50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Remember That Your Readers Are Adults
“I remember sitting on my bed, I didn’t know what they wanted me to do. 
Did they want me to encapsulate my life? At 15 you haven’t had much of a life. 
What I ended up doing is taking the Penn prompt to answer the open-ended 
prompt. If you’re faced with an open-ended prompt, find a prompt that you 
have relevant experience with. Make the essay entertaining with a nice story. If 
you have an essay already written, you can spin the conclusion, manipulating 
the essay to answer the prompt.
“My high school, Whitney High School, helped a lot. They had a two-
week writing workshop. It made me get started early. By having to start in July 
or August, you’re constantly thinking about the essay. It only gets better as you 
get closer to the deadline.
“not everyone has that resource, but you can get started early and have 
many people read your essay. You want it to have wide appeal because you 
don’t know who will ultimately read it. You never want to sound so serious 
that an adult would laugh at your writing. An admissions officer has to read 
1,000 essays, and he doesn’t want to be bogged down with a very serious 
piece. Put yourself in the place of the reader.”
—Ravi Patna, University of Pennsylvania