50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Focus on Your Fit with the School
“Keep in mind the purpose of your essays! Sometimes people forget the 
purpose of the essay is to demonstrate how they are compatible with a school; 
instead, they just write a story that fits the prompt. However, admissions com-
mittees read hundreds of essays. They don’t have time to sit and guess what 
you’re trying to tell them. As a result, keep flowering unnecessary story details 
to the minimum. You want enough details to make your essays vivid and in-
teresting, but you’re not trying to write a novel.

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50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays
“Furthermore, you are trying to convince the admissions committee why 
you would fit in with the school. Something I found useful was to look up 
the mission statements of schools and demonstrate how I would fit in. For 
Caltech, they have a big emphasis on integrating research and education, 
an interdisciplinary atmosphere, and helping students develop into creative 
members of society. As a result, I tried to incorporate those details into my 
essays.
“Finally, please make sure you don’t submit essays about why you want to 
attend MIT! My roommate is part of the undergraduate team on the admis-
sions committee, and she tells me that unfortunately, there are a number of 
applications with MIT in the essays. Obviously, the admissions committee 
doesn’t smile upon that—it’s one of the reasons why you should really put an 
effort to making the essays for each school unique. Just as you want to stand 
out to the admissions committees through your essays, the admissions com-
mittees want to see how their schools stand out to you and why you should 
belong there.”
—Anonymous, Caltech
Target One Idea
“At least when it comes to writing admissions essays, try to focus on one 
idea. This type of essay is difficult to write because it can feel like you’re trying 
to squeeze your entire life into a few paragraphs—which generally results in 
too many underdeveloped ideas that all fail to do you justice. Pick one idea 
and stick to it. Doing so will give you the flexibility to be creative and will help 
you feel as though you are in control of your writing.”
—Laura V. Mesa, Stanford University