Johns Hopkins asked what I would do if given a free afternoon and only $10. I started with an amusing anecdote about how I wish I could come up with a controversial or exciting way to spend the afternoon, but then wrote that all I really wanted to do was sit outside and paint. I segued into an essay about my love for art and included small pictures of water colors I had painted.

I rowed during freshman year, and was involved in...

My AP history teacher wrote a letter. I asked him because he had chaperoned our trip to the National History Day competition in Washington, DC, and he knew I was passionate about history. I...