essays already written for you

Essay Papers Writing Online

The importance of choosing the right essay writing service for academic success.

Experience the convenience of our top-tier essay writing services that are specifically designed to meet your unique requirements. Our team of skilled and knowledgeable writers takes pride in delivering outstanding academic papers that will impress even the most demanding professors.

Unlock your academic potential with our specialized assistance, tailored to your specific subject and level of study. Whether you need assistance with a research paper, an argumentative essay, or any other type of academic writing, our expert writers are here to provide you with a customized solution that meets your individual needs.

Rest assured that your paper will be of the highest quality and completely original. Our skilled writers are experienced in conducting thorough research and analyzing complex topics, ensuring that your essay stands out from the rest.

Don’t settle for anything less than the best. Choose our essay writing service today and experience the difference of having a professionally written, customized paper at your disposal. Our team is dedicated to your academic success and will go above and beyond to ensure that you achieve the grades you deserve.

Plan for Promoting a Custom Essay Writing Platform

In this section, we will outline our strategy for promoting a professional platform that offers tailored academic papers and documents. By employing various marketing techniques and utilizing the power of digital platforms, we aim to build brand awareness and attract potential clients seeking top-notch customized written content.

Digital Advertising: We will leverage the potential of online advertising through popular search engines, social media platforms, and targeted banner placements to reach a wider audience. By creating compelling ads that highlight the benefits of our service, we can capture the attention of individuals in need of high-quality, personalized essays and papers.
Content Marketing: By establishing a blog or resource center on our website, we can create and share valuable content related to academic writing, essay tips, and the importance of customized documents. This way, we can attract organic traffic through search engine optimization and position ourselves as experts in the field.
Referral Program: Word-of-mouth remains a powerful marketing tool. Implementing a referral program where existing clients are rewarded for referring new customers can help us secure a steady stream of referrals. By offering incentives such as discounts or free additional services, we can motivate our satisfied clients to recommend our platform to others.
Partnerships: Collaborating with educational websites, student forums, and academic organizations can help us establish credibility and gain access to a wider pool of potential customers. By offering exclusive discounts or partnerships, we can tap into existing communities and reach individuals who are actively engaged in academia.
Email Marketing: Building an email list of interested individuals and potential clients allows us to maintain regular communication and keep them updated on our latest offers and services. By sending monthly newsletters or targeted email campaigns, we can nurture leads and encourage conversions.

By implementing this comprehensive promotion plan, we are confident that our custom essay writing platform will gain visibility and attract a diverse clientele who appreciate the value of bespoke academic content. Through a combination of targeted advertising, content marketing, strategic partnerships, and effective communication, we will position ourselves as a trusted resource for students and professionals in need of exceptional written material.

Educate potential customers about the benefits of using a professional writing service

At a time when academic pressure is at an all-time high and students are juggling numerous responsibilities, finding reliable assistance to handle their essays can be a game-changer in their educational journey. Engaging the services of a qualified and experienced essay writer can not only alleviate the stress associated with meeting deadlines and producing high-quality work, but it can also provide an array of benefits that will set students up for success in the long run.

1. Time-Saving: With the help of a professional writing service, students can reclaim their precious time, allowing them to focus on other important areas of their life such as extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, or simply enjoying their college experience. Time management is crucial, and by delegating the task of essay writing, they can efficiently divide their attention and complete various tasks without sacrificing the quality of their work.

2. Enhanced Academic Performance: A well-written essay not only demonstrates a student’s understanding of the subject matter but also showcases their critical thinking and analytical skills. By entrusting their assignments to experts in the field, students can significantly elevate the quality of their work, ultimately leading to improved grades and academic success. Professional writers possess the necessary knowledge and experience to craft compelling and well-structured essays that meet the highest academic standards.

3. Learning Opportunities: By observing and studying the essays provided by professional writers, students can gain valuable insights into effective writing techniques, proper formatting, and coherent argumentation. With each essay received, they have the opportunity to learn from the experts, enhancing their own writing skills and expanding their knowledge base. This acquired knowledge can be utilized in future assignments and serve as a foundation for their overall academic growth.

4. Originality and Plagiarism-Free Content: One of the greatest concerns for students is producing original content that is free from plagiarism. Professional writing services ensure that every essay is custom-crafted, tailored to the student’s specific requirements and instructions. Through thorough research and careful writing, these services guarantee unique and authentic essays that pass rigorous plagiarism checks, giving students peace of mind and maintaining the integrity of their academic work.

5. Confidentiality and Privacy: Professional writing services understand the importance of maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of their clients. They adhere to strict privacy policies and take necessary measures to protect personal information, ensuring that students can avail the service without any concerns about their identity being revealed. This provides a safe and secure environment for students to seek professional assistance and maintain their academic integrity.

By utilizing a professional writing service, students can reap these benefits and position themselves for academic success. With the support of qualified professionals, they can confidently navigate the demanding academic landscape and overcome any obstacles that come their way, knowing that they have a reliable partner to aid them on their educational journey.

Create engaging and informative content about essay writing

Are you looking to enhance your writing skills and create compelling content to captivate your readers? Look no further! In this section, we will explore the art of crafting engaging and informative essays, allowing you to express your ideas with clarity and precision.

When it comes to essay writing, it’s all about effectively conveying your thoughts and insights on a particular topic. By utilizing a range of expressive language and conveying your ideas in a concise manner, you can create an essay that will leave a lasting impression on your readers.

One key aspect of creating engaging content is the use of vivid and descriptive language. Instead of resorting to overused phrases, we encourage you to explore alternative synonyms and expressions that will bring your writing to life. By incorporating unique and captivating vocabulary, you can paint a vivid picture in the minds of your readers, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in your essay.

In addition to employing expressive language, it is vital to ensure that your essay is informative and well-researched. By conducting thorough research and presenting evidence-based arguments, you can establish credibility and provide your readers with valuable insights. This not only enhances the quality of your essay but also showcases your ability to delve into the depth of a topic and present it in an engaging manner.

To further engage your audience, consider incorporating real-life examples, anecdotes, and relatable stories that support your central ideas. This will help establish a personal connection with your readers, making your essay more relatable and impactful.

Remember, the goal of essay writing is to not only inform but also captivate your audience. By employing expressive language, conducting thorough research, and incorporating personal anecdotes, you can create essays that are both engaging and informative. So why wait? Start crafting your essays today and let your words come alive!

Utilize social media platforms to reach a wider audience

In today’s technologically advanced world, it is crucial for businesses to adapt and harness the power of social media platforms in order to expand their reach and connect with a wider audience. By effectively utilizing these platforms, businesses can tap into the vast potential of online communities, engage with customers, and promote their products and services.

Social media platforms offer businesses the opportunity to connect and interact with people from all walks of life, regardless of geographical boundaries. With the ability to engage in real-time conversations, share information, and create a sense of community, businesses can build a loyal following and establish their brand as an authority in their industry.

By crafting engaging and relevant content, businesses can captivate the attention of their followers and compel them to share their content, thus increasing their reach even further. Whether it is through informative articles, engaging videos, or captivating images, businesses can leverage social media platforms to showcase their expertise and build a strong online presence.

Additionally, social media platforms offer businesses the opportunity to target specific demographics and tailor their messages accordingly. By utilizing data-driven insights and analytics, businesses can understand the preferences and behaviors of their target audience, allowing them to create targeted advertising campaigns and reach the right people at the right time.

Furthermore, the interactive nature of social media platforms enables businesses to receive instant feedback from their audience. This feedback can be invaluable in refining their products and services, identifying areas of improvement, and understanding the needs and expectations of their customers. By actively engaging with their audience and responding to their comments and messages, businesses can build trust and credibility, ultimately leading to increased customer loyalty and advocacy.

In conclusion, social media platforms provide businesses with a powerful tool to reach a wider audience, promote their products and services, and foster meaningful connections with their customers. By using these platforms strategically and effectively, businesses can enhance their online presence, increase brand visibility, and ultimately drive success in today’s competitive digital landscape.

Offer discounts and promotions to attract new customers

Attracting new customers is essential for any business to thrive and grow. One effective way to do so is by offering enticing discounts and promotions. By providing customers with special pricing and deals, you can capture their attention and encourage them to try out your product or service.

Everyone loves a good deal, and discounts and promotions are a great way to grab the attention of potential customers. Offering a limited-time discount or a buy-one-get-one-free promotion can create a sense of urgency and make customers feel like they are getting a great value for their money. By highlighting these special offers prominently on your website or in your advertising materials, you can entice new customers to give your product or service a try.

In addition to attracting new customers, offering discounts and promotions can also help to build customer loyalty. When customers feel that they are getting a great deal, they are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend your business to others. By consistently providing attractive discounts and promotions, you can establish a reputation for offering high-value products or services, which can help to differentiate you from your competitors.

It’s important to carefully plan and strategize your discounts and promotions to ensure they are enticing to your target audience. Analyze your customers’ buying patterns and preferences to determine what types of promotions are most likely to catch their attention. Consider offering discounts for bulk purchases, exclusive discounts for first-time customers, or even referral discounts to encourage word-of-mouth marketing.

Remember, offering discounts and promotions is not just about attracting new customers; it’s also about building long-term relationships. Treat your loyal customers well by providing them with exclusive discounts and rewards. By making them feel valued and appreciated, you can cultivate their loyalty and turn them into brand advocates who will help promote your business to others.

In conclusion, offering discounts and promotions is a powerful tool for attracting new customers and fostering customer loyalty. By carefully planning and executing these special offers, you can create a sense of excitement and urgency, encourage repeat business, and ultimately grow your customer base.

Collaborate with influencers and bloggers in the education niche

Are you looking to reach a wider audience in the field of education? Collaborating with influencers and bloggers can be a powerful marketing strategy to increase your brand awareness and attract potential customers. By partnering with individuals who have a strong following and influence in the education niche, you can tap into their loyal audience and generate more interest in your products or services.

Influencers and bloggers in the education niche have built a reputation and credibility through their knowledge and expertise in the field. Their followers trust their recommendations and are more likely to engage with products or services endorsed by these influencers. By collaborating with them, you can leverage their influence to promote your offerings and gain the trust of their audience.

One of the benefits of collaborating with influencers and bloggers is the opportunity to tap into their highly engaged and targeted audience. As these influencers have already established a loyal following in the education niche, their audience is more likely to be interested in your products or services. By working with influencers who align with your brand values and target audience, you can ensure that your marketing efforts reach the right people.

In addition, collaborating with influencers and bloggers gives you the opportunity to create authentic and engaging content. These individuals are skilled at creating valuable content that resonates with their audience. By working together, you can create educational and informative content that showcases the benefits and value of your offerings. This type of content is more likely to be shared and recommended, further expanding your reach and increasing your brand visibility.

To effectively collaborate with influencers and bloggers, it’s important to reach out to them with a personalized approach. Show genuine interest in their work and explain how your collaboration can be beneficial for both parties. Consider offering them exclusive access to your products or services or providing them with unique content that their audience will find valuable. By building a mutually beneficial partnership, you can leverage the influencer’s reach and expertise to grow your business in the education niche.

Benefits of Collaborating with influencers and bloggers:
Access to a wider audience in the education niche
Increased brand awareness and credibility
Engagement with a highly targeted audience
Creation of authentic and engaging content
Mutually beneficial partnerships

Provide exceptional customer service to encourage repeat business

One of the key factors in running a successful business is providing exceptional customer service. When customers have a positive experience with a company, they are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend the business to others. This is why it is crucial for businesses to focus on delivering outstanding customer service.

A satisfied customer is a loyal customer. By ensuring that every interaction with your customer is positive and memorable, you can encourage them to come back for future purchases and services. This not only helps in building a strong customer base but also increases the chances of gaining new customers through word-of-mouth recommendations.

There are several ways businesses can provide exceptional customer service. First and foremost, it is important to understand your customers’ needs and expectations. This can be done through effective communication and feedback channels. By actively listening to your customers and addressing their concerns promptly, you can show them that their satisfaction is your top priority.

Secondly, providing personalized service can make a huge difference. Treating each customer as an individual and catering to their specific needs and preferences can make them feel valued and appreciated. This can be done by training your staff to be attentive and responsive, and by offering personalized solutions and recommendations.

Furthermore, businesses can also enhance the overall customer experience by going the extra mile. This can include offering additional perks, such as free shipping or discounts on future purchases, providing a hassle-free return or exchange policy, or offering exclusive loyalty programs. These small gestures can make a big impact on customers and make them feel like they are receiving special treatment.

In conclusion, providing exceptional customer service is essential for encouraging repeat business. By focusing on meeting customer needs, providing personalized service, and going above and beyond, businesses can create a loyal customer base and benefit from positive word-of-mouth recommendations. Remember, a happy customer is an asset to any business!

How to master the art of writing expository essays and captivate your audience, convenient and reliable source to purchase college essays online, step-by-step guide to crafting a powerful literary analysis essay, unlock success with a comprehensive business research paper example guide, unlock your writing potential with writers college – transform your passion into profession, “unlocking the secrets of academic success – navigating the world of research papers in college”, master the art of sociological expression – elevate your writing skills in sociology.

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

Why Buy Already Written Essays Online If You Can Order a Custom Piece Crafted from Scratch Exclusively for You!

Need a custom-written paper? Send instructions and set the deadline – we'll take care of the rest.

Free Essay Database

The WowEssays company sees its mission in helping students with written assignments in virtually any way possible. To this end, we provide a wide range of writing services. For starters, we have a database of free paper examples with close to 100.000 entries. You can copy their structure and content or use them as a source of topic ideas or inspiration in general. Then, you can write your papers easier with the directory of free writing tools and utilities. Finally and most importantly, we offer a fully operational essay writing service that can deliver a custom paper crafted from scratch according to your requirements within days or even hours. So, if you’re thinking, “Where can I find already written essays to use as writing models or order an entirely original paper?” – WowEssays.com is the place you’re looking for! Read on and find out more about how we can help you!

No Need to Buy Essay Already Written – Explore the WowEssays Database for Free!

First off, let us say a few words about the WowEssays sample database. As an old saying goes, a good example is the best sermon. It can as well serve as a motto of our directory of pre-written papers. In one place we’ve gathered tons of expertly written academic paper examples you can browse, read, and use to develop an outstanding piece of your own.

The core feature here is mind-boggling number of published samples, which ensures finding a piece to satisfy your requirements. Are you searching for already written argumentative essays? We’ve got hundreds of them. The same goes for analytical essays, narrative essays, descriptive essays, persuasive essays, compare and contrast essays, personal essays, expository essays, scholarship essays, yadda, yadda, yadda. That said, although essays are the most wide-spread academic works, our database contains a much wider variety of papers. Here you can also find movie and book reviews, research papers, case studies, business plans, reports, capstone projects, term papers, presentations, personal statements, theses, dissertation chapters, application and cover letters. Remarkably, the presented papers come in various formats, providing you with proper examples of MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian citation styles.

Thus, browsing our database can help you solve multiple writing issues by providing free access to high-quality writing models and templates. However, the services we provide don’t stop there and extend much, much further to ensure as effective writing assistance as it only gets.

WowEssays Is So Much More Than a Database of Already Written College Essays!

We are fully aware that sometimes a directory (no matter how big it is) that offers free samples cannot solve issues some students face. Most often, this happens because of the lack of time for a comprehensive search for a suitable example. This led us to the understanding that our website should go beyond being just publishing sample essays already written for you. As a result, today WowEssays.com offers a wide range of practical research and writing assistance services, backed by powerful features and benefits:

Custom writing

Our experts craft unique model papers from scratch according to the client’s specific instructions. Pro writers with various academic backgrounds can deliver papers of all types and for all subjects.

Problem solving and Q&A

Another segment of writing services we are ready to provide to students includes problem solving and calculations (mostly for STEM subjects), as well as answers to separate or multiple-choice questions.

Editing & proofreading

Our experienced editors can proofread and edit papers customers send us to take them up a notch. Grammar, spelling, structure, formatting, even content flow – we can improve it all!

Writer categories

All writing services are provided by properly trained experts. That said, based on the assignment complexity, you can choose between Basic (assigned by default for free), Advanced, and TOP writers.

Deadlines from 3 hours

For students, crafting a paper is often a race against time. With the WowEssays service, you can receive a completed paper of 3-4 pages within just 3 hours or overnight and beat the clock!

Rock-solid guarantees

When ordering from WowEssays, your positive customer experience is ensured by a number of guarantees: content originality, timely delivery, confidentiality, payment safety, money-back guarantee.

We constantly extend the scope of our services to provide the most effective, comprehensive, and affordable assistance to students of all academic levels. If you have any questions about how WowEssays.com can help you study better, contact us today! Or place an order right now!

Become your best self with our academic help.

Who Needs Already Written Essays for Sale When You Can Have Custom-Written Papers?

Students who manage to cope with all the assignments and homework single-handedly should be named anywhere along with Superman, Wonder Woman, or at least Flash. Sadly, not that many people are superheroes. It’s only natural for a normal human being to seek help when facing challenges beyond their capabilities. In the context of writing academic papers, it can be browsing sample databases available for free or looking for a place to buy an already written essay to use as a writing template. However, these methods are not nearly as effective as ordering a custom-written piece from an expert. Here’s when you should consider purchasing an entirely original paper to ensure you stay on studying track:

The lack of time is so critical that there’s no chance of putting together a worthy paper by the deadline.

Your writing skills or command of English are utterly insufficient to create a paper of the required level.

You have a clear understanding that you have no right to fail this particular paper or course whatsoever.

You’re just blank, empty, mute. Without even a spark of inspiration, writing a paper will turn into torture in no time.

So, listen to your guts. If it’s telling you that the risk of failure is too high, address the WowEssays service, get qualified help and find peace of mind!

Hire a Pro Writer

Buy already written essays online from writers with extensive expertise in the required field of study. Select your expert and order now!

Approved orders: 2598

Approved orders: 2983

Approved orders: 2163

Approved orders: 1385

Approved orders: 3305

Approved orders: 874

Approved orders: 4451

Approved orders: 1820

Approved orders: 1621

Pricing That's Right for You

The WowEssays pricing system is designed to let you pay less and study smarter. Transparent and flexible, it gives ultimate control over how much you pay: order in advance and get the most affordable price. Every order comes with valuable freebies and a rock-solid money-back guarantee.

Please note that our prices are fixed in American Dollars. The figures in the currency converter are given for the information purposes only and may change according to the corresponding exchange rates of the European Central Bank .

Writing from scratch
Editing/Proofreading
Multiple choice questions
Problem solving
Admission help

Select currency:

Available through Customer Support in chat

“Way Better Than to Buy Already Written Essays!” – WowEssays Writing Service Customer Reviews

We do host one of the largest free sample databases on the Web and are quite proud of it. However, we also understand that working with writing examples is not for everybody. Read the reviews from customers who decided to use WowEssays custom writing service and got their essays already written .

Other Pages

Order now and consider essays already done for you.

Just think about it: why purchase college essays already written by unknown authors when you can buy a paper composed from scratch following your instructions and according to the highest academic requirements? Whenever you are ready to place an order with WowEssays, you’ll just need to perform three simple steps:

Prepare instructions

Imagine the ideal paper you would like to get and describe it in detail. At the same time, try to be as specific as it gets. This is, perhaps, the most time-consuming part of the entire ordering process.

Fill out the order form

Locate the order form in the Control Panel (you will need to log in or register). Select kind of service, academic level, and type of paper. Then, set the number of pages and deadline. After that, paste your instructions, choose the writer category and Extra services.

Pay for the order

Pay the estimated order cost. All payments are processed via the PCI DSS-compliant platform, which ensures their complete safety. After that, you can contact the assigned writer directly if needed.

Take a step toward better writing and easier studying – place an order today!

You deserve only the best academic assistance.

How do I find, for example, already written research papers, essays, or term papers for free use in your sample directory?

Can i buy already written essays online and submit them as my own, is it possible to find already written essays that can pass an anti-plagiarism check, can i get a discount if i decide to order a custom paper, what are extra services, related services.

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

Free Essay Examples Database by PapersOwl

The ways we can help you

Essay types.

Discover writing strategies that apply to narrative, descriptive, expository, persuasive, compare and contrast, cause and effect papers, and other essay types

Writing help

Hire a writer to get a unique essay crafted to your needs: any topic, any deadline, any instructions. In-time submission and high academic quality guaranteed.

Writing tools

Strengthen your writing with plagiarism checks, pinpoint paraphrasing errors & instant citations.

Study resources

Essay writing guide
Essay Structure
Citation guide
Essay Formatting
Plagiarism 101
Punctuation Guide
Dissertation writing
PowerPoint Presentation
Research process

Essay samples by category

With regard to college paper subjects, there is no shortage of free essay themes available. Professors, instructors, and educators in universities, colleges, and schools appear to be resourceful engines, continuously generating an infinite array of essay topics.

Medicine And Health

Women's Health
Public Health
Organ Donation
Mental Health
Impact of Technology
Biotechnology
Advantages of Technology
Internet Privacy
Gamification
Cyber Security
Computer Software
Volunteering
Socialization
Social Work
Social Status
Social Responsibility
Social Norm
Social Networking
Social Movements
Social Issues
Social Exclusion
Social science
Scientific method
Radiation Therapy
Political Science
Pharmacology
Superstition
Supernatural
Reincarnation
Mother Teresa
Good and evil
Wuthering Heights
Virginia Woolf
Tennessee Williams
Sandra Cisneros
Phillis Wheatley
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States Constitution
Surveillance
Prohibition
Plessy v Ferguson
Mass Incarceration
Law Enforcement
Thomas Jefferson
Richard Nixon
Public Speaking
Political party
Michelle Obama
Mahatma Gandhi
Study Abroad
Special Education
Recommendation
Physical Education
Higher Education
Education System
Female Education
Swot Analysis
Organization
International Business
Entrepreneurship
Bussiness Plan
Visual Arts
Romanticism
Renaissance
Movie Review
Architecture
Relationships
Entertainment

Still Need Help With Essay Writing?

1. Submit Instructions

2. Choose Essay Writer

3. Track Order

4. Check Paper

100% happiness guarantee, free paper examples by words:, last added essay samples, wuthering heights: a tale of love, isolation, and the phantom symphony.

Imagine "Wuthering Heights" not as a novel, but as a grand concert, where the characters and themes perform a ghostly symphony on the windswept moors of Yorkshire. In this musical reimagining, Emily Brontë's narrative takes on a new dimension, with each character striking a different chord in a complex composition of love, revenge, and supernatural elements. This essay explores how Brontë’s masterpiece can be interpreted as a haunting symphony, revealing the intricate interplay of motifs and themes that make the […]

Understanding the Vietnam War: Causes, Consequences, and Legacy

The Vietnam War remains an enigmatic chapter in the annals of history, a complex saga of strife and upheaval that reverberated across continents and generations. Spanning from 1955 to 1975, its tumultuous narrative weaves together a tapestry of causes, consequences, and a legacy that echoes through the corridors of time. To truly comprehend the significance of the Vietnam War is to embark on a journey through the labyrinthine corridors of geopolitics, ideology, and human struggle. At the heart of the […]

Understanding the Vitality of Bones: are they Truly Alive?

Bones: those rigid, ivory-like structures forming the framework of our bodies. Commonly perceived as lifeless, static components similar to a building's scaffolding, they harbor a complex and dynamic reality that challenges our conventional understanding of what it means to be "alive." To fully appreciate the vitality of bones, we must first acknowledge their multifaceted nature. They are not just the solid pillars that support our bodies; they are living tissues undergoing continuous remodeling throughout our lives. This process, known as […]

Whiskey Rebellion: the Frontier Distillers’ Fight for Survival and Storytelling

In the late 18th century, the fledgling United States found itself at a crossroads, navigating the tricky terrain of governance and federal authority. The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 was not merely a tax protest but an event that wove together the lives of frontier distillers and the art of storytelling. This rebellion highlighted the importance of whiskey in frontier life and how its suppression would lead to a blend of folklore and survival tales that resonate through American history. The […]

Unity and Divine Wisdom in 1st Corinthians 1: Insights for Today’s Christian Community

The first chapter of Corinthians, authored by Paul in the mid-1st century AD, stands as a foundational text within the New Testament, offering profound insights into theological principles and community dynamics. Addressing the multifaceted challenges of the Corinthian church, Paul blends doctrinal exposition with pastoral counsel, emphasizing unity, divine wisdom, and the transformative power of Christ’s gospel message. Central to Paul’s message in 1st Corinthians 1 is the theme of unity amidst diversity within the Christian community. He begins by […]

Why did the Washington Redskins Change their Name?

In recent years, the Washington Redskins, a team deeply entrenched in American football history, made a significant decision to change their name. This move sparked widespread discussions and debates across the sports world and beyond. Understanding the reasons behind this change requires delving into the complex intersection of cultural sensitivity, societal evolution, and corporate responsibility. The name "Redskins" had been a point of contention for decades, with critics arguing that it perpetuated racial stereotypes and was offensive to Native American […]

When was the Spanish-American War? an Analysis of its Origins and Impact

The Spanish-American War represents a pivotal moment in American history, marking the nation's emergence as a formidable global force and reshaping international dynamics in the late 19th century. Rooted in a complex web of political, economic, and ideological tensions, the conflict erupted in 1898, leaving an indelible mark on the trajectories of the nations involved. A deeper exploration of its origins and repercussions reveals a multifaceted narrative of imperialism, nationalism, and strategic maneuvering. Identifying the precise moment when the Spanish-American […]

Understanding the Various Forms of Mass Media

Across diverse mediums, the realm of mass communication holds pivotal sway, molding collective sentiments, disseminating knowledge, and furnishing diversion. From age-old prints to contemporary digital interfaces, mass media encompasses a broad spectrum of communicative modalities, serving expansive audiences. Grasping these manifold forms proves imperative in deciphering the currents of information in our societal fabric and comprehending its sway over quotidian existence. Print media, among the eldest manifestations of mass communication, enfolds newspapers, periodicals, and literary tomes. For centuries, newspapers have […]

When was the Stamp Act Passed: Key Dates and Historical Context

The Stamp Act, a significant piece of legislation in the history of colonial America, was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. This act, formally titled "An Act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same," was one of the catalysts that ignited the flames of revolutionary sentiment among the American colonists. To understand the historical […]

What was Reconstruction: Understanding Post-Civil War America

Reconstruction was a tumultuous and transformative period in American history, following the Civil War from 1865 to 1877. This era aimed to address the challenges of reintegrating the Southern states into the Union, rebuilding the South's devastated economy, and defining the new social and political status of freed African Americans. Understanding Reconstruction requires an exploration of its political policies, social dynamics, and the enduring legacy that continues to influence America today. The end of the Civil War in 1865 brought […]

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

Totally Free Essay Database

Diet & Nutrition

Nutrition (347)
Food Safety (149)
World Cuisines & Food Culture (101)
Economic Systems & Principles (914)
Finance (651)
Investment (540)
Education Issues (741)
Education Theories (735)
Teacher Career (413)

Entertainment & Media

Advertising (430)
Documentaries (390)
Media and Society (364)

Environment

Environmental Studies (598)
Ecology (581)
Environmental Management (422)

Family, Life & Experiences

Personal Experiences (345)
Parenting (215)
Marriage (168)

Health & Medicine

Nursing (2798)
Healthcare Research (2410)
Public Health (1839)
United States (1443)
World History (1057)
Criminology (995)
Criminal Law (870)
Business & Corporate Law (695)

Linguistics

Languages (195)
Language Use (170)
Language Acquisition (149)
American Literature (2013)
World Literature (1465)
Poems (891)
Philosophical Theories (482)
Philosophical Concept (371)
Philosophers (277)

Politics & Government

Government (1457)
International Relations (1106)
Social & Political Theory (595)
Psychological Issues (1079)
Cognition and Perception (574)
Behavior (556)
Religion, Culture & Society (786)
World Religions (378)
Theology (352)
Biology (782)
Scientific Method (742)
Chemistry (408)
Sociological Issues (2030)
Sociological Theories (1110)
Gender Studies (862)
Sports Culture (166)
Sports Science (153)
Sport Games (110)

Tech & Engineering

Other Technology (586)
Project Management (547)
Technology Effect (512)
Hospitality Industry (157)
Trips and Tours (148)
Tourism Destinations (116)

Transportation

Air Transport (171)
Transportation Industry (149)
Land Transport (131)
Modern Warfare (291)
Terrorism (287)
World War II (182)

Essays by Number of Pages

Samples by word count, view recent free essays, healthy competition in the workplace.

Subjects: Business , Employee Relationships

Cash Flow Statements in Financial Management

Subjects: Business , Financial Management

The Staff Expectations from the Audit Results

Social disorganization theories: park & burgess vs. shaw & mckay.

Subjects: Sociological Theories , Sociology

The NextGen Firm’s Business Continuity and Resilience

Subjects: Business , Company Analysis
Words: 2750

Political Sciences: Do States Have to Be Enemies?

Subjects: International Relations , Politics & Government
Words: 2559

A Doctor of Nursing Practice Project and Its Components

Subjects: Health & Medicine , Nursing

The Pinduoduo Company’s Social Impact

Subjects: Business , Business Ethics

Corporate Social Responsibility Exemplar Firms

Ethical leadership in organizations review by manahan.

Subjects: Business , Leadership Styles
Words: 2272

Nursing Leadership Style and Talents Required

Intervention theories in sociological context.

Words: 2857

The McDonald’s Company’s Supply Chain Model

Subjects: Business , Logistics

Reducing Tuberculosis Among Indigenous Communities

Subjects: Epidemiology , Health & Medicine
Words: 1433

Cognitive Functioning and Problem-Solving Issues

Subjects: Cognition and Perception , Psychology

Marketing Intelligence and Customer Relationships Analysis

Subjects: Business , Marketing
Words: 1999

Interview with Hospital Supervisor: Reflection

Subjects: Administration and Regulation , Health & Medicine

Delayed Decision Making and Its Consequences

Subjects: Business , Decision Making

St. Luke and St. Alphonsus Hospitals Comparison

Subjects: Health & Medicine , Healthcare Institution

Six Quality Dimensions for Healthcare Provision

Subjects: Health & Medicine , Healthcare Research

Frequently asked questions

Custom Essays

Why choose our custom essay writing service, types of writing we do.

A custom research paper is a specialty of ours. We have a team of expert writers who can help you with any research paper. It can be a standard 5-page essay or a complex 20-page research-based paper complete with annotated bibliographies and in-text research materials citations.

We offer resume and cover letter writing for students who need help creating eye-catching and professional documents. Our resume writers have experience in various industries. They can help you create a keyword-optimized resume that will put you at the top of the applicant list.

Check out our professional lab report writing assistance if you are one of the students who need help with data analysis and interpretation. Our team is here to help you create a well-written lab report that will reflect your understanding of the experiment and its results.

Do you need a paper writer who will write a professional speech or presentation for you? Our team can help. We have professional writers who can help you create a speech or presentation that will make an impact and leave a lasting impression. If you're looking for an online service that can offer you all of the above and more, choose Essay Tigers for hiring custom essay writers for the job!

We offer term paper writing services for any college student who needs help with one of academia's most important writing pieces. Order a well-structured and concise paper that will show your understanding of the course material.

The Elements of a Perfect Essay

Why is it hard to write an essay yourself.

Writing an essay can be difficult for many reasons. First and foremost, students don't always have time to complete a writing assignment in addition to their other assignments. Some students have the same amount of time for homework as an average person spends on a full-time job weekly. It's simply not enough hours in a day to get it all done.

Another reason it can be challenging for students to write an essay is because of a lack of strong writing skills. That means they may not be able to express their thoughts clearly in writing, making it difficult to write a well-written and properly structured essay.

Finally, some students struggle with meeting the requirements of a custom essay assignment. It happens because they don't understand the question or topic. As a result, they can't develop a well-structured argument and use appropriate evidence to support their points.

If you're struggling to write your essay, don't worry! Our custom essay writing services have professional academic writers who can easily help you. With Essay Tigers, you can be sure that your custom essay will be written from scratch and meet all your instructions.

Why Do Essays Need to Be Custom and Unique?

Many students wonder why an academic essay needs to be custom-written and not just copied from another source. The answer is simple: essays are an assessment tool for your knowledge. They need to be original and free from any plagiarism.

Suppose an essay is copied from another source. In this case, it will earn a poor grade and may also lead to disciplinary action against the student. In addition, if an essay is found to be plagiarized, it can damage students' reputation at the institution they are attending.

That's why it's essential to use a custom essay writing service with professional academic writers who will deliver an original piece of plagiarism-free writing. Our professional custom essay writing service connects students with writing professionals who will create high-quality papers for students.

Custom Essay Writing for Any Academic Level!

Money-back guarantee, how to order custom essays.

Type of Paper Select the type of paper, necessary academic level, and the number of pages. We have options to fit all your writing needs.
Paper Requirements Provide our writers with specific instructions for your paper. It includes details on the topic, formatting style, and any other requirements your professor may have.
Payment After you have provided all of the information for your order, you will get to our secure payment page. Here, you can choose the payment method and complete the transaction. Once your order is placed, our team of expert writers will start working on creating a custom paper that meets all of your requirements. You will receive a draft of your essay for review - this is when you can request edits and changes if you need them. Once the essay is approved, we will send it to your email, or you can download it from our client's area. Contact us today to get started on your custom order!

We offer other writing services for you:

Custom Research Papers
Custom Dissertations
Custom Theses
Custom Lab Reports
Custom Case Studies
Custom Courseworks
Custom Term Papers
Custom Speeches
Custom Resumes
Custom Personal Statements
Custom Business Plans
Custom Cover Letters

Custom essay writing service

Tailor-made essays with a quality guarantee

Expert custom essay support to beat your deadlines

Trusted by 1,5M+ happy customers

24/7 Support

Free originality report

Data security

Unlimited edits.

No hidden fees

Meet our native-speaking custom essay writers

We select top-class writers to work on your essays. Every person on our team is a seasoned expert with years of experience.

Key reasons why students choose us

Free report on originality.

Upon your request, we can attach a report to your order verifying the originality of your paper.

Our strict Privacy Policy and encrypted site ensure the safety of your data. Consult with your personal writer securely.

Constant 24/7 support

Reach out to our customer support anytime for queries or urgent orders. Our team is available at any hour.

Ask for as many edits as you wish 14 or 30 days after receiving the final paper.

Follow these simple steps to get expert assistance

1. send the task instructions.

Fill out the order form, specify all the details of your task, and attach relevant files if necessary.

2. Choose from our pool of experts

Select a custom writer for your task. View writers' profiles, ratings, and customer feedback to find your perfect fit.

3. Receive your essay

Find your finalized custom essay order in your email inbox. Check the content, request the edits, and release the payment to your pro.

Check out the reviews from your peers

See what other students are saying about our paper quality, Privacy Policy, and originality standards.

Frequently asked questions

How do i pay for a custom essay, can i monitor my writer's progress, what if i buy custom essay, but it doesn't meet my expectations, is your custom essay writing service plagiarism-free, can you write my custom essay and guarantee timely delivery, can a plagiarism detector see that i have used your service, explore our custom essay help, essay pro: who are we.

EssayPro's custom essay writing service provides tailored academic help for students. Our team is filled with talented writers who are experts in various areas, ensuring your essay is not only highly original but meets your exact requirements. We're here to help you save your time and make your academic life a bit easier.

No matter the time of day, our support team is always on standby, ready to assist you 24/7. Plus, we protect your privacy by ensuring your information is stored securely. Choose EssayPro so you can focus on higher priority goals, knowing your essay is in capable hands.

Discover the benefits of our service

Our service is founded on a strict customer-oriented philosophy. Ensuring your satisfaction is always at the forefront of our efforts. We pride ourselves on offering an affordable service that caters to various needs, whether it's a simple essay or a complex research paper. Entrust us with your assignment, and we'll give you the invaluable gift of free time.

When you place an order from us, you can be assured that we're equipped to handle orders of any complexity. By collaborating with some of the industry's most knowledgeable and sought-after experts, we adhere to the highest quality standards.

Enjoy your time stress-free and secure in the knowledge that genuine writing professionals are managing your work. If you have further questions or need additional assistance, our friendly customer support team is always available and eager to help. Experience the excellence and ease of our service and simplify your academic journey.

Why entrust your paper to EssayPro

Students hire writers for a variety of reasons. Professional academic helpers can ease your life and improve your in-school performance without extra hassle.

Learners also often decide to buy essay when balancing their studies and a job. This is a common scenario for many students, which leaves them overworked and stressed out. Besides, juggling work and college makes it nearly impossible to maintain high quality for both. Services like EssayPro can help you achieve more by offloading mundane tasks from your shoulders.

Moreover, many students want to enjoy the luxury of free time. College life is so much more than classes and assignments! Go out with your friends, relax at home, attend that party, and make new connections while our talented helpers craft your papers.

How do I order custom essay?

Get your essay done in the blink of an eye with our custom essay writing services. Besides top-tier quality and a professional approach, we offer a seamless ordering process that doesn't require much from you. Place your request in 3 easy steps:

Complete the order form. Share as many details about your task as you can. Inform your expert about your paper's deadline, topic, level of study, etc. We also recommend attaching instructions from your prof and all corresponding files. The more info you provide, the better the outcome.
Review bids from academic helpers. Pick the most competent author to handle your assignment. Look through the writers' profiles, check their credentials, and read customer reviews.
Find your completed essay in your email inbox. Check out the final work and ask for free-of-charge edits. Release the funds to your writer only when your work meets all your initial requirements.

That's it! Managing academic assignments doesn't have to be complicated.

Hire accomplished custom writers

Our greatest asset is the team of seasoned professionals that drive our service. Each writer in our roster is well-educated, holds either a BA, MA, or Ph.D., and has years of hands-on experience in the field.

The quality of our work resonates with our customers, and their satisfaction is reflected in the feedback they leave on platforms like Sitejabber, TrustPilot, and ResellerRatings. These testimonials offer an authentic glimpse into our services.

We understand the importance of finding the right fit for your customs writing, and to that end, we've assembled a catalog of proficient experts. This catalog showcases their success rates, past papers, and customer reviews and enables direct communication with any potential writer through our encrypted chat boxes.

Our process is streamlined to be as user-friendly as possible. Provide us with your task requirements and any details you want included, and leave the rest to us.

Who are the writers behind your service?

When you say " write my essay ," you are engaging with some of the industry's most well-versed and sought-after writers through our service. Each of our experts is a native English speaker, backed by years of writing experience and higher education degrees. You might wonder how we ensure such high qualifications. Our rigorous vetting process includes a combination of tests, interviews, and practical tasks, and only those who prove their writing skills and pass our quality control checks are permitted to complete orders.

Wondering how to trust your selected writer with your custom essay? Rest assured that our professionals are assigned to work only on subjects they excel in. You can verify their corresponding specializations through their profiles. So go ahead, place your order, and choose the writer you believe is best suited to fulfill your needs.

Experience the high-quality work that our expertly selected team of professionals delivers with each order!

Why students pick us

Students love our service due to our unmatched quality and vast array of freebies they can enjoy in the process. When you get a custom essay from us, you also get revisions, formatting, originality reports, and much more absolutely for free. Moreover, we don't charge extra for assistance from our qualified academic authors. Each and every writer on our team is a well-versed wordsmith with extensive experience. With a large pool of talents from various industries, we are able to satisfy any paper request, delivering tailor-made content that will give you a greater understanding of the subject.

Explore the endless benefits of our service

Our paper writing service offers you much more than quality essays. Our key goal is to help you navigate academic challenges without extra effort and stress. That's why we take it upon ourselves to create an academic piece that reflects your strengths. We also ensure that every piece is crafted from scratch and maintains a minimum originality score of 96%. Our writing pros have perfected their formatting and referencing skills to deliver masterfully crafted academic papers.

But that's not all! With EssayPro, you can always count on wallet-friendly prices and regular promotions. Place your order in advance or request extra services and save! Moreover, your tight deadlines are now our concern. We never miss a due date and often deliver essays before the deadline. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact our round-the-clock customer support. Simplify your student life with EssayPro today!

🏆 Writing professionals	An exceptionally skilled team
✔️ Highly unique papers	Written by human experts
💰 Reasonable prices	Price match assurance
✍ All possible papers	Broad selection of essays
⏰ Prompt completion	Early bird discount
✔️ Tailored approach	24/7 support

Testimonials
Free Essays
Support Live Chat Toll free 1(888)351-3722 Place an order
Buy Already Written Essays Online

Navigate the complexities of academic writing with ease through Gold Essays, your ultimate online repository for essays. Whether you’re looking to deepen your understanding of essay structures or seeking a bespoke piece crafted exclusively for you, our services cater to every academic need. Embrace the flexibility of choosing between studying from pre-written essays or commissioning a unique piece. Join our community of satisfied clients and elevate your writing prowess today.

We have a team of competent writers who will amaze you with the quality of an essay written following your specific requirements instead of an already written essay given only as a sample. Being in a hurry, you will probably need any sort of guidance and professional support and our paper already written on the required topic can help you a lot. The academic circumstances at college or university can be tough and we are ready to be on your side, helping you and supporting you in all your decisions.

Buy Pre Written Essays

Essays on a number of topics are the assignments that almost all students have to complete during the years of their study. It may be challenging to cope with all the tasks perfectly well, and our experts understand how stressed you are. There are so many reasons for ordering papers from our trustworthy service.

If you are wondering how to get a good essay at an affordable price.
If you want to hand in excellent essays.
If you want to always earn high grades, then you require an essay professional writing service that will deliver high-quality papers for you.

Just get registered at the website you trust and start cooperating with them the very moment you feel that you need help.

We have assisted over 200,000 students in achieving academic excellence. This is your time also to excel in your academic work. We deliver high-quality work essays on any writing topic. We will help you excel in your academics. Buy custom-written essays here and enjoy the benefit of having the original content for your essay paper. Our team of professional writers will deliver perfect referencing and an engaging plot. They will deliver an already written paper that is of high quality at a cheap price.

Our custom-written essay papers will transform you from an average student to an outstanding one.

Purchase Already Written Essays Online

If you have got the task to compose an essay but you have never worked on any serious paper before, it is recommended for you get assistance from a custom writing company. You can have a look at the paper that was submitted to the professor and graded as a perfect one. Will that be helpful? Definitely, yes! You can develop the skills you have and understand the basics of essay writing. If you contact us, we will offer you a wide variety of custom-written papers on any topic and subject.

We'll write an essay from scratch according to your instructions!

All of the assignments have been created by our experienced writing staff. We have a team of top-notch writers who like their job. Let us know what you are interested in. We can provide you with a prewritten assignment, thus guiding you in the basic principles of essay writing. Besides, we can offer you to place a writing order and buy an original paper created according to your instructions. You will definitely get our writing help and you will not be forced to cancel your personal meetings and plans because of the approaching date for the essay to be submitted. No more sleepless nights! No more stress! Let us work and earn you the reputation you want!

So, you decided to make use of the already written essays as you see that the quality of writing in them is outstanding. Great idea! We offer you a wide choice of pre-written assignments.

5 Reasons to choose Gold-Essays.com

Our experienced online writers have managed to help many students with their papers online.

12 pt. Times New Roman
Double-spaced/Single-spaced papers
300 words/page
1 inch margins
Any citation style
Up-to-date sources only
Fully referenced papers
Quality research and writing
24/7/365 Live support
MA, BA, and PhD degree writers
100% Confidentiality
No hidden charges
Never resold works
Authentic content
FREE revision (within 2 days)
FREE title page
FREE bibliography
FREE outline (on request)
FREE e-mail delivery
FREE formatting

The custom papers worked well for them. They will work for you as well.

Personalized handling of your essay paper . You will get a professional writer, with a Master’s degree or higher, in your subject field working on your college paper.
Original essay content . Your custom paper will be original.
Timely delivery of your custom paper . Our proficient writers are able to deliver custom work in a timely manner even when the deadlines are tight.
The cheap paper gives you good value for your money . The discount system gives you an opportunity to get high-quality custom essays at 20 percent of the price of the initial paper online.
High confidentiality . While writing your paper, we ensure that personal details and payment details are highly secured.

It is time to reach your goals with us. Just spend about 5 minutes placing an order for your pre-written essay or paper and earn an A+ for it.

We have a qualified team in the Quality Control department that ensures the readiness of all the papers and checks whether the essays you get from us are polished and refined to perfection. If you have decided not to make use of the already written essays , you can get in touch with the writer or support team representatives at any time.

What will you receive as an addition to your assignment? We will give you a guarantee that the paper you have paid for is absolutely unique. Thus, you will have a plagiarism report at no extra charge and that will prove that the text is only yours and has never been sold or used anywhere.

If you want to pay for an essay, just click on the Order button. You will find an empty Order Form to be filled and where you will provide all the required specifications and instructions to our team. Security and privacy are guaranteed if you will choose us.

It will be easy for you to follow the order placement procedure:

Complete an order form and provide your instructions.
Pay for the paper and monitor the progress of your paper by contacting the writer.
Just download your already-written essay.

You submit your custom-written paper and leave the professor pleased with your work. The professor will find that the paper is original and of high quality. The writing is edited well and the topic has been developed in a professional manner. One, two, three, and you hand in winning essays making supervisors pleased, and the professor gives you a high-quality paper at a cheap price that will fit your budget. One more important thing is that the prices for our report online are fixed. You only need to pay once and we will do the rest of the work. The policy of our writing service requires the writer to provide you with a draft of your custom paper before beginning to write the paper. Gold-Essays.com guarantees to deliver you unique papers online in accordance with your requirements regardless of your field of study.

You will not pay for the draft paper. You only pay after you are satisfied with the draft and you want the writer to continue working on your paper. Our team of retired professors works together to ensure that your paper is of high quality and conforms to academic writing standards.

Earn Your Reputation at College or University with Our Writing Help

Gold-Essays.com is the rescuer of numerous students. And now you can become one of those happy people. Just buy already written essays online from our company and become free of stress and writing issues.

We are just completely different from other writing companies. Gold-Essays.com is reliable and our clients know about that. We respect the principle of authenticity and originality and all of the students who order from us value that. All the papers and essays written by our writers are unique.

Essays Already Written for You

Gold-essays.com is a company that offers writing assistance for many years. You can trust us. We got a very strict policy about quality and a very mild policy in terms of pricing. You will like the prices we offer and the essays you will get from the experts in guiding students. The tight budgets of the students do not let them waste their money on papers of dubious quality. We will give you a guarantee of premium writing and a number of discounts and bonuses to enjoy cooperation with us.

We have been working for more than 13 years, helping students. During such an amount of time, we have studied all the requirements and expectations of present-day professors in any educational establishment. What they want from you is a demonstration of professionalism in the selected study subject. They make you prepared for the challenges of adult life with the turmoil and stress of any job. Therefore, they give you so many assignments to do that you can hardly manage. Gold-Essays.com is the service that will make you free of worries. Order a custom-written paper from us and earn your desired grade.

No more hesitation! Just get the assistance you require so much and you will both have the requirements met and the deadline not missed. Guarantee of your satisfaction is what you need! We will ensure the best quality of writing for you!

Authorization

Buy Persuasive Essay
Superb Claim Essay Writing Service for Students
Internship Report Writing Service
Read this Review: Find Out What People Say About Us
Enjoy More Benefits by Ordering Our VIP Writing Services!
Our Afilite Program Will Save Your Money
The Best Rewriters for Hire Are in Our Team!
Take Advantage of Dealing with Our Paper Revision Service!
I Want to Pay Someone to Make My PPT Poster!
Can You Do My PDF Poster Professionally? With Pleasure!
Pay for PowerPoint Presentation
Get Excel Homework Help of Superb Quality Here!
White Paper Writer for Hire
Paper Perfection Online from Experts
Hire a Marketing Plan Writer Here and Forget About Sleepless Nights!
Can You Write Me Lab Report at an Affordable Cost? Definitely!
Exceptional Business Report Writing Service
Write My Literature Review of Exceptional Quality
Hire Blog Article Writer at Our Professional Company
Hire a Case Brief Writer from the Best Academic Writing Company!
Hire an Experienced Speech Writer at an Affordable Price!
Thesis Writer For Hire: Qualified Professional Assistance
IB Extended Essay Writing Service
Questionnaire Writing Service
College Capstone Project Writing Service
Hire a Dissertation Writer and Forget About Stress!
Can You Do My Online Test? With Pleasure!
The Best Place to Hire a Scholarship Essay Writer
The Best and Most Profound Outline Writing Service
Write My Questions Answers Assignment!
Can You Write My Multiple Choice Questions Professionally? Definitely!
Hire an Interview Writer and Forget About Stress!
Hire A Motivation Letter Writer!
Write‌ ‌My‌ ‌Letter For‌ ‌Me: A Common Request We Hear From You
Write My Memo For Me
Write My Synopsis For Me
Do My Movie Critique Essay
Want to Buy Movie Review Paper of Superb Quality? Contact Us!
Buy Book Reviews at Our Service and Forget About Stress!
Write My Book Report
Write My Poem
Do My Article Review – a Common Request for Students!
Buy Literary Analysis Essay
Do My Article Critique: the Best Solutuion to Improve Your Grades!
Write My Response Paper: Get a Premium Quality Paper from Experts!
Professional Custom Grant Proposal Writing Service
Reaction Paper Writing Service
Custom Case Study Writing Service
Buy a Research Proposal Written by a True Professional!
Write My Discussion Post for Me
Professional Article Writing Service
Admission Essay Writing Service
Write My Coursework: Get a Top Writing Assistance!
Sophisticated Business Coursework Help
Quality Research Paper Writing Services
Affordable “Proofread My College Essay” Assistance Here!
Professional APA Editing Services
Hire a Business Plan Writer and Improve your Grades Today!
Buy Term Paper from Our Reliable Service Gold Essays
Buy an Essay Online to Get a Well-Composed Paper
Application Paper Writing Service
Buy Annotated Bibliography Writing Service at a Fair Cost!

Our Advantages

Custom Writing on Any Subject
English-speaking Writers
Only Original Papers
Affordable Prices
Complete Confidentiality
BA, MA and PhD Writers
Up-to-date Sources Only
Any Citation Style

Paper Features

You choose font face
12 point font size
Double-spaced pages
Over 300 words/page
Text aligned left
One-inch margins

for more than

Skip to main content
Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Buying College Essays Is Now Easier Than Ever. But Buyer Beware

Tovia Smith

Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market for essays that students can buy and turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market for essays that students can buy and turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it.

As the recent college admissions scandal is shedding light on how parents are cheating and bribing their children's way into college, schools are also focusing on how some students may be cheating their way through college. Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market that makes it easier than ever for students to buy essays written by others to turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it.

It's not hard to understand the temptation for students. The pressure is enormous, the stakes are high and, for some, writing at a college level is a huge leap.

"We didn't really have a format to follow, so I was kind of lost on what to do," says one college freshman, who struggled recently with an English assignment. One night, when she was feeling particularly overwhelmed, she tweeted her frustration.

"It was like, 'Someone, please help me write my essay!' " she recalls. She ended her tweet with a crying emoji. Within a few minutes, she had a half-dozen offers of help.

"I can write it for you," they tweeted back. "Send us the prompt!"

The student, who asked that her name not be used for fear of repercussions at school, chose one that asked for $10 per page, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"For me, it was just that the work was piling up," she explains. "As soon as I finish some big assignment, I get assigned more things, more homework for math, more homework for English. Some papers have to be six or 10 pages long. ... And even though I do my best to manage, the deadlines come closer and closer, and it's just ... the pressure."

In the cat-and-mouse game of academic cheating, students these days know that if they plagiarize, they're likely to get caught by computer programs that automatically compare essays against a massive database of other writings. So now, buying an original essay can seem like a good workaround.

"Technically, I don't think it's cheating," the student says. "Because you're paying someone to write an essay, which they don't plagiarize, and they write everything on their own."

Her logic, of course, ignores the question of whether she's plagiarizing. When pressed, she begins to stammer.

"That's just a difficult question to answer," she says. "I don't know how to feel about that. It's kind of like a gray area. It's maybe on the edge, kind of?"

Besides she adds, she probably won't use all of it.

Other students justify essay buying as the only way to keep up. They figure that everyone is doing it one way or another — whether they're purchasing help online or getting it from family or friends.

"Oh yeah, collaboration at its finest," cracks Boston University freshman Grace Saathoff. While she says she would never do it herself, she's not really fazed by others doing it. She agrees with her friends that it has pretty much become socially acceptable.

"I have a friend who writes essays and sells them," says Danielle Delafuente, another Boston University freshman. "And my other friend buys them. He's just like, 'I can't handle it. I have five papers at once. I need her to do two of them, and I'll do the other three.' It's a time management thing."

The war on contract cheating

"It breaks my heart that this is where we're at," sighs Ashley Finley, senior adviser to the president for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She says campuses are abuzz about how to curb the rise in what they call contract cheating. Obviously, students buying essays is not new, but Finley says that what used to be mostly limited to small-scale side hustles has mushroomed on the internet to become a global industry of so-called essay mills. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but research suggests that up to 16 percent of students have paid someone to do their work and that the number is rising.

"Definitely, this is really getting more and more serious," Finley says. "It's part of the brave new world for sure."

The essay mills market aggressively online, with slickly produced videos inviting students to "Get instant help with your assignment" and imploring them: "Don't lag behind," "Join the majority" and "Don't worry, be happy."

"They're very crafty," says Tricia Bertram Gallant, director of the Academic Integrity Office at the University of California in San Diego and a board member of the International Center for Academic Integrity.

The companies are equally brazen offline — leafleting on campuses, posting flyers in toilet stalls and flying banners over Florida beaches during spring break. Companies have also been known to bait students with emails that look like they're from official college help centers. And they pay social media influencers to sing the praises of their services, and they post testimonials from people they say are happy customers.

"I hired a service to write my paper and I got a 90 on it!" gloats one. "Save your time, and have extra time to party!" advises another.

"It's very much a seduction," says Bertram Gallant. "So you can maybe see why students could get drawn into the contract cheating world."

YouTube has been cracking down on essay mills; it says it has pulled thousands of videos that violate its policies against promoting dishonest behavior.

But new videos constantly pop up, and their hard sell flies in the face of their small-print warnings that their essays should be used only as a guide, not a final product.

Several essay mills declined or didn't respond to requests to be interviewed by NPR. But one answered questions by email and offered up one of its writers to explain her role in the company, called EduBirdie.

"Yes, just like the little birdie that's there to help you in your education," explains April Short, a former grade school teacher from Australia who's now based in Philadelphia. She has been writing for a year and a half for the company, which bills itself as a "professional essay writing service for students who can't even."

Some students just want some "foundational research" to get started or a little "polish" to finish up, Short says. But the idea that many others may be taking a paper written completely by her and turning it in as their own doesn't keep her up at night.

"These kids are so time poor," she says, and they're "missing out on opportunities of travel and internships because they're studying and writing papers." Relieving students of some of that burden, she figures, allows them to become more "well-rounded."

"I don't necessarily think that being able to create an essay is going to be a defining factor in a very long career, so it's not something that bothers me," says Short. Indeed, she thinks students who hire writers are demonstrating resourcefulness and creativity. "I actually applaud students that look for options to get the job done and get it done well," she says.

"This just shows you the extent of our ability to rationalize all kinds of bad things we do," sighs Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. The rise in contract cheating is especially worrisome, he says, because when it comes to dishonest behavior, more begets more. As he puts it, it's not just about "a few bad apples."

Felicity Huffman And 12 Other Parents To Plead Guilty In College Cheating Scandal

"Instead, what we have is a lot ... of blemished apples, and we take our cues for our behavior from the social world around us," he says. "We know officially what is right and what's wrong. But really what's driving our behavior is what we see others around us doing" or, Ariely adds, what we perceive them to be doing. So even the proliferation of advertising for essays mills can have a pernicious effect, he says, by fueling the perception that "everyone's doing it."

A few nations have recently proposed or passed laws outlawing essay mills, and more than a dozen U.S. states have laws on the books against them. But prosecuting essay mills, which are often based overseas in Pakistan, Kenya and Ukraine, for example, is complicated. And most educators are loath to criminalize students' behavior.

"Yes, they're serious mistakes. They're egregious mistakes," says Cath Ellis, an associate dean and integrity officer at the University of New South Wales, where students were among the hundreds alleged to have bought essays in a massive scandal in Australia in 2014.

"But we're educational institutions," she adds. "We've got to give students the opportunity to learn from these mistakes. That's our responsibility. And that's better in our hands than in the hands of the police and the courts."

Staying one step ahead

In the war on contract cheating, some schools see new technology as their best weapon and their best shot to stay one step ahead of unscrupulous students. The company that makes the Turnitin plagiarism detection software has just upped its game with a new program called Authorship Investigate.

The software first inspects a document's metadata, like when it was created, by whom it was created and how many times it was reopened and re-edited. Turnitin's vice president for product management, Bill Loller, says sometimes it's as simple as looking at the document's name. Essay mills typically name their documents something like "Order Number 123," and students have been known to actually submit it that way. "You would be amazed at how frequently that happens," says Loller.

Using cutting-edge linguistic forensics, the software also evaluates the level of writing and its style.

"Think of it as a writing fingerprint," Loller says. The software looks at hundreds of telltale characteristics of an essay, like whether the author double spaces after a period or writes with Oxford commas or semicolons. It all gets instantly compared against a student's other work, and, Loller says, suspicions can be confirmed — or alleviated — in minutes.

"At the end of the day, you get to a really good determination on whether the student wrote what they submitted or not," he says, "and you get it really quickly."

Coventry University in the U.K. has been testing out a beta version of the software, and Irene Glendinning, the school's academic manager for student experience, agrees that the software has the potential to give schools a leg up on cheating students. After the software is officially adopted, "we'll see a spike in the number of cases we find, and we'll have a very hard few years," she says. "But then the message will get through to students that we've got the tools now to find these things out." Then, Glendinning hopes, students might consider contract cheating to be as risky as plagiarizing.

In the meantime, schools are trying to spread the word that buying essays is risky in other ways as well.

Professor Ariely says that when he posed as a student and ordered papers from several companies, much of it was "gibberish" and about a third of it was actually plagiarized.

Even worse, when he complained to the company and demanded his money back, they resorted to blackmail. Still believing him to be a student, the company threatened to tell his school he was cheating. Others say companies have also attempted to shake down students for more money, threatening to rat them out if they didn't pay up.

The lesson, Ariely says, is "buyer beware."

But ultimately, experts say, many desperate students may not be deterred by the risks — whether from shady businesses or from new technology.

Bertram Gallant, of UC San Diego, says the right way to dissuade students from buying essays is to remind them why it's wrong.

"If we engage in a technological arms race with the students, we won't win," she says. "What are we going to do when Google glasses start to look like regular glasses and a student wears them into an exam? Are we going to tell them they can't wear their glasses because we're afraid they might be sending the exam out to someone else who is sending them back the answers?"

The solution, Bertram Gallant says, has to be about "creating a culture where integrity and ethics matter" and where education is valued more than grades. Only then will students believe that cheating on essays is only cheating themselves.

Where Can I Find Already Written Essays?

Low Cost, Fast Delivery, and Top-Quality Content: Buy Essay Now and Achieve Academic Excellence for Less!

Writing essays can be challenging for students, especially when the topic is unfamiliar or time is limited. When students need help quickly, turning to an already-written essay can be a great solution. But where can one find such papers? This article will provide information on reliable sources of Pre-written Essays so students can succeed in their academic endeavors.

Related: What Is The Best Website To Buy Essays?

Article structure

What Is An Already Written Essay?

An Already Written Essays is a piece of writing that has been completed and prepared for use. The essay can be used to fulfill various academic or professional needs, including college admissions essays, scholarship applications, grant applications, and research papers. An already-written essay allows one to quickly complete the writing process with minimal effort.

An already-written essay typically includes a thesis statement, introduction, body paragraphs with supporting evidence and analysis of the topic, and a conclusion that summarizes the main points. Although it may require some editing to fit specific requirements or accommodate individual styles of writing and narration, an already-written essay can provide a solid foundation for further research and discussion about the topic.

Considerations When Choosing An Already Written Essay

When it comes to choosing an already-written essay, there are a few considerations one must take into account.

1. Quality of Sources

When considering purchasing an already-written essay, the quality of the sources used within the paper should be taken into account. It is important to consider not only the accuracy of facts presented but also that all information within a paper has been properly researched and sourced from reliable academic sources.

Not only does this ensure that one’s essay is free from plagiarism, but it also provides an assurance that any claims made in the piece are valid and backed up by recognized experts in the field.

Additionally, if an instructor or professor requests additional information on a topic covered in an essay, having reliable sources makes it easier to present more evidence for one’s argument.

When selecting a Pre-written Essay , review any bibliographic material included for the accuracy and authenticity of the source material. This will help ensure that one’s work meets standards set by academic institutions and organizations.

2. Plagiarism Check

It is important to check for plagiarism. Plagiarism is when someone uses another person’s ideas or words without giving proper credit. To avoid this, it is best to make sure the essay has been properly cited and that no parts of the text have been copied from other sources.

It is also essential to review the essay’s content carefully and ensure that it meets your standards for quality writing. Check for grammar and spelling errors and any issues with the structure or flow of the essay.

Whoever wrote the essay was knowledgeable about their subject matter and able to express their ideas in a logical way. Additionally, confirm that all necessary information has been included in order to support any claims made in the paper.

3. Cost & Availability

Cost and availability are two of the most important aspects that should be taken into account.

Cost is a major consideration when choosing an already-written essay. Researching different options and comparing prices is important to ensure you get the best value for your money. Additionally, there may be additional costs associated with accessing the essay, such as subscription fees or charges for extra features.

Availability is another factor to take into account when selecting an already-written essay. You should ensure that the essay is easy to access, so check if it can be downloaded and read easily on any device or computer.

4. Reliability of Writers

Students should consider the writer’s reliability when browsing for an already-written essay. The writer should be a professional who is knowledgeable in their field and can provide credible sources to back up their claims. It is important to take into account the writer’s experience, qualifications, and expertise when selecting an essay. This will help ensure that the essay is well-written, accurate, and reliable.

It is also essential to look for reviews from previous customers about the quality of work provided by the author. Reading customer testimonials will give you a better understanding of how reliable and experienced someone is when it comes to providing written content. Additionally, checking out any samples or articles written by them in order to get a better idea about their writing style may also aid in making an informed decision.

Related: Where to Buy a Comparison and Contrast Essay?

Benefits Of Pre-Written Essays

Do you feel overwhelmed by assignment deadlines? Do you need help coming up with fresh ideas for your writing assignments? Pre-written Essays might be the answer. Pre-written Essays are a convenient and cost-effective way of getting quality content quickly. Here are five key benefits of using Pre-written Essays for your academic or professional projects:

1. Quality Assurance

Pre-written Essays can provide a much-needed solution for students who are short on time or lack the skills to craft their essays from scratch. The benefit of using Pre-written Essays is that quality assurance and accuracy can be guaranteed, as the content within has been written by experienced professionals in the field.

This makes Pre-written Essays an ideal choice for those who are looking to ensure that their essay is well written, accurate, and meets all academic standards. Not only do they provide an assurance of quality, but they also save time, as there is no need to conduct research or write original material.

Furthermore, with a vast selection of topics available, it’s easy to find an essay that covers any subject area without spending hours finding relevant resources.

2. Time-Saving

Essays are one of the most important parts of any academic curriculum. They are used to test a student’s knowledge and ability to express themselves in written form. However, writing an essay can be time-consuming and frustrating for some students who do not have the necessary writing skills or creativity. Pre-written Essays are an excellent solution for these types of students because they provide them with quality content that saves them valuable time and energy.

Pre-written Essays often come from reliable sources, such as professional writers and academics, so they can trust that the content is accurate and well-researched. This means they do not need to spend hours researching different topics or thinking of creative ideas for their essay – it has already been done for them.

3. Cost Effective

Pre-written Essays can be a cost-effective and efficient way to complete your assignments quickly. Not only are they more affordable than custom-written papers, but they are also readily available for purchase online. Pre-written Essays provide an excellent solution for those who need to complete a paper on short notice, as the essay is already completed and ready to be submitted.

In addition, pre-written papers allow students to receive expertly crafted content without paying expensive fees for custom writing services. These Pre-written Essays can be tailored according to the subject matter of the assignment and contain all of the necessary research and formatting that would come with a professionally written piece.

4. Variety of Topics

The world of education is fast-paced and ever-changing. Students are constantly required to stay on top of their studies and meet deadlines, which can sometimes be quite overwhelming. In order to make this process easier, many students choose to take advantage of Pre-written Essays . Pre-written Essays provide a variety of topics that allow students to find the information they need for their assignments easily.

Pre-written Essays provide an assortment of topics from different subject areas, making it easy for students to find the one that best fits their assignment’s requirements. For example, suppose the student needs a research essay on the current state of healthcare in their region. In that case, they will be able to quickly locate an essay about healthcare with detailed information about its history and current issues within the industry.

Additionally, these essays come with well-thought-out conclusions so that students can build upon them when constructing their arguments.

5. Plagiarism Free Content

Pre-written Essays have become a popular choice for students who are looking to get writing help. The benefit of these essays is that they are plagiarism free and can be used as a starting point for your essay. Not only do Pre-written Essays save time and money, but they also offer an excellent source of information on various topics.

When buying Pre-written Essays , it’s important to make sure you purchase from a reliable source. This will ensure the content is original and free from plagiarism issues. Many websites offer Pre-written Essays that professional writers have written with years of experience in the field. These writers specialize in creating unique content that has been thoroughly researched and edited for accuracy and clarity.

Related: Where Can I Buy Essays Yahoo Answers?

Tips For Finding Quality Already Written Essays

Finding quality, already-written essays can be a challenging task. Knowing where to look, how to evaluate the quality of an essay, and understanding the risks involved can help you find the perfect essay for your needs. Here are three tips that will make finding quality, already-written essays easier.

1. Searching Online Sources

When it comes to finding quality, already-written essays online, it can take time to figure out where to start. Knowing which reliable and trustworthy sources can save you time, energy, and money in the long run. It’s essential to take the time to do your research if you want a well-written essay that will meet the standards of your professor or school.

One tip for finding quality, already-written essays is to search online sources such as university websites, academic journals, and news sites. These types of websites have been vetted by experts and have higher standards when it comes to content. You should also ensure that any source you use has a good reputation with students and academics alike so that you know what type of essay you purchase is up-to-date with current information.

2. Seek Professional Assistance

If you’re not confident in your writing skills or don’t have the time to research and write an essay from scratch, it may be a good idea to seek professional assistance. By hiring a professional writer or editor, you’ll know your project is in good hands; they will have experience with academic writing standards and formatting requirements so that your paper meets all expectations. A professional writer or editor will also ensure that your essay is completely original and free from plagiarism issues.

3. Analyze Sample Essays

One great way to find a quality, already-written essays is to analyze samples of similar topics or assignments. This can help you understand the structure and format that’s expected for the assignment, as well as gain insight into what types of research and sources are required. It’s important to note that simply copying other people’s work is plagiarism, but analyzing their writing styles and structure can be extremely helpful in developing your own.

Also, sample essays give you a better idea of which topics have been covered extensively and which may need more research before being able to write about them effectively. With this knowledge, you can ensure the essay you choose for your assignment meets all the criteria for success.

Where To Find Top-Quality Pre-Written Essays?

Finding top-quality Pre-written Essays can be a challenge, but with the right information and resources, any student can easily find the perfect essay. For those students who are pressed for time or simply lack the writing skills necessary to craft a persuasive paper, Pre-written Essays can be a great option.

The first place to look for high-quality Pre-written Essays is online. There are many reputable websites offering professionally written papers that are customized to meet individual needs. Students should ensure they read customer reviews and ratings before purchasing an essay from these sites in order to ascertain their authenticity and accuracy. Sites like EssayKitchen guarantee originality by providing samples of their work so students can see exactly what they’re buying before committing to it.

EssayKitchen is a premier destination for students seeking top-quality Pre-written Essays . With hundreds of topics to choose from, EssayKitchen provides students with the opportunity to purchase essays that have been written by experienced writers. These writers are knowledgeable in various subjects, ensuring that the student receives an essay that is well-written and reflects their personal opinion and viewpoint.

Besides offering Pre-written Essays , EssayKitchen also provides custom essay writing services so students can get expertly written papers tailored specifically to their needs. All papers are created with originality and creativity in mind, allowing each student the ability to express themselves through their work. Furthermore, all of the essays go through multiple layers of quality assurance checks so as to guarantee a high level of excellence and accuracy.

FAQ Section:

How do i find written essays.

Finding written essays can seem like a daunting task, especially in today’s digital age. With the abundance of online resources, it can be difficult to determine which sources are reliable and helpful. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to find written essays that are reliable and informative.

One way to locate written essays is by visiting your local library or university library. Most libraries provide access to digital databases with thousands of full-length essays on various topics. Additionally, many libraries also have physical copies of books containing collections of essays that may be useful for research or leisurely reading. Furthermore, librarians at these institutions are often very helpful when it comes to finding specific essay materials and can provide personalized assistance with locating resources.

Another way to find written essays is through online search engines such as Google Scholar or Bing Academic Search.

Where Can I Find Free Essays Online?

Writing essays can be challenging for many students, mainly if the topic is unfamiliar or difficult. But with the help of the Internet, it’s now possible to find free essays online in a matter of minutes.

The best place to start your search for free essays is through reputable academic writing websites. These sites offer access to thousands of essays from all different topics, including history, science, philosophy, psychology, and more. All you need to do is enter a few keywords into the search bar, and you’ll be presented with dozens of relevant results. The quality of these papers will vary depending on which site you use, but they’re usually written by professional writers who know their stuff.

Are There Websites That Write Essays?

The answer is yes. Many websites offer essay writing services that can help relieve the stress of writing and researching an essay. Writing essays can be time-consuming and difficult, so it’s no surprise that many students are turning to online resources for help.

These websites typically employ professional writers with extensive academic backgrounds who are familiar with all aspects of the essay writing process. They know how to research topics efficiently, organize information effectively, and write in a clear style that will be sure to impress your professors. The writers will also edit and refine your work until it meets all expectations.

Whether you need help with a single paper or an entire course load of assignments, these websites can provide high-quality assistance quickly and efficiently.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

Knowledge Base

The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

1. Preparation	2. Writing	3. Revision
	, organized into Write the	or use a for language errors

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
Do your research: Read primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
Come up with a thesis: The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

See the full essay example

The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

Returns to your thesis
Ties together your main points
Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

Including new arguments or evidence
Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

It gives your writing direction and focus.
It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked.

How long is an essay? Guidelines for different types of essay
How to write an essay introduction | 4 steps & examples
How to conclude an essay | Interactive example

"I thought AI Proofreading was useless but.."

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Already Written Essays

Students usually face a lot of problems when writing custom essays. The only way out is to seek help from someone who knows this job. To answer the question of who that someone is, we proudly say, it is WritingsCentre.com. WritingsCentre.com is a wonderful source for all your custom-written papers, especially concerning term papers and already written essays. Our essay writing services are comparatively inexpensive. We provide facilities to our customers spread throughout the globe at moderate prices for their already written essays.

Due to the superior quality of already written essays, WritingsCentre.com, an international service provider, is preferred by numerous students. Over 7,000 students are now our customers who have complete faith in our custom essay services, as they have never been disappointed by the services we provide in delivering superior quality custom-written essays.

We Know Everything About Academic Essay Writing

Poor grammar is a problem that haunts many students. Even when you have a perfect understanding of the academic subject, you may lack the skills or capacity to translate it into comprehensive writing. If your grammar is poor, you will never earn a good grade. Your professor will never like what you write. This is why we are here – to produce a piece of writing that does not contain a single error.

For instance, you have an essay task at hand. You want to be sure that your paper does not contain any errors. You will find plenty of grammar checkers online, but are you sure that they are accurate and reliable enough to help you improve your grades? Only human writers can produce a brilliant essay. Do not hesitate to buy an essay online. You will never regret your choice.

You will need a lot of time and effort to find grammar rules, review them, and correct your mistakes. You will certainly improve your academic writing skills, but are you sure that the time you spend on it is worth the effort? Why not simply buy an essay online and feel the ease of academic writing with specialists who know their job perfectly well? Once you place an order with an online essay writing company, you will not need to worry about anything. Expert writers will follow your requirements to produce an authentic paper that will impress your professor.

When you become a college student, you will quickly learn to check your paper two, three, or ten times before you are ready to submit them for grading. If you are not certain about the quality of your writing, it is better to turn to professionals. We are in the best position to help you because we know everything about academic paper writing. We want you to enjoy our professionalism and benefit from it. We want you to feel better. We do not want you to live a stressful life. Whenever you decide to buy an essay online, we will be here to help you.

Qualified Writers

Our team of writers is exceptionally skilled and qualified from various disciplines, capable of producing custom essays on any topic assigned to them. Their experience prompts them to write essays excellently and they deliver you already written essays on all subjects, written to international educationists’ standards. Due to the quality content and informative details of already written essays, they are ranked high by many teachers. We check all our essays through the latest anti-plagiarism software, ensuring that our writers produce plagiarism-free essays.

High quality already written essays

Our already written essays are the best you can find online. Order a custom written essay online at WritingsCentre.com. There are a number of already written essays with us available for sale, which we can supply, but if you want a custom-written essay, you can order a custom essay from our custom essay writing services. In both the case we deliver the best quality. We care for our clients, and are here to solve their problems regarding already written essays or custom essays. Trust us for better results.

Buy an Essay Online

Academic writing is one of the most difficult things a student must do while in college. If you are a university student, the task becomes even more complicated. Buy an essay online, as most professors do not realize the challenges facing students. They think that students have nothing else to do, except for academic writing. This is why they ask their students to write dozens of papers: doing research, developing outlines, locating credible evidence, and incorporating it into their works. Besides, students are expected to write professionally, avoiding grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Professors want their students to think critically and use their background knowledge while working on their papers. All these tasks make academic writing particularly problematic for students. Many students simply hate academic writing.

When you are a student, you may need to spend most of your time writing papers, capstone projects, and essays. You will need to pay some time to research, writing, editing, and proofreading. As a result, you may end up spending your entire night producing a 1-page essay. This process is never-ending. It is continuous. You keep going through your paper, over and over again, and you are never satisfied. The biggest tragedy is that your professor may also be dissatisfied with the result of your writing. If you do not want to waste your time on academic writing, or you have more important things to do, think of online essay writing services. Buy an essay online, and you will never have any academic problems. Place your order and have a competent writer complete it. It is time to win, and you can do it!

Enjoy Every Minute of Your Life!

While being a student, you have to make a tough decision – whether you are willing to write your papers on your own or whether you want a competent writer to help you. We have hired the best academic writers who are eager to produce the most impossible essay and make it perfect. Do not hesitate to place your order with us, as our writers can accomplish the most impossible tasks. Do not lose hope. Get timely assistance from our team of writers. We guarantee the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Nine out of ten first-time customers come back to us for more papers. If you need the highest grade but you do not have any time for quality writing, we will happily do it for you. It is to buy an essay online. It is time to enjoy the quality of academic writing delivered by experts. Do not wait any longer! Get your paper from experts and leave no room for failure! Forget about your academic problems and let writers from our company help you out. This is the best decision a student can make. Just do it!

People find these beneficial:

Good Custom Essay Case Study: How-To

Authorization

Our Specialization

Plagiarism-Free Papers
Free revisions
Free outline
Free bibliography page
Free formatting
Free title page
24/7/365 customer support
300 words per page

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write a great college essay, step-by-step.

College Admissions , College Essays

Writing your personal statement for your college application is an undeniably overwhelming project. Your essay is your big shot to show colleges who you are—it's totally reasonable to get stressed out. But don't let that stress paralyze you.

This guide will walk you through each step of the essay writing process to help you understand exactly what you need to do to write the best possible personal statement . I'm also going to follow an imaginary student named Eva as she plans and writes her college essay, from her initial organization and brainstorming to her final edits. By the end of this article, you'll have all the tools you need to create a fantastic, effective college essay.

So how do you write a good college essay? The process starts with finding the best possible topic , which means understanding what the prompt is asking for and taking the time to brainstorm a variety of options. Next, you'll determine how to create an interesting essay that shows off your unique perspective and write multiple drafts in order to hone your structure and language. Once your writing is as effective and engaging as possible, you'll do a final sweep to make sure everything is correct .

This guide covers the following steps:

#1: Organizing #2: Brainstorming #3: Picking a topic #4: Making a plan #5: Writing a draft #6: Editing your draft #7: Finalizing your draft #8: Repeating the process

Step 1: Get Organized

The first step in how to write a college essay is figuring out what you actually need to do. Although many schools are now on the Common App, some very popular colleges, including Rutgers and University of California, still have their own applications and writing requirements. Even for Common App schools, you may need to write a supplemental essay or provide short answers to questions.

Before you get started, you should know exactly what essays you need to write. Having this information allows you to plan the best approach to each essay and helps you cut down on work by determining whether you can use an essay for more than one prompt.

Start Early

Writing good college essays involves a lot of work: you need dozens of hours to get just one personal statement properly polished , and that's before you even start to consider any supplemental essays.

In order to make sure you have plenty of time to brainstorm, write, and edit your essay (or essays), I recommend starting at least two months before your first deadline . The last thing you want is to end up with a low-quality essay you aren't proud of because you ran out of time and had to submit something unfinished.

Determine What You Need to Do

As I touched on above, each college has its own essay requirements, so you'll need to go through and determine what exactly you need to submit for each school . This process is simple if you're only using the Common App, since you can easily view the requirements for each school under the "My Colleges" tab. Watch out, though, because some schools have a dedicated "Writing Supplement" section, while others (even those that want a full essay) will put their prompts in the "Questions" section.

It gets trickier if you're applying to any schools that aren't on the Common App. You'll need to look up the essay requirements for each college—what's required should be clear on the application itself, or you can look under the "how to apply" section of the school's website.

Once you've determined the requirements for each school, I recommend making yourself a chart with the school name, word limit, and application deadline on one side and the prompt or prompts you need to respond to on the other . That way you'll be able to see exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it by.

The hardest part about writing your college essays is getting started.

Decide Where to Start

If you have one essay that's due earlier than the others, start there. Otherwise, start with the essay for your top choice school.

I would also recommend starting with a longer personal statement before moving on to shorter supplementary essays , since the 500-700 word essays tend to take quite a bit longer than 100-250 word short responses. The brainstorming you do for the long essay may help you come up with ideas you like for the shorter ones as well.

Also consider whether some of the prompts are similar enough that you could submit the same essay to multiple schools . Doing so can save you some time and let you focus on a few really great essays rather than a lot of mediocre ones.

However, don't reuse essays for dissimilar or very school-specific prompts, especially "why us" essays . If a college asks you to write about why you're excited to go there, admissions officers want to see evidence that you're genuinely interested. Reusing an essay about another school and swapping out the names is the fastest way to prove you aren't.

Example: Eva's College List

Eva is applying early to Emory University and regular decision to University of Washington, UCLA, and Reed College. Emory, the University of Washington, and Reed both use the Common App, while University of Washington, Emory, and Reed all use the Coalition App.




	1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. 2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. 3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? 4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. 5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? 6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. 7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? 8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
	7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
	What academic areas are you interested in exploring in college?

	after the Greek term signifying "education"—the complete education of mind, body and spirit. What would you teach that would contribute to the Reed community?

Even though she's only applying to four schools, Eva has a lot to do: two essays for UW, four for the UCLA application, one for the Common App (or the Coalition App), and two essays for Emory. Many students will have fewer requirements to complete, but those who are applying to very selective schools or a number of schools on different applications will have as many or even more responses to write.

Eva's first deadline is early decision for Emory, she'll start by writing the Common App essay, and then work on the Emory supplements. (For the purposes of this post, we'll focus on the Common App essay.)

Pro tip: If this sounds like a lot of work, that's because it is. Writing essays for your college applications is demanding and takes a lot of time and thought. You don't have to do it alone, though. PrepScholar has helped students like you get into top-tier colleges like Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and Brown. Our essay experts can help you craft amazing essays that boost your chances of getting into your dream school .

Step 2: Brainstorm

Next up in how to write a college essay: brainstorming essay ideas. There are tons of ways to come up with ideas for your essay topic: I've outlined three below. I recommend trying all of them and compiling a list of possible topics, then narrowing it down to the very best one or, if you're writing multiple essays, the best few.

Keep in mind as you brainstorm that there's no best college essay topic, just the best topic for you . Don't feel obligated to write about something because you think you should—those types of essays tend to be boring and uninspired. Similarly, don't simply write about the first idea that crosses your mind because you don't want to bother trying to think of something more interesting. Take the time to come up with a topic you're really excited about and that you can write about in detail.

Want to write the perfect college application essay? We can help. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will help you craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay to proudly submit to colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Analyze the Prompts

One way to find possible topics is to think deeply about the college's essay prompt. What are they asking you for? Break them down and analyze every angle.

Does the question include more than one part ? Are there multiple tasks you need to complete?

What do you think the admissions officers are hoping to learn about you ?

In cases where you have more than one choice of prompt, does one especially appeal to you ? Why?

Let's dissect one of the University of Washington prompts as an example:

"Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW. "

This question is basically asking how your personal history, such as your childhood, family, groups you identify with etc. helped you become the person you are now. It offers a number of possible angles.

You can talk about the effects of either your family life (like your relationship with your parents or what your household was like growing up) or your cultural history (like your Jewish faith or your Venezuelan heritage). You can also choose between focusing on positive or negative effects of your family or culture. No matter what however, the readers definitely want to hear about your educational goals (i.e. what you hope to get out of college) and how they're related to your personal experience.

As you try to think of answers for a prompt, imagine about what you would say if you were asked the question by a friend or during a get-to-know-you icebreaker. After all, admissions officers are basically just people who you want to get to know you.

The essay questions can make a great jumping off point, but don't feel married to them. Most prompts are general enough that you can come up with an idea and then fit it to the question.

Consider Important Experiences, Events, and Ideas in Your Life

What experience, talent, interest or other quirk do you have that you might want to share with colleges? In other words, what makes you you? Possible topics include hobbies, extracurriculars, intellectual interests, jobs, significant one-time events, pieces of family history, or anything else that has shaped your perspective on life.

Unexpected or slightly unusual topics are often the best : your passionate love of Korean dramas or your yearly family road trip to an important historical site. You want your essay to add something to your application, so if you're an All-American soccer player and want to write about the role soccer has played in your life, you'll have a higher bar to clear.

Of course if you have a more serious part of your personal history—the death of a parent, serious illness, or challenging upbringing—you can write about that. But make sure you feel comfortable sharing details of the experience with the admissions committee and that you can separate yourself from it enough to take constructive criticism on your essay.

Think About How You See Yourself

The last brainstorming method is to consider whether there are particular personality traits you want to highlight . This approach can feel rather silly, but it can also be very effective.

If you were trying to sell yourself to an employer, or maybe even a potential date, how would you do it? Try to think about specific qualities that make you stand out. What are some situations in which you exhibited this trait?

Example: Eva's Ideas

Looking at the Common App prompts, Eva wasn't immediately drawn to any of them, but after a bit of consideration she thought it might be nice to write about her love of literature for the first one, which asks about something "so meaningful your application would be incomplete without it." Alternatively, she liked the specificity of the failure prompt and thought she might write about a bad job interview she had had.

In terms of important events, Eva's parents got divorced when she was three and she's been going back and forth between their houses for as long as she can remember, so that's a big part of her personal story. She's also played piano for all four years of high school, although she's not particularly good.

As for personal traits, Eva is really proud of her curiosity—if she doesn't know something, she immediately looks it up, and often ends up discovering new topics she's interested in. It's a trait that's definitely come in handy as a reporter for her school paper.

Step 3: Narrow Down Your List

Now you have a list of potential topics, but probably no idea where to start. The next step is to go through your ideas and determine which one will make for the strongest essay . You'll then begin thinking about how best to approach it.

What to Look for in a College Essay Topic

There's no single answer to the question of what makes a great college essay topic, but there are some key factors you should keep in mind. The best essays are focused, detailed, revealing and insightful, and finding the right topic is vital to writing a killer essay with all of those qualities.

As you go through your ideas, be discriminating—really think about how each topic could work as an essay. But don't be too hard on yourself ; even if an idea may not work exactly the way you first thought, there may be another way to approach it. Pay attention to what you're really excited about and look for ways to make those ideas work.

Consideration 1: Does It Matter to You?

If you don't care about your topic, it will be hard to convince your readers to care about it either. You can't write a revealing essay about yourself unless you write about a topic that is truly important to you.

But don't confuse important to you with important to the world: a college essay is not a persuasive argument. The point is to give the reader a sense of who you are , not to make a political or intellectual point. The essay needs to be personal.

Similarly, a lot of students feel like they have to write about a major life event or their most impressive achievement. But the purpose of a personal statement isn't to serve as a resume or a brag sheet—there are plenty of other places in the application for you to list that information. Many of the best essays are about something small because your approach to a common experience generally reveals a lot about your perspective on the world.

Mostly, your topic needs to have had a genuine effect on your outlook , whether it taught you something about yourself or significantly shifted your view on something else.

Consideration 2: Does It Tell the Reader Something Different About You?

Your essay should add something to your application that isn't obvious elsewhere. Again, there are sections for all of your extracurriculars and awards; the point of the essay is to reveal something more personal that isn't clear just from numbers and lists.

You also want to make sure that if you're sending more than one essay to a school—like a Common App personal statement and a school-specific supplement—the two essays take on different topics.

Consideration 3: Is It Specific?

Your essay should ultimately have a very narrow focus. 650 words may seem like a lot, but you can fill it up very quickly. This means you either need to have a very specific topic from the beginning or find a specific aspect of a broader topic to focus on.

If you try to take on a very broad topic, you'll end up with a bunch of general statements and boring lists of your accomplishments. Instead, you want to find a short anecdote or single idea to explore in depth .

Consideration 4: Can You Discuss It in Detail?

A vague essay is a boring essay— specific details are what imbue your essay with your personality . For example, if I tell my friend that I had a great dessert yesterday, she probably won't be that interested. But if I explain that I ate an amazing piece of peach raspberry pie with flaky, buttery crust and filling that was both sweet and tart, she will probably demand to know where I obtained it (at least she will if she appreciates the joys of pie). She'll also learn more about me: I love pie and I analyze desserts with great seriousness.

Given the importance of details, writing about something that happened a long time ago or that you don't remember well isn't usually a wise choice . If you can't describe something in depth, it will be challenging to write a compelling essay about it.

You also shouldn't pick a topic you aren't actually comfortable talking about . Some students are excited to write essays about very personal topics, like their mother's bipolar disorder or their family's financial struggles, but others dislike sharing details about these kinds of experiences. If you're a member of the latter group, that's totally okay, just don't write about one of these sensitive topics.

Still, don't worry that every single detail has to be perfectly correct. Definitely don't make anything up, but if you remember a wall as green and it was really blue, your readers won't notice or care.

Consideration 5: Can It Be Related to the Prompt?

As long as you're talking about yourself, there are very few ideas that you can't tie back to one of the Common App or Coalition App prompts. But if you're applying to a school with its own more specific prompt, or working on supplemental essays, making sure to address the question will be a greater concern.

Deciding on a Topic

Once you've gone through the questions above, you should have a good sense of what you want to write about. Hopefully, it's also gotten you started thinking about how you can best approach that topic, but we'll cover how to plan your essay more fully in the next step.

If after going through the narrowing process, you've eliminated all your topics, first look back over them: are you being too hard on yourself? Are there any that you really like, but just aren't totally sure what angle to take on? If so, try looking at the next section and seeing if you can't find a different way to approach it.

If you just don't have an idea you're happy with, that's okay! Give yourself a week to think about it. Sometimes you'll end up having a genius idea in the car on the way to school or while studying for your U.S. history test. Otherwise, try the brainstorming process again when you've had a break.

If, on the other hand, you have more than one idea you really like, consider whether any of them can be used for other essays you need to write.

Example: Picking Eva's Topic

Love of books
Failed job interview
Parents' divorce

Eva immediately rules out writing about playing piano, because it sounds super boring to her, and it's not something she is particularly passionate about. She also decides not to write about splitting time between her parents because she just isn't comfortable sharing her feelings about it with an admissions committee.

She feels more positive about the other three, so she decides to think about them for a couple of days. She ends up ruling out the job interview because she just can't come up with that many details she could include.

She's excited about both of her last two ideas, but sees issues with both of them: the books idea is very broad and the reporting idea doesn't seem to apply to any of the prompts. Then she realizes that she can address the solving a problem prompt by talking about a time she was trying to research a story about the closing of a local movie theater, so she decides to go with that topic.

Step 4: Figure Out Your Approach

You've decided on a topic, but now you need to turn that topic into an essay. To do so, you need to determine what specifically you're focusing on and how you'll structure your essay.

If you're struggling or uncertain, try taking a look at some examples of successful college essays . It can be helpful to dissect how other personal statements are structured to get ideas for your own , but don't fall into the trap of trying to copy someone else's approach. Your essay is your story—never forget that.

Let's go through the key steps that will help you turn a great topic into a great essay.

Choose a Focal Point

As I touched on above, the narrower your focus, the easier it will be to write a unique, engaging personal statement. The simplest way to restrict the scope of your essay is to recount an anecdote , i.e. a short personal story that illustrates your larger point.

For example, say a student was planning to write about her Outward Bound trip in Yosemite. If she tries to tell the entire story of her trip, her essay will either be far too long or very vague. Instead, she decides to focus in on a specific incident that exemplifies what mattered to her about the experience: her failed attempt to climb Half Dome. She described the moment she decided to turn back without reaching the top in detail, while touching on other parts of the climb and trip where appropriate. This approach lets her create a dramatic arc in just 600 words, while fully answering the question posed in the prompt (Common App prompt 2).

Of course, concentrating on an anecdote isn't the only way to narrow your focus. Depending on your topic, it might make more sense to build your essay around an especially meaningful object, relationship, or idea.

Another approach our example student from above could take to the same general topic would be to write about the generosity of fellow hikers (in response to Common App prompt 4). Rather than discussing a single incident, she could tell the story of her trip through times she was supported by other hikers: them giving tips on the trails, sharing snacks, encouraging her when she was tired, etc. A structure like this one can be trickier than the more straightforward anecdote approach , but it can also make for an engaging and different essay.

When deciding what part of your topic to focus on, try to find whatever it is about the topic that is most meaningful and unique to you . Once you've figured that part out, it will guide how you structure the essay.

body-hike-challenge-mountain-cc0-pixabay

Decide What You Want to Show About Yourself

Remember that the point of the college essay isn't just to tell a story, it's to show something about yourself. It's vital that you have a specific point you want to make about what kind of person you are , what kind of college student you'd make, or what the experience you're describing taught you.

Since the papers you write for school are mostly analytical, you probably aren't used to writing about your own feelings. As such, it can be easy to neglect the reflection part of the personal statement in favor of just telling a story. Yet explaining what the event or idea you discuss meant to you is the most important essay —knowing how you want to tie your experiences back to your personal growth from the beginning will help you make sure to include it.

Develop a Structure

It's not enough to just know what you want to write about—you also need to have a sense of how you're going to write about it. You could have the most exciting topic of all time, but without a clear structure your essay will end up as incomprehensible gibberish that doesn't tell the reader anything meaningful about your personality.

There are a lot of different possible essay structures, but a simple and effective one is the compressed narrative, which builds on a specific anecdote (like the Half Dome example above):

Start in the middle of the action. Don't spend a lot of time at the beginning of your essay outlining background info—it doesn't tend to draw the reader in and you usually need less of it than you think you do. Instead start right where your story starts to get interesting. (I'll go into how to craft an intriguing opener in more depth below.)

Briefly explain what the situation is. Now that you've got the reader's attention, go back and explain anything they need to know about how you got into this situation. Don't feel compelled to fit everything in—only include the background details that are necessary to either understand what happened or illuminate your feelings about the situation in some way.

Finish the story. Once you've clarified exactly what's going on, explain how you resolved the conflict or concluded the experience.

Explain what you learned. The last step is to tie everything together and bring home the main point of your story: how this experience affected you.

The key to this type of structure is to create narrative tension—you want your reader to be wondering what happens next.

A second approach is the thematic structure, which is based on returning to a key idea or object again and again (like the boots example above):

Establish the focus. If you're going to structure your essay around a single theme or object, you need to begin the essay by introducing that key thing. You can do so with a relevant anecdote or a detailed description.

Touch on 3-5 times the focus was important. The body of your essay will consist of stringing together a few important moments related to the topic. Make sure to use sensory details to bring the reader into those points in time and keep her engaged in the essay. Also remember to elucidate why these moments were important to you.

Revisit the main idea. At the end, you want to tie everything together by revisiting the main idea or object and showing how your relationship to it has shaped or affected you. Ideally, you'll also hint at how this thing will be important to you going forward.

To make this structure work you need a very specific focus. Your love of travel, for example, is much too broad—you would need to hone in on a specific aspect of that interest, like how traveling has taught you to adapt to event the most unusual situations. Whatever you do, don't use this structure to create a glorified resume or brag sheet .

However you structure your essay, you want to make sure that it clearly lays out both the events or ideas you're describing and establishes the stakes (i.e. what it all means for you). Many students become so focused on telling a story or recounting details that they forget to explain what it all meant to them.

body-roof-construction-building-cc0-pixabay

Example: Eva's Essay Plan

For her essay, Eva decides to use the compressed narrative structure to tell the story of how she tried and failed to report on the closing of a historic movie theater:

Open with the part of her story where she finally gave up after calling the theater and city hall a dozen times.
Explain that although she started researching the story out of journalistic curiosity, it was important to her because she'd grown up going to movies at that theater.
Recount how defeated she felt when she couldn't get ahold of anyone, and then even more so when she saw a story about the theater's closing in the local paper.
Describer her decision to write an op-ed instead and interview other students about what the theater meant to them.
Finish by explaining that although she wasn't able to get the story (or stop the destruction of the theater), she learned that sometimes the emotional angle can be just as interesting as the investigative one.

Step 5: Write a First Draft

The key to writing your first draft is not to worry about whether it's any good—just get something on paper and go from there. You will have to rewrite, so trying to get everything perfect is both frustrating and futile.

Everyone has their own writing process. Maybe you feel more comfortable sitting down and writing the whole draft from beginning to end in one go. Maybe you jump around, writing a little bit here and a little there. It's okay to have sections you know won't work or to skip over things you think you'll need to include later.

Whatever your approach, there are a few tips everyone can benefit from.

Don't Aim for Perfection

I mentioned this idea above, but I can't emphasize it enough: no one writes a perfect first draft . Extensive editing and rewriting is vital to crafting an effective personal statement. Don't get too attached to any part of your draft, because you may need to change anything (or everything) about your essay later .

Also keep in mind that, at this point in the process, the goal is just to get your ideas down. Wonky phrasings and misplaced commas can easily be fixed when you edit, so don't worry about them as you write. Instead, focus on including lots of specific details and emphasizing how your topic has affected you, since these aspects are vital to a compelling essay.

Write an Engaging Introduction

One part of the essay you do want to pay special attention to is the introduction. Your intro is your essay's first impression: you only get one. It's much harder to regain your reader's attention once you've lost it, so you want to draw the reader in with an immediately engaging hook that sets up a compelling story .

There are two possible approaches I would recommend.

The "In Media Res" Opening

You'll probably recognize this term if you studied The Odyssey: it basically means that the story starts in the middle of the action, rather than at the beginning. A good intro of this type makes the reader wonder both how you got to the point you're starting at and where you'll go from there . These openers provide a solid, intriguing beginning for narrative essays (though they can certainly for thematic structures as well).

But how do you craft one? Try to determine the most interesting point in your story and start there. If you're not sure where that is, try writing out the entire story and then crossing out each sentence in order until you get to one that immediately grabs your attention.

Here's an example from a real student's college essay:

"I strode in front of 400 frenzied eighth graders with my arm slung over my Fender Stratocaster guitar—it actually belonged to my mother—and launched into the first few chords of Nirvana's 'Lithium.'"

Anonymous , University of Virginia

This intro throws the reader right into the middle of the action. The author jumps right into the action: the performance. You can imagine how much less exciting it would be if the essay opened with an explanation of what the event was and why the author was performing.

The Specific Generalization

Sounds like an oxymoron, right? This type of intro sets up what the essay is going to talk about in a slightly unexpected way . These are a bit trickier than the "in media res" variety, but they can work really well for the right essay—generally one with a thematic structure.

The key to this type of intro is detail . Contrary to what you may have learned in elementary school, sweeping statements don't make very strong hooks. If you want to start your essay with a more overall description of what you'll be discussing, you still need to make it specific and unique enough to stand out.

Once again, let's look at some examples from real students' essays:

Neha, Johns Hopkins University

Brontë, Johns Hopkins University

Both of these intros set up the general topic of the essay (the first writer's bookshelf and and the second's love of Jane Eyre ) in an intriguing way. The first intro works because it mixes specific descriptions ("pushed against the left wall in my room") with more general commentary ("a curious piece of furniture"). The second draws the reader in by adopting a conversational and irreverent tone with asides like "if you ask me" and "This may or may not be a coincidence."

Don't Worry Too Much About the Length

When you start writing, don't worry about your essay's length. Instead, focus on trying to include all of the details you can think of about your topic , which will make it easier to decide what you really need to include when you edit.

However, if your first draft is more than twice the word limit and you don't have a clear idea of what needs to be cut out, you may need to reconsider your focus—your topic is likely too broad. You may also need to reconsider your topic or approach if you find yourself struggling to fill space, since this usually indicates a topic that lacks a specific focus.

Eva's First Paragraph

I dialed the phone number for the fourth time that week. "Hello? This is Eva Smith, and I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaper The Falcon. I was hoping to ask you some questions about—" I heard the distinctive click of the person on the other end of the line hanging up, followed by dial tone. I was about ready to give up: I'd been trying to get the skinny on whether the Atlas Theater was actually closing to make way for a big AMC multiplex or if it was just a rumor for weeks, but no one would return my calls.

Step 6: Edit Aggressively

No one writes a perfect first draft. No matter how much you might want to be done after writing a first draft—you must take the time to edit. Thinking critically about your essay and rewriting as needed is a vital part of writing a great college essay.

Before you start editing, put your essay aside for a week or so . It will be easier to approach it objectively if you haven't seen it in a while. Then, take an initial pass to identify any big picture issues with your essay. Once you've fixed those, ask for feedback from other readers—they'll often notice gaps in logic that don't appear to you, because you're automatically filling in your intimate knowledge of the situation. Finally, take another, more detailed look at your essay to fine tune the language.

I've explained each of these steps in more depth below.

First Editing Pass

You should start the editing process by looking for any structural or thematic issues with your essay . If you see sentences that don't make sense or glaring typos of course fix them, but at this point, you're really focused on the major issues since those require the most extensive rewrites. You don't want to get your sentences beautifully structured only to realize you need to remove the entire paragraph.

This phase is really about honing your structure and your voice . As you read through your essay, think about whether it effectively draws the reader along, engages him with specific details, and shows why the topic matters to you. Try asking yourself the following questions:

Does the intro make you want to read more?
Is the progression of events and/or ideas clear?
Does the essay show something specific about you? What is it and can you clearly identify it in the essay?
Are there places where you could replace vague statements with more specific ones?
Do you have too many irrelevant or uninteresting details clogging up the narrative?
Is it too long? What can you cut out or condense without losing any important ideas or details?

Give yourself credit for what you've done well, but don't hesitate to change things that aren't working. It can be tempting to hang on to what you've already written —you took the time and thought to craft it in the first place, so it can be hard to let it go. Taking this approach is doing yourself a disservice, however. No matter how much work you put into a paragraph or much you like a phrase, if they aren't adding to your essay, they need to be cut or altered.

If there's a really big structural problem, or the topic is just not working, you may have to chuck this draft out and start from scratch . Don't panic! I know starting over is frustrating, but it's often the best way to fix major issues.

Consulting Other Readers

Once you've fixed the problems you found on the first pass and have a second (or third) draft you're basically happy with, ask some other people to read it. Check with people whose judgment you trust : parents, teachers, and friends can all be great resources, but how helpful someone will be depends on the individual and how willing you are to take criticism from her.

Also, keep in mind that many people, even teachers, may not be familiar with what colleges look for in an essay. Your mom, for example, may have never written a personal statement, and even if she did, it was most likely decades ago. Give your readers a sense of what you'd like them to read for , or print out the questions I listed above and include them at the end of your essay.

Second Pass

After incorporating any helpful feedback you got from others, you should now have a nearly complete draft with a clear arc.

At this point you want to look for issues with word choice and sentence structure:

Are there parts that seem stilted or overly formal?
Do you have any vague or boring descriptors that could be replaced with something more interesting and specific?
Are there any obvious redundancies or repetitiveness?
Have you misused any words?
Are your sentences of varied length and structure?

A good way to check for weirdness in language is to read the essay out loud. If something sounds weird when you say it, it will almost certainly seem off when someone else reads it.

Example: Editing Eva's First Paragraph

In general, Eva feels like her first paragraph isn't as engaging as it could be and doesn't introduce the main point of the essay that well: although it sets up the narrative, it doesn't show off her personality that well. She decides to break it down sentence by sentence:

I dialed the phone number for the fourth time that week.

Problem: For a hook, this sentence is a little too expository. It doesn't add any real excitement or important information (other than that this call isn't the first, which can be incorporate elsewhere.

Solution: Cut this sentence and start with the line of dialogue.

"Hello? This is Eva Smith, and I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaper The Falcon. I was hoping to ask you some questions about—"

Problem: No major issues with this sentence. It's engaging and sets the scene effectively.

Solution: None needed, but Eva does tweak it slightly to include the fact that this call wasn't her first.

I heard the distinctive click of the person on the other end of the line hanging up, followed by dial tone.

Problem: This is a long-winded way of making a point that's not that important.

Solution: Replace it with a shorter, more evocative description: " Click. Bzzzzzzz. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up."

I was about ready to give up: I'd been trying to get the skinny on whether the Atlas Theater was actually closing to make way for a big AMC multiplex or if it was just a rumor for weeks, but no one would return my calls.

Problem: This sentence is kind of long. Some of the phrases ("about ready to give up," "get the skinny") are cliche.

Solution: Eva decides to try to stick more closely to her own perspective: "I'd heard rumors that Atlas Theater was going to be replaced with an AMC multiplex, and I was worried." She also puts a paragraph break before this sentence to emphasize that she's now moving on to the background info rather than describing her call.

Step 7: Double Check Everything

Once you have a final draft, give yourself another week and then go through your essay again. Read it carefully to make sure nothing seems off and there are no obvious typos or errors. Confirm that you are at or under the word limit.

Then, go over the essay again, line by line , checking every word to make sure that it's correct. Double check common errors that spell check may not catch, like mixing up affect and effect or misplacing commas.

Finally, have two other readers check it as well . Oftentimes a fresh set of eyes will catch an issue you've glossed over simply because you've been looking at the essay for so long. Give your readers instructions to only look for typos and errors, since you don't want to be making any major content changes at this point in the process.

This level of thoroughness may seem like overkill, but it's worth taking the time to ensure that you don't have any errors. The last thing you want is for an admissions officer to be put off by a typo or error.

Example: Eva's Final Draft (Paragraphs 1 and 2)

"Hello? This is Eva Smith again. I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaper The Falcon , and I was hoping to ask you some questions about —" Click. Bzzzzzzz. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up.

I'd heard rumors that the historic Atlas Theater was going to be replaced with an AMC multiplex, and I was worried. I'd grown up with the Atlas: my dad taking me to see every Pixar movie on opening night and buying me Red Vines to keep me distracted during the sad parts. Unfortunately my personal history with the place didn't seem to carry much weight with anyone official, and my calls to both the theater and city hall had thus far gone unanswered.

Once you've finished the final check, you're done, and ready to submit! There's one last step, however.

Step 8: Do It All Again

Remember back in step one, when we talked about making a chart to keep track of all the different essays you need to write? Well, now you need to go back to that list and determine which essays you still need to write . Keep in mind your deadlines and don't forget that some schools may require more than one essay or ask for short paragraphs in addition to the main personal statement.

Reusing Essays

In some cases, you may be able to reuse the essay you've already written for other prompts. You can use the same essay for two prompts if:

Both of them are asking the same basic question (e.g. "how do you interact with people who are different from you?" or "what was an important experience and why?"), or

One prompt is relatively specific and the other is very general (e.g. "tell us about how your family shaped your education" and "tell us something about your background"), and

Neither asks about your interest in a specific school or program.

If you choose to reuse an essay you wrote for a different prompt, make sure that it addresses every part of question and that it fits the word limit. If you have to tweak a few things or cut out 50-odd words, it will probably still work. But if the essay would require major changes to fit the criteria, you're probably better off starting from scratch (even if you use the same basic topic).

Crafting Supplemental Essays

The key to keep in mind in when brainstorming for supplemental essays is that you want them to add something new to your application . You shouldn't write about the same topic you used for your personal statement, although it's okay to talk about something similar, as long as you adopt a clearly different angle.

For example, if you're planning to be pre-med in college and your main essay is about how volunteering at the hospital taught you not to judge people on their appearance, you might write your secondary essay on your intellectual interest in biology (which could touch on your volunteering). There's some overlap, but the two topics are clearly distinct.

And now, you're really, truly, finally done. Congrats!

What's Next?

Now that you know how to write a college essay, we have a lot more specific resources for you to excel.

Are you working on the Common App essay ? Read our breakdown of the Common App prompts and our guide to picking the best prompt for you.

Or maybe you're interested in the University of California ? Check out our complete guide to the UC personal statements .

In case you haven't finished the rest of the application process , take a look at our guides to asking for recommendations , writing about extracurriculars , and researching colleges .

Finally, if you're planning to take the SAT or ACT one last time , try out some of our famous test prep guides, like "How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT" and "15 Key ACT Test Day Tips."

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download them for free now:

Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Does my paper flow? Tips for creating a well-structured essay.

by Jessica Diaz

A sure way to improve your paper is to strengthen the way you present your argument. Whether you only have a thesis statement or already have a fully-written essay, these tips can help your paper flow logically from start to finish.

Going from a thesis statement to a first outline

Break down your thesis statement

No matter what you are arguing, your thesis can be broken down into smaller points that need to be backed up with evidence. These claims can often be used to create a ready outline for the rest of your paper, and help you check that you are including all the evidence you should have.

Take the following thesis statement:

Despite the similarities between the documentaries Blackfish and The Cove , the use of excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish allowed it to achieve more tangible success for animal rights movements, illustrating the need for animal rights documentaries to appeal to human emotion.

We can break the thesis down into everything that needs to be supported:

Despite the similarities between the documentaries Blackfish and The Cove , the use of excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish allowed it to achieve more tangible success for animal rights movements , illustrating the need for animal rights documentaries to appeal to human emotion .

In the paper, we have to (1) explain and support the similarities between the two documentaries, (2) provide support for excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish , (3) show that Blackfish achieved more tangible success than The Cove , and (4) demonstrate the importance of human emotion in animal documentaries.

Already, we have four main points that can serve as the backbone for an essay outline, and they are already in an order that makes some intuitive sense for building up the argument.

It is likely that you will need to rearrange, expand, or further break down the outline. For example, in this case we would probably need to add a paragraph that explains anthropomorphism. We also might want to move the section on differences in animal rights success earlier so that it contrasts with the similarities between the films. However, having this starting structure and identifying the main sections of the paper can allow you to go ahead and start writing!

Checking that your argument builds

Reverse outline

While writing, it is often hard to take a step back and assess whether your paper makes sense or reads well. Creating a reverse outline can help you get a zoomed-out picture of what you wrote and helps you see if any paragraphs or ideas need to be rearranged.

To create a reverse outline, go through your paper paragraph-by-paragraph. For each one, read it and summarize the main point of the paragraph in 3-5 words. In most cases, this should align closely with the topic sentence of that paragraph. Once you have gone through the entire paper, you should end up with a list of phrases that, when read in order, walk through your argument.

Does the order make sense? Are the ideas that should go together actually next to each other? Without the extra clutter, the reverse outline helps you answer these questions while looking at your entire structure at once.

Each line of your reverse outline should build on the last one, meaning none of them should make sense in isolation (except the first one). Try pretending you don’t know anything about this topic and read one of your paragraph phrases at random (or read it to someone else!). Does it make sense, or does it need more context? Do the paragraphs that go before it give the context it needs?

The reverse outline method and the line of thinking detailed above help put you in the mind of your reader. Your reader will only encounter your ideas in the order that you give it to them, so it is important to take this step back to make sure that order is the right one.

Quick Links

Schedule an Appointment
English Grammar and Language Tutor
Harvard Guide to Using Sources
Departmental Writing Fellows
Writing Advice: The Harvard Writing Tutor Blog

Welcome to the Barker Underground!

The official blog of the Harvard Writing Center. Check back for writing advice from tutors past and present.

25 Elite Common App Essay Examples (And Why They Worked)

Essay Examples: Writing the Common App Essay

Applying to competitive colleges? You'll need to have a stand-out Common App essay.

In this article, I'm going to share with you:

25 outstanding Common App essay examples
Links to tons of personal statement examples
Why these Common App essays worked

If you're looking for outstanding Common App essay examples, you've found the right place.

If you're applying to colleges in 2024, you're going to write some form of a Common App essay.

Writing a great Common App personal essay is key if you want to maximize your chances of getting admitted.

Whether you're a student working on your Common App essay, or a parent wondering what it takes, this article will help you master the Common App Essay.

What are the Common App Essay Prompts for 2024?

There are seven prompts for the Common App essay. Remember that the prompts are simply to help get you started thinking.

You don't have to answer any of the prompts if you don't want (see prompt #7 ).

Here's the seven Common App essay questions for 2022, which are the same as previous years:

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.
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The last prompt is a catch-all prompt, which means you can submit an essay on any topic you want.

Use the Common App prompts as brainstorming questions and to get you thinking.

But ultimately, you should write about any topic you meaningfully care about.

What makes an outstanding Common App personal essay?

I've read thousands of Common App essays from highly motivated students over the past years.

And if I had to choose the top 2 things that makes for incredible Common App essays it's these:

1. Being Genuine

Sounds simple enough. But it's something that is incredibly rare in admissions.

Authenticity is something we all know when we see it, but can be hard to define.

Instead of focus on what you think sounds the best to admissions officers, focus on what you have to say—what interests you.

2. Having Unique Ideas

The best ideas come about while you're writing.

You can't just sit down and say, "I'll think really hard of good essay ideas."

I wish that worked, but it sadly doesn't. And neither do most brainstorming questions.

The ideas you come up with from these surface-level tactics are cheap, because no effort was put in.

As they say,

"Writing is thinking"

By choosing a general topic (e.g. my leadership experience in choir) and writing on it, you'll naturally come to ideas.

As you write, continue asking yourself questions that make you reflect.

It is more of an artistic process than technical one, so you'll have to feel what ideas are most interesting.

25 Common App Essay Examples from Top Schools

With that, here's 25 examples as Common App essay inspiration to get you started.

These examples aren't perfect—nor should you expect yours to be—but they are stand-out essays.

I've handpicked these examples of personal statements from admitted students because they showcase a variety of topics and writing levels.

These students got into top schools and Ivy League colleges in recent years:

1. Seeds of Immigration
2. Color Guard
3. Big Eater
4. Love for Medicine
5. Cultural Confusion
6. Football Manager
9. Mountaineering
10. Boarding School
11. My Father
12. DMV Trials
13. Ice Cream Fridays
14. Key to Happiness
15. Discovering Passion
16. Girl Things
17. Robotics
18. Lab Research
19. Carioca Dance
20. Chinese Language
21. Kiki's Delivery Service
22. Museum of Life
23. French Horn
24. Dear My Younger Self
25. Monopoly

Common App Essay Example #1: Seeds of Immigration

This student was admitted to Dartmouth College . In this Common App essay, they discuss their immigrant family background that motivates them.

Although family is a commonly used topic, this student makes sure to have unique ideas and write in a genuine way.

Common App Prompt #1: 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. (250-650 words)

I placed three tiny seeds, imagining the corn stalk growing while the pumpkin vines wrapped around it; both sprouting, trying to bear fruit. I clenched a fistful of dirt and placed it on them. “Más,” my grandpa told me as he quickly flooded the seeds with life-giving dirt.

Covered. Completely trapped.

Why This Essay Works:

Everyone has a unique family history and story, and often that can make for a strong central theme of a personal statement. In this essay, the student does a great job of sharing aspects of his family's culture by using specific Spanish words like "yunta" and by describing their unique immigration story. Regardless of your background, sharing your culture and what it means to you can be a powerful tool for reflection.

This student focuses on reflecting on what their culture and immigrant background means to them. By focusing on what something represents, rather than just what it literally is, you can connect to more interesting ideas. This essay uses the metaphor of their family's history as farmers to connect to their own motivation for succeeding in life.

This essay has an overall tone of immense gratitude, by recognizing the hard work that this student's family has put in to afford them certain opportunities. By recognizing the efforts of others in your life—especially efforts which benefit you—you can create a powerful sense of gratitude. Showing gratitude is effective because it implies that you'll take full advantage of future opportunities (such as college) and not take them for granted. This student also demonstrates a mature worldview, by recognizing the difficulty in their family's past and how things easily could have turned out differently for this student.

This essay uses three moments of short, one-sentence long paragraphs. These moments create emphasis and are more impactful because they standalone. In general, paragraph breaks are your friend and you should use them liberally because they help keep the reader engaged. Long, dense paragraphs are easy to gloss over and ideas can lose focus within them. By using a variety of shorter and longer paragraphs (as well as shorter and longer sentences) you can create moments of emphasis and a more interesting structure.

What They Might Improve:

This conclusion is somewhat off-putting because it focuses on "other students" rather than the author themself. By saying it "fills me with pride" for having achieved without the same advantages, it could create the tone of "I'm better than those other students" which is distasteful. In general, avoid putting down others (unless they egregiously deserve it) and even subtle phrasings that imply you're better than others could create a negative tone. Always approach your writing with an attitude of optimism, understanding, and err on the side of positivity.

Common App Essay Example #2: Color Guard

This student was admitted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Check out their Common App essay that focuses on an extracurricular:

Sweaty from the hot lights, the feeling of nervousness and excitement return as I take my place on the 30-yard line. For 10 short minutes, everyone is watching me. The first note of the opening song begins, and I’m off. Spinning flags, tossing rifles, and dancing across the football field. Being one of only two people on the colorguard means everyone will see everything. It’s amazing and terrifying. And just like that, the performance is over.

Flashback to almost four years ago, when I walked into the guard room for the first time. I saw flyers for a “dance/flag team” hanging in the bland school hallway, and because I am a dancer, I decided to go. This was not a dance team at all. Spinning flags and being part of the marching band did not sound like how I wanted to spend my free time. After the first day, I considered not going back. But, for some unknown reason, I stayed. And after that, I began to fall in love with color guard. It is such an unknown activity, and maybe that’s part of what captivated me. How could people not know about something so amazing? I learned everything about flags and dancing in that year. And something interesting happened- I noticed my confidence begin to grow. I had never thought I was that good at anything, there was always someone better. However, color guard was something I truly loved, and I was good at it.

The next year, I was thrown into an interesting position. Our current captain quit in the middle of the season, and I was named the new captain of a team of six. At first, this was quite a daunting task. I was only a sophomore, and I was supposed to lead people two years older than me? Someone must’ve really believed in me. Being captain sounded impossible to me at first, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from doing my best. This is where my confidence really shot up. I learned how to be a captain. Of course I was timid at first, but slowly, I began to become a true leader.

The next marching season, it paid off. I choreographed many pieces of our show, and helped teach the other part of my guard, which at the time was only one other person. Having a small guard, we had to be spectacular, especially for band competitions. We ended up winning first place and second place trophies, something that had never been done before at our school, especially for such a small guard. That season is still one of my favorite memories. The grueling hours of learning routines, making changes, and learning how to be a leader finally paid off.

Looking back on it as I exit the field after halftime once again, I am so proud of myself. Not only has color guard helped the band succeed, I’ve also grown. I am now confident in what my skills are. Of course there is always more to be done, but I now I have the confidence to share my ideas, which is something I can’t say I had before color guard. Every Friday night we perform, I think about the growth I’ve made, and I feel on top of the world. That feeling never gets old.

Common App Essay Example #3: Big Eater

This Common App essay is a successful Northwestern essay from an admitted student. It has a unique take using the topic of eating habits—an example of how "mundane" topics can make for interesting ideas.

This essay uses their relationship with food to explore how their perspective has changed through moving high schools far away. Having a central theme is often a good strategy because it allows you to explore ideas while making them feel connected and cohesive. This essay shows how even a "simple" topic like food can show a lot about your character because you can extrapolate what it represents, rather than just what it literally is. With every topic, you can analyze on two levels: what it literally is, and what it represents.

Admissions officers want to get a sense of who you are, and one way to convey that is by using natural-sounding language and being somewhat informal. In this essay, the student writes as they'd speak, which creates a "voice" that you as the reader can easily hear. Phrases like "I kind of got used to it" may be informal, but work to show a sense of character. Referring to their parents as "Ma" and "Papa" also bring the reader into their world. If you come from a non-English speaking country or household, it can also be beneficial to use words from your language, such as "chiemo" in this essay. Using foreign language words helps share your unique culture with admissions.

Rather than "telling" the reader what they have to say, this student does a great job of "showing" them through specific imagery and anecdotes. Using short but descriptive phrases like "whether it was a sum or Sam the bully" are able to capture bigger ideas in a more memorable way. Showing your points through anecdotes and examples is always more effective than simply telling them, because showing allows the reader to come to their own conclusion, rather than having to believe what you're saying.

This student's first language is not English, which does make it challenging to express ideas with the best clarity. Although this student does an overall great job in writing despite this hindrance, there are moments where their ideas are not easily understood. In particular, when discussing substance addiction, it isn't clear: Was the student's relationship with food a disorder, or was that a metaphor? When drafting your essay, focus first on expressing your points as clearly and plainly as possible (it's harder than you may think). Simplicity is often better, but if you'd like, afterwards you can add creative details and stylistic changes.

Learn the Secrets of Successful Top-20 Applications

Join 4,000+ students and parents that already receive our 5-minute free newsletter , packed with T-20 essay examples, writing tips & tricks, and step-by-step guides.

Common App Essay Example #4: Love for Medicine

Here's another Common App essay which is an accepted Dartmouth essay . This student talks about their range of experiences as an emergency medical responder:

I never knew I had the courage to talk a suicidal sixteen-year-old boy down from the edge of a bridge, knowing that he could jump and take his life at any moment.

I never knew I had the confidence to stand my ground and defend my treatment plan to those who saw me as less than capable because of my age or gender.

This essay has lots of detailed moments and descriptions. These anecdotes help back up their main idea by showing, rather than just telling. It's always important to include relevant examples because they are the "proof in the pudding" for what you're trying to say.

This topic deals with a lot of sensitive issues, and at certain points the writing could be interpreted as insensitive or not humble. It's especially important when writing about tragedies that you focus on others, rather than yourself. Don't try to play up your accomplishments or role; let them speak for themselves. By doing so, you'll actually achieve what you're trying to do: create an image of an honorable and inspirational person.

This essay touches on a lot of challenging and difficult moments, but it lacks a deep level of reflection upon those moments. When analyzing your essay, ask yourself: what is the deepest idea in it? In this case, there are some interesting ideas (e.g. "when they were on my stretcher, socioeconomic status...fell away"), but they are not fully developed or fleshed out.

Common App Essay Example #5: Cultural Confusion

This student's Common App was accepted to Pomona College , among other schools. Although this essay uses a common topic of discussing cultural background, this student writes a compelling take.

This student uses the theme of cultural confusion to explain their interests and identity:

Common App Essay Example #6: Football Manager

Here's a UPenn essay that worked for the Common App:

This essay has lighthearted moments in it, such as recognizing how being a football manager "does not sound glamorous" and how "we managers go by many names: watergirls..." Using moments of humor can be appropriate for contrasting with moments of serious reflection. Being lighthearted also shows a sense of personality and that you are able to take things with stride.

The reflections in this essay are far too generic overall and ultimately lack meaning because they are unspecific. Using buzzwords like "hard work" and "valuable lessons" comes off as unoriginal, so avoid using them at all costs. Your reflections need to be specific to you to be most meaningful. If you could (in theory) pluck out sentences from your essay and drop them into another student's essay, then chances are those sentences are not very insightful. Your ideas should be only have been able to been written by you: specific to your experiences, personal in nature, and show deep reflection.

Although this essay uses the topic of "being a football manager," by the end of the essay it isn't clear what that role even constitutes. Avoid over-relying on other people or other's ideas when writing your essay. That is, most of the reflections in this essay are based on what the author witnessed the football team doing, rather than what they experienced for themselves in their role. Focus on your own experiences first, and be as specific and tangible as possible when describing your ideas. Rather than saying "hard work," show that hard work through an anecdote.

More important than your stories is the "So what?" behind them. Avoid writing stories that don't have a clear purpose besides "setting the scene." Although most fiction writing describes people and places as exposition, for your essays you want to avoid that unless it specifically contributes to your main point. In this essay, the first two paragraphs are almost entirely unnecessary, as the point of them can be captured in one sentence: "I joined to be a football manager one summer." The details of how that happened aren't necessary because they aren't reflected upon.

In typical academic writing, we're taught to "tell them what you're going to tell them" before telling them. But for college essays, every word is highly valuable. Avoid prefacing your statements and preparing the reader for them. Instead of saying "XYZ would prove to be an unforgettable experience," just dive right into the experience itself. Think of admissions officers as "being in a rush," and give them what they want: your interesting ideas and experiences.

Common App Essay Example #7: Coffee

This student was admitted to several selective colleges, including Emory University, Northwestern University , Tufts University, and the University of Southern California . Here's their Common Application they submitted to these schools:

I was 16 years old, and working at a family-owned coffee shop training other employees to pour latte art. Making coffee became an artistic outlet that I never had before. I always loved math, but once I explored the complexities of coffee, I began to delve into a more creative realm--photography and writing--and exposed myself to the arts--something foreign and intriguing.

This essay uses coffee as a metaphor for this student's self-growth, especially in dealing with the absence of their father. Showing the change of their relationship with coffee works well as a structure because it allows the student to explore various activities and ideas while making them seem connected.

This student does a great job of including specifics, such as coffee terminology ("bloom the grounds" and "pour a swan"). Using specific and "nerdy" language shows your interests effectively. Don't worry if they won't understand all the references exactly, as long as there is context around them.

While coffee is the central topic, the author also references their father extensively throughout. It isn't clear until the conclusion how these topics relate, which makes the essay feel disjointed. In addition, there is no strong main idea, but instead a few different ideas. In general, it is better to focus on one interesting idea and delve deeply, rather than focus on many and be surface-level.

Near the conclusion, this student tells about their character: "humble, yet important, simple, yet complex..." You should avoid describing yourself to admissions officers, as it is less convincing. Instead, use stories, anecdotes, and ideas to demonstrate these qualities. For example, don't say "I'm curious," but show them by asking questions. Don't say, "I'm humble," but show them with how you reacted after a success or failure.

Common App Essay Example #8: Chicago

Here's another Northwestern essay . Northwestern is a quite popular school with lots of strong essay-focused applicants, which makes your "Why Northwestern?" essay important.

To write a strong Why Northwestern essay, try to answer these questions: What does NU represent to you? What does NU offer for you (and your interests) that other schools don't?

This essay uses a variety of descriptive and compelling words, without seeming forced or unnatural. It is important that you use your best vocabulary, but don't go reaching for a thesaurus. Instead, use words that are the most descriptive, while remaining true to how you'd actually write.

This essay is one big metaphor: the "L" train serves as a vehicle to explore this student's intellectual curiosity. Throughout the essay, the student also incorporates creative metaphors like "the belly of a gargantuan silver beast" and "seventy-five cent silver chariot" that show a keen sense of expression. If a metaphor sounds like one you've heard before, you probably shouldn't use it.

This student does a fantastic job of naturally talking about their activities. By connecting their activities to a common theme—in this case the "L" train—you can more easily move from one activity to the next, without seeming like you're just listing activities. This serves as an engaging way of introducing your extracurriculars and achievements, while still having the focus of your essay be on your interesting ideas.

Admissions officers are ultimately trying to get a sense of who you are. This student does a great job of taking the reader into their world. By sharing quirks and colloquialisms (i.e. specific language you use), you can create an authentic sense of personality.

Common App Essay Example #9: Mountaineering

Here's a liberal arts college Common App essay from Colby College . Colby is a highly ranked liberal arts college.

As with all colleges—but especially liberal arts schools—your personal essay will be a considerable factor.

In this essay, the student describes their experience climbing Mount Adams, and the physical and logistical preparations that went into it. They describe how they overcame some initial setbacks by using their organizational skills from previous expeditions.

This Colby student explains how the process of preparation can lead to success in academics and other endeavours, but with the potential for negative unintended consequences.

Common App Prompt #2: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (250-650 words)

This essay does a great job of having a cohesive theme: mountaineering. Often times, great essay topics can be something simple on the surface, such as your favorite extracurricular activity or a notable experience. Consider using the literal activity as a sort of metaphor, like this essay does. This student uses mountaineering as a metaphor for preparation in the face of upcoming challenge. Using an overarching metaphor along with a central theme can be effective because it allows you to explore various ideas while having them all feel connected and cohesive.

Admissions officers want to see your self-growth, which doesn't always mean your successes. Often times, being vulnerable by expressing your struggles is powerful because it makes you more human and relatable, while providing the opportunity to reflect on what you learned. The best lessons from come failures, and writing about challenge can also make your later successes feel more impactful. Everyone loves to hear an underdog or zero-to-hero story. But counterintuitively, your failures are actually more important than your successes.

This essay has some nice ideas about focusing only on what's in your control: your attitude and your effort. However, these ideas are ultimately somewhat generic as they have been used countless times in admissions essays. Although ideas like this can be a good foundation, you should strive to reach deeper ideas. Deeper ideas are ones that are specific to you, unique, and interesting. You can reach deeper ideas by continually asking yourself "How" and "Why" questions that cause you to think deeper about a topic. Don't be satisfied with surface-level reflections. Think about what they represent more deeply, or how you can connect to other ideas or areas of your life.

Common App Essay Example #10: Boarding School

This personal essay was accepted to Claremont McKenna College . See how this student wrote a vulnerable essay about boarding school experience and their family relationship:

I began attending boarding school aged nine.

Obviously, this is not particularly unusual – my school dorms were comprised of boys and girls in the same position as me. However, for me it was difficult – or perhaps it was for all of us; I don’t know. We certainly never discussed it.

I felt utterly alone, as though my family had abruptly withdrawn the love and support thatI so desperately needed. At first, I did try to open up to them during weekly phone calls, but what could they do? As months slipped by, the number of calls reduced. I felt they had forgotten me. Maybe they felt I had withdrawn from them. A vast chasm of distance was cracking open between us.

At first, I shared my hurt feelings with my peers, who were amazingly supportive, but there was a limit to how much help they could offer. After a while, I realized that by opening up, I was burdening them, perhaps even irritating them. The feelings I was sharing should have been reserved for family. So, I withdrew into myself. I started storing up my emotions and became a man of few words. In the classroom or on the sports field, people saw a self-confident and cheerful character, but behind that facade was someone who yearned for someone to understand him and accept him as he was.

Years went past.

Then came the phone call which was about to change my life. “Just come home Aryan, it’s really important!” My mother’s voice was odd, brittle. I told her I had important exams the following week, so needed to study. “Aryan, why don’t you listen to me? There is no other option, okay? You are coming home.”

Concerned, I arranged to fly home. When I got there, my sister didn’t say hi to me, my grandmother didn’t seem overly enthusiastic to see me and my mother was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to be told why I was called back so suddenly just to be greeted as though I wasn’t even welcome.

Then my mother then came out of her room and saw me. To my immense incredulity, she ran to me and hugged me, and started crying in my arms.

Then came the revelation, “Your father had a heart attack.”

My father. The man I hadn’t really talked to in years. A man who didn’t even know who I was anymore. I’d spent so long being disappointed in him and suspecting he was disappointed in me, I sunk under a flood of emotions.

I opened the door to his room and there he was sitting on his bed with a weak smile on his face. I felt shaken to my core. All at once it was clear to me how self-centered I had become. A feeling of humiliation engulfed me, but finally I realized that rather than wallow in it, I needed to appreciate I was not alone in having feelings.

I remained at home that week. I understood that my family needed me. I worked with my uncle to ensure my family business was running smoothly and often invited relatives or friends over to cheer my father up.

Most importantly, I spent time with my family. It had been years since I’d last wanted to do this – I had actively built the distance between us – but really, I’d never stopped craving it. Sitting together in the living room, I realized how badly I needed them.

Seeing happiness in my father’s eyes, I felt I was finally being the son he had always needed me to be: A strong, capable young man equipped to take over the family business if need be.

Common App Essay Example #11: My Father

This Cornell University essay is an example of writing about a tragedy, which can be a tricky topic to write about well.

Family and tragedy essays are a commonly used topic, so it can be harder to come up with a unique essay idea using these topics.

Let me know what you think of this essay for Cornell:

My father was wise, reserved, hardworking, and above all, caring. I idolized his humility and pragmatism, and I cherish it today. But after his death, I was emotionally raw. I could barely get through class without staving off a breakdown.

Writing about tragedy, such as the loss of a loved one, is a tricky topic because it has been used countless times in college admissions. It is difficult to not come off as a "victim" or that you're trying to garner sympathy by using the topic (i.e. a "sob story"). This essay does a great job of writing about a personal tragedy in a meaningful and unique way by connecting to values and ideas, rather than staying focused on what literally happened. By connecting tragedy to lessons and takeaways, you can show how—despite the difficulty and sorrow—you have gained something positive from it, however small that may be. Don't write about personal tragedy because you think "you should." As with any topic, only write about it if you have a meaningful point to make.

This essay is effective at making the reader feel the similar emotions as the author does and in bringing the reader into their "world." Even small remarks like noting the the "firsts" without their loved one are powerful because it is relatable and something that is apparent, but not commonly talked about. Using short phrases like "That was it. No goodbye, no I love you..." create emphasis and again a sense of relatability. As the reader, you can vividly imagine how the author must have felt during these moments. The author also uses questions, such as "What did I last say to him?" which showcase their thought process, another powerful way to bring the reader into your world.

Admissions officers are looking for self-growth, which can come in a variety of forms. Showing a new perspective is one way to convey that you've developed over time, learned something new, or gained new understanding or appreciation. In this essay, the student uses the "sticker of a black and white eye" to represent how they viewed their father differently before and after his passing. By using a static, unchanging object like this, and showing how you now view it differently over time, you convey a change in perspective that can make for interesting reflections.

Common App Essay Example #12: DMV Trials

Here's a funny Common App essay from a Northwestern admitted student about getting their driver's license.

This topic has been used before—as many "topics" have—but what's important is having a unique take or idea.

What do you think of this Northwestern essay ?

Breath, Emily, breath. I drive to the exit and face a four-lane roadway. “Turn left,” my passenger says.

On July 29, [Date] , I finally got my license. After the April debacle, I practiced driving almost every week. I learned to stop at stop signs and look both ways before crossing streets, the things I apparently didn’t know how to do during my first two tests. When pulling into the parking lot with the examiner for the last time, a wave of relief washed over me.

This essay does a good job of having a compelling narrative. By setting the scene descriptively, it is easy to follow and makes for a pleasant reading experience. However, avoid excessive storytelling, as it can overshadow your reflections, which are ultimately most important.

This essay has some moments where the author may come off as being overly critical, of either themselves or of others. Although it is okay (and good) to recognize your flaws, you don't want to portray yourself in a negative manner. Avoid being too negative, and instead try to find the positive aspects when possible.

More important than your stories is the answer to "So what?" and why they matter. Avoid writing a personal statement that is entirely story-based, because this leaves little room for reflection and to share your ideas. In this essay, the reflections are delayed to the end and not as developed as they could be.

In this essay, it comes across that failure is negative. Although the conclusion ultimately has a change of perspective in that "failure is inevitable and essential to moving forward," it doesn't address that failure is ultimately a positive thing. Admissions officers want to see failure and your challenges, because overcoming those challenges is what demonstrates personal growth.

Common App Essay Example #13: Ice Cream Fridays

This Columbia essay starts off with a vulnerable moment of running for school president. The student goes on to show their growth through Model UN, using detailed anecdotes and selected moments.

My fascination with geopolitical and economic issues were what kept me committed to MUN. But by the end of sophomore year, the co-presidents were fed up. “Henry, we know how hard you try, but there are only so many spots for each conference...” said one. “You’re wasting space, you should quit,” said the other.

This essay has a compelling story, starting from this author's early struggles with public speaking and developing into their later successes with Model UN. Using a central theme—in this case public speaking—is an effective way of creating a cohesive essay. By having a main idea, you can tie in multiple moments or achievements without them coming across unrelated.

This student talks about their achievements with a humble attitude. To reference your successes, it's equally important to address your failures. By expressing your challenges, it will make your later achievements seem more impactful in contrast. This student also is less "me-focused" and instead is interested in others dealing with the same struggles. By connecting to people in your life, values, or interesting ideas, you can reference your accomplishments without coming off as bragging.

This essay has moments of reflection, such as "math and programming made sense... people didn't". However, most of these ideas are cut short, without going much deeper. When you strike upon a potentially interesting idea, keep going with it. Try to explain the nuances, or broaden your idea to more universal themes. Find what is most interesting about your experience and share that with admissions.

Stories are important, but make sure all your descriptions are critical for the story. In this essay, the author describes things that don't add to the story, such as the appearance of other people or what they were wearing. These ultimately don't relate to their main idea—overcoming public speaking challenges—and instead are distracting.

Common App Essay Example #14: Key to Happiness

Here's a Brown University application essay that does a great job of a broad timeline essay. This student shows the change in their thinking and motivations over a period of time, which makes for an interesting topic.

Let me know what you think of this Brown essay:

Common App Prompt #3: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? (250-650 words)

This student's first language is not English, which provides some insight into why the phrasing may not seem as natural or show as much personality. Admissions officers are holistic in determining who to admit, meaning they take into account many different factors when judging your essays. While this essay may not be the strongest, the applicant probably had other qualities or "hooks" that helped them get accepted, such as awards, activities, unique background, etc. Plus, there is some leniency granted to students who don't speak English as their first language, because writing essays in a foreign language is tough in and of itself.

It's good to be confident in your achievements, but you don't want to come across as boastful or self-assured. In this essay, some of the phrasing such as "when I was the best at everything" seems exaggerated and is off-putting. Instead of boosting your accomplishments, write about them in a way that almost "diminishes" them. Connect your achievements to something bigger than you: an interesting idea, a passionate cause, another person or group. By not inflating your achievements, you'll come across more humble and your achievements will actually seem more impactful. We all have heard of a highly successful person who thinks "it's no big deal," which actually makes their talents seem far more impressive.

This essay has some takeaways and reflections, as your essay should too, but ultimately these ideas are unoriginal and potentially cliché. Ideas like "what makes you happy is pursing your passion" are overused and have been heard thousands of times by admissions officers. Instead, focus on getting to unique and "deep" ideas: ideas that are specific to you and that have meaningful implications. It's okay to start off with more surface-level ideas, but you want to keep asking questions to yourself like "Why" and "How" to push yourself to think deeper. Try making connections, asking what something represents more broadly, or analyzing something from a different perspective.

You don't need to preface your ideas in your essay. Don't say things like "I later found out this would be life-changing, and here's why." Instead, just jump into the details that are most compelling. In this essay, there are moments that seem repetitive and redundant because they don't add new ideas and instead restate what's already been said in different words. When editing your essay, be critical of every sentence (and even words) by asking: Does this add something new to my essay? Does it have a clear, distinct purpose? If the answer is no, you should probably remove that sentence.

Common App Essay Example #15: Discovering Passion

Here's a Johns Hopkins essay that shows how the student had a change in attitude and perspective after taking a summer job at a care facility.

It may seem odd to write about your potential drawbacks or weaknesses—such as having a bad attitude towards something—but it's real and can help demonstrate personal growth.

So tell me your thoughts on this JHU Common App essay:

Common App Prompt #5: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. (250-650 words)

This student uses vulnerability in admitting that they held preconceived notions about the elderly before this experience. The quote introduces these preconceived notions well, while the description of how this student got their job in the care facility is also engaging.

Admission officers love to see your interactions with others. Showing how you interact reveals a lot about your character, and this essay benefits from reflecting upon the student's relationship with a particular elderly individual.

It is good to be descriptive, but only when it supports your expression of ideas. In this essay, the author uses adjectives and adverbs excessively, without introducing new ideas. Your ideas are more important than having a diverse vocabulary, and the realizations in this essay are muddled by rephrasing similar ideas using seemingly "impressive," but ultimately somewhat meaningless, vocabulary.

This essay touches on some interesting ideas, but on multiple occasions these ideas are repeated just in different phrasing. If you have already expressed an idea, don't repeat it unless you're adding something new: a deeper context, a new angle, a broadened application, etc. Ask yourself: what is the purpose of each sentence, and have I expressed it already?

It's true that almost any topic can make for a strong essay, but certain topics are trickier because they make it easy to write about overly used ideas. In this essay, the main idea can be summarized as: "I realized the elderly were worthy humans too." It touches upon more interesting ideas, such as how people can be reduced down to their afflictions rather than their true character, but the main idea is somewhat surface-level.

Common App Essay Example #16: "A Cow Gave Birth"

This Common App essay for the University of Pennsylvania centers on the theme of womanhood. Not only is it well-written, but this essay has interesting and unique ideas that relate to the student's interests.

Common App Essay Example #17: Robotics

This Common App essay was for Washington University in St. Louis .

This student writes about their experience creating and using an engineering notebook to better document their robotics progress. They share the story of how their dedication and perseverance led to winning awards and qualifying for the national championships.

Lastly, they reflect on the importance of following one's passions in life and decision to pursue a business degree instead of a engineering one.

This essay touches on various lessons that they've learned as a result of their experience doing robotics. However, these lessons are ultimately surface-level and generic, such as "I embraced new challenges." Although these could be a starting point for deeper ideas, on their own they come off as unoriginal and overused. Having interesting ideas is what makes an essay the most compelling, and you need to delve deeply into reflection, past the surface-level takeaways. When drafting and brainstorming, keep asking yourself questions like "How" and "Why" to dig deeper. Ask "What does this represent? How does it connect to other things? What does this show about myself/the world/society/etc.?"

Although this essay is focused on "VEX robotics," the details of what that activity involves are not elaborated. Rather than focusing on the surface-level descriptions like "We competed and won," it would be more engaging to delve into the details. What did your robot do? How did you compete? What were the specific challenges in "lacking building materials"? Use visuals and imagery to create a more engaging picture of what you were doing.

The hook and ending sentences of "drifting off to sleep" feel arbitrary and not at all connected to any ideas throughout the essay. Instead, it comes off as a contrived choice to create a "full circle" essay. Although coming full circle is often a good strategy, there should be a specific purpose in doing so. For your intro, try using a short sentence that creates emphasis on something interesting. For the conclusion, try using similar language to the intro, expanding upon your ideas to more universal takeaways, or connecting back to previous ideas with a new nuance.

Common App Essay Example #18: Lab Research

Common app essay example #19: carioca dance.

Having a natural-sounding style of writing can be a great way of conveying personality. This student does a fantastic job of writing as they'd speak, which lets admissions officers create a clear "image" of who you are in their head. By writing naturally and not robotically, you can create a "voice" and add character to your essay.

This student chooses a unique activity, the Carioca drill, as their main topic. By choosing a "theme" like this, it allows you to easily and naturally talk about other activities too, without seeming like you're simply listing activities. This student uses the Carioca as a metaphor for overcoming difficulties and relates it to their other activities and academics—public speaking and their job experience.

Showing a sense of humor can indicate wit, which not only makes you seem more likeable, but also conveys self-awareness. By not always taking yourself 100% seriously, you can be more relatable to the reader. This student acknowledges their struggles in conjunction with using humor ("the drills were not named after me—'Saads'"), which shows a recognition that they have room to improve, while not being overly self-critical.

Common App Essay Example #20: Chinese Language

The list of languages that Lincoln offered startled me. “There’s so many,” I thought, “Latin, Spanish, Chinese, and French.”

As soon as I stepped off the plane, and set my eyes upon the beautiful city of Shanghai, I fell in love. In that moment, I had an epiphany. China was made for me, and I wanted to give it all my first; first job and first apartment.

Using creative metaphors can be an effective way of conveying ideas. In this essay, the metaphor of "Chinese characters...were the names of my best friends" tells a lot about this student's relationship with the language. When coming up with metaphors, a good rule of thumb is: if you've heard it before, don't use it. Only use metaphors that are specific, make sense for what you're trying to say, and are highly unique.

Whenever you "tell" something, you should try and back it up with anecdotes, examples, or experiences. Instead of saying that "I made conversation," this student exemplifies it by listing who they talked to. Showing is always going to be more compelling than telling because it allows the reader to come to the conclusion on their own, which makes them believe it much stronger. Use specific, tangible examples to back up your points and convince the reader of what you're saying.

Although this essay has reflections, they tend to be more surface-level, rather than unique and compelling. Admissions officers have read thousands of application essays and are familiar with most of the ideas students write about. To stand out, you'll need to dive deeper into your ideas. To do this, keep asking yourself questions whenever you have an interesting idea. Ask "Why" and "How" repeatedly until you reach something that is unique, specific to you, and super interesting.

Avoid writing a conclusion that only "sounds nice," but lacks real meaning. Often times, students write conclusions that go full circle, or have an interesting quote, but they still don't connect to the main idea of the essay. Your conclusion should be your strongest, most interesting idea. It should say something new: a new perspective, a new takeaway, a new aspect of your main point. End your essay strongly by staying on topic, but taking your idea one step further to the deepest it can go.

Common App Essay Example #21: Kiki's Delivery Service

Common App Prompt #6: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? (250-650 words)

I spent much of my childhood watching movies. I became absolutely engrossed in many different films, TV shows, and animations. From the movie theatres to the TV, I spent my hours enjoying the beauty of visual media. One place that was special to me was the car. My parents purchased a special screen that could be mounted on the back of the headrest, so that I could watch movies on trips. This benefited both parties, as I was occupied, and they had peace. Looking back, I realize this screen played a crucial role in my childhood. It was an integral part of many journeys. I remember taking a drive to Washington D.C, with my visiting relatives from Poland, and spending my time with my eyes on the screen. I remember packing up my possessions and moving to my current home from Queens, watching my cartoons the whole time. I can comfortably say that watching movies in the car has been an familiar anchor during times of change in my life.

I used to watch many different cartoons, nature documentaries, and other products in the car, yet there has been one movie that I have rewatched constantly. It is called “Kiki’s Delivery Service” by Hayao Miyazaki. My parents picked it up at a garage sale one day, and I fell in love. The style of the animations were beautiful, and the captivating story of a thirteen year old witch leaving home really appealed to me. To be honest, the initial times I watched it, I didn’t fully understand the story but the magic and beauty just made me happy. Then, the more I watched it, I began to see that it was more about independence, including the need to get away from home and establish yourself as your own person. This mirrors how I felt during that period of my life,with mehaving a little rebellious streak; I didn’t agree with my parents on certain topics. That is not the end of the story though. As the years passed, and I watched it a couple more times, although with less frequency than before, my view of this movie evolved yet again.

Instead of solely thinking about the need for independence, I began to think the movie was more about the balance of independence and reliance. In the movie, the girl finds herself struggling until she begins to accept help from others. Looking back, this also follows my own philosophy during this time. As I began to mature, I began to realize the value of family, and accept all the help I can get from them. I appreciate all the hard work they had done for me, and I recognize their experience in life and take advantage of it. I passed through my rebellious phase, and this reflected in my analysis of the movie. I believe that this is common, and if I look through the rest of my life I am sure I would find other similar examples of my thoughts evolving based on the stage in my life. This movie is one of the most important to me throughout my life.

Common App Essay Example #22: Museum of Life

Using visuals can be a way to add interesting moments to your essay. Avoid being overly descriptive, however, as it can be distracting from your main point. When drafting, start by focusing on your ideas (your reflections and takeaways). Once you have a rough draft, then you can consider ways to incorporate imagery that can add character and flavor to your essay.

Admissions officers are people, just like you, and therefore are drawn to personalities that exhibit positive qualities. Some of the most important qualities to portray are: humility, curiosity, thoughtfulness, and passion. In this essay, there are several moments that could be interpreted as potentially self-centered or arrogant. Avoid trying to make yourself out to be "better" or "greater" than other people. Instead, focus on having unique and interesting ideas first, and this will show you as a likeable, insightful person. Although this is a "personal" statement, you should also avoid over using "I" in your essay. When you have lots of "I" sentences, it starts to feel somewhat ego-centric, rather than humble and interested in something greater than you.

This essay does a lot of "telling" about the author's character. Instead, you want to provide evidence—through examples, anecdotes, and moments—that allow the reader to come to their own conclusions about who you are. Avoid surface-level takeaways like "I am open-minded and have a thirst for knowledge." These types of statements are meaningless because anyone can write them. Instead, focus on backing up your points by "showing," and then reflect genuinely and deeply on those topics.

This essay is focused on art museums and tries to tie in a connection to studying medicine. However, because this connection is very brief and not elaborated, the connection seems weak. To connect to your area of study when writing about a different topic, try reflecting on your topic first. Go deep into interesting ideas by asking "How" and "Why" questions. Then, take those ideas and broaden them. Think of ways they could differ or parallel your desired area of study. The best connections between a topic (such as an extracurricular) and your area of study (i.e. your major) is through having interesting ideas.

Common App Essay Example #23: French Horn

This student chose the creative idea of personifying their French horn as their central theme. Using this personification, they are able to write about a multitude of moments while making them all feel connected. This unique approach also makes for a more engaging essay, as it is not overly straightforward and generic.

It can be challenging to reference your achievements without seeming boastful or coming across too plainly. This student manages to write about their successes ("acceptance into the Julliard Pre-College program") by using them as moments part of a broader story. The focus isn't necessarily on the accomplishments themselves, but the role they play in this relationship with their instrument. By connecting more subtly like this, it shows humility. Often, "diminishing" your achievements will actually make them stand out more, because it shows you're focused on the greater meaning behind them, rather than just "what you did."

This student does a good job of exemplifying each of their ideas. Rather than just saying "I experienced failure," they show it through imagery ("dried lips, cracked notes, and missed entrances"). Similarly, with their idea "no success comes without sacrifice," they exemplify it using examples of sacrifice. Always try to back up your points using examples, because showing is much more convincing than telling. Anyone can "tell" things, but showing requires proof.

This essay has a decent conclusion, but it could be stronger by adding nuance to their main idea or connecting to the beginning with a new perspective. Rather than repeating what you've established previously, make sure your conclusion has a different "angle" or new aspect. This can be connecting your main idea to more universal values, showing how you now view something differently, or emphasizing a particular aspect of your main idea that was earlier introduced.

Common App Essay Example #24: Dear My Younger Self

Common App Prompt #7: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. (250-650 words)

Younger Anna,

Don’t live your life as if you're constantly being watched and criticized. Chances are, no one is even paying attention to you.
Wear your retainer.
Empathy makes your life easier. People who are inexplicably cruel are suffering just as much as the recipients of their abuse. Understanding this makes your interactions with these people less painful.
Comparing yourself to your classmates is counterproductive. Sometimes you will forge ahead, other times you will lag behind. But ultimately, you’re only racing yourself.
Speak up to your stepmom.
Always eat the cake. I couldn't tell you how many times I’ve turned away a slice of cake, only to regret it the next day. If you really can’t commit, do yourself a favor and take a slice home with you.
Cherish your grandparents.
Forgive your mother. Harboring resentment hurts you just as much as her. All the time I spent being angry at her could’ve been spent discovering her strengths.

This essay chose a unique structure in the form of a letter addressed to themselves with a list of lessons they've learned. This structure is unique, and also allows the student to explore a variety of topics and ideas while making them all feel connected. It is tricky to not seem "gimmicky" when choosing a creative structure like this, but the key is to make your essay well thought-out. Show that you've put effort into reflecting deeply, and that you aren't choosing a unique structure just to stand out.

This essay is highly focused on lessons they've learned, which shows a deep level of reflection. Your ideas and takeaways from life experience are ultimately most compelling to admissions officers, and this essay succeeds because it is focused almost entirely on those reflections. This student also manages to incorporate anecdotes and mini stories where appropriate, which makes their reflections more memorable by being tangible.

Showing humility and self-awareness are two highly attractive traits in college admissions. Being able to recognize your own flaws and strengths, while not making yourself out to be more than what you are, shows that you are mature and thoughtful. Avoid trying to "boost yourself up" by exaggerating your accomplishments or over-emphasizing your strengths. Instead, let your ideas speak for themselves, and by focusing on genuine, meaningful ideas, you'll convey a persona that is both humble and insightful.

The drawback of having a structure like this, where lots of different ideas are examined, is that no one idea is examined in-depth. As a result, some ideas (such as "intelligence is not defined by your grades") come across as trite and overused. In general, avoid touching on lots of ideas while being surface-level. Instead, it's almost always better to choose a handful (or even just one main idea) and go as in-depth as possible by continually asking probing questions—"How" and "Why"—that force yourself to think deeper and be more critical. Having depth of ideas shows inquisitiveness, thoughtfulness, and ultimately are more interesting because they are ideas that only you could have written.

Common App Essay Example #25: Monopoly

Feeling a bit weary from my last roll of the dice, I cross my fingers with the “FREE PARKING” square in sight. As luck has it, I smoothly glide past the hotels to have my best horse show yet- earning multiple wins against stiff competition and gaining points to qualify for five different national finals this year.

This essay uses the board game "Monopoly" as a metaphor for their life. By using a metaphor as your main topic, you can connect to different ideas and activities in a cohesive way. However, make sure the metaphor isn't chosen arbitrarily. In this essay, it isn't completely clear why Monopoly is an apt metaphor for their life, because the specific qualities that make Monopoly unique aren't explained or elaborated. Lots of games require "strategy and precision, with a hint of luck and a tremendous amount of challenge," so it'd be better to focus on the unique aspects of the game to make a more clear connection. For example, moving around the board in a "repetitive" fashion, but each time you go around with a different perspective. When choosing a metaphor, first make sure that it is fitting for what you're trying to describe.

You want to avoid listing your activities or referencing them without a clear connection to something greater. Since you have an activities list already, referencing your activities in your essay should have a specific purpose, rather than just emphasizing your achievements. In this essay, the student connects their activities by connecting them to a specific idea: how each activity is like a mini challenge that they must encounter to progress in life. Make sure your activities connect to something specifically: an idea, a value, an aspect of your character.

This essay lacks depth in their reflections by not delving deeply into their main takeaways. In this essay, the main "idea" is that they've learned to be persistent with whatever comes their way. This idea could be a good starting point, but on its own is too generic and not unique enough. Your idea should be deep and specific, meaning that it should be something only you could have written about. If your takeaway could be used in another student's essay without much modification, chances are it is a surface-level takeaway and you want to go more in-depth. To go in-depth, keep asking probing questions like "How" and "Why" or try making more abstract connections between topics.

In the final two paragraphs, this essay does a lot of "telling" about the lessons they've learned. They write "I know that in moments of doubt...I can rise to the occasion." Although this could be interesting, it would be far more effective if this idea is shown through anecdotes or experiences. The previous examples in the essay don't "show" this idea. When drafting, take your ideas and think of ways you can represent them without having to state them outright. By showing your points, you will create a more engaging and convincing essay because you'll allow the reader to come to the conclusion themselves, rather than having to believe what you've told them.

What Can You Learn from These Common App Essay Examples?

With these 25 Common App essay examples, you can get inspired and improve your own personal statement.

If you want to get accepted into selective colleges this year, your Common App essays needs to be its best possible.

What makes a good Common App essay isn't easy to define. There aren't any rules or steps.

But using these samples from real students, you can understand what it takes to write an outstanding personal statement .

Let me know, which Common App essay did you think was the best?

Ryan Chiang , Founder of EssaysThatWorked.com

Want to read more amazing essays that worked for top schools?

Hey! 👋 I'm Ryan Chiang, the founder of Essays That Worked.

Get our 5-minute free newsletter packed with essay tips and college admissions resources, backed by real-life examples from admitted students at top-20 schools.

Meet the Author

Ryan Chiang

I'm Ryan Chiang and I created EssaysThatWorked.com - a website dedicated to helping students and their families apply to college with confident. We publish the best college admissions essays from successful applicants every year to inspire and teach future students.

You might also like:

20 Successful College Essay Examples + Why They Worked (2024)

20 Brilliant Personal Statement Examples + Why They Work

UCLA Acceptance Rate By Major & Program 2024

37 Unique "Why This College" Essay Examples for Top-20 Colleges

What do outstanding essays have in common? Here are our 23 most effective strategies based on lessons from admitted students.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

By signing up you agree to Terms and Privacy Policy

Now available for June 2024 ...

The College Essay Workshop

Join my on-demand step-by-step course for crafting outstanding college admissions essays, plus 1-on-1 help.

Here's everything needed to write essays worthy of Top-20 colleges.

Google Rating

Join our students who have earned acceptances to schools like...

See exactly how students wrote admitted essays for top schools.

Our 231 essay examples show you how ordinary students wrote outstanding essays that helped their applications - all in their own words.

These aren’t just essay examples - but real acceptance stories, from real students who share their most intimate details with you - down to their real essays and exact profiel stats.

How do I find a unique topic? How do I write a great essay? And how do I stand out?

Our 231 essay examples break down these exact questions. Every type of essay prompt, student, and school.

You’ll realize these students are just like you - and that, deep down, you can do it too.

Princeton Admitted Essay

People love to ask why. Why do you wear a turban? Why do you have long hair? Why are you playing a guitar with only 3 strings and watching TV at 3 A.M.—where did you get that cat? Why won’t you go back to your country, you terrorist? My answer is... uncomfortable. Many truths of the world are uncomfortable...

MIT Admitted Essay

Her baking is not confined to an amalgamation of sugar, butter, and flour. It's an outstretched hand, an open invitation, a makeshift bridge thrown across the divides of age and culture. Thanks to Buni, the reason I bake has evolved. What started as stress relief is now a lifeline to my heritage, a language that allows me to communicate with my family in ways my tongue cannot. By rolling dough for saratele and crushing walnuts for cornulete, my baking speaks more fluently to my Romanian heritage than my broken Romanian ever could....

UPenn Admitted Essay

A cow gave birth and I watched. Staring from the window of our stopped car, I experienced two beginnings that day: the small bovine life and my future. Both emerged when I was only 10 years old and cruising along the twisting roads of rural Maryland...

Over 200 more admitted essays like these...

Learn the secrets behind outstanding application essays.

College essays are confusing. And it's not your fault. You're not taught how to write them in school.

How should I structure my essay? Can I use humor? What makes a truly great essay?

There's so much conflicting advice out there.

And with people selling "magic formulas" and "structures" to follow... it's easy to be led astray.

You’ll get access to courses, live events, a dedicated essay coach, and countless resources to help you write your best essays.

You finally have a place where you can ask these questions, get advice, and see exactly how admitted students before you did it.

You’re no longer figuring out everything on your own. You're no longer stuck wondering.

Everything you get

231 essays analyzed

Explore our database of 200+ admitted essays from top-20 colleges. Filter by prompt, school, topic, word count, and more. Get expert insights into why they worked and what you can learn from them.

Exclusive access to essay editing

You'll get access to our essay editing services, which is only offered for members. You can get your essays reviewed personally by me (Ryan). I'll give you detailed feedback on how to improve your essays and make them stand out.

Dedicated essay coach & support

You'll get access to our private community, where you can ask questions and get help from me directly. I'll be there to answer your questions and provide unlimited personalized advice.

44 in-depth video lessons

Learn the secrets behind outstanding essays. We break down the entire process, from brainstorming to writing and editing. You'll learn how to write amazing college essays for any prompt, with step-by-step guides and actionable tips.

26 downloadable guides

Get our best tips and tricks in easy-to-read guides. Learn what makes great essays, how to brainstorm your best topics, and how to write specific parts like a powerful hook and memorable ending.

Tons of bonuses

Get the Ultimate College Application Planner, my 154-Point Essay Checklist, and more. You'll also get a free copy of my eBooks, including 23 College Essay Tips to Stand Out and more.

Don't take our word for it

Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of our students and parents.

" Ryan, I want to express our great appreciation to you for your help on George's application essays. You have provided invaluable resources! P.S. I will certainly recommend you to our friends. "

" Ryan—David got into The University of Michigan!!! Only 4 kids got in out of 200 that applied at his school!!! Thank you so so much for everything "

" Thank you for the incredible help Ryan - both Hannah and I have said repeatedly that we could not have done it without you! "

" Thank you for your help with my essays back in November, including my Yale supplements. Just wanted to let you know I ended up getting into and committing to Yale! "

" I feel so much more reassured to press the submit button now. I wish I knew about your site sooner! "

" ... Invaluable to me during the college admissions process! It gave me a different perspective to look at my essays. "

" Initially I was skeptical about my essay's idea and whether it was properly reflected in my writing. This gave me a clear direction! "

Don't miss out on writing your best college essays.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy .

We have no affiliation with any university or colleges on this site. All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners.

25 Great Nonfiction Essays You Can Read Online for Free

Alison Doherty

Alison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.

View All posts by Alison Doherty

I love reading books of nonfiction essays and memoirs , but sometimes have a hard time committing to a whole book. This is especially true if I don’t know the author. But reading nonfiction essays online is a quick way to learn which authors you like. Also, reading nonfiction essays can help you learn more about different topics and experiences.

Besides essays on Book Riot, I love looking for essays on The New Yorker , The Atlantic , The Rumpus , and Electric Literature . But there are great nonfiction essays available for free all over the Internet. From contemporary to classic writers and personal essays to researched ones—here are 25 of my favorite nonfiction essays you can read today.

“Beware of Feminist Lite” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The author of We Should All Be Feminists writes a short essay explaining the danger of believing men and woman are equal only under certain conditions.

“It’s Silly to Be Frightened of Being Dead” by Diana Athill

A 96-year-old woman discusses her shifting attitude towards death from her childhood in the 1920s when death was a taboo subject, to World War 2 until the present day.

“Letter from a Region in my Mind” by James Baldwin

There are many moving and important essays by James Baldwin . This one uses the lens of religion to explore the Black American experience and sexuality. Baldwin describes his move from being a teenage preacher to not believing in god. Then he recounts his meeting with the prominent Nation of Islam member Elijah Muhammad.

“Relations” by Eula Biss

Biss uses the story of a white woman giving birth to a Black baby that was mistakenly implanted during a fertility treatment to explore racial identities and segregation in society as a whole and in her own interracial family.

“Friday Night Lights” by Buzz Bissinger

A comprehensive deep dive into the world of high school football in a small West Texas town.

“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Coates examines the lingering and continuing affects of slavery on American society and makes a compelling case for the descendants of slaves being offered reparations from the government.

“Why I Write” by Joan Didion

This is one of the most iconic nonfiction essays about writing. Didion describes the reasons she became a writer, her process, and her journey to doing what she loves professionally.

“Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Roger Ebert

With knowledge of his own death, the famous film critic ponders questions of mortality while also giving readers a pep talk for how to embrace life fully.

“My Mother’s Tongue” by Zavi Kang Engles

In this personal essay, Engles celebrates the close relationship she had with her mother and laments losing her Korean fluency.

“My Life as an Heiress” by Nora Ephron

As she’s writing an important script, Ephron imagines her life as a newly wealthy woman when she finds out an uncle left her an inheritance. But she doesn’t know exactly what that inheritance is.

“My FatheR Spent 30 Years in Prison. Now He’s Out.” by Ashley C. Ford

Ford describes the experience of getting to know her father after he’s been in prison for almost all of her life. Bridging the distance in their knowledge of technology becomes a significant—and at times humorous—step in rebuilding their relationship.

“Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay

There’s a reason Gay named her bestselling essay collection after this story. It’s a witty, sharp, and relatable look at what it means to call yourself a feminist.

“The Empathy Exams” by Leslie Jamison

Jamison discusses her job as a medical actor helping to train medical students to improve their empathy and uses this frame to tell the story of one winter in college when she had an abortion and heart surgery.

“What I Learned from a Fitting Room Disaster About Clothes and Life” by Scaachi Koul

One woman describes her history with difficult fitting room experiences culminating in one catastrophe that will change the way she hopes to identify herself through clothes.

“Breasts: the Odd Couple” by Una LaMarche

LaMarche examines her changing feelings about her own differently sized breasts.

“How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story” by Donna Minkowitz

A journalist looks back at her own biased reporting on a news story about the sexual assault and murder of a trans man in 1993. Minkowitz examines how ideas of gender and sexuality have changed since she reported the story, along with how her own lesbian identity influenced her opinions about the crime.

“Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell

In this famous essay, Orwell bemoans how politics have corrupted the English language by making it more vague, confusing, and boring.

“Letting Go” by David Sedaris

The famously funny personal essay author , writes about a distinctly unfunny topic of tobacco addiction and his own journey as a smoker. It is (predictably) hilarious.

“Joy” by Zadie Smith

Smith explores the difference between pleasure and joy by closely examining moments of both, including eating a delicious egg sandwich, taking drugs at a concert, and falling in love.

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan

Tan tells the story of how her mother’s way of speaking English as an immigrant from China changed the way people viewed her intelligence.

“Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace

The prolific nonfiction essay and fiction writer travels to the Maine Lobster Festival to write a piece for Gourmet Magazine. With his signature footnotes, Wallace turns this experience into a deep exploration on what constitutes consciousness.

“I Am Not Pocahontas” by Elissa Washuta

Washuta looks at her own contemporary Native American identity through the lens of stereotypical depictions from 1990s films.

“Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White

E.B. White didn’t just write books like Charlotte’s Web and The Elements of Style . He also was a brilliant essayist. This nature essay explores the theme of fatherhood against the backdrop of a lake within the forests of Maine.

“Pell-Mell” by Tom Wolfe

The inventor of “new journalism” writes about the creation of an American idea by telling the story of Thomas Jefferson snubbing a European Ambassador.

“The Death of the Moth” by Virginia Woolf

In this nonfiction essay, Wolf describes a moth dying on her window pane. She uses the story as a way to ruminate on the lager theme of the meaning of life and death.

The Thriller Writer Outselling James Patterson and John Grisham

Can my college essay be something I've already published?

I wrote an article in my school paper about my transition from nyc to rural minnesota and how it impacted my studies and my life. If I edit this to fit my personal statement a little better but still kept the premise/much of it the same could I submit this to colleges for a transfer application, or does it have to be totally original?

It can be anything you like as long as you wrote it yourself, published or not.

But: re-think it carefully, and be prepared to do more than a little editing. Both the purpose and the audience for the two essays are quite different.

Think of your application as a whole: you only have so much space to demonstrate why you would be a better addition to the class of XX. Make sure that the essay you submit fits into the overarching narrative that you are building.

I think you could be seriously misunderstanding the point of an essay in a college application versus an interest piece for a hs newspaper.

It depends where you’re applying. But this is not a writing sample or open topic for a hs teacher. How your move impacted your life may not convey the points and traits adcoms need to see, in reviewing you for their class. It could be amusing or a stab at profound and not your most relevant effort. That can be a big issue. Do you feel you understand what your college targets DO want to learn in the personal statement?

And for most kids, you’ve got 10 months to find your best shot. What’s the rush and why the shortcut?

Remember that the goal of the essay is for colleges to get to know you. A Columbia admissions officer once said that your essay should convey who you are so well that if it fell on the floor and a friend picked it up, the friend would immediately know that it’s you.

If the essay can do that with some tweaking, it could be a fine topic. Do consider the colleges you are applying to, as well.

Is there some specific prompt where this story would be relevant? If so, using your own writing is fine.

But don’t try to force fit something written for a different purpose.

Not sure that I agree with the thought that one should be recognizable to a friend from a college essay as it may be a bit too superficial. A college essay should reveal something about the applicant which is not obvious.

Using a published piece that reveals something about you that is not readily apparent from your application is fine so long as it responds to the essay prompt.

Nevertheless, my concern about OP’s situation is that it is a transfer application. A transfer application should focus on why you want and/or need to switch schools. I doubt that one’s move from NYC to a rural area would address the reasons that one needs to transfer schools unless OP is transferring to a school in NYC. Most often transfer apps focus on academic concerns or urgent need to be close to family.

Simply no… Besides the essay expressing who you are how does it match the schools mission or what they stand for? Plus you might want to present this as a published piece in your Ec section or talk about it somewhere else.

I also don’t agree with the dropping the paper analogy but totally understand it. My son happened to have a side of him that no one at school really knew about and wrote his essay on that. His family knew about it and it was an obvious (but not to him until we pressed him on it a bit), essay choice. Plus this had been written upon in different forms. What else you got?

Take the time, make the effort to really assess the prompts. The topic ( and perhaps pieces of existing work) may be great but you have grown since the original writing. Stretch yourself and view this as an opportunity to improve, share/ reveal more, etc.

Consider other topics. Compare them to the existing one. What would be a more interesting read? One of the most important, if not THE most important aspects of your college essay is to be memorable to the AOs. Use that as a reference point.

The article was about transitiong between high schools and you want to use it for a college transfer application? How does that relate to your reasons for wanting to change colleges? What does the new college offer that your current one doesn’t? Make sure that whatever you write is relevant to your current situation.

All sorts of things could be recognizable as “you,” if someone picked up your dropped essay. That doesn’t make the topic relevant, at all, to a college application. The task isn’t to tell them something everyone knows about you. Nor something no one knows.

It’s to supplement your app package in ways that make you an obvious “right choice” for their college. I’m not sure the move from super urban to rural does that. Obviously, we haven’t read that essay. But maybe start by asking yourself what they do want to learn about you. Again, for that college, your app, not life in general.

I think I should clarify a little bit…

I’m actually applying as a junior transfer student. I am currently the opinions editor for my campus paper. I wrote an editorial piece on how I developed my passion for writing/journalism through the hardships of moving to a place FOR COLLEGE so culturally different from my home. It is a piece that highlights my strengths as a writer and explains how Minnesota put me through hell (which is why – I explain – I want to transfer), but is the reason why I wish to pursue English/Journalism major at a different school.

Every time I try to draft my personal statement or try to write a supplement on my extracurriculars, my heart wants to write about being an opinions editor, but it always comes out sounding super similar to my article. I wasn’t sure if I could just use snippets from that in my essay or if it’s some form of “self-plagiarism” that colleges wouldn’t like.

So your telling your transfer school you can’t adapt to new situations and different cultures? How does this speak to your new target school and their vision and culture at that school? The essay is not about you being a newspaper editor but mention it in a positive way. It’s about you excelling on your new campus and maybe one way you will get involved in the campus community is through their newspaper etc.

Read your school’s mission statement then read this: https://pwp.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2017/05/16/admission-its-not-fair/

Hmmm… interesting point. I think I just misunderstood the prompt. I figured that if I’m applying specifically to the English department in each of these schools, they would want to know how my current school made me a passionate writer who will continue that diligence and focus at their institution. And that – although my current school fostered growth – my mental health/academic interests would benefit the most from transferring. Which is what my essay at its current state does.

If that’s not the goal, how should I write it to make it an interesting read? Is that even important? Or is it better to be dry and just say “blah, blah, blah is why I want to transfer, and blah blah is what I’d bring to this school.” How important is style here? Especially considering I’m applying for English.

What’s the prompt? Maybe others can chime in then

Unlike the UK, nobody in the English Dept will read your application. So, yes style will matter- but mostly if it’s bad! And, they aren’t interested in what your current school did / didn’t do per se - you don’t need to even mention your current school if you don’t want to. They are more interested in whether you know enough about their school to know why it is a good fit both ways

It is surprising how people can hear things. Where you might be thinking what you wrote says ‘had a tough landing / moving on’, somebody else might read it as ‘can’t adapt / won’t stick it out’. One of my collegekids moved school / country / continent in grades 6 & 8., and moved schools again in grade 11. In a college interview she mentioned a specific challenge involved. The interviewer told her that she wasn’t appreciating how privileged she was to have been able to live in all those countries. Seriously.

The importance of your essay is somewhat linked to where you are applying. If you are applying to a large university with stats that are at the high end, you need something competent but not necessarily dazzling. If you are applying to a place that takes only a handful of transfer applicants dazzling is essential.

^^this. After reading how great your current school is I wonder why are you leaving it then?

You can say you became a passionate writer due to xxx… Maybe something that is about you.

Also there must be something in the courses, professors,major, etc in the college catalog that excites you about your potential transfer school? That would be great to know.

How will you use your talents at your new school? Look at the clubs /activities /organizations at that school. They want to know how you will fit, in their school. Not issues you had at your old school. Keep it positive not negative. You can say that in your first 2 years you learned x and that x is really important to you and the new school supports x in your goals. My daughter transferred as a junior also. Her first school couldn’t support her major that she wanted since they really didn’t offer it. She spoke more to what school B could offer her with her educational goals. Not what school A couldn’t offer. Make sense?

Agree. It’s difficult to tell them, on one hand, that you’re such a great and ardent writer, but on the other, that you can’t hack it where you are and need a different environment. And I’d say mentioning mental health is a no-no. The intellectual strength and world awareness to carry that off well is usually years away.

Great writers don’t exist just for the college context, whether assignments or ECs. Unfortunately, it’s up to you, the writer, to come up with the convincing reasons for a transfer. If it can’t be done with your writing as a topic, try finding another way.

So I guess my takeaway (if anyone ever reads this thread again) is that it’s totally okay to transfer for non-academic purposes. Things like mental health, location, and not feeling comfortable on campus are valid and don’t be afraid to write that in your apps! But also make sure you tie it in and say how you could make a high impact on their campus too, as suggested.

Congrats!! Glad things worked out for you.

More From Forbes

College essays that worked and how yours can too.

Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Linkedin

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 08: A view of Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University on ... [+] July 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sued the Trump administration for its decision to strip international college students of their visas if all of their courses are held online. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The college essay is a pivotal piece of the college application showcasing your individuality and differentiated outlook to admissions officers. What makes an essay truly shine? Let’s dive into the words behind three standout essays highlighted by university websites and a school newspaper's brand studio so you can get into the right mindset for crafting your own narrative.

Embracing Differences: Finding Strength In Uniqueness

Essay Excerpt: ‘Bra Shopping ’ (Harvard)

Featured by the Harvard Crimson Brand Studio , Orlee's essay recounts a student's humorous and insightful experience of bra shopping with her grandmother, weaving in her unique family dynamics and challenges at her prestigious school.

What Works:

Humor and Honesty: The student's humor makes the essay enjoyable to read, while her honesty about her challenges adds depth.
Self-Awareness: She demonstrates a strong sense of self-awareness, embracing her uniqueness rather than trying to fit in.
Resilience: Her narrative highlights resilience and the ability to find strength in differences.

For Your Essay : To write an essay that embraces your uniqueness, start by identifying a quirky or challenging experience that reflects who a key insight into your experience. Think about how this experience has shaped your perspective and character. Use humor and honesty to bring your story to life, and focus on how you have embraced your differences to become stronger and more resilient.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, finding connections: humor and self-reflection.

Essay: ‘Brood X Cicadas ’ (Hamilton College)

As an example on Hamilton's admissions website, Nicholas writes about the cicadas swarming his hometown every 17 years and draws a parallel between their emergence and his own transition to college life. He uses humor and self-reflection to create a relatable and engaging narrative.

Humor: Nicholas uses humor to make his essay entertaining and memorable. His witty comparisons between himself and cicadas add a unique twist.
Self-Reflection: By comparing his life to the cicadas’, he reflects on his own growth and readiness for change.
Relatability: His narrative about facing new experiences and challenges resonates with readers who have undergone similar transitions.

For Your Essay: To infuse humor and self-reflection into your essay, start by identifying an ordinary experience or object and think about how it relates to your life. Write down funny or insightful observations about this connection. Use humor to make your essay more engaging, but ensure it still conveys meaningful self-reflection. This balance can make your essay both entertaining and profound.

Persistence and Multicultural Identity: Life Lessons From Tortilla Making

Essay: ‘ Facing The Hot Griddle ’ (Johns Hopkins University)

In this essay published by Hopkins Insider, Rocio uses the process of making tortillas to explore her multicultural identity and the challenges she has faced. Her story beautifully weaves together her Guatemalan heritage and her experiences growing up in the United States.

Metaphor and Symbolism: The process of making tortillas becomes a powerful metaphor for the student’s journey and struggles. The symbolism of the masa harina and water mixing parallels her blending of cultural identities.
Personal Growth: The essay highlights her perseverance and adaptability, qualities that are crucial for success in college.
Cultural Insight: She provides a rich, personal insight into her multicultural background, making her story unique and compelling.

For Your Essay: To write an essay that explores your identity through a metaphor, start by thinking about an activity or tradition that holds significant meaning for you. Consider how this activity relates to your life experiences and personal growth. Use detailed descriptions to bring the activity to life and draw connections between the process and your own journey. Reflect on the lessons you've learned and how they've shaped your identity.

A winning college essay isn’t simply about parading your best accomplishment or dramatizing your challenges. It’s not a contest for which student is the most original or entertaining. Rather, the essay is a chance for you to showcase your authenticity, passion, resilience, social awareness, and intellectual vitality . By sharing genuine stories and insights, you can create an essay that resonates with admissions committees and highlights your unique qualities.

For you to have the best possible essay, mindset is key. Here’s how to get into the zone:

Reflect Deeply: Spend time thinking about your experiences, challenges, and passions. Journaling can help you uncover deep insights.
Discuss and Share: Talking about your stories with friends, family, or mentors can provide new perspectives and emotional clarity.
Immerse Yourself: Engage in activities that you are passionate about to reignite the feelings and memories associated with them.
Draft Freely: Don’t worry about perfection on the first try. Write freely and honestly, then refine your narrative.

The secret to a standout college essay lies in its authenticity, depth, and emotional resonance. By learning from these successful examples and getting into the right mindset, you can craft an essay that not only stands out but also provides a meaningful insight into who you are. Remember, your essay is your story—make it a piece of writing that you will always be proud of.

Editorial Standards
Reprints & Permissions

Closing: It's Now or Never Today is your last chance to join the three-hour training experience that’s transforming writers’ lives… Make sure you grab it now!
Last day: Your Apprenticeship Awaits… If you want to apprentice with B2B copywriting legend Steve Slaunwhite…learn one of the most in-demand, great-paying B2B copywriting specialties in 2024… get full access to all of Steve’s templates and frameworks for completing the most commonly requested projects — including how to use AI to do these simple projects with a quick turnaround… and have a chance at becoming one of the “go-to” writers he refers his “overflow” clients to… Then now’s the time to get all the details and save your spot.
PLAYBACK: How You Can Break $100K/Year with Sales Enablement — FAST Learn what sales enablement is, why it’s so big, what projects clients need most, how much you can earn from each one, and so much more!
Read More News …

Discover Unlimited Writing Pathways and Pick the Best One for You

Subscribe to Barefoot Writer today and start living the life of freedom and fun you’ve always wanted!

Do it now and you can catapult yourself to the writer’s life for just $11. That’s a savings of 77% if you act now!

Not only does your subscription to Barefoot Writer guarantee you 12 full-color, digital issues delivered straight to your inbox …

It’s also an easy way for you to map out the groundwork of your future writer’s life .

This is something you’ll want to do sooner rather than later so you can weigh all your options — after all, your writing career can be whatever you want it to be:

If you want to work full-time … part-time … just in the summer … or on the weekends, you can .
If you want to only write for clients, or only for yourself, you can .
If you want to write in a specific niche that just happens to be your favorite hobby … you can!

Really, writing is one of the most flexible careers around. Not only do you get total freedom in how to schedule your day and how much you work …

You also get to decide what kinds of projects you take on, whom you work with, and how much you’ll get paid!

Each month, the pages of Barefoot Writer show you:

Which writing opportunities are red-hot right now and desperate for writers …
Insights into the different paths other writers took to getting paid to write — so you’ll know what steps to take to build your writer’s life …
Personal stories and success secrets from leading writers in this industry …
Ideas on how to think more creatively …
Motivation to keep you going over the long haul …
Business-building ideas to keep your writing career growing year after year …
Productivity secrets to help you make the most of your writing time (so you have plenty of living time left over!) …
Eye-opening monthly Q&As from the leaders behind AWAI …
And access to ongoing contests to win $100 and get published!

There’s never been a better time to be a writer, and as a subscriber to Barefoot Writer magazine you’ll see the pathway options all laid out for you.

Plus, this offer is completely risk-free. Try it and take the next 365 days to see if you like it.

Hurry though — this deal ends soon.

Click here now to secure your $11 subscription to the Barefoot Writer magazine.

Share this Page:

Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email

Last Day: Over 60% Off AI Training for Writers
LAST CHANCE: Become a Barefoot Writer and Save 77% Today!
LAST CHANCE: Save $200 on Writers Club Membership
Well-paid writing just got easier…

Guest, Add a Comment Please Note: Your comments will be seen by all visitors.

You are commenting as a guest. If you’re an AWAI Member, Login to myAWAI for easier commenting, email alerts, and more!

(If you don’t yet have an AWAI Member account, you can create one for free .)

Display Name * : This name will appear next to your comment.

Email Address * : Your email is required but will not be displayed.

Comment * : Text only. Your comment may be trimmed if it exceeds 500 characters.

Type the word above * : Hint: The letters above appear as shadows and spell a real word. If you have trouble reading it, you can use the links to view a new image or listen to the letters being spoken.

Submit Comment ( * all fields required)

Click Here to Contact Our Member Success Team

Board of Regents
Business Portal

New York State Education Department

Commissioner
USNY Affiliates
Organization Chart
Building Tours
Program Offices
Rules & Regulations
Office of Counsel
Office of State Review
Freedom of Information (FOIL)
Governmental Relations
Adult Education
Bilingual Education
Career & Technical Education
Cultural Education
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Early Learning
Educator Quality
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Graduation Measures
Higher Education
High School Equivalency
Indigenous Education
My Brother's Keeper

Office of the Professions

P-12 Education
Special Education
Vocational Rehabilitation
Next Generation Learning Standards: ELA and Math
Office of Standards and Instruction
Diploma Requirements
Teaching in Remote/Hybrid Learning Environments (TRLE)
Office of State Assessment
Computer-Based Testing
Exam Schedules
Grades 3-8 Tests
Regents Exams
New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA)
English as a Second Language Tests
Test Security
Teaching Assistants
Pupil Personnel Services Staff
School Administrators
Professionals
Career Schools
Fingerprinting
Accountability
Audit Services
Budget Coordination
Chief Financial Office
Child Nutrition
Facilities Planning
Ed Management Services
Pupil Transportation Services
Religious and Independent School Support
SEDREF Query
Public Data
Data Privacy and Security
Information & Reporting

High School Regents Examinations

June 2024 Examinations General Information
Past Regents Examinations
Archive: Regents Examination Schedules
High School Administrator's Manual
January 2024 Regents Examination Scoring Information
June 2024 Regents Examination Scoring Information
Testing Materials for Duplication by Schools
English Language Arts
Next Generation Algebra I Reference Sheet
Life Science: Biology
Earth and Space Sciences
Science Reference Tables (1996 Learning Standards)

United States History and Government

Global History and Geography II
High School Field Testing
Test Guides and Samplers
Technical Information and Reports

General Information

Information Booklet for Scoring the Regents Examination in United States History and Government
Frequently Asked Questions on Cancellation of Regents Examination in United States History and Government - Revised, 6/17/22
Cancellation of the Regents Examination in United States History and Government for June 2022
Educator Guide to the Regents Examination in United States History and Government - Updated, July 2023
Memo: January 2022 Regents Examination in United States History and Government Diploma Requirement Exemption
Timeline for Regents Examination in United States History and Government and Regents Examination in United States History and Government
Regents Examination in United States History and Government Essay Booklet - For June 2023 and beyond
Prototypes for Regents Examination in United States History and Government
Regents Examination in United States History and Government Test Design - Updated, 3/4/19
Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) for United States History and Government

Part 1: Multiple-Choice Questions

Part I: Task Models for Stimulus Based Multiple-Choice Question

Part II: Stimulus-Based Short Essay Questions: Sample Student Papers

The links below lead to sample student papers for the Part II Stimulus-Based Short Essay Questions for both Set 1 and Set 2. They include an anchor paper and a practice paper at each score point on a 5-point rubric. These materials were created to provide further understanding of the Part II Stimulus-Based Short Essay Questions and rubrics for scoring actual student papers. Each set includes Scoring Worksheets A and B, which can be used for training in conjunction with the practice papers. The 5-point scoring rubric has been specifically designed for use with these Stimulus-Based Short Essay Questions.

Part III: Civic Literacy Essay Question

The link below leads to sample student papers for the Part III Civic Literacy Essay Question. It includes Part IIIA and Part IIIB of a new Civic Literacy Essay Question along with rubrics for both parts and an anchor paper and practice paper at each score point on a 5-point rubric. These materials were created to provide further understanding of the Part III Civic Literacy Essay Question and rubric for scoring actual student papers. Also included are Scoring Worksheets A and B, which can be used for training in conjunction with the practice papers. The 5-point scoring rubric is the same rubric used to score the Document-Based Question essay on the current United States History and Government Regents Examination.

Part III: Civic Literacy Essay Question Sample Student Papers

Get the Latest Updates!

Subscribe to receive news and updates from the New York State Education Department.

Media Center

Newsletters
Video Gallery
X (Formerly Twitter)

New York State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

CONTACT US

NYSED General Information: (518) 474-3852

ACCES-VR: 1-800-222-JOBS (5627)

High School Equivalency: (518) 474-5906

New York State Archives: (518) 474-6926

New York State Library: (518) 474-5355

New York State Museum: (518) 474-5877

Office of Higher Education: (518) 486-3633

Office of the Professions: (518) 474-3817

P-12 Education: (518) 474-3862

EMAIL CONTACTS

Adult Education & Vocational Services

New York State Archives

New York State Library

New York State Museum

Office of Higher Education

Office of Education Policy (P-20)

Diversity & Access | Accessibility | Internet Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Terms of Use

Build Your Study Plan

So you've got an SAT or PSAT-related assessment coming up, and it's time to start studying. What do you do now? We recommend creating a study plan to keep you on track. This page will give you the tools to create one of your own.

Set Your Goals

If you're just getting started:.

The most important thing you can do is understand your own strengths and challenge areas. Knowing this information will help you identify the areas where you could use the most skill review. There are a few ways to check your knowledge:

Bluebook™ practice test: This is the best and most accurate way to ensure you're measuring your knowledge of the skills on the actual test. It's also a valuable introduction to the Bluebook testing app, which you'll use both for practice tests and on test day. Plus, when you practice in Bluebook, your practice scores will be available in My Practice, where you'll find helpful information about your performance on different content areas so you can target your practice more effectively.
Khan Academy ® diagnostic: For a skill check outside of Bluebook, take Khan Academy's SAT Course Challenge for both the Reading and Writing Test and the Math Test . These challenges will give you a snapshot of your performance on different content areas, which you can use to decide what you want to study.
In-school test review: You may know the areas where you need to study just from the tests you've already taken in school. Review your old tests from your math classes and your English or language arts classes and see if you notice any skill gaps you can boost. If you're feeling stuck, check out our page with more information about what different questions look like on the test to help you identify the skills you need to work on. This method will help you start studying right away so you can be more prepared when you take the diagnostic or practice test.

If you've already taken a practice test or an assessment in the SAT Suite:

You're off to a great start! Your results from a previous practice test or assessment are the most helpful tool to create your study plan. Keep your practice scores in My Practice or your official score report from your assessment handy, and check out these study activities to put your results to use:

Skill Booster
Question Bank Review
Khan Academy Review

Once you feel like you've boosted your challenge areas, take another practice test and see how you've improved. We recommend spacing your practice tests out by at least two weeks if your study schedule allows.

Choose Your Study Activities

When you're creating a study plan, it's important to consider how much time you can spend studying each day. These activities will help you build a plan that works for you. This list isn't meant to set a particular order for your practice, so feel free to pick and choose the activities that fit your schedule.

Quick Study Activities (15 minutes or less)

Get to Know Bluebook: Did you know that research shows your brain is more likely to remember information when you're in a familiar environment? While you may not be able to study in your actual testing room, familiarizing yourself with our Bluebook digital testing app is the next best thing. Use Bluebook's Test Preview feature to get acquainted with all its helpful tools, including a highlighter, an option eliminator, a line reader, an annotation tool, and a flag to mark questions for review that you want to come back to at the end of the test.

Moderate Study Activities (15 minutes to an hour)

Khan Academy Review: By taking time to study key skills, you can build your knowledge and better prepare yourself to see an improvement in your score when you try a practice test. Official Digital SAT Prep on Khan Academy is a great way to review the skills you need to succeed on the SAT Suite of Assessments. Their courses have short lessons, videos, and example problems that are the right length for a moderate study session.

Skill Booster: You can complete this activity with your old tests or practice tests in the SAT Suite of Assessments, or use tests and quizzes you've taken throughout the school year. Instead of just checking the correct answers, go back and try to determine why you missed a particular question. Did you misread the question or not understand what it was asking? Were you confused by an answer choice that wasn't quite right? Could you use a review of the skills related to that question? You may want to take notes on your findings so you can spot patterns and review any related skills later. Learning from your mistakes will help you build your test-taking skills as well as your learning and studying strategies.

Create an Explanation: When you can explain a concept in a way that makes sense to you, you're more likely to recall it later. Put this memory trick to use by rewriting answer explanations from any of our practice resources in your own words. Make connections to things you enjoy or people in your life. For instance, maybe it's easier to understand a problem using the distance formula if you imagine traveling to another city to see your favorite artist in concert, or it's easier to remember the rules about serial commas and semicolons if you make a list of the players on your favorite sports team and their positions. Get creative!

Extended Study Activity (More than an hour)

Full-length Practice Test in Bluebook: If you're looking for an experience that's as close to test day as possible, try a full-length practice test in Bluebook. To access the practice tests, go to Practice and Prepare on the Bluebook homepage and select Full-Length Practice . Taking a full-length practice test builds your endurance and comfort level with the test itself. It also gives you a chance to practice the skills and question types you're likely to see on the real test. We recommend taking a practice test at least two weeks before test day (if possible) so you can use the remaining time to sharpen your skills. Once you've had a chance to review your score in My Practice, the other study activities listed here can help you focus on any challenge areas. If you're ahead of the game with more than a month to go until test day, you can even space your practice tests out to track your progress over time. Tip: If you don't have time to take a full-length test in Bluebook in one sitting, you can pause the practice test and come back to it on another day. Unfinished practice tests are stored in Bluebook for up to 90 days.

Essay Papers Writing Online

Plan for Promoting a Custom Essay Writing Platform

Educate potential customers about the benefits of using a professional writing service

Create engaging and informative content about essay writing

Utilize social media platforms to reach a wider audience

Offer discounts and promotions to attract new customers

Collaborate with influencers and bloggers in the education niche

Provide exceptional customer service to encourage repeat business

Related Post

Why Buy Already Written Essays Online If You Can Order a Custom Piece Crafted from Scratch Exclusively for You!

No Need to Buy Essay Already Written – Explore the WowEssays Database for Free!

WowEssays Is So Much More Than a Database of Already Written College Essays!

Who Needs Already Written Essays for Sale When You Can Have Custom-Written Papers?

Hire a Pro Writer

Pricing That's Right for You

“Way Better Than to Buy Already Written Essays!” – WowEssays Writing Service Customer Reviews

Other Pages

How do I find, for example, already written research papers, essays, or term papers for free use in your sample directory?

Free Essay Examples Database by PapersOwl

The ways we can help you

Writing help

Writing tools

Study resources

Essay samples by category

Medicine And Health

Still Need Help With Essay Writing?

1. Submit Instructions

2. Choose Essay Writer

3. Track Order

4. Check Paper

Understanding the Vietnam War: Causes, Consequences, and Legacy

Understanding the Vitality of Bones: are they Truly Alive?

Whiskey Rebellion: the Frontier Distillers’ Fight for Survival and Storytelling

Unity and Divine Wisdom in 1st Corinthians 1: Insights for Today’s Christian Community

Why did the Washington Redskins Change their Name?

When was the Spanish-American War? an Analysis of its Origins and Impact

Understanding the Various Forms of Mass Media

When was the Stamp Act Passed: Key Dates and Historical Context

What was Reconstruction: Understanding Post-Civil War America

Totally Free Essay Database

Diet & Nutrition

Entertainment & Media

Environment

Family, Life & Experiences

Health & Medicine

Linguistics

Politics & Government

Tech & Engineering

Transportation

Most Popular Essay Topics

Essays by Number of Pages

Cash Flow Statements in Financial Management

The Staff Expectations from the Audit Results

The NextGen Firm’s Business Continuity and Resilience

Political Sciences: Do States Have to Be Enemies?

A Doctor of Nursing Practice Project and Its Components

The Pinduoduo Company’s Social Impact

Corporate Social Responsibility Exemplar Firms

Nursing Leadership Style and Talents Required

The McDonald’s Company’s Supply Chain Model

Reducing Tuberculosis Among Indigenous Communities

Cognitive Functioning and Problem-Solving Issues

Marketing Intelligence and Customer Relationships Analysis

Interview with Hospital Supervisor: Reflection

Delayed Decision Making and Its Consequences

St. Luke and St. Alphonsus Hospitals Comparison

Six Quality Dimensions for Healthcare Provision

Frequently asked questions

Custom Essays

The Elements of a Perfect Essay

Why Do Essays Need to Be Custom and Unique?

Custom Essay Writing for Any Academic Level!

We offer other writing services for you:

Custom essay writing service

Data security

Meet our native-speaking custom essay writers

Key reasons why students choose us

Constant 24/7 support

Follow these simple steps to get expert assistance

2. Choose from our pool of experts