How Harvard applicants wrote their essays

In order to get into one of the most prestigious universities in the world, Harvard University, you need to write one or more essays. In these essays, you, as an applicant, need to reveal your personality, so that behind a pile of numbers and facts from your application, the examination committee will see you as a lively and motivated person. How to write such a letter, and most importantly - what to write in it? In September, the “Harvard Gazette” asked Harvard's freshmen about that.

Elison Tu of Louisville, Kentucky, took a fundamental approach to the question. She brainstormed about 20 ideas, 15 of which were discarded. Out of the remaining 5 ideas, one was eventually chosen, and it was perfected through a long and hard polishing process. Allison chose to write about her transition from childhood independence (due to her parents' divorce) to interdependence with the people she worked with as a team.

The idea for the Harvard essay came quite unexpectedly to Nick Nochita (Arlington Heights, Illinois). At Thanksgiving, the family talked about Nick's grandmother, who was unable to go to college but had accomplished a great deal through her selfless attitude toward her neighbors. The thought-that Grandma had accomplished so much under such circumstances, but what could I do with a Harvard education-had so hooked Nick that the letter was born literally overnight.

Sophie Clivio from Kingston, Jamaica, at first thought her dreams of Harvard would have to be kissed goodbye. Sending an email with a “lefty” comment at the bottom of the page-how could anyone have missed that! Sophie, on the other hand, wrote her letter in the form of “oral poetry” in which she was surely unique. In the letter itself, the girl wrote about the culture shock she experienced from moving from her native Kingston to Massachusetts' Milton. Fortunately, the mistake didn't play much of a role in evaluating her letter, and Sophie was able to enroll.

Being more “on math and numbers” Marcus Miller of Denver, Colorado, devoted his essay to the question of finding “self” after your past, athletic “self” became unavailable to you. Marcus broke his hip in 8th grade, and a couple of years later, he also injured both of his arms. Understandably, it became impossible to continue active sports, and unsuccessful soccer star switched to school lessons. The result - Marcus became a happy Harvard student!

Kylie Simms of Traveller's Rest, a small town in South Carolina, won over the Harvard examiners with her sincerity. The essay, in which she wrote about her desire to see the world from different perspectives, was almost unedited by Kylie. The girl wanted it to remain authentic, “sound” like her, not a cold and calibrated set of beautiful and “right” words.

And concluding our selection is the story of Alexander Park of Belmont, Massachusetts. In some ways, his story is similar to Nick's--the idea for the essay came to him just as unexpectedly. A childhood memory of his grandfather in Korea telling him about the kings of the Joseon Dynasty gave him the rather simple idea of telling him how much he loves history, and more importantly, listening to stories. In his story, Alexander highlighted a very important idea. You shouldn't waste time writing an autobiography in your essay. It's enough to tell one good story about one, the most important aspect of your personality, and you've already revealed yourself to the listener.

You've already revealed yourself to the listener.