in its activity. Jordan is a partner of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership that is […]
• Globalization and Food in Japan We have the McDonalds in the developed countries and it has influenced food market in Japan, so continued globalization will affect cultures in all countries in the world, including developing countries.
• Role of Food in Cultural Studies: Globalization and Exchange of Food Exchange of food is one of the types of interactions between cultures, it helps people with various backgrounds and up-bringing become more familiar with each other’s way of living, as a result the clash between […]
• Food Labels and Food Security It is imperative that food companies display the real food ingredients on the back of the food package because food safety is a serious problem in today’s society.
• Food Culture in Mexican Cuisine It is bordered on the north by the United States, on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
• Nanotechnology in the Food Industry The presence of PEG in the copolymer makes the surface charge less negative, thus enhancing the interaction of the nanoparticles with food compounds in the process of coating the food or the food ingredients.
• The Governmental Role in Food Safety The government has the mandate to supervise the overall procedures that are undertaken for food to be made from the farms to the shelves.
• Food Safety Risk Assessment Poultry is a reservoir of salmonella in human being due to the ability of salmonella to proliferate in the intestines of poultry.
• Food Choices in the United States Food choices in the US are influenced by factors such as the food environment and food companies interests. Food environment and the most accessible food options are the basis of food choice.
• The Food Preservation Techniques Convenience food became the go-to as America got preoccupied with vehicles and the freedom to travel around their cities and neighborhoods and as postwar America worked. Processing the ingredients and sending them to the eateries […]
• Food Industry: Organic Restaurant The restaurant will capture the social environment and provide the necessary menu for this field. In the cultural environment, the chefs employed in this restaurant have been highly trained to produce several ethnic dishes to […]
• “Food Colombusing” and Cultural Appropriation Authenticity in cuisine defies efforts to create an all-inclusive and integrated world in which one is allowed to enjoy and feel the attributes of a culture that is not theirs.
• The Culture of Fast Food Consumption Thesis Statement: The purchase of fast food is largely driven by the convenience of purchase, enjoyment of taste, and pricing. However, it is worth sorting out the reasons for consuming fast food and the main […]
• An Automation Business Plan in the Food Industry In this context, automation is required for the first person to plan a trip to a restaurant where everything will be ready and waiting for the person.
• Dietary Record of Seven Days of Food Intake This paper aims to analyze the record of seven days of food intake, with regards to the quality and quantity of the intake, the time of the day, the size and distribution of the foods […]
• The Impact of the Food Industry on the Environment The food industry is a vital and integral part of the functioning of modern society and the economy. In addition to recognizing and combating this fact, it is necessary to identify what is the most […]
• Food Truck Business Presentation The overall cost is $29, but most of the ingredients are sold in packages, so the expenses and the number of servings will be higher.
• Food Insecurity in the US: The New Face of Hunger This case differs from the one mentioned above because the primary problem is not the lack of food per se but the uncertainty of the ability to have the next meal.
• Investigation of a Food Poisoning Incident This paper proposes a Departmental Policy Document in a bid to detail the accountability of the department in the investigation of a Salmonella food poisoning outbreak.
• Food Safety Policy for a Music Festival Several food businesses are expected to be at the festival thus posing a threat to the health of the participants should the right measures fail to be implemented to avoid the spread of food-borne diseases.
• Food Hygiene Legislation in the UK For comprehension purposes, the applicable food laws and powers of authorized officers who conducted the inspection are presented briefly in the first section of the report.
• The Reasons Behind the Popularity of Fast Food in the Context of the Lebanese Market Nowadays, in Beirut, the variety of traditional dishes which can be prepared quickly and served as fast food is amazing, from the kebab, to the falafel; most dishes are represented.
• The Food of Easter Holidays: The Roots of the Easter Tradition Based on the current accounts of their research, the concept of Easter was founded on the tradition celebrating Easter, the goddess of spring, and the revival of nature.
• The Supply and Demand for Energy Foods and Beverages One should pay attention to the following issues: 1) the growing demand for energy foods and drinks; 2) willingness of people to pay attention to the health effects of such products; 3) the increasing number […]
• Functional Food: Definition, Types, Benefits Most types of food are genetically modified and allow patients to prevent illnesses functional food is based on a combination of traditional food elements and pharmaceutical ingredients.
• Livestock Food Production Issues The failure to address animal welfare, health, and environmental concerns, as well as the intensification of livestock farming, contributes to the exasperation of challenges associated with livestock food production.
• Food and Beverage Server’s Duties and Dependencies As a food and beverage server, my relationship with the facilities department where I work would primarily consist of coordination regarding the disposal of material waste, bringing in the proper types of beverages that customers […]
• Gender Relationship: Food and Culture As a result, the kind of government that continues to be exercised in the region is that developed on the olden principles of leadership. There was a variation in the position given to the women […]
• Kuwaiti Food Industry and Its Development The main aim of the report is to show that the food industry of Kuwait has the potential to drive the country’s economy and become the leading source of income.
• Ethical Behavior as to Returned Food and Beverages One of the biggest problems is that the liberalization of the policies related to the return of the food and beverages led to the abundance of the products that should be returned.
• The Fancy Street Foods in Japan: The Major Street Dishes and Traditions It is easy to note that the outcome is an opposite of the ordinary boiled eggs that have a firm albumen and soft yolk. The centre of the food is soft and gooey while the […]
• Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning at the Whole Foods Market The focus of the firm to protect the environment and provide healthy natural foods in its store is tied to its vision of being the leading provider of healthy foods in the world.
• An Analysis of Marketing Strategies of Local vs. International Brands in the Fast Food Sector This comes as no surprise, considering that the UK is one of the world’s largest economies in the world, has one of Europe’s highest populations and is the largest consumer of fast food in the […]
• Fast Foods More Harm Than Good The rest of the life of such a child is upsetting as the child is ridiculed in and out of school, through his/her adolescence, and even in college.
• Foodways: Cultural Norms and Attitudes Toward Food
• Food Industry: The Problems Caused by the Corona Crisis
• 21st Century Guiding Principles for the Location of Foods In a Supermarket: Maximizing Profit or Maximizing Health
• Food Safety Policy and Inspection Services
• Low-Calorie Frozen Food Company’s Market Structure
• World Food Program
• The Fast-Food Industry and Legal Accountability for Obesity
• Agricultural Geography and the Production and Consumption of Food in British Columbia
• Food Landscape in the Western Province, Kenya
• Safe Food Supply System
• Motivational Issues in the Fast Food Sector
• The Heinz Food Processing Company’s Information
• Food Macromolecules – Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Proteins
• Indian Culture, Food, Temples, and Clothing
• The Canine Health: Food, Vaccination, and Hygiene
• Food, Music and Verbal Communication in China
• The Application of Arginine Pyroglutamate as a Food Additive
• Impact of Food on Human Health and the Content of Diet
• Fast Food, Fat Profits: Obesity in America
• Food Scarcity Factor in French Revolution
• Takeaway Food in Saudi Arabia: Business Plan
• Global Food Trade’s Benefits
• Whole Foods Market Strategic Analysis
• Food Regulations by Companies and Governments
• Impact of Food Waste on Climate Change
• The Pleasures of Eating: Food and Consumer Culture
• Food and Farming: Urban Farming Benefits the Local Economy
• Food Insecurity: Key Principles
• American Fast Food in Foreign Countries
• Food Is Dangerous: Nutrition Transition
• The Study of the Anthropology of Food
• Food and Water Shortage: The Negative Effects
• World Civilization History: Food Preservation Using Conventional and Modern Methods
• Main Reasons for Establishing Food Banks
• Nurses’ Food Security Policy Advocacy
• Food Security Policy Problem Analysis
• Pathophysiology of Stress, Processed Foods, and Risky Alcohol Consumption
• Climate Change and Food Waste Management
• How Food Tank Solves Issue of Food Insecurities
• Food and Beverage Brands’ Expansion and Site Selection
• Food Waste Management: Impact on Sustainability and Climate Change
• Poor Food Security Rates in Guatemala
• Pandemic Effect on Texas Food Supplies
• Can the Human Race Survive Without Genetically Modified Food?
• An Argentinean Food Product Launch in Uruguay
• Fast Food: What We Eat by Eric Schlosser
• Implications of the Russia–Ukraine War for Global Food Security
• The Entrepreneurial Journey of Foods Future Global
• Hunger Crisis and Food Security: Research
• Food Security, Improved Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture
• The Truth About Food Addiction in Society
• Care for Real: Racism and Food Insecurity
• On-Campus Food Services: Part-Time and Full-Time Students
• The McDonald’s Food Sustainability Model
• The Actuality of Issue of Food Safety
• Food Supply Issues During Warfare
• Safety of Food: Weaning Management Practices
• Food Purchase Behaviors in Australia: Impact of Marketing and Ethnicity
• The Electronic Food Processor Project Management
• Coalition in Solving the Lack of Food Resources
• Sustainable Development and Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Sweden
• The Effects of Fast Food Consumption on Obesity
• The Junk Food Issue in Australia
• Work Experience at PH Food Inc.
• The Gourmet Food Retail Store’s Business Plan
• Factors Involved in Creating a Food Business
• Food Deserts and Their Negative Effects
• COVID-19 Vaccines: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Sea Foods in the Environment Protection Context
• The Food Tax in Oklahoma Articles
• Uber’s Food Delivery Business Development
• The Problem of Obesity: The US Food Policies
• Prerequisites for Reforms in the Local Food Movement
• One Aspect of the Modern World That Bothers Me Most: Food Scarcity
• Aspects of Food and Nutrition Myths
• JBS S.A. Food Business in Brazil
• Fast Food Restaurant: Emergency Procedure
• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Food Production
• Aloe Vera: The Use in Cosmetics and in Food
• Food Insecurity in Maryland State
• Food Banks Board Members and Cycle of Poverty
• You Are What You Eat: How Does Food Become an Addiction
• Trends in Food Sources and Diet Quality Among US Children and Adults
• The ‘Food Desert’ Times in the United States
• Sustainable Business of Food and Beverage Delivery
• Casa Mono: A Multi-Sensory Experience as a Food Critic
• Food Waste in American Hospitals
• Operations to Ensure Food Safety
• The Peking Duck Food System’s Sustainability
• Food Preservation Methods and Their Classification
• Food Safety Modernization Act and Its Importance
• Relation Between Food Policy and Politics
• Position on Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
• Salmonellosis and Food-Borne Poisoning
• Drive-Thru Dreams and Fast Food Nation by Adam Chandler
• Impact of Food on Health of Kids and Adults
• Organizing a Food Waste Awareness Campaign
• Food Diary: Nutrition Opportunities and Challenges
• Saudi Food Industry’s Overview and Market Size
• Healthy Nutrition: Affordable Food
• If Slow Is Good for Food, Why Not Medicine?
• The Impact of Food Security of a Country on Its Political and Cultural Aspects
• Fast Food Effects on Human Health
• Multicultural Food Marketing Techniques
• Food as Ritual Video by Crittenden
• Slow and Fast Food Values by Alice Waters
• Immigrants’ Employment in Agriculture and Food Processing
• The Necessity of Chemical Food Additives
• Food Scarcity During Pandemic in Montgomery County
• Data Driven in Food Production Companies
• Blame It on Fast-Moving Food Industries or Personal Irresponsibility
• Importance of Accession to Healthy Fresh Food Regularly
• Preserving Food Hygiene and Safety
• Food Banks in Canada and Their Relevance
• Overpopulation and Food Production Problem
• Food Advertising and Its Effects on Children
• Organic Food and Dietary Supplements
• Nutrients: Food and Nutrients in Disease Management
• Food Safety and Organic Growing in the USA
• McDonald’s in the International Fast Food Market
• Farm-to-Table Food: Dissemination Portfolio
• The Community Mobile Food Truck for Children in Macomb County
• Employee Retention & Staff Turnover in Fast Food Industry
• Inadequate Food Choices for Americans in Low-Income Neighborhoods
• Impacts of Climatic Changes on Food Insecurity
• Food Manufacturing: Term Definition
• Pasteurization: Processing Food Substances
• Healthier School Lunches Without Processed Foods
• E-Commerce as a Fast-Growing Trend in the Industry of Food
• Food Insecurity in Philadelphia, PA: Literature Review
• The Truth About Fat: Fast Foods and Obesity
• Primary Scales for Quinoa-Based Organic Foods
• Reducing Food Waste Problem by Creating a Platform to Sell Expiring Food
• Food Security Under Hot Climate in Saudi Arabia
• Food Insecurity in the US: Feeding the Richest Country
• Research and Experiments: Molecules in Food, Photosynthesis
• Ethical Ramifications of Eating Specific Food
• Sustainable Development in the Food Industry
• Genetically Modified Food: Health Risks
• American Agricultural and Food System
• Food Insecurity in the Gulf Region
• Whole Foods Market in 2008: Vision, Core Values and Strategy
• Loving Organic Foods by Diligent Consulting Group
• Customer Loyalty in Fast Food Industry Under Current Economic Crisis
• TED Talk “Teach Every Child About Food”
• Consumers’ Behavioral Intentions as to Organic Food Products
• Promoting Fast Food Ingredient Awareness
• Global Population Growth and Increased Demand for Food
• Wildlife Conservation and Food Safety for Human
• The Role of the Flavor Industry in Processed Food
• Food Desert Investigation and Analysis
• Analysis of Push and Pull Factors in Food Travel Motivation
• Polysaccharides in Foods
• Effects of Food Challenges to Health
• The Fast Food Restaurant Market of Canada
• The Food Justice Social Movement
• The Impact of Food Demand Upon Areas of Outstanding Beauty
• Dog Food by Subscription: Service Design Project
• Organoleptic Properties in Foods: Substance Density Value
• Strategic Planning of Whole Foods Market
• Food Processing and Preservation Methods
• Healthy Eating Plan by Food Pyramid
• Ideology of Fast Food Industry Development
• Canada Food Guide Overview
• Food Safety and Information Bulletin
• COVID-19: Supply Chain Management Challenges of Food Industry
• Food Safety in the Modern World
• Distinguish Unpleasant Tastes From Food Reactions
• Impacts of H7N9 Virus and Food Contamination at Maleic Acid on Inbound Tourism for Elderly to Taiwan
• Changing the Food Journal After Every Month
• The Chemical Composition of Food
• The Sunshine Wok: Food Hygiene Inspection
• The Intervention Plan For a Food Poisoning Incident
• Food Provision at the Annisburgh District Music Festival
• Biodiversity and Food Production
• The Fast Food Culture in Saudi Arabia
• Consumptions of Fast Foods Among Youth in Saudi Arabia
• Food Insecurity and Obesity-Promoting Feeding Styles
• Genetically Modified Food: Analysis and Implications
• Julia Food Booth: Business Decision Analysis
• The Routine Food Hygiene Inspection
• Food Borne Diseases Associated With Chilled Ready to Eat Food
• Facing Food Insecurity: Causes & Current Programs
• The Role of Food for Sustainability in the Built Environment
• Nutrition: Preventing Food Born Diseases
• Safe Food Handling for Optimum Nutrition
• Obesity Prevalence and Fast Food Restaurant Prevalence
• Regulation of the Fast Food Industry: Review
• Nutrients and Food Guide Pyramid Recommendation
• Brand: An Exceptional Food Experience
• Food Stamp: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
• The Food Industry as a Threat to Public Health and Food Safety
• Food Security: Limiting the Use of Antibiotics to Reduce or Slow the Antibiotic Resistance
• Food Work in the Family and Gender Aspects of Food Choice
• Sociology of Food and Nutrition
• Food and Grades of Students at School
• Food Product Trends Related to Consumer Demands
• Food Processing and Farming Methods
• Fast Food: What Is Really in It?
• Are Packaged Foods Fat-Free Products?
• Investigation of Orange as a Food Commodity
• Diabetic Diet and Food Restrictions
• Public Service Bulletin: Food Safety Issues
• Fast-Food and Tobacco Industry Regulation
• The Aspects of Food in the Hindu Religion
• Recommendations for Food Security
• Raising Awareness on Food Poisoning Among Children Riyadh
• Food Security and Macroeconomics Discussion
• Nutrition. 3-Day Food Intake
• Magnesium in Food and Dietary Allowance
• Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Diagnostics for Pathogens in Food
• Food Diary Project: Dietary Recommended Intakes (DRI)
• “The Bitter Truth About Fast Food” by Schlosser
• Brazil Food Culture and Dietary Patterns
• Sugar Is Back on Food Labels as a Selling Point
• Overnutrition, Obesity, and Food Insecurities as the Global Concerns
• Chemicals Used for Microbial Preservation of Food
• A Sociology of Food and Nutrition: Unity of Traditions and Culture
• Nutrition: Chemical Composition of the Food
• Keeping a Food Diary: Control of Calorie Intake
• Entrepreneur Ayesha Khan and Her Food for Employees
• Biotechnology and Animal Welfare: How Genetically Modified Chicken Serves the Demand in Fast Food Chains
• Healthy Food With Proper Rationing and Balanced Meal
• Organic Foods: the Best Solution or Not?
• European Union Health Law and Food Law
• Rhetorical Analysis on Healthy Food and Labeling Problem
• Introducing Infants to Semi-Solid Food
• Food Costs Reduction in a Food Establishment
• Independent Food Safety Inspections in US Restaurants
• The Problem of Food Safety and the Spread of Various Diseases
• Protecting Americans From Food-Related Illnesses
• Organic Food Is Not a Cure for Environmental and Health Issues
• Home Isolation Survival Kit: Food Kits for Emergencies
• Quality System Implementation in Greek Food Sector
• New Food Movements: The Raw Foodism
• Festive Food in Chinese-Vietnamese Fests by Nir Avieli
• Food Addiction and Obesity in Children and Teens
• Food Texture in Packaging of Cakes, Pastries and Sweets
• Food Security and Environmental Designers
• Agriculture and Environment: Organic Foods
• Adverse Impacts of Food on Human Health: Toxicity, Nutritional Deficiency, and Allergenicity
• Fast-Food and Restaurant Strategic Marketing
• Gastronomy in Commercial Food Science Operation
• Soul Food: The Origin and Reasons of Vegetarianism
• Role in Local Food System – Pumpkins
• Kudler Fine Foods Analysis and Promotional Strategies
• Flavours of Chittering Food & Wine Festival: Analysis
• Organic Food as a Viable Option for Consumers
• Genetically Modified Foods: Substantial Equivalence
• The Demand for Food in South Africa
• Writing on Preservation and Distribution of Food
• Agro-Food Geographies: Food, Nature, Farmers and Agency
• Marketing Case B: Freddy Favors Fast Food and Convenience for College Students
• The Right to Food: Government Policy
• Safety and Quality: Food Contaminants and Adulteration
• Americans` Unique Dietary Patterns and Food Preferences
• Rice: Food Ingredient as a Currency
• Appropriateness of a Food Production and Service
• Foods Crises in Uganda Issue Analysis
• The Use of Fast Food Meals in the United State
• The Specificity of Chinese Culture in Terms of Food and Music
• The Food Served in Venice: World Famous Italian Foods
• Science Nutrition: Controversies in Food and Nutrition
• 3D Printed Food and Utensils Safety
• Meatpacking and Fast-Food Industry: Making a Better Tomorrow
• Meat and Fast-Food Industry: What Are We Eating?
• Fast Food Epidemic: The Dark Side of American Meal
• Fast Foods Popularity: Causes and Effects
• Texture Description of Food for Preschool Children
• Water Efficiency in Food Production: Food Security, and Quality of Life
• The Analysis of the Annual Amount Spent on Organic Food Using Multiple Linear Regression
• The Opportunity for School Food to Influence a Child’s Dietary Intake
• Food Distribution and Water Pollution
• Extending Existing Knowledge in the Area of Schools Foods and Their Influence on Children’s Diets
• How Architecture Is Being Used to Meet the Challenge of Food Provision
• Understanding Genetically Modified Foods by Howard et al.
• Food Choices and Dietary Habits: An Interview With a Mexican Immigrant
• Food and Drug Administration Importance
• Zero Hunger and Food Production in Abu Dhabi
• Dough Pizza Company in the Food Truck Industry
• Genetically Modified Foods: Pros or Cons
• Science and Grow Food Sustainability
• Processed Food Industry
• Processed Foods and High Fructose Corn Syrup Effects
• Acid Effects on Starch Gels in Food Preparation
• Food & Drug Administration: Federal Health Agency
• Food Recommender Systems and Their Types
• Emily Baumgaertner: Crop Viruses and Food Security
• Innovation From Google as Free Food Strategy
• Environmental Issues and Food Efficiency
• The Food Company New Product Development Group
• Advanced Food Bioanalysis
• Conventional Food System: Justice and Security
• Gulf Food Security and Delicate Diplomacy
• Hong Kong Street Food in Ethnographic Studies
• Food & Beverage Choices and Health Impacts
• Food Anthropology and Its Research Methods
• Low-Calorie Frozen and Microwavable Food Industry
• Food, Customers, and Culture in the Grocery Store
• Fast Food Restaurants and Buyers’ Responsibility
• Food and Taste Process Issues
• Casa Vasca Restaurant’s Food Safety and Sanitation
• Changes in Food Preferences
• Food Choices: Diets and Diseases
• Healthy Foods: Behavior Change Analysis
• International Food and Beverage Business in Africa
• Food Inspection Procedures in Saudi Arabia
• Food Poisoning and Hygiene Awareness in Saudi Arabia
• Food Safety and Health Violation at Workplace
• Food Business and Government Regulation in the US
• Best Food Superstores’ Customer Service Policy
• Food Insecurity and Depression in Poor Families
• Snack Food Company’s Product Marketing Research
• The 38th Winter Fancy Food Shows in San Francisco
• New Zealand Food Market
• Genetically Engineered Food Against World Hunger
• Problem of Food Overconsumption
• Demographic Transition Model and Food Security
• Food Texture and Health Outcomes Association
• The Impact of Supply Chain Efficiency on Food Losses
• Chemical Contaminants in Food: Endocrine Disruptors Study
• Farmers Views: Should Organic Food Be Promoted From?
• Scientists Views: Should Organic Food Be Promoted?
• Should Organic Food Be Promoted?
• The Organic Food Benefits
• Globalization, Food, and Ethnic Identity in Literature
• What Is “Organic” Food?
• Disguised Observation: Students Food and Drink Preferences
• Food Safety at Introducing of New Meal
• Food Security: Opportunities in Asia
• Food Product Risk Assessment
• ELISA and PCR Techniques: Food Quality
• The Effect of Food Texture on Health Outcomes
• Chicago Food and Beverage Company: Human Resources
• Childhood Obesity and Food Culture in Schools
• Food Texture Research for Healthcare
• Food Delivery Industry Drivers in the United Kingdom
• Food Safety: Washing Contact Surfaces and Cooking
• Common Food Preparation Methods and Their Effects
• Technology and Communications in the Global Food Industry
• Balogne Food Company’s Operations Management
• East Asian Food and Its Identifying Factors
• Do-Do Online Fresh Food Supply LLC’s Business Plan
• The Food Angel Visiting Project
• Visual Cameras and Inspection in Fast Food Restaurant
• Agri-Food Supply Chains Stakeholders
• Food Allergies Management
• Carlo’s Food Company: Information Misunderstanding
• Genetically Modified Foods: Pros and Cons
• Healthy Food Truck: Management Project
• Oil-For-Food Program: International Law Issues
• Janesville School District Food Services Leadership
• Food Nexus Models in Abu Dhabi
• Family Food and Meals Traditions in Dubai History
• Schneiders Food Company and Tyson Foods Inc.
• Food Corporations’ Damaging Influence
• Unhealthy Food Access and Choice Ethics
• The Science of Why You Crave Comfort Food
• The Best Food for Consumption and Six Nutrients
• Genetically Modified Foods: Scientific Resources
• New York City Low Food Affordability Areas
• Healthy You: Diets and Food
• Imbalance in Food Supply and Growing Demand
• Organic Foods Consumption and Cancer Prevention
• “How to Solve the Food Waste Problem” by Chavich
• Genetic Engineering in Food: Development and Risks
• Sustainability Strategies in the Food Industry
• Food and Water Quality Testing Device
• Popular Food as a Part of Contemporary Culture
• American Food Industry in “Food, Inc.” Documentary
• Food Production and Animals Suffering
• Black Families’ Issues in the “Soul Food” Series
• Fresh Food Provision for Low-Income Families
• UAE Food & Clothes Retail and Restaurant Business
• Pet Food Industry in the United States
• Healthy Food: Lesson Plan
• American Food, Its History and Global Distribution
• Swordfish Restaurant and Store in Food Services
• US Food and Drug Administration Approval System
• Aspen Hills Inc.’s Food Safety and Quality Issues
• Long-Term Investment Decisions in Food Industry
• US Pet Food Delivery: Industrial Marketing
• Cultural Studies: Aesthetics of Food and Wine
• Australia New Zealand Food Authority Business Plan
• Sous Vide Food Production System
• McDonald’s Digital Campaign “Our Food. Your Questions”
• Food Shortages in the Republic of Malawi
• Food and Water Waste Disposal in NYC
• Tamwal Mobile Food Trucks Business Plan
• Food Security and Sustainable Local Food Systems
• Fast Food Consumption in New Jersey (United States)
• Mexican Cuisine’s Transition to Comfort Food
• Food and Drug Administration’s Strategies
• Employee Turnover in Fast-Food Restaurants
• Food and Stress Relationship: Psychological Factor
• Gluten-Free Products in the US Food Market
• Kokubu Food Company’s Trends and Information System
• Depressive Food Intake Disorder
• Organic Food as a Solution of Global Food Problem
• Glass vs. Paper/Cardboard in Food Packaging
• The “Waist Banned” Article – Taxes on Junk Food
• Food Business and Government Role in Saudi Arabia
• Factors Contributing to Fast Food Consumption in UAE
• Future of Food: Effects on the Planet
• The Fast Food Danger Awareness Among the Young People
• Organic Farming for Sustainable Food Production
• Food Nexus Tools and Results
• Halal Food and Terrorist Organizations in Australia
• Food Sovereignty in United States
• Malaysia National Agri-Food Policy: Local Food Promotion
• Sliders Mobile Food Truck Marketing Plan
• Food Security in the United States: The Major Lapses of the Conventional Food Systems
• Blue Springs Fast Food Store vs. Blue Gardens Restaurant Analysis
• Spoilage Device: Forget Expiration Dates
• The Mass Production of Food: Food Safety Issue
• Animal Production and Food Availability
• Food Production Workshop Instructional Plan
• Froma Harrop Views on Genetically Modified Food
• Carbon Dynamics and Food Chains in Coastal Environments
• Temperature Impacts on Food
• Nutrition Process: Eating Healthy Foods
• Special Food Shop for Pregnant Women
• Traditional Medicine or Food Customs in a Chinese Culture
• Healthy Consequences of Fast Foods
• Food Production, Sharing, and Consumption
• Fast Food War in Singapore: The Stiff Competition and Fight for Customers
• Service Marketing: Food Market
• Recent and Promising Food Allergy Treatments
• Feeding Baby: How to Avoid Food Allergies
• Traditional Food Culture in the Indian Religion
• Nitrogen from Food Waste
• Food’ Role in International Students Interaction
• Hinduism Religion: Food and Asceticism
• Food as a Means of Cross-Cultural Interaction
• Nutrition: Is Genetically Modified Food Bad or Good?
• Should Fast Food Qualify As “Food”?
• Fast Food Industry and Its Impacts
• The Practice of Fast Food in the United States
• Future of Genetic Engineering and the Concept of “Franken-Foods”
• Food Role on Social Events
• Optimizing Production in the Food Industry
• Genetically Modified Foods: Should They Be Consumed?
• Corn is Our Every Day Food
• Analysis of the Documentary Fast Food, Fat Profits
• Good Food That Does not Grow on Trees: Analyzing the Key Supply Chain Issues
• Organic Foods in Australia and the USA
• Determinants of Success in the Swedish Food and Drink Industry
• The Economic Effect of Issuing Food Stamps to Those in Poverty
• Obesity and Fast Food
• Liability in Food Illness Cases
• Expanding the Australian Food Processing Industry into the United States
• Wegmans Food Markets v. Camden Property Trust
• Food Security in Sydney
• Local Food Production in Malaysia
• Threats to Global Food Supplies
• Food Borne Diseases of Intoxicants on MSG
• Increasing the Consumption of Healthy Food Products
• Operations Decisions for Krafts Foods Inc. and Manute Foods Company
• Kraft Foods’ Diverse Brand Portfolio
• Monaghan’s Conributions to Society Foodservice Management
• Analysis of Whole Foods Market’s feedback loops
• Analysis of Whole Foods Market using Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model
• Analysis of Whole Foods Market’s inputs
• Organizational diagnosis for Whole Foods Market
• RFID in Food Industry and Global Trading Patterns
• Kudler Fine Foods: Incorporating Strategic Thinking
• Large-Scale Organic Farming and Food Supply
• Organic Food Marketing Prospects
• Business and economics: The organic food sector
• Consumer Decision-Making Process on Buying Organic Foods
• Food and Drug Administration in United States of America
• Literature Review on Organic Food and Healthy Diet
• Foods That Effect Children With ADHD/ ADD
• Why Food Services Are the Most Commonly Outsourced Function in the Business Community
• Food and Wine Tourism
• A Typology for foodservice menu development
• Eco-Friendly Food Product Production and Marketing
• Food for the Hungry – Non-profit Organization
• Effects of Food Advertising in Australian Television on Children Aged 5-12 Years
• Sustainable Development in the Food Area
• Food additives: Artificial sweeteners
• Company Research: Whole Foods
• Evaluate Human Resource Issues in Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
• Could Biotechnology Solve Food Shortage Problem?
• Does Circadian Rhythm Affect Consumer Evaluation for Food Products?
• Are China’s Grain Trade Policies Effective in the Stabilization of Domestic Food Prices?
• Can Better Governance Improve Food Security?
• Does Corporate Social Responsibility Matter in the Food Industry?
• Are Female-Headed Households More Food Insecure?
• Can Drought-Tolerant Varieties Produce More Food With Less Water?
• What Factors Determine/Influence the Food Choice People Make?
• Why Are Restricted Food Items Still Sold After the Implementation of the School Store Policy?
• Are Food Safety Standards Different From Other Food Standards?
• Can Food Monitoring and Accessible Healthy Food Help Combat Child Obesity?
• Are Food Stamps Income or Food Supplementation?
• Can Government-Allocated Land Contribute to Food Security?
• Is Genetically Modified Food Safe for Consumption?
• Can Insects Increase Food Security in Developing Countries?
• Are Input Policies Effective to Enhance Food Security in Kenya?
• Can Non-wood Forest Products Be Used in Promoting Household Food Security?
• What Are Most Serious Negative Effects of Eating Fast Food?
• Who Does Regulate Food Safety for the United States?
• Should the Government Regulate Food More?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 25). 663 Interesting Food Essay Topics, Examples, and Ideas. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/food-essay-examples/

"663 Interesting Food Essay Topics, Examples, and Ideas." IvyPanda , 25 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/food-essay-examples/.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "663 Interesting Food Essay Topics, Examples, and Ideas." February 25, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/food-essay-examples/.

• Food & Beverage Topics
• Cooking Questions
• Fast Food Essay Titles
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• Obesity Ideas
• Childhood Obesity Research Ideas
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• Grocery Store Essay Topics

Culinary Institute of America

• Cost & scholarships
• Essay prompt

Want to see your chances of admission at Culinary Institute of America?

We take every aspect of your personal profile into consideration when calculating your admissions chances.

Culinary Institute of America’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Why this major short response.

Please submit a personal statement (no less than 200 words, no more than 500) telling us why you’re passionate about the food and hospitality industry, what experiences you have, and how you feel that your experiences have prepared you for the Culinary Institute of America?

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

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.

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?

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

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?

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

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?

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.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

• College Application

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 strategy call here . <<

Listen to the blog!

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."

Want to learn the 7 most important and easy ways to make your college essay stand out? Check out this video:

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. 

Here’s why “show, don’t tell” is the most important rule for writing any personal statement:

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)

Want to get into a top school but have a low GPA? Here’s what you can do:

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)

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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)

Here are some top study strategies that will help you during undergrad!

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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Jonathan Walker

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

BeMo Academic Consulting

Hello Jonathan! Thanks for your comment! Good luck!

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

Hello Sussy! Thanks for your comment.

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Descriptive Essay

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Writing about food can be a delectable experience. Whether it’s discussing the taste, texture, smell, or presentation of something delicious, descriptive writing about food is an art form.

But how can you describe food in a way that engages the reader and makes them hungry for more? With some tips, your writing can be mouth-watering and make readers want to try out whatever you are describing.

In this guide, you will get tips to write an essay that will tantalize the taste buds of your readers. You will also get to read essay samples that will help you write your essay.

So let's jump right in!

• 1. Descriptive Essay - A Quick Overview 
• 2. Tips for Writing a Descriptive Essay About Food
• 3. Descriptive Essay About Food Examples
• 4. Descriptive Essay About Food Topics

Descriptive Essay - A Quick Overview 

A descriptive essay focuses on describing the characteristics, features, and appearance of a person, place, or object. This type of writing is often used in essays, articles, and other types of written work.

Descriptive writing requires strong sensory detail and vivid description to create a full picture of the subject matter. It is important to use descriptive language that evokes emotion, imagery, and imagination. 

When writing about food, descriptive language can help readers feel as if they are actually tasting the food.

Watch the following video to learn more about descriptive essay:

Tips for Writing a Descriptive Essay About Food

Are you wondering how to write a descriptive essay about food? We've got the answer for you!

Here are some tips to help you create a stunning descriptive essay about food that will make readers savor every word: 

Tip 1: Choose An Interesting and Appetizing Topic

Make sure your topic is something that people can relate to. For instance, you can write an essay on your favorite food, or describe different kinds of foods.

You can also write about a cultural food experience or discuss an unusual ingredient. Whatever topic you choose, try to make it interesting and engaging. 

Tip 2: Use Vivid Language

When writing a descriptive essay on food, use adjectives, metaphors, and similes to make the description come alive. Try describing the texture, smell, flavor, and presentation of the food in detail.

It's also important to incorporate sensory words like “tangy”, “savory” or “sweet.” Use descriptive language to evoke the senses to create an image that readers can visualize and relish.

Tip 3: Include Personal Anecdotes

If you have an interesting anecdote or experience related to your topic, include it in your essay. Readers will be more engaged if they can connect to your narrative.

Including a personal story in your essay can make it more engaging and memorable. Talk about how the food made you feel, why it was special to you, or any sensory experiences associated with it.

Tip 4: Do Some Research

Doing some research about your topic can help you create a well-rounded essay. Look up recipes, food facts, and regional influences to add more detail and depth to your writing.

Research can also help you understand the history behind certain dishes, ingredients, and cultures. This will provide interesting facts for readers that they may have not known about before.

Tip 5: Structure Your Essay

Make sure to organize your essay in a way that makes sense and flows smoothly. You can use a descriptive essay outline for this. Set up the introduction by introducing the topic and explaining why it’s important or interesting.

Then, move into the body of the essay, which should include vivid descriptions of all aspects of food. Finish with a conclusion that ties everything together.

Tip 6: Be Precise and Concise

When writing a descriptive essay about food, it’s important to be as precise and concise as possible. Choose your words carefully and eliminate any unnecessary details that could distract from the main idea.

Also, make sure all of your sentences flow together smoothly to create an effective piece of writing.

Now that you know how to write a descriptive essay about food, let's look at some example essays. Reading examples that effectively use these tips will help you use them in your own essay. 

So read on!

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Descriptive Essay About Food Examples

Check out the following food essay samples. These examples will serve as models for crafting your own amazing essay.

Descriptive Writing About Favorite Food

Descriptive Essay About Fast Food

Descriptive Writing About Food

Descriptive Essay About Food Festival

Descriptive Essay on My Best Food

Descriptive Essay About Chinese Food

Descriptive Essay On Food Street

Descriptive Writing About A Food Court

Descriptive Writing About Junk Food

Short Essay On Food

My Favourite Food Essay 250 Words

You should also read othe r descriptive essay examples i f you want to master descriptive essays.

Descriptive Essay About Food Topics

Here are a few topic ideas that will help you get started.

• The Perfect Pizza Slice: Describe the ideal pizza slice, including its toppings, crust, and the experience of savoring it.
• A Gourmet Burger Experience: Write about a gourmet burger you've enjoyed, detailing its ingredients, flavors, and the ambiance of the restaurant.
• Exploring Street Food: Describe the sensory overload of a bustling street food market, highlighting the various cuisines and vendors.
• The Art of Sushi Making: Take your readers on a journey into the world of sushi, explaining the ingredients and the skills required to create this delicacy.
• A Homemade Family Recipe: Share a cherished family recipe and recount the memories associated with it.
• A Chocolate Lover's Paradise: Describe a visit to a chocolate factory or shop, focusing on the range of chocolates and the experience of tasting them.
• The Allure of Fine Dining: Write about a fine dining experience, elaborating on the ambiance, service, and the culinary creations that make it special.
• An Exotic Fruit Adventure: Detail your encounter with an exotic fruit, highlighting its appearance, taste, and any cultural significance.
• The Charm of a Picnic: Describe a picnic in a scenic location, discussing the food, surroundings, and the joy of outdoor dining.
• A Culinary Trip Abroad: Share your experience of trying local dishes during your travels, explaining the unique flavors and cultural context.

Try writing your essay on one of these topics or think of a topic by yourself. 

You can also check out other descriptive essay topics to get inspiration.

Wrapping it up,

Writing a descriptive essay about food can be both enjoyable and challenging. With these tips, you can write a delicious and compelling descriptive essay on food that will make readers hungry for more. So grab a pen and paper and get writing! 

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At MyPerfectWords.com, we provide a specialized descriptive essay writing service . So if you want a unique and well-crafted essay, our expert essay writer is here to help.

Our reliable essay writing service provides 100% original essays written from scratch with free revisions.  All our essays are guaranteed to be plagiarism-free and delivered right on time.

So hire our descriptive essay writer now!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you start a descriptive essay about food.

Start your essay with a hook, which can be an interesting quote or anecdote about the topic. Afterward, start by introducing the topic and explaining why it’s important or interesting.

How would you describe the appearance of food?

You can describe the food’s appearance by including vivid adjectives and phrases. For instance, you can describe the texture of food as “crispy”, “crumbly”, or “smooth”. You can also include words like “juicy” and “succulent” to describe the flavor of food.

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• College Essay Examples | What Works and What Doesn’t

College Essay Examples | What Works and What Doesn't

Published on November 8, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on August 14, 2023.

One effective method for improving your college essay is to read example essays . Here are three sample essays, each with a bad and good version to help you improve your own essay.

Table of contents

Essay 1: sharing an identity or background through a montage, essay 2: overcoming a challenge, a sports injury narrative, essay 3: showing the influence of an important person or thing, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

This essay uses a montage structure to show snapshots of a student’s identity and background. The writer builds her essay around the theme of the five senses, sharing memories she associates with sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.

In the weak rough draft, there is little connection between the individual anecdotes, and they do not robustly demonstrate the student’s qualities.

In the final version, the student uses an extended metaphor of a museum to create a strong connection among her stories, each showcasing a different part of her identity. She draws a specific personal insight from each memory and uses the stories to demonstrate her qualities and values.

How My Five Senses Record My Life

Throughout my life, I have kept a record of my life’s journey with my five senses. This collection of memories matters a great deal because I experience life every day through the lens of my identity.

“Chinese! Japanese!”

My classmate pulls one eye up and the other down.

“Look what my parents did to me!”

No matter how many times he repeats it, the other kids keep laughing. I focus my almond-shaped eyes on the ground, careful not to attract attention to my discomfort, anger, and shame. How could he say such a mean thing about me? What did I do to him? Joseph’s words would engrave themselves into my memory, making me question my appearance every time I saw my eyes in the mirror.

Soaking in overflowing bubble baths with Andrew Lloyd Webber belting from the boombox.

Listening to “Cell Block Tango” with my grandparents while eating filet mignon at a dine-in show in Ashland.

Singing “The Worst Pies in London” at a Korean karaoke club while laughing hysterically with my brother, who can do an eerily spot-on rendition of Sweeney Todd.

Taking car rides with Mom in the Toyota Sequoia as we compete to hit the high note in “Think of Me” from The Phantom of the Opera . Neither of us stands a chance!

The sweet scent of vegetables, Chinese noodles, and sushi wafts through the room as we sit around the table. My grandma presents a good-smelling mixture of international cuisine for our Thanksgiving feast. My favorite is the Chinese food that she cooks. Only the family prayer stands between me and the chance to indulge in these delicious morsels, comforting me with their familiar savory scents.

I rinse a faded plastic plate decorated by my younger sister at the Waterworks Art Center. I wear yellow rubber gloves to protect my hands at Mom’s insistence, but I can still feel the warm water that offers a bit of comfort as I finish the task at hand. The crusted casserole dish with stubborn remnants from my dad’s five-layer lasagna requires extra effort, so I fill it with Dawn and scalding water, setting it aside to soak. I actually don’t mind this daily chore.

I taste sweat on my upper lip as I fight to continue pedaling on a stationary bike. Ava’s next to me and tells me to go up a level. We’re biking buddies, dieting buddies, and Saturday morning carbo-load buddies. After the bike display hits 30 minutes, we do a five-minute cool down, drink Gatorade, and put our legs up to rest.

My five senses are always gathering new memories of my identity. I’m excited to expand my collection.

Word count: 455

College essay checklist

Topic and structure

• I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me.
• My essay reveals something different from the rest of my application.
• I have a clear and well-structured narrative.
• I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

Writing style and tone

• I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.
• I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of tells.
• I’ve used appropriate style and tone for a college essay.
• I’ve used specific, vivid personal stories that would be hard to replicate.
• I’ve demonstrated my positive traits and values in my essay.
• My essay is focused on me, not another person or thing.
• I’ve included self-reflection and insight in my essay.
• I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Making Sense of My Identity

Welcome to The Rose Arimoto Museum. You are about to enter the “Making Sense of My Identity” collection. Allow me to guide you through select exhibits, carefully curated memories from Rose’s sensory experiences.

First, the Sight Exhibit.

“Chinese! Japanese!”

“Look what my parents did to me!”

No matter how many times he repeats it, the other kids keep laughing. I focus my almond-shaped eyes on the ground, careful not to attract attention as my lip trembles and palms sweat. Joseph couldn’t have known how his words would engrave themselves into my memory, making me question my appearance every time I saw my eyes in the mirror.

Ten years later, these same eyes now fixate on an InDesign layout sheet, searching for grammar errors while my friend Selena proofreads our feature piece on racial discrimination in our hometown. As we’re the school newspaper editors, our journalism teacher Ms. Riley allows us to stay until midnight to meet tomorrow’s deadline. She commends our work ethic, which for me is fueled by writing一my new weapon of choice.

Next, you’ll encounter the Sound Exhibit.

Still, the world is my Broadway as I find my voice on stage.

Just below, enter the Smell Exhibit.

While I help my Pau Pau prepare dinner, she divulges her recipe for cha siu bau, with its soft, pillowy white exterior hiding the fragrant filling of braised barbecue pork inside. The sweet scent of candied yams, fun see , and Spam musubi wafts through the room as we gather around our Thankgsiving feast. After our family prayer, we indulge in these delicious morsels until our bellies say stop. These savory scents of my family’s cultural heritage linger long after I’ve finished the last bite.

Next up, the Touch Exhibit.

I rinse a handmade mug that I had painstakingly molded and painted in ceramics class. I wear yellow rubber gloves to protect my hands at Mom’s insistence, but I can still feel the warm water that offers a bit of comfort as I finish the task at hand. The crusted casserole dish with stubborn remnants from my dad’s five-layer lasagna requires extra effort, so I fill it with Dawn and scalding water, setting it aside to soak. For a few fleeting moments, as I continue my nightly chore, the pressure of my weekend job, tomorrow’s calculus exam, and next week’s track meet are washed away.

Finally, we end with the Taste Exhibit.

My legs fight to keep pace with the stationary bike as the salty taste of sweat seeps into corners of my mouth. Ava challenges me to take it up a level. We always train together一even keeping each other accountable on our strict protein diet of chicken breasts, broccoli, and Muscle Milk. We occasionally splurge on Saturday mornings after interval training, relishing the decadence of everything bagels smeared with raspberry walnut cream cheese. But this is Wednesday, so I push myself. I know that once the digital display hits 30:00, we’ll allow our legs to relax into a five-minute cool down, followed by the fiery tang of Fruit Punch Gatorade to rehydrate.

Thank you for your attention. This completes our tour. I invite you to rejoin us for next fall’s College Experience collection, which will exhibit Rose’s continual search for identity and learning.

Word count: 649

• I’ve crafted an essay introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

This essay uses a narrative structure to recount how a student overcame a challenge, specifically a sports injury. Since this topic is often overused, the essay requires vivid description, a memorable introduction and conclusion , and interesting insight.

The weak rough draft contains an interesting narrative, insight, and vivid imagery, but it has an overly formal tone that distracts the reader from the story. The student’s use of elaborate vocabulary in every sentence makes the essay sound inauthentic and stilted.

The final essay uses a more natural, conversational tone and chooses words that are vivid and specific without being pretentious. This allows the reader to focus on the narrative and appreciate the student’s unique insight.

One fateful evening some months ago, a defensive linebacker mauled me, his 212 pounds indisputably alighting upon my ankle. Ergo, an abhorrent cracking of calcified tissue. At first light the next day, I awoke cognizant of a new paradigm—one sans football—promulgated by a stabbing sensation that would continue to haunt me every morning of this semester.

It’s been an exceedingly taxing semester not being able to engage in football, but I am nonetheless excelling in school. That twist of fate never would have come to pass if I hadn’t broken my ankle. I still limp down the halls at school, but I’m feeling less maudlin these days. My friends don’t steer clear anymore, and I have a lot more of them. My teachers, emboldened by my newfound interest in learning, continually invite me to learn more and do my best. Football is still on hold, but I feel like I’m finally playing a game that matters.

Five months ago, right after my ill-fated injury, my friends’ demeanor became icy and remote, although I couldn’t fathom why. My teachers, in contrast, beckoned me close and invited me on a new learning journey. But despite their indubitably kind advances, even they recoiled when I drew near.

A few weeks later, I started to change my attitude vis-à-vis my newfound situation and determined to put my energy toward productive ends (i.e., homework). I wasn’t enamored with school. I never had been. Nevertheless, I didn’t abhor it either. I just preferred football.

My true turn of fate came when I started studying more and participating in class. I started to enjoy history class, and I grew interested in reading more. I discovered a volume of poems written by a fellow adventurer on the road of life, and I loved it. I ravenously devoured everything in the writer’s oeuvre .

As the weeks flitted past, I found myself spending my time with a group of people who were quite different from me. They participated in theater and played instruments in marching band. They raised their hands in class when the teacher posed a question. Because of their auspicious influence, I started raising my hand too. I am no longer vapid, and I now have something to say.

I am certain that your school would benefit from my miraculous academic transformation, and I entreat you to consider my application to your fine institution. Accepting me to your university would be an unequivocally righteous decision.

Word count: 408

• I’ve chosen a college essay topic that’s meaningful to me.
• I’ve respected the essay word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

As I step out of bed, the pain shoots through my foot and up my leg like it has every morning since “the game.” That night, a defensive linebacker tackled me, his 212 pounds landing decidedly on my ankle. I heard the sound before I felt it. The next morning, I awoke to a new reality—one without football—announced by a stabbing sensation that would continue to haunt me every morning of this semester.

My broken ankle broke my spirit.

My friends steered clear of me as I hobbled down the halls at school. My teachers tried to find the delicate balance between giving me space and offering me help. I was as unsure how to deal with myself as they were.

In time, I figured out how to redirect some of my frustration, anger, and pent-up energy toward my studies. I had never not liked school, but I had never really liked it either. In my mind, football practice was my real-life classroom, where I could learn all I ever needed to know.

Then there was that day in Mrs. Brady’s history class. We sang a ridiculous-sounding mnemonic song to memorize all the Chinese dynasties from Shang to Qing. I mumbled the words at first, but I got caught up in the middle of the laughter and began singing along. Starting that day, I began browsing YouTube videos about history, curious to learn more. I had started learning something new, and, to my surprise, I liked it.

With my afternoons free from burpees and scrimmages, I dared to crack open a few more of my books to see what was in them. That’s when my English poetry book, Paint Me Like I Am , caught my attention. It was full of poems written by students my age from WritersCorps. I couldn’t get enough.

I wasn’t the only one who was taken with the poems. Previously, I’d only been vaguely aware of Christina as one of the weird kids I avoided. Crammed in the margins of her high-top Chuck Taylors were scribbled lines of her own poetry and infinite doodles. Beyond her punk rock persona was a sensitive artist, puppy-lover, and environmental activist that a wide receiver like me would have never noticed before.

With Christina, I started making friends with people who once would have been invisible to me: drama geeks, teachers’ pets, band nerds. Most were college bound but not to play a sport. They were smart and talented, and they cared about people and politics and all sorts of issues that I hadn’t considered before. Strangely, they also seemed to care about me.

I still limp down the halls at school, but I don’t seem to mind as much these days. My friends don’t steer clear anymore, and I have a lot more of them. My teachers, excited by my newfound interest in learning, continually invite me to learn more and do my best. Football is still on hold, but I feel like I’m finally playing a game that matters.

My broken ankle broke my spirit. Then, it broke my ignorance.

Word count: 512

This essay uses a narrative structure to show how a pet positively influenced the student’s values and character.

In the weak draft, the student doesn’t focus on himself, instead delving into too much detail about his dog’s positive traits and his grandma’s illness. The essay’s structure is meandering, with tangents and details that don’t communicate any specific insight.

In the improved version, the student keeps the focus on himself, not his pet. He chooses the most relevant stories to demonstrate specific qualities, and the structure more clearly builds up to an insightful conclusion.

Man’s Best Friend

I desperately wanted a cat. I begged my parents for one, but once again, my sisters overruled me, so we drove up the Thompson Valley Canyon from Loveland to Estes Park to meet our newest family member. My sisters had already hatched their master plan, complete with a Finding Nemo blanket to entice the pups. The blanket was a hit with all of them, except for one—the one who walked over and sat in my lap. That was the day that Francisco became a Villanova.

Maybe I should say he was mine because I got stuck with all the chores. As expected, my dog-loving sisters were nowhere to be found! My mom was “extra” with all the doggy gear. Cisco even had to wear these silly little puppy shoes outside so that when he came back in, he wouldn’t get the carpets dirty. If it was raining, my mother insisted I dress Cisco in a ridiculous yellow raincoat, but, in my opinion, it was an unnecessary source of humiliation for poor Cisco. It didn’t take long for Cisco to decide that his outerwear could be used as toys in a game of Keep Away. As soon as I took off one of his shoes, he would run away with it, hiding under the bed where I couldn’t reach him. But, he seemed to appreciate his ensemble more when we had to walk through snowdrifts to get his job done.

When my abuela was dying from cancer, we went in the middle of the night to see her before she passed. I was sad and scared. But, my dad let me take Cisco in the car, so Cisco cuddled with me and made me feel much better. It’s like he could read my mind. Once we arrived at the hospital, the fluorescent lighting made the entire scene seem unreal, as if I was watching the scene unfold through someone else’s eyes. My grandma lay calmly on her bed, smiling at us even through her last moments of pain. I disliked seeing the tubes and machines hooked up to her. It was unnatural to see her like this一it was so unlike the way I usually saw her beautiful in her flowery dress, whistling a Billie Holiday tune and baking snickerdoodle cookies in the kitchen. The hospital didn’t usually allow dogs, but they made a special exception to respect my grandma’s last wishes that the whole family be together. Cisco remained at the foot of the bed, intently watching abuela with a silence that seemed more effective at communicating comfort and compassion than the rest of us who attempted to offer up words of comfort that just seemed hollow and insincere. It was then that I truly appreciated Cisco’s empathy for others.

As I accompanied my dad to pick up our dry cleaner’s from Ms. Chapman, a family friend asked, “How’s Cisco?” before even asking about my sisters or me. Cisco is the Villanova family mascot, a Goldendoodle better recognized by strangers throughout Loveland than the individual members of my family.

On our summer trip to Boyd Lake State Park, we stayed at the Cottonwood campground for a breathtaking view of the lake. Cisco was allowed to come, but we had to keep him on a leash at all times. After a satisfying meal of fish, our entire family walked along the beach. Cisco and I led the way while my mom and sisters shuffled behind. Cisco always stopped and refused to move, looking back to make sure the others were still following. Once satisfied that everyone was together, he would turn back around and continue prancing with his golden boy curly locks waving in the chilly wind.

On the beach, Cisco “accidentally” got let off his leash and went running maniacally around the sand, unfettered and free. His pure joy as he raced through the sand made me forget about my AP Chem exam or my student council responsibilities. He brings a smile not only to my family members but everyone around him.

Cisco won’t live forever, but without words, he has impressed upon me life lessons of responsibility, compassion, loyalty, and joy. I can’t imagine life without him.

Word count: 701

I quickly figured out that as “the chosen one,” I had been enlisted by Cisco to oversee all aspects of his “business.” I learned to put on Cisco’s doggie shoes to keep the carpet clean before taking him out一no matter the weather. Soon after, Cisco decided that his shoes could be used as toys in a game of Keep Away. As soon as I removed one of his shoes, he would run away with it, hiding under the bed where I couldn’t reach him. But, he seemed to appreciate his footwear more after I’d gear him up and we’d tread through the snow for his daily walks.

One morning, it was 7:15 a.m., and Alejandro was late again to pick me up. “Cisco, you don’t think he overslept again, do you?” Cisco barked, as if saying, “Of course he did!” A text message would never do, so I called his dad, even if it was going to get him in trouble. There was no use in both of us getting another tardy during our first-period class, especially since I was ready on time after taking Cisco for his morning outing. Alejandro was mad at me but not too much. He knew I had helped him out, even if he had to endure his dad’s lecture on punctuality.

Another early morning, I heard my sister yell, “Mom! Where are my good ballet flats? I can’t find them anywhere!” I hesitated and then confessed, “I moved them.” She shrieked at me in disbelief, but I continued, “I put them in your closet, so Cisco wouldn’t chew them up.” More disbelief. However, this time, there was silence instead of shrieking.

Last spring, Cisco and I were fast asleep when the phone rang at midnight. Abuela would not make it through the night after a long year of chemo, but she was in Pueblo, almost three hours away. Sitting next to me for that long car ride on I-25 in pitch-black darkness, Cisco knew exactly what I needed and snuggled right next to me as I petted his coat in a rhythm while tears streamed down my face. The hospital didn’t usually allow dogs, but they made a special exception to respect my grandma’s last wishes that the whole family be together. Cisco remained sitting at the foot of the hospital bed, intently watching abuela with a silence that communicated more comfort than our hollow words. Since then, whenever I sense someone is upset, I sit in silence with them or listen to their words, just like Cisco did.

The other day, one of my friends told me, “You’re a strange one, Josue. You’re not like everybody else but in a good way.” I didn’t know what he meant at first. “You know, you’re super responsible and grown-up. You look out for us instead of yourself. Nobody else does that.” I was a bit surprised because I wasn’t trying to do anything different. I was just being me. But then I realized who had taught me: a fluffy little puppy who I had wished was a cat! I didn’t choose Cisco, but he certainly chose me and, unexpectedly, became my teacher, mentor, and friend.

Word count: 617

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

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay , but these are two common structures that work:

• A montage structure, a series of vignettes with a common theme.
• A narrative structure, a single story that shows your personal growth or how you overcame a challenge.

Avoid the five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in high school.

Though admissions officers are interested in hearing your story, they’re also interested in how you tell it. An exceptionally written essay will differentiate you from other applicants, meaning that admissions officers will spend more time reading it.

You can use literary devices to catch your reader’s attention and enrich your storytelling; however, focus on using just a few devices well, rather than trying to use as many as possible.

Most importantly, your essay should be about you , not another person or thing. An insightful college admissions essay requires deep self-reflection, authenticity, and a balance between confidence and vulnerability.

Your essay shouldn’t be a résumé of your experiences but instead should tell a story that demonstrates your most important values and qualities.

When revising your college essay , first check for big-picture issues regarding message, flow, tone, style , and clarity. Then, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

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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 177 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 177 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 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.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

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.

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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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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Food Waste College Essays Samples For Students

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