Blump. That’s the sound of a lethargic dive. First comes the immersion then comes the shock. The frigid water serves as a defibrillator shocking me to life. I inhale only to be reminded of Colorado mornings: the piercing 40 degree air. Only then am I awake enough to decipher the all too familiar surroundings. The sun still sleeps as my alarm blasts the lyrics to an old Taylor Swift song. I squint at the neon-green numbers flashing 4:55 AM. I give...

Adapted for multiple schools (many of the Ivys): WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN, I fell in love. It wasn't your typical transient love for the girl in art class, but rather the profound love for Biology. I sulked my way through freshman US history eagerly anticipating what I would learn in Biology the next day. It was facinating how the minutest of enzymes can have a catastrophic effect. Take something as simple as a Carbon atom; if you switch the orientation...

For University of N. Carolina @ Chapel Hill: The Inevitable Rain (TEDtalk) It’s strange how people regret all the things they can’t change: the thousands of deadly diseases they can’t cure, the millions of people starving in the world, and most of all the death of a loved one. I can still picture the polished white keys that produced the glorious harmony calling us to dinner, a humble approximation of Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca. I still remember...

For University of Colorado Boulder (adapted for many more): Sometimes the most common questions are the ones we are the least prepared for. Something as simple as “What are your plans for the future?” could frighten the most fearless of people. I’m even willing to bet that it’s the single most asked question in conversation. It is inescapable on a date, unavoidable during an interview, and it is what every single adult defaults to when they first meet...

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago. For UChicago Prompt 2: Although “Dante forgot this level of hell,” this slogan very accurately reflects the weird, quirky, and creative people that made me fall in love with UChicago. I always wanted a Hogwarts-esque community; I wanted a second family, a family that�...

Can be used as Common App Essay: It was the blue swirls of the night sky and bright orange crescent of the moon; it was the mysterious wind patterns that haunted the night and the raging hills that tower over the land. There was neither special inscription made out to me nor any dog ears of touching words, but this was no ordinary book cover; this was no ordinary book. The cover was Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and the...

For UChicago Optional: A little insight to my life outside academia… Welcome to my top 5 lists of my top 5 favorite “things”. Some might be explicit. Some might be vague. Some might be for you to interpret. Some might be for me to share…if you choose to accept me Taylor Swiftisms: 1. All Too Well 2. Starlight 3. Never Grow Up 4. Love Story 5. A Place In This World The Good in Deforestation: 1. The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri) 2. Freakonomics (Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt) 3....

Example of Adapted UChicago prompt 1 fro Williams College: The other student wouldn’t be Elon Musk or a reincarnated Leonhard Euler. It wouldn’t be any of the recognizable names we read about or see on television – not even Taylor Swift. It would be someone people outside my neighborhood never met; it would be my best friend: Vishnu Kodicherla. You see, after seven years of friendship, there still never a dull conversation, where even the most typical of subjects will...

For Harvard: Dear future roommate, Hi! I guess I should tell you a little about myself seeing as we will spend the next eight months cramped together. But let me start out with a question: which whale are you? Now, I know what you’re thinking, but that wasn’t a typo. There are two emoticons of whales in your iPhone for a reason. So which one are you? Oh, the dilemma. Oh, the injustice. There are not only one...

How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible answers involve, but are not limited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, linguistics, and philosophy. —Inspired by Florence Chan, Class of 2015. For UChicago prompt 1: Apples and oranges. Though they seem very different, they’re deceptively similar at the core. Comparing them is as easy as comparing theorems and wedding rings. A theorem. A theorem is something magical, something that permeates the beauty of mathematics. It is something that expresses the simplicity of...

I adapted many of the essays I wrote for other schools. I used UChicago (apples & oranges) for Duke. Harvard for Stanford. It gets easier after 5 full length essays (or maybe you're not applying to as many schools as I were). Note that each school has a unique personality; they are looking for a specific type of person. The most notable example is UChicago, if you plan on applying there, write their essays first.

Anything relative to Pre-Med (shadowing doctors, volunteering at hospitals....

I knew I wanted to go to a school that had prestige, and I'm sure many...

I think you're probably more interested in summer activities for high school. So if you want to get into a really good school, you need to show them you're committed...

High School teachers are usually less picky about this. In college, some professors have strict requirements, but...

WashU has A LOT of pre-meds, and on the other side of Forest Park is our world class med school. So a genuine interest in Pre-health would be advisable. Similarly, WashU...