Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you? Even at 6:30 in the morning, with blurry eyes, wet hair and a to-go mug of tea, my bus stop always manages to take my breath away. It faces the Chesapeake Bay, looking over a stretch of grass that slopes down to the water. On a clear morning, I can see the ever-moving line of cars cross...

Explanation of my father's diagnosis with kidney cancer

Harvard asked me about my favorite book

I wrote about Daniel Quinn's late 20th-century philosophical novel, Ishmael. The novel taught me so much about humanity, our history, the prevalence of Creation stories such as Genesis and the human desire to feel "important" and centric to the world. Its messages about climate change and the course of the human race really inspired me to make a change in my community. I honestly didn't revise my essay after I wrote it, or even show it to anyone. I just...

I applied to a crazy assortment of schools: Ivy leagues, a few private schools, public schools around the East Coast, state schools, and even Canadian....

I would probably apply to fewer schools. I applied to 10, and a few of them...

I had a family friend (a Harvard alum and private admissions counselor The College Matchmaker) who gave me a private tour of Harvard and counseled me once on...

I interviewed with Harvard University, at my local library. The interview went extremely well--I felt like I really connected with my alumni interviewer over my interest in...

I toured a lot of colleges in the summers. I also volunteered a bit with a local environmental group, and started a small project to...

I think my passion for my extracurriculars and my well-rounded profile set me apart. I was never a "national champion"...

Honestly? I chose my school because I won a full scholarship, and my family was in an unstable financial position. It was heartbreaking to have to give up the opportunity to go to Harvard, which had become a big part of my identity since I was accepted in...

The people at UMD are so politically active! The school is close enough to DC to be able to access federal internships and...

I applied to a few small, local scholarships, and ended up being awarded around $7,500 total. But the most money I got came from school-specific scholarships. I won the top academic scholarships at UVM, Fordham and UMass, which were both around $16,000 per year....

A few schools I applied to were not very high on my interest list, especially Fordham, which waived its application fee. A few others...

I hope to go into either environmental law, environmental policy, government, or foreign service. My ideal career would combine these interests: an international...