Harvard University Application Essays

Recently, I discovered the world of “ditch architects”: urbanists who abandon the traditional office-style design studio and blur the line between urban planning, design, art, and social work. Rather than relying on statistics, they mapped out a city’s ‘kinetic’ energy through first-hand interaction with local…

In the middle of the blazing heat of summer in Nürnberg, I sat with stiff muscles and frozen hands with the family that up to this moment had always been so welcoming to my company. My eyes wandered the living room to find a niche…

This past summer, like many previous summers, I spent in Russia, or what my friends jokingly refer to as “the motherland.” To the surprise of the most sheltered of my acquaintances, I returned neither Communist nor raped, but enriched and aware. I spent two weeks…

We read Paradise Lost my sophomore year, and ever since then English class has seemed little better than a waste of time. No school-assigned book has been able to compare: Paradise Lost is the only book I’ve ever read that I can honestly say changed…

“For God’s sake, please stop the aid!” This prominently placed quote in a magazine I was reading immediately caught my attention. It reminded me of an article written by Milton Friedman on the null or negative impact of foreign aid. I admit that by then…

“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance they find their own order – the continuous thread of revelation.” Eudora Welty What happened to our family was a bringing together, a meshing, a melting of histories, cultures, and…

“I HATE science.” Poor, unsuspecting Mrs. Lato. When she cheerily asked us to jot down our interests in science, I penned my sentence of outright rejection. This eleven-year-old clearly did not share the passion of my new science teacher. Now, had she asked us about…

Thanks to the hundreds of different stories my relatives have told me, I have heard every side of the Yugoslav war and the fall of communism. Every side. On top of having a sense of these different perspectives, I have learned many interesting customs along…

My own eyes were closed, but I could sense hundreds watching us. My fingers, previously swathed in thick woolen gloves, were loose and warm. I exhaled slowly and willed all my muscles to relax. I brought the cold, smooth mouthpiece up to my lips and…

I didn’t have much to say when I was very young. In fact, according to family legend, I didn’t utter so much as a single word for the first three years of my life. Naturally, my mom and dad began frantically seeking the expertise of…