50 Harvard Essays

Essays are for reference only. Do NOT copy or imitate anything! 
Plagiarism is severely punished! 
There is no signal, clear focus to the essay, but this accurately reflects the shower 
experience itself—“to catch and relect over any thoughts that drift through my head 
before they vanish.” Mahajan touches on schoolwork, classical Indian music and 
contemplation about her favorite book, all with humorous flair, and she even goes 
into emotionally revealing descriptions of crying in the shower. Unfortunately, she 
dwells on crying for an entire paragraph, and reader cannot help but wonder 
whether she could survive without her shower to cleanse her “mind and soul.” 
Ultimately, that Mahajan derives literally so much inspiration and relief from the 
shower seems rather hard to believe. The notion that she could have done better on 
her AP Calculus test had she been allowed to take it in the shower is amusing, but 
doesn’t seem to add much beyond the suggestion stand that vague “hard-to-grasp 
physics concept” seems excessive. Already she distinctly conveys her interest in 
science through her language—“the perfect coefficient of absorption for repeated 
reflections of sound waves” –and a supposedly subtle reaffirmation of this interest 
seems unnecessary. 
Mahajan’s vivid language and unusual description are principle qualities of this 
essay. She deftly avoids the temptation of resorting to clichés, and most everything 
is entirely unpredictable. A relatively minor point is that her economy of language 
could be improved, as otherwise fluid sentences are occasionally overdone with an 
excess of adjectives and adverbs. Nonetheless, Mahajan conveys her talent for 
creative writing, and this carries her essay for beyong the lesser issues mentioned 
earlier. And, of course, her distinctive showers theme helps this exhibition of talent 
stand out. 
哈佛