Here I see two different worlds. One, the rural, the traditional, hearkens back to my ancestors who settled on a farm in the Ozark Mountains almost two centuries ago. The other, the urban, the modern, beckons me to the fast-paced world of money, of glamor, of big buildings and bright lights. I am content here because I don’t have to choose here. I can hear the cars on the highway and the buzz of the city, but I can...

In my essay, I pictured myself at Yale and put myself in the places I was sure I would love-the libraries, the classrooms, and in conversation with fellow students.

The garish yellow spines of several “Nancy Drew” mysteries are just visible, reclining at a slight angle behind a stack of books that includes “America’s Interest in World Peace” by Irving Fisher and Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King.” On the shelf above resides my collection of Brian Jacques’ “Redwall” series, about twenty in all, books that I devoured throughout elementary and middle school, now collecting dust behind “The Closing of the American Mind” and “The Pickwick Papers.” Represented...

Before I made a decision to major in political economy, Georgetown only crossed my mind as the basketball team I occasionally pulled for during March Madness. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking for in a school; I only knew that I wanted to study policy and the economy, and particularly the degree to which they are intertwined. I believe it is impossible to understand political issues without understanding the economic factors that have shaped them, and likewise...

In my family, I have one uncle who is a gun-owning Southern Baptist preacher and another who is a pacifist living with his family in a Catholic Worker community. My circle of friends includes several who are strongly Christian and several who are strongly atheist. At church, there is a constant struggle between my progressive pastor and a somewhat more traditional congregation. Even two of my favorite teachers have ideologies directly opposing each other, one a staunch Tea Party conservative...

I procrastinated on writing my essays, and that...

I had my favorite high school teachers write my recommendation letters, even if I wasn't planning to study the subject they...

The only school I interviewed with was Georgetown, since there weren't any Yale alums in my area. The...

I did not, and I wouldn't advise it. It feels...

My school's scholarship coordinator was really great at her job, and I found...

As of now, I'm planning...

I only applied to schools that I would seriously consider attending. I didn't see the point in applying to all of the Ivy League schools when I knew the only one I would consider attending was Yale....