University of Texas - Austin Admission Essays

It’s been a while since I curled up in my closet and carefully pried open the lid of my Blue Box: 5 X-Acto knives with 10 interchangeable blades and an array of 5 different handles. A cutter’s dream. Mom would always warn me when I…

The statement of purpose will provide an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that you feel could add value to your application. You may also want to explain unique aspects of your academic background or valued experiences you may have had that relate to your…

Being Indian — and I am 100% South Indian by birth — is not about Bollywood or cricket for me. Rather, my culture revolves around food. Few countries can lay claim to cuisine influenced by Anglo-Saxons, Mongols, Turks, and Persians. No other country uses India’s…

Choose an issue of importance to you—the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope—and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation. Foreign aid is a farce….

“Don’t turn the flip flop upside down!” I heard my grandmother let out a screech, that truly, could have awoken the dead had my mother not briskly calmed her down. Weird, I thought to myself. It was only a brown leather flip flop that my…

Eyes lock in on the cross and follow it down the aisle as its bearer leads the procession until the last person of the seemingly endless line grabs the entire congregation’s attention. Entering the back of the sanctuary, Father Mark’s flowing robes make it appear…

My dad is the preacher at the red-brick Southern Baptist church that I’ve attended since I was seven. It’s just down the road. Sunday school at 9:30, “big church” at 10:30. Youth Group on Wednesday nights. As the preacher’s kid, I know all the ins…

It’s a Saturday. I am nine years old, with my bright blonde hair blowing in the humid Corpus Christi air. Ryan and I are building a sandcastle as the sun is setting. Using the tools we made with shells and pieces of wood earlier in…

In a day and age when religious persecution might be expected to be a diminishing issue, one might be surprised to realize that it is in fact alive and well. While crusades may no longer be erupting to rid the world of the “non-believers” and…