Application Essay Excerpts

​I depended on my mother for survival. She told me to focus on school work and not to worry about anything else. Therefore, I was unacquainted with anything outside of the classroom.A phone call changed everything...

Angling my head and body sideways, I slowly approached Lanai, making sure that I didn’t stare directly at her. She seemed relaxed, with almond-shaped eyes, and a curvy posture. She stayed in place, with her ears forty-five degrees to the front of her face. As I drew closer, however, her eyes stuck wide open, pupils dilated. Her posture was now rigid, and her ears turned toward me. She was scared...

Swinging my arm in a lightning fast fashion, I hit the small, blue ball at the bottom corner of the wall, resulting in a “kill” that my opponent could not return, and ending the game 21-16. American Handball has become my favorite sport since middle school...

On a sunny day in May 2005, my father picked me up from school for the first time in years. Observing my father’s face flush red and smelling an alcoholic odor as we walked in silence, I knew something was horribly wrong...

Chemistry is my favorite subject in high school. I enjoy learning about various topics such as chemical equilibrium, buffers, and titrations in my three chemistry classes. I feel that I am able to comprehend the theories behind how and why matter undergoes changes. For instance, Le Chatelier's Principle has allowed me to understand how and why matter reacts to stress...

The lack of a sufficient educational system is a premier issue of personal, local and national concern. Throughout history and in modern times, success has been closely linked to education and wealth. In many cases, to obtain a well-paying job, you must have earned at least a high school diploma or GED. To reach even further career goals, a degree is required from a respective college or university. However, in the poor community, many young people are not given these chances...

There's a running joke among my friend group that, despite any accomplishments I might have in high school, I'll end up in a low paying, miserable job. In their elitist, middle class humor, working at a minimum wage, despite years of schooling, is something to be laughed at and mocked. They all want to be engineers and doctors. Future financial misfortune is not a reality for them. But it is for me. You see, I want to be a history major...

Every summer the three-headed monster of school work, extracurriculars, and standardized testing that dominates my life throughout the school year sort of just curls up into a ball and dies. The earth stops spinning, and I'm left staring at walls wondering how a day could possibly go by so slowly (Ok, I don't actually stare at walls)...So why, might you ask, would a person like me volunteer with an established politician?My parents made me. That's why...

As an eager freshman, I enrolled in the most challenging AP class offered to upcoming sophomores, which happened to be AP World History. My ignorance of world history was immense; thus, the class was ultimately eye-opening...

The Wharton School towers above all other schools with its programs, professors, and opportunities. The infinite number of unique concentrations and multicultural experiences result in a versatile, yet personal, education. I am drawn to Wharton because it resonates with my background interests. Here, I will be academically at home because of all it offers in terms of my goals in education and as a business woman...