University of Pittsburgh

Describe a historical figure or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence. One of the most important books in the world is The Records of the Grand Historian. Written by Sima Qian in the first century B.C., it elucidates more than two … Read more The Gift of Translation

Write about a person who had a significant impact on your life. Annie’s face is as vivid in my mind now as it was four years ago. I can see the passion for life that sparkled in her eyes and the crazy, intense grin that stretched across her face like a bridge across the sea. … Read more Annie

Tell us something about yourself that isn’t apparent from your academic records–something that will give us insight about you as an individual. Throughout my younger years, wearing a blazer, collared shirt, and nice pants to preschool always set me apart from my classmates. As I got older, selling pencils to kids who needed them right … Read more Young Entrepreneur

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.(Common App) Here’s a sob story for you: my father died when I was four. My mother has always been legally blind, but shortly after my father’s death, when I was six, she fell and broke … Read more My Invisible Army

The essay was not prompted question by a particular. It is the common application essay, required for all undergraduate applications. I remember in kindergarten, during my troubled sleeps, my mother would come in and sing the Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday”. I didn’t know what the lyrics meant then, but I do know that in her voice … Read more Saxophone Colossus

For its series “Uninvent This,” The New Yorker asked writers to discuss what they wished had never been invented. Answers covered everything from technology to mundane objects to concepts. In that same spirit, what would you uninvent, and how would your life—and the world—be different without it? Photos freeze the world in place for just … Read more Uninvent Your Camera

What is something that you are most proud of? The first ride I had on Gnocchi was awful. He was a project horse who didn’t “listen” to my leg, seat, or hand; aids that help me communicate with a horse. He wouldn’t stand still for me to tack him up or mount him. When I … Read more How a horse taught me partnership

How have you overcome failure and what did you learn from it? Even as a kid, I always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit. I tried making a neighborhood newspaper, crafting homemade walking sticks, and even selling my Pokemon cards. One of my biggest business endeavors featured 11-year-old me digging out a patch of my backyard … Read more Overcoming Failure

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. “Mr. Grove, you can come back in the room now.” Wiping pints of sweat off my forehead, my heart racing, I reenter the room containing four people: the four people whose sole job … Read more The Peak of Scouting

It answers my personal influence I had during my trip to costa rica I had during my junior year of highschool. I stood there holding my stethoscope, listening to a five year-old child’s back, nervously searching for any abnormality, trying to control my nerves and focus on my work. I shifted my stethoscope to another … Read more The Innocence of Child