50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

An Informal Education at Home
“For the two admissions essays, I wrote about my gymnastics career and 
my family. The first essay was about the valuable skills I gained from dedicat-
ing 11 years of my life to the sport of competitive gymnastics. I pulled out spe-
cific skills (i.e. discipline, time management, team work, etc) and highlighted 
how I developed those skills from training and competing as a gymnast and 
then described how I would apply those skills as a student-athlete at Yale.”
“My second essay described my family. As the youngest of six children, in 
addition to having many other friends and family constantly moving in and 
out of our house, I had a very interesting and stimulating upbringing. My 
father was the headmaster of a boys’ school in Potomac, Maryland and would 
provide housing to some of the international exchange students who attended 
his school for as long as they needed (a year, two, ten!). growing up, I had sev-
eral semi-big brothers from Bulgaria, Mexico, and Spain and even an African-
American boy from inner city Washington, D.C. whom my father took in after 
befriending his family through his work in Anacostia with Mother Theresa 
and the Missionaries of Charity. I always thought he was my brother since he 
lived at our house from the day I was born. This allowed me to be exposed to 
several different cultures without even leaving my own home!”
“My blood siblings were also a part of my informal education at home. 
Each of them is extremely bright but in very different ways. I learned through 
them every day. James, the eldest, was a Classics major at Hopkins who went 
on to receive his master’s at U.T. and is currently pursuing an M.B.A. at Duke. 
Liz went to the University of Pennsylvania and received a B.S. and master’s 
in nursing, and later an M.B.A from Wharton. Catherine received her B.S. 
in mechanical engineering at Princeton and J.D. at Suffolk. Joey went to the 
Coast guard Academy and received his B.S. in civil engineering, then went 
to virginia Tech for a master’s in civil engineering and is currently pursuing 
his M.B.A. at Berkeley. Mary went to the University of Maryland where she 
received a B.A. and master’s in special education.”
“Both my parents value education above all else and truly instilled a pas-
sion for learning in all of their children. My father (Harvard and georgetown 
Law grad) encouraged poetry recitation and constant reading. In addition to 
my formal education, this informal education I received at home was what 
really prepared me for Yale and the world beyond!”
—Anne McPherson, Yale University