The day I punched that rascal in the stomach, I returned home and burst into tears at the sight of my mother. The bullies had been taunting my brother after finding his diaper in his schoolbag. My mother, tearing up herself, gave me a firm hug and told me that she was proud of me for standing up for my little brother. This was my mother, the emotional stronghold of my family as we endured my brother's illness together. And...

[MIT] Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs, school, community, city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations? My gaze wanders between the dialysis needle stuck in David’s feeble arm and the fatigued expression on his gaunt face. I imagine my mother in the examination room upstairs, anxiously awaiting results for the crossmatch test or perhaps already signing the contract. I am yet again heartbroken, frustrated, and indignant. Yes, thank you...

[Princeton] Using a favorite quotation from an essay or book you have read in the last three years as a starting point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your values or changed how you approach the world. Please write the quotation, title and author at the beginning of your essay. "To be of championship caliber, a crew must have total confidence in each other." The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown...

[Stanford] 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 -- know you better. Dear Roomie, I don't know whether you are an early bird or a night owl; whether you rarely stay in the room, or invite half the freshman class every day; whether you are an aspiring rock star who loves to play the guitar at 11pm, or...

[Stanford] What matters to you, and why? Inhabiting the 10-foot-wide wall of my room is the Bookwall, my secret portal to the universe. This macrocosm is home to everything from Antigone to Zeitoun, from Hemingway to Dickens, from the Maze Runner to Crime and Punishment. Each tells a story: a provocative story, an uplifting story, sometimes even a nonsensical story, but a story nonetheless. Stories matter to me; they provide a brief respite from my own confined world, a vicarious...