Williams College

2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. The colors through the window become inconsequential, only the forms and their faces significant. Through the window of my hometown Kolkata, India I see a half naked child running around on the street. His face depicts childish levity and … Read more Disparity Through My Windows

Name a piece of clothing that you have found to be beneficial. My old poncho is an absurdly bright shade of blue. It has the uncanny ability to turn anyone who wears it into a baggy, rather ridiculous-looking blob. This poncho holds a special place in my heart. When my mom first gave it to … Read more My Ugly Blue Poncho

Common Application: General topic of your choice. I’m sure I have the visiting team’s attention by the time I finish my first lap around the soccer field. Standing in a circle, contemplating my presence, they venture guesses quietly, “Cross country? Lost? Girl’s soccer?” Finishing my second lap, I can always feel them looking at me, … Read more Watch Me

Describe a time you dealt with a moral problem that you treated differently the second time you faced it. St. Augustine tells us, “It is not true to say that a thing rightly done once should not be changed.” I know this is true because of my experience with my grandfather’s failing health. My grandfather, … Read more Ignoring Apples

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. It was already 6 PM, and I walked across the classroom, wary of the many fingers tapping away at their keyboards, their mouse clicks, their resizing and editing articles, photos, and captions. It was … Read more Student Newspaper in Every Middle School

This personal statement helps us become acquainted with you in ways different from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will demonstrate your ability to organize thoughts and express yourself. We are looking for an essay that will help us know you better as a person and as a student. Please write an … Read more An Academic Affair

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Having explored the myths from ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, my curiosity was piqued in eighth grade by a simple legend from Japanese … Read more Just Keep Folding

Describe the scientific concept (e.g. plate tectonics, quantum mechanics) most important to your world view and explain why it is so critical to your outlook. For decades, the classic dispute of “nature vs. nurture” in regards to our maturation has dominated the debate about how children develop. Does a specific gene passed on from your … Read more Epigenetics: How It Affects Our Future

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. I sat quietly at my desk on the morning of September 4th, 2005, steeling myself for my first day of second grade. Thus … Read more Taking a Handicap in Hand

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. For four dollars, anyone can buy a bag of heroin in a town five minutes from my school. Prescription cousins of heroin, like … Read more The Data That Saves Lives