50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Self-Improvement
“The first topic was about a risk you have taken. I wrote about my decision 
to try out for We the People, a competition civics team. I talked about how 
even though the program involved a lot of public speaking and I was very shy, 
I wanted to be on the team to improve my speaking skills.
“The second topic was a free-choice one. I wrote about how I was eat-
ing very unhealthily and it was having a bad effect on my complexion (A bit 
shallow, right? but it gets more than skin-deep. Pun intended). I completely 
changed my eating habits and discovered that I could achieve something 

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50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays
that was extremely difficult (staying on a healthy diet) if I was determined 
enough.
“Both of my essays have a theme of self-improvement, which was very 
important to me. I chose these topics for this reason: because they show how 
I have taken it upon myself to grow in ways outside of academics.”
—Anonymous, Yale University