50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Passions for a Musical Instrument and Language Study
“Two key themes that I chose for my admissions essay topics were: my in-
terest in the tabla, a north Indian percussion drum and my interest in learning 
languages and specifically taking a Korean language class offered in my high 
school. I chose these because they conveyed my desire to really develop the 

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Chapter 21: Advice on Topics from Ivy League Students
few activities that I was MOST passionate about. A concern of mine is that 
students feel that they have to do anything and everything offered within their 
school and community in order to get into a top college, and I often found 
myself falling into this trap in high school. I wanted to convey in my college 
applications, that I would only dedicate time and energy to the activities that I 
was MOST passionate about, and this passion radiated through the right mix 
of sensory details and analysis of the emotional ties to the activities that I was 
engaging in.”
—Shreyans C. Parekh, University of Pennsylvania