Got rejected? College essay examples that didn't work (and what did)

[molecularninja]

sharing my painful college essay examples journey... rejected from 5 dream schools before figuring it out. anyone want to see what NOT to do in college essays?

 

[rushhour]

your failed essays could help others! here's what worked - switched from generic "sports taught me leadership" to specific story about teaching coding to senior citizens. got into 3 top schools with that college essay

 

[SableCat]

reading thousands of essays as admission consultant. biggest mistakes in college essay examples:

• covid impact stories (too common)
• childhood dreams of medicine
• winning the big game
• volunteer trip epiphanies

 

[molecularninja]

@rushhour yours sounds amazing! mine was about founding a club... so original right?

 

[Outfielder]

reviewing college essay examples daily. successful ones share authentic voice, specific moments, unexpected topics. one kid wrote about collecting rubber bands - got into Stanford

 

[datadragon]

could i share my draft? trying to avoid typical college essay traps

 

[Outfielder]

@datadragon dm me, happy to review! just helped another student revise their essay from generic volunteering story to family recipe blog journey

 

[paperpanic]

these real college essay examples are eye-opening... deleting my "sports championship" draft right now

 

[SableCat]

best college essays show, not tell. instead of listing leadership roles, write about teaching your grandma to use zoom during lockdown

 

[rebel_research]

Stuck on my application essay... anyone have good college essay examples to share? Especially looking for overcoming challenges stories

 

[Sync17723]

Also collecting college essay examples. Found a great Medium article analyzing successful Ivy League essays. Will DM the link

 

[blank_page_panic]

My brother wrote about his hobby - restoring vintage mechanical watches. No typical stories, just his passion. Got into Cornell.

 

[JasonM98]

Hello. Here's a helpful Wikipedia article about structure and key elements of US college admissions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_application

 

[midnight.biologist]

reviewing college essay examples daily

read hundreds of college essay examples last year preparing for my own applications

 

[datadragon]

Stuck on my application essay... anyone have good college essay examples to share? Especially looking for overcoming challenges stories

avoid standard topics. Most memorable college essay examples I've seen are unexpected. One guy wrote about his bottle cap collection and connected it to cultural diversity.

 

[SableCat]

Worst college essay examples?