If the 500-yard freestyle didn't have counters, I would still be swimming. (Actually, that happened once and I ended up swimming a 550.) When I compete in the 500, I'm not thinking about the race. I don't think about my speed, and I don't think about the people swimming on either side of me. The moment I dive into the water, none of that matters. I set my pace, my overworked brain shuts down, and my subconscious takes over. Above the water,...

When I was a sophomore, my father and I went on a quick college tour. When we stepped onto the Duke campus, I was stricken by the beauty of the school. After the information session and the walking tour, I told him I was done searching: I was home, and I was staying. I was amazed by the enormous sense of spirit coming from all of the students and how much they love Duke. I'm very interested in Duke's highly-ranked...

Last summer, I biked 3,181 miles from Charleston, SC to Santa Monica, CA. I traveled with 11 other high school students and 2 college-aged leaders. The trip was unsupported, so we carried our own tents, sleeping bags, clothes, food, cooking utensils, and toiletries on a rack on the back of our bikes. The 12 teenagers were completely unplugged, meaning nobody had a cell phone, tablet, or laptop. While preparing, I expected to return to Florida with a plethora of tales about sunsets and starry...

Throughout my high school years, I have found and cultivated an interest in computer science. I have coded in languages like Java, Python, and Ruby, both for schoolwork and for my own development on the website Project Euler, where I am in the top 9% of over 440,000 users. In college, I look forward to continuing my education in the computer sciences; however, I am also very interested in other areas of study, namely the liberal arts and natural sciences. Northwestern’s...

I wrote my essay about swimming. College Advisors generally suggest against writing about a sport, because the essay topic of "Sports as a metaphor for life" is way overused. However, mine did not have that sense, and instead gave the admissions officers a glance into how I think. By reading this essay, they could see that I use the 500 yard race as my form of meditation, which gives me the opportunity to block outside distractions and let my mind roam,...

I would've started writing my essays earlier. I started in the end...

I would also suggest that if you're trying to write an essay...

During the summer of 2014, I biked 3,200 miles from Charleston, SC to Santa Monica, CA. During my interviews with various schools, the interviewers could not get enough...

I received a full ride, as a National Merit Scholar, to UF. However, and luckily, money was not an impediment for my family. In the end, I was choosing among Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Wash....

For a good "Why Us" essay, first spend at least an hour looking at the school's website. Look at their undergraduate academics, check out the different...

Vanderbilt is in the middle of Nashville, which I was originally worried about, because I personally dislike cities. My brother started at GW,...