First Year Supplemental Essay: College Admission Essay Sample

“Where did you go to college, Ms. Jennifer?” is a question I get often at lunch mentoring. The kids I work with are less focused at times with why I’m there and instead want to know everything about me. Instead of giving them a long spiel about deferring enrollment and reapplying to colleges during this gap year, I say, “I am going to an all-women’s College in Philadelphia.”

Attending Bryn Mawr would create an extension of the community I’ve found in City Year. Every college has a unique community, but it is hard to find one that is reciprocal in nature and focused on philanthropic pursuits. Visiting campus, hearing students' experiences and learning about the myriad clubs and internships available confirmed this thought. Getting direct feedback from students on Praxis and 360° courses proves to me that Bryn Mawr has the experiential learning I require to be a well-rounded and knowledgeable adult.

Reciprocity is important to me in more than one aspect. At Bryn Mawr women are homogenous in gender, but that’s really where our commonalities end; beyond it, the women are diverse. Coming to Bryn Mawr as a first generation Dominican and college attendee would broaden the perspectives of both me and my peers. Bryn Mawr creates a venue for me to have an open dialogue with women who are driven and passionate both in and out of classrooms. Bryn Mawr’s location and connections in the consortium make it an epicenter of critical thinking and dynamic learning.

Being a freshman after living alone, working multiple jobs and gaining a year of real world experience in the frontiers of educational reform adds to the variance in my perspective. Knowing that I can revisit the Career Development Office after graduation makes me confident that I can be successful and knowing that I can continue to have lunch buddies through the Civic Engagement Office makes me excited to influence future students.

I want to be a Mawrter because all of the women I have met have shown a demeanor that is powerful, compassionate and proud — qualities are crucial in achieving anything.

I want to be invested in a college that will forever give me the courage and the tools necessary to attack public policy in educational reform or become a scientific researcher in neuroscience or have a solo show in a gallery in Philadelphia. When the students I work with ask me where I went to college, I dream with them a little.