I stroll alongside the bank of the Potomac River, enjoying the beautiful evening on September 1st, 2015. Three years ago, I walked along this same path with my aunt Rahel. Even though she had not intended to, she had changed my life that day. I chuckle as every step overwhelms my unsuspecting mind with dear memories. I make futile efforts to keep them at bay, but they come rushing through me, like a flood. *** My eyes flew open; it was 8:47 AM...

As cliché as it sounds, there really is something special about Notre Dame. The experience it offers is unlike any ‘normal’ undergraduate experience that focuses solely on academia and social life. At Notre Dame, students are not just taught how to succeed in their careers, but also how to lead meaningful lives. Notre Dame acknowledges that we are the summation of mind, body and spirit, and that one cannot live a full life without integrating the three. Notre Dame cultivates...

PROMPT: What question fascinates you? Tell us why. It was a gloomy afternoon in 7th grade. Our Biology instructor hadn’t showed up to class, and there was no substitute teacher filling in for him. That ultimately meant that we were at liberty to do whatever we wanted to. Screeching and banging filled the room as we rearranged our neatly rowed seats to resemble crop circles instead. In my small circle, we each took turns to say what our definition...

PROMPT: Blessed Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, described education as “the art of helping young people to completeness.” How are you incomplete? I’m passionate about learning. I especially enjoy learning about the natural sciences, since they have such a direct and significant impact on our day-to-day lives. Whenever I come across facts that make living life easier, my thought process resembles something like this: “genuinely fascinated, deeply inspired to share with someone, then, almost...

Stanford Essay: 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 Roommate, They say you never really know someone until you have lived with them. But if we're to be roommates, I think I will be nice enough to spare you the wait and let you in on 'the secret life of Christian'. I sleep...

Dartmouth Supplement: Describe the influence your hero has had on your life. Aunt Rahel is my life-mentor, my inspiration, my role model, and my hero. Her strong faith, love, compassion, patience, perseverance, optimism, positive energy, individualism, and myriad of other qualities that I cannot adequately describe in words have enabled me to see that there is much more to life than I had perceived . With everything she did, she instilled in me the values that now make up the cornerstone...

The supplemental essays above are from a couple of different schools. I picked these in particular because they're the most raw that I had the most fun writing! I think that's because I let myself be very honest and exposed what I REALLY thought, not what I thought would be pleasing to hear or what would get me an acceptance letter. I feel like it's really important to have fun when you write your Essays and love what your write,...

I would have definitely apples to less schools to save myself the stress of having to write all of...

Notre Dame has a soft spot for students that have a passion to impact the lives of others in a meaningful way! So if you...

I interviewed with Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Swarthmore, Stanford, UPenn, and Vanderbilt. 1. Brown interview: This interview was the most enlightening. I got to hear the insider scoop about Brown that you wouldn't find on the internet! It showed me that Brown was too liberal a place for me and I would not have enjoyed going there. 2. Columbia interview: This interview went well, but was pretty generic. I was less prepared with questions to ask about Columbia so it was pretty lop-sided. As a side note, always make sure to do some research on the school you will be interviewing with...

I chose to go to Notre Dame because it felt the most like home when I went to visit. I had read a lot about the school and was genuinely interested, but had I not gone to visit campus,...

I did extensive research to find schools that had a good Biology program, allowed undergraduates to carry out research, and of course, had good financial aid systems for intentional students. When you're looking for a school to apply to, don't apply solely based on the prestige of the school. If you want to be a...