50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays

Not Afraid to Be Cheesy
“My admissions essay topic was...well (as conceited as it sounds) a slightly 
humorous essay about me, with a play on words. But really the essays are 
supposed to showcase you in a way that might not show through in the rest 
of your application materials. It was really over-the-top cheesy, but that was 
what I was going for. I wanted my essay to stand out as someone who didn’t 
take themselves too seriously since I’m sure they get a million essays about 

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Chapter 21: Advice on Topics from Ivy League Students
triumphing over adversity or a life changing event. Those topics are fine, but 
really they just want to know about you as a person, and your essay doesn’t 
have to portray you as someone who will solve world poverty or be the next 
president. really you just need to show that you will be an interesting and 
valuable addition to their network. A teacher asked me a great question when 
I was brainstorming for my essay: What makes me different from the other 
thousand people that are applying?”
—Anonymous, Harvard University