50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Passion for Design
“For my admissions essay topic, I chose one aspect that I was extremely 
passionate about—design. Starting in high school I began to gain an inter-
est in design—interior, architectural, etc. My admissions essay was about the 
process I went through in designing my own bedroom at home. The reason I 
chose this as a topic was because I knew I would be able to write about it fairly 

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Chapter 21: Advice on Topics from Ivy League Students
easy. It represents a concrete experience and manifestation of my passion for 
design, so I knew I would be able to reveal who I was, who I wanted to be, 
in that essay.”
—Fareez Giga, Stanford University