50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Give Yourself E nough Time
“Make sure you give yourself enough time to write a rough draft of your 
essay and time for someone to proofread it. Also, be sure that you feel confi-
dent and proud about the essay.”
—Ashley Mitchell, University of Chicago
Don’t Write for the Admissions Officers’ Approval
“Don’t write what you think the admissions committee wants to read. 
College admissions officers, I imagine, are tired of reading the same sorts of 
essays about how one fuddy-duddy person (used in many others’ essays) is 
the applicant’s hero or about how winning a school or academic competition 
was the greatest moment of an applicant’s life. Write about what you know, 
and write something that includes of bit of your personality. If you want to 
write about how Mr. Fuddy-Duddy is your hero, that’s perfectly fine, but just 
make sure you aren’t writing about him because it seems like the proper thing 
to do.”
—Mariam Nassiri, Duke University