We didn’t call our car the “Pile of Junk” for nothing. That was just the most logical title for a vehicle that broke down so often that my dad recognized the men who operated the tow trucks. The name made sense given the pervasive odor of French fries that followed the car wherever it went, the swim gear and tools cluttering the backseat, and the shuddering sound that betrayed its approach from a mile away. The POJ was a 1982...

The Shoelace My naked toes hit the gritty concrete. Instantly, I felt the warmth of the sidewalk—heated by a day’s worth of streaming sun—radiate through the skin of my foot. But something wasn’t quite right. Where was my shoe? I stopped short, and the tall boy behind me braked too, barely escaping a collision with my vulnerable left appendage, which was now resting dangerously close to a discarded piece of chewing gum. We both looked down...

I chose to write my personal statement about my dad's veggie cars and the adventures that we had in them. I thought that this was a good topic because it showed my relationship with my family, my passion for the environment and adventure, how I've matured and changed over the years, and a bit of humor. It was also a seemingly mundane topic (the family car) that could be made more interesting through good writing. To me, being able to...

I interviewed at all of the schools I applied to (Harvard, Princeton, Yale). I would definitely suggest...

I think what set me apart from other students was the variety of my activities and the passion with which I pursued them....

A piece of advice that I would give to anyone is to apply somewhere early. I applied and was admitted to Harvard early...

In the end, I was between Harvard and Princeton. I actually got much more financial aid at Princeton...

I graduated high school in spring 2015, and I plan to take a gap year before starting college in...

Choose two teachers who know you on a personal level, ideally for a few years. I went...

If I could go back, I wouldn't change much about my application process. What I would say, though, is that...