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500 Word Essay

A Complete 500 Word Essay Writing Guide

11 min read

What is 500 word Essay?

A 500-word essay is a type of academic writing typically assigned in schools and colleges. This type of essay format requires the writer to express their thoughts, ideas, or arguments within a concise word limit.

A typical 500-word essay generally follows 4 to 5 paragraphs essay structure, with each paragraph containing approximately 75 to 200 words. The specific number and length of paragraphs can vary based on the type and structure of the essay.

A 500-word essay can be the easiest and the most difficult one to write, at the same time. It all depends on two things; the Topic and the Writer’s Abilities . Teachers often assign 500-word essay assignments as it can help them quickly assess the student’s critical, analytical, and writing skills.

500 Words Essay Format

Here is the format and structure of a well-crafted 500-word essay.

Introduction (Approximately 50-75 words)
Body Paragraphs (2-3 paragraphs, Approximately 150-200 words)
Counterargument (Optional, Approximately 50-75 words)
Conclusion (Approximately 50-75 words)

Let's take a closer look at how a 500-word essay is set up and what each part does to make the writing strong and clear.

that introduces the main point of the paragraph. between paragraphs to maintain the essay's coherence.

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How Long is a 500 Word Essay?

A 500-word essay is typically one to two pages long, depending on formatting and spacing. For APA style , use a 12-point font for serif (e.g., Times New Roman) and 11-point for sans-serif (e.g., Arial). With double spacing, it will extend to approximately 2 pages, while with single spacing, it usually fits onto 1 page.

How Long Should a 500 Word Essay Take?

Typically, for an average writer, composing a 500-word essay might take around 1 to 2 hours. However, this estimate can vary significantly based on individual factors such as familiarity with the topic, writing experience, and the need for extensive research or revision.

How Many Paragraphs is a 500 Word Essay?

A typical 500-word essay generally comprises 4 to 6 paragraphs. Each paragraph contains roughly 75 to 200 words. However, the exact number and length of paragraphs may vary depending on the essay's type and structure.

Word count is important in short essays. So, it’s best to aim for an introduction under 100 words, body paragraphs around 300 words each, and conclude within 100 words.

500-Word Essay vs. 250-Word Essay

A 500-word essay offers more depth than a 250-word one, allowing for additional detail and evidence. This extra content strengthens arguments or supports viewpoints, making the essay more effective.

500-Word Essay vs. 1000+ Word Essay

A 500-word essay is shorter than a 1000+ word essay. The 500-word one usually fits on one to two pages, while the longer essay can span several pages. With more words, the longer essay allows for a deeper exploration of topics and more detailed arguments. However, both essays require clear organization and effective communication of ideas.

How to Write a 500-word Essay?

Writing a 500-word essay is the same as classic essay writing. Here are some steps to keep in mind while writing a 500-word essay.

Create an Outline
Write a Strong Introduction
Composing The Body Paragraphs
Write an Impressive Conclusion

Below is a detailed description of each step.

Step 1: Create An Outline

First, make a clear and detailed essay outline , and do not miss anything at this point. It will serve as a backbone for your entire paper.

The purpose of this outline is to break down the ideas in a logical and structured manner.

Step 2: Write A Strong Introduction

The opening paragraph of an essay serves as the reader's initial window into the topic. Grab your reader from the start of this paragraph with an attention-grabbing hook . Make it as interesting and creative as you can so that they don't put down the essay before reading it all!

For writing an essay introduction , you need to introduce your main topic. And give an idea of what the reader may encounter in the rest of the essay. At the end of this paragraph pin your thesis statement .

For Example:

In our increasingly inactive world, where many of us spend long hours sitting in front of screens, the value of regular exercise becomes ever more apparent. Not only does exercise benefit us physically, but it also plays a significant role in promoting mental well-being. This essay aims to explore the various ways in which exercise positively impacts both our bodies and our minds. By shedding light on the transformative effects of exercise on our overall health and vitality, we hope to underscore its importance in maintaining a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle.

Step 3: Composing The Body Paragraphs

The body section of the essay is mostly divided into 3 paragraphs as discussed above in the format section. It is the point where you need to explain the different types of arguments you make in the essay. Support these arguments with relevant examples, facts, or personal interpretations.

Regular physical activity strengthens muscles and bones, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, and enhances overall physical well-being. For instance, cardiovascular exercises, like jogging or swimming, improve heart health by increasing circulation and reducing the risk of heart disease. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that individuals who engaged in regular cardiovascular exercise had a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular ailments compared to those leading sedentary lifestyles.

Exercise is not only good for the body but also the mind. Engaging in activities like yoga or aerobics triggers the release of endorphins, which are natural mood lifters. This can help alleviate stress, anxiety, and even symptoms of depression. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that regular exercise can be as effective as medication in treating mild to moderate depression.

Furthermore, regular exercise enhances cognitive function by promoting neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and form new connections. It boosts memory, focus, and overall mental performance. Exercise also increases the production of mood-regulating neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, benefiting both mental acuity and emotional well-being.

In a 500-word essay, it's best to stick to one main argument with supporting evidence. Longer essays, such as 1000-word essays , can explore multiple arguments as long as they're connected and contribute to a unified thesis.

Step 4: Write an Impressive Conclusion

Conclusion is the last part of the essay where you need to summarise the main argument of the essay. When writing the conclusion of your essay, begin by restating the thesis statement and explaining it with some strong points analyzed in the body section.

Make sure it does not completely iterate the introduction. Focus on providing critical insight into the main subject of discussion.

For Example:

In conclusion, regular exercise is a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. It promotes physical well-being, reduces the risk of diseases, and enhances mental health. Incorporating exercise into your daily routine, even in small doses, can lead to a happier and healthier life.

Always proofread your essay for mistakes and inconsistencies. Also, make sure the writing convention checklist is followed, as it will give you a clearer idea of what needs to be improved before submitting!

If you still need some guidance, here is a video on how to write a 500-word essay!

500 Word Essay Examples

All 500-word essays follow a different style and structure, making it difficult for a student to understand what their instructor expects. In such scenarios, 500-word essay examples can be of great help.

Below you can find some 500-word essay examples on different topics to better understand the various style formats.

500 Word Essay On Honesty

A 500-word essay on honesty is a commonly assigned task to high school and college students. It simply involves writing on how to develop a practice of speaking the truth always.

Here is an example 500-word essay on honesty that you can refer to for your understanding.

500 Word Essay on Honesty

500 Word Essay On Integrity

Below, you can find a great 500-word essay on integrity written by one of our expert writers for your help.

500 Word Essay On Leadership

Leadership essay discusses the quality of leading people. Get help from the following leadership essay example and learn how you can write on one of the important aspects of life.

500 Word Essay On Punctuality

Punctuality is an important trait that everyone should strive to possess. Take help from this punctual example essay and make your writing even more powerful.

500 Word Essay On Punctuality

500 Word Essay On Responsibility

Responsibility is an important value that everyone should possess. It dictates the way we interact with others and how we carry out our daily lives. Take a look at our example of an essay on responsibility to understand what it means to be responsible.

500 Word Essay On Responsibility

500 Word Essay On Why I Deserve a Scholarship

Writing an essay explaining why you deserve a scholarship can be a challenging experience since students often feel like they’re bragging about themselves. Learn how to write a 500-word essay for scholarship that will make a strong case for your academic excellence with our sample!

500 Word Essay On Why I Deserve a Scholarship Pdf

500 Word Essay on Respect

Respect is a very important concept in today's society. It is an essential component of any successful relationship, both personal and professional. Check out our essay example on Respect to begin learning more about this topic.

500 Word Essay On Respect

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to be a Teacher

Writing essays about something you are passionate about is never an easy task. When it comes to writing about why someone wants to be a teacher, you can always get help from some great sample essays.

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to be a Teacher

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to be a Nurse

Nursing is a passion for a lot of people. If you want to write an essay on why you want to be a nurse, you must look at our sample essay.

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to be a Nurse

500 Word Essay on Global Warming

Global warming is not just an environmental concern but a moral obligation for the well-being of our planet. Write a 500 word essay on global warming with the help of our sample.

Here are some more 500-word essay pdf samples on important topics for your understanding:

500 word essay about myself

500 word essay on corruption

500 word essay on social media

500 word essay on pollution

500 word essay about Islam

500 Word Essay Topics

Here are some topics that you may find interesting.

Describe your favorite trip.
Is it possible to earn on the Internet?
What are the challenges of people living with disabilities?
How to avoid problems at college.
What is honesty?
Abstract art and its impact on people.
Causes of racism.
The best day of your life.
What is the objective of your life?
What do you mean by punctuality?

If you want to look at more topics, feel free to choose from our interesting list of essay topics .

Wrapping it Up!

Writing essays in a concise 500-word format may seem straightforward, but the process can often be challenging for students. The biggest hurdle? Squeezing in all the essential details while staying within the limit.

If you're feeling overwhelmed or struggling to navigate this task, let MyPerfectWords.com handle it for you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many sentences is a 500-word essay.

A 500-word essay typically contains around 5 to 10 sentences per paragraph, spread across 4 to 6 paragraphs.

Can a 500-word essay have 4 paragraphs?

Yes, a 500-word essay can have 4 paragraphs, though it's more commonly structured with 5 or 6 paragraphs.

How many references are needed for a 500-word essay?

The number of references needed for a 500-word essay can vary depending on the topic and requirements, but generally, 2 to 4 references are sufficient for supporting arguments and providing evidence.

Does a 500-word essay have to be exactly 500 words?

Yes, that’s because the general rule for any academic essay is to not exceed the given word count by more than 10%. So applying the same rule, your 500 word essay length should ideally not exceed 10%, that is 550 words, so you should try to wrap up your thoughts within that word count or otherwise risk a negative marking by the professor.

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Nova Allison is a Digital Content Strategist with over eight years of experience. Nova has also worked as a technical and scientific writer. She is majorly involved in developing and reviewing online content plans that engage and resonate with audiences. Nova has a passion for writing that engages and informs her readers.

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Essay Writing Guide

500 Word Essay

Last updated on: Jun 28, 2024

Writing a 500 Word Essay - Easy Guide

By: Nova A.

Reviewed By: Chris H.

Published on: Jan 8, 2019

Are you staring at a blank page, trying to write a 500-word essay? Don't worry, you're not alone!

Many students face this challenge when tasked with writing a concise yet impactful piece. A 500-word essay is a common task often assigned to high school and college students.

Writing a 500-word essay can be quite difficult as you have to cover all the important points in a few words. However, this is where you can show all your potential.

Read on to learn how to write a perfect 500-word essay with this step by step guide. You will also get to read some good example essays to help you out.

Let’s dive into it!

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500 Word Essay Definition

A 500-word essay is a short length academic essay. It provides a writer’s perspective on a particular topic. It is usually assigned to high school and college students to teach them necessary essay writing skills.

Every type of essay can follow the 500-word essay format, including:

Persuasive essay
Descriptive essay
Argumentative essay
Expository essay
Narrative essay

This means that you can write any type of essay in the 500-word format.

How to Write a 500 Word Essay

A 500-word essay is an opportunity to show and improve your writing skills. Here are the steps you need to follow to write your essay:

Make an Essay Outline

An outline is a roadmap that guides you through the different sections of your essay. It is important to make an outline before you start writing. This ensures a well-structured and coherent piece.

A 500-word essay is usually composed of five paragraphs. Here’s what you need to create an outline:

The main topic of the essay
The central thesis statement
The main point or topic sentence for each body paragraph
Supporting points for body paragraphs

This is what your outline will look like:

Write a Good Introduction

An introduction plays an important role in making an impression on the reader’s mind. The readers decide on the basis of the introduction, whether they want to read the rest of the essay or not.

Here is how you can compose the introduction paragraph:

It should start with a strong hook that grabs the reader’s attention immediately.
Provide a little background information that helps the reader understand the topic
Conclude the intro with a compelling thesis statement that you will support in the body.

Here is an example:

With its potential to revolutionize industries, reshape our daily lives, and challenge traditional notions of human capabilities, AI has become a topic of immense significance and intrigue. From self-driving cars and virtual assistants to deep learning algorithms and autonomous robots, AI has permeated nearly every aspect of our modern world, promising a future that was once confined to the realms of science fiction.

As we stand at the precipice of this transformative era,

Compose the Body Paragraphs

The body section is intended to provide a detailed description of the topic. It gives complete information about the essay topic and presents the writer’s point of view in detail. Following are the elements of the body section:.

Topic sentence

The first sentence of the body paragraph. It presents the main point that will be discussed in the paragraph.

Supporting evidence

It could be any points or evidence that support your main thesis.

Transition statement

This statement relates the body paragraph back to the thesis, and also connects it with the subsequent paragraph.

One of the most visible manifestations of AI's progress is in the domain of autonomous vehicles.

Companies such as Tesla, Waymo, and Uber have made significant strides in developing self-driving cars, harnessing AI technologies to navigate complex roadways, interpret real-time data, and make split-second decisions. These advancements promise not only enhanced safety and efficiency on the roads but also a paradigm shift in our transportation systems. Similarly, AI-powered virtual assistants like Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google Assistant have become ubiquitous in our homes, providing personalized recommendations, answering queries, and performing various tasks with natural language processing and machine learning capabilities.

These examples underscore the increasing integration of AI into our everyday lives, blurring the line between human and machine interaction.

Draft a Compelling Conclusion

The conclusion paragraph summarizes the whole essay and presents the final thoughts on the topic. It is as important as the introduction paragraph. Below are the things you include in the conclusion paragraphs:

Restate the thesis statement
Summarize the essay
Provide final thoughts or a call to action

In conclusion,

the rise of artificial intelligence presents a watershed moment in human history, with its far-reaching implications extending into every aspect of our lives.

While AI holds immense promise in revolutionizing industries, improving efficiency, and enhancing our daily experiences, it also brings forth complex ethical, societal, and economic challenges that must be carefully navigated. As we forge ahead into this AI-driven future, it is crucial to embrace interdisciplinary collaboration, establish robust ethical guidelines, and foster transparent governance to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared equitably while mitigating its potential risks. By approaching AI with a balanced and informed perspective, we can harness its transformative potential while safeguarding the values and aspirations of humanity.

Want to become a master at writing essays? Check out our essay writing guide to become an excellent writer who can craft all types of essays!

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500 Word Essay Format

Here is how you format a 500 word essay in general:

A common font style like Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman
1” margins on both sides
Line spacing: double-spaced
Alignment: Left

Remember, these are general guidelines. Always follow the specific page formatting guidelines provided by your instructor.

Frequently Asked Questions about Writing a 500 Word Essay

Many things come up in your mind when you get to write a 500-word essay. You might want to know the length, outline, time required to write the essay, and many more things.

Below are some common questions that you may ask yourself while writing a short essay.

How Long is a 500 Word Essay?

“How many pages is a 500-word essay?”

An essay length of a 500-word essay is usually 1 to 2 pages. If it is single-spaced, it covers just 1-page. When double-spaced, it covers 2 pages.

When it comes to spacing, stick to the instructions given by your professor.

How Many Paragraphs is a 500 Word Essay?

The standard 500-word essay template has 5 paragraphs. It has one introduction, three body paragraphs, and one conclusion paragraph.

The word count is divided into 5 paragraphs evenly. The introduction and conclusion are 100 words long each. While the body paragraphs need to be 300 words long.

How Long Does it Take to Write a 500 Word Essay?

It would take no more than an hour or two to write a complete 500-word essay. Especially if you have enough information about the topic, you can easily write your essay within an hour.

What is the difference between 500 words essay vs 250 words essay

The word count of an essay plays a significant role in shaping its structure, content, and depth of analysis. A 500-word essay is a bit more detailed and longer than a 250-word essay. A 250-word essay is composed of three paragraphs maximum. Meanwhile a 500-word essay should contain at least five paragraphs.

What is the difference between 500 words essay vs 1000 words essay

Here is a major difference between 500-word essay and a 1000-word essay:

With a 500-word essay, you have a limited word count, which necessitates a concise and focused approach. You must carefully select your arguments, provide succinct evidence, and present a coherent analysis.

On the other hand, a 1000-word essay allows for a more extensive exploration of the topic. It provides the opportunity to delve into multiple subtopics and offer more supporting evidence.

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500 Word Essay Topics

Below are some interesting topics to help you get started on your essay.

Should gun ownership be restricted
My Favorite Place
Should healthcare be free?
The benefits of volunteering in the local community
Is hunting for food moral?
The importance of personal responsibility
How I spent my summer vacation
Describe an ideal personality
What is Climate Change?
The importance of sports for teenagers

Need more ideas? We’ve got you covered! Check out 100+ amazing essay topics to help you out!

500 Word Essay Example

Now you have a guide for writing a 500-word essay, have a look at the following example to have a more clear understanding.

500 WORD ESSAY ON COVID-19 (PDF)

500 WORD ESSAY ON WHY I WANT TO BE A NURSE (PDF)

500 Words Essay on Why I Deserve a Scholarship

500 WORD ESSAY ON PUNCTUALITY (PDF)

500 WORD ESSAY ON LEADERSHIP (PDF)

500 WORD ESSAY ON HONESTY (PDF)

FREE 500 WORD ESSAY ON RESPONSIBILITY (PDF)

500 WORD ESSAY EXAMPLE FOR COLLEGE (PDF)

With the help of this step by step guide and essay examples, you can easily craft a perfect essay. However, if you need more help, you can contact us anytime.

5StarEssays.com is a legitimate paper writing service that you can rely on to do my essay for me . We offer academic writing help for each category, i.e. research paper, scholarship essay, or any type of academic paper.

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As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.

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How to Write a 500-Word Essay (With Examples)

A 500-word essay is a common assignment in many academic settings. It is a concise piece of writing that requires students to express their thoughts and ideas on a specific topic within a limited word count or essay length.

Knowing how to write a 500-word essay is important because it helps students develop their writing skills and learn how to communicate their ideas concisely and effectively. In this article, we will discuss what a 500-word essay is, provide some great topics for such essays, and offer tips on planning, organizing, and writing a solid essay.

What is a 500-Word Essay?

A 500-word essay is a short piece of writing typically consisting of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. It is used in various academic disciplines and is often assigned as a writing task to test students’ understanding of a particular topic or their ability to present an argument or analysis within a limited word count . The purpose of a 500-word essay is to provide a concise and focused discussion on a specific topic.

The typical structure of a 500-word essay includes an introduction that presents the topic and provides background information, body paragraphs that explain the main arguments or points, and a conclusion that summarizes the main points and provides a final thought or reflection on the topic. The word count of each section may vary depending on the assignment’s specific requirements, but it is important to keep the overall word count within the limit.

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Great 500 Word Essay Topics

When choosing a topic for a 500-word essay, selecting something exciting and relevant is important. Here are some great topics that can be used for a 500-word paper

The impact of social media on society
The benefits of exercise for physical and mental health
The importance of education in today’s world
The role of technology in our daily lives
The effects of climate change on the environment
The pros and cons of globalization
The significance of cultural diversity in society
The challenges and opportunities of remote work
The impact of artificial intelligence on the job market
The role of government in addressing income inequality

When choosing a topic, it is important to consider your own interests and knowledge on the subject. Select a topic you are passionate about and have enough information to support your arguments or analysis. Additionally, choose a topic that is narrow enough to be covered within the word count but broad enough to provide room for discussion and analysis.

Planning Your 500-Word Essay: Outlining and Organizing Your Thoughts

Planning and organizing your thoughts is important before writing your 500-word essay. This will help you stay focused and ensure your essay has a clear and logical structure. Here are some tips on how to create an outline for a 500-word essay:

Start by brainstorming ideas and jotting down key points or arguments related to your topic.
Once you have a list of ideas, organize them into main categories or themes.
Determine the main points or arguments you want to discuss in each body paragraph.
Create a thesis statement clearly stating your essay’s main argument or point.
Use your outline as a guide to write your introduction , body paragraphs, and conclusion.

By creating an outline, you can ensure that your essay has a clear and logical flow. It will also help you stay on track and avoid going off-topic. Remember to revise and refine your outline as you go along, as new ideas may arise, or you may find that specific points are better suited for different sections of your essay.

Writing a Strong Introduction for Your 500-Word Essay

The introduction is an important part of a 500-word essay as it sets the tone for the rest and grabs the reader’s attention. Here are some tips on how to write a solid and engaging introduction for a 500-word essay:

Start with a hook that grabs the reader’s attention. This can be a thought-provoking question, a surprising fact or statistic, or a relevant quote.
Provide some background information on the topic to give the reader context and help them understand the importance or relevance of the topic.
State your thesis statement and your essay’s main argument or point. Make sure it is clear and concise.
Preview the main points or arguments you will discuss in the body paragraphs.

By following these tips, you can create an introduction that engages the reader and sets the stage for the rest of your essay.

Crafting a Compelling Body Paragraph for Your 500-Word Essay

The body paragraphs are where you present your main arguments or points and provide evidence or examples to support them. Here are some tips on how to write a compelling body paragraph for a 500-word essay:

Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the main point or argument of the paragraph.
Provide evidence or examples to support your main point. This can include facts, statistics, expert opinions, or personal anecdotes.
Analyze and explain the significance of the evidence or examples. Show how they support your main point and contribute to your overall argument.
Use transitional words and phrases to connect your ideas and create a smooth flow between paragraphs.

Following these tips ensures that your body paragraphs are clear, focused, and well-supported.

Using Evidence and Examples to Support Your Arguments

Using evidence and examples is crucial in a 500-word essay as it helps strengthen your arguments and make your writing more persuasive. Here are some tips on how to find and use relevant evidence and examples in a 500-word essay:

Research to find credible sources that support your arguments or provide relevant information on your topic.
Use a mix of primary and secondary sources to provide a well-rounded perspective.
Choose evidence or examples that are specific and relevant to your main points. Avoid using vague or general statements.
Cite your sources properly using the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).

By using evidence and examples effectively, you can enhance the credibility and persuasiveness of your essay.

Writing a Clear and Concise Conclusion for Your 500-Word Essay

The conclusion is the final part of your 500-word essay, and it should summarize your main points and leave the reader with a final thought or reflection on the topic. Here are some tips on how to write a clear and concise conclusion for a 500-word essay:

Restate your thesis statement differently to remind the reader of your main argument or point.
Summarize the main points or arguments you discussed in the body paragraphs.
Provide a final thought or reflection on the topic. This can be a call to action, a prediction, or a recommendation for further research or discussion.

By following these tips, you can create a conclusion that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

Editing and Proofreading Your 500 Word Essay: Tips and Tricks

Editing and proofreading are essential steps in writing as they help improve your essay’s clarity, coherence, and overall quality. Here are some tips on how to effectively edit and proofread a 500-word essay:

Take a break before editing and proofreading to distance yourself from your essay.
Read your essay out loud to catch any awkward or unclear sentences.
Check for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Use grammar and spell-check tools and manually review your essay for mistakes.
Ensure that your essay flows smoothly and that your ideas are presented logically.
Ask a friend or family member to read your essay and provide feedback.

By editing and proofreading your essay, you can ensure it is polished and error-free.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a 500-Word Essay

When writing a 500-word essay, writers make some common mistakes. Here are some tips on how to avoid these mistakes and improve the quality of your writing:

Avoid using vague or general statements. Be specific and provide concrete examples or evidence to support your arguments.
Don’t exceed the word count limit. Keep your essay concise and focused.
Avoid using excessive jargon or technical terms that may confuse the reader. Use clear and straightforward language.
Don’t rely too heavily on quotes or paraphrases. Use them sparingly, and make sure to provide your analysis or interpretation.
Avoid plagiarism by properly citing your sources and crediting the original authors.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you can improve the clarity, coherence, and overall quality of your 500-word essay.

Successful 500-Word Essay Examples: Inspiration for Your Writing

To gain inspiration for your 500-word essay, reading examples of successful essays can be helpful. Here are some examples of successful 500-word essays:

Mental Health, Mental Illness, Risk, & Resilience
Schizophrenia: Physiological Basis of a Mental Illness
The Teaching Plan for Mental Illness

These examples demonstrate how to effectively structure and present arguments or analysis within a limited word count. They also showcase evidence and examples to support the main points.

Conclusion on Writing a Great 500-Word Essay

Knowing how to write a 500-word essay is important for students as it helps develop their writing skills and ability to communicate their ideas concisely. In this article, we discussed what a 500-word essay is, provided some great topics for such essays, and offered tips on planning, organizing, and writing a solid essay. We also discussed the importance of using evidence and examples to support arguments, as well as the importance of editing and proofreading. By following the tips and advice provided in this article, students can improve their 500-word essay writing skills and effectively express their thoughts and ideas on a specific topic.

FAQs on 500-Word Essays

What is a 500-word essay.

A 500-word essay is a type of academic writing typically consisting of 500 words. It is often assigned as a requirement for assignments, exams, or scholarship applications.

How long is a 500-word essay?

A 500-word essay is precisely 500 words in length. It usually includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The word count is crucial in meeting the essay’s requirements.

How many pages is a 500-word essay?

The number of pages in a 500-word essay depends on various factors, including font size, line spacing, and margins. However, it is typically around one page if formatted with standard settings like Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double spacing .

What is the format of a 500-word essay?

A 500-word essay follows a standard format, including an introduction with a clear thesis statement, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. It is important to adhere to the designated essay format required by your instructor or academic institution.

How do I write a 500-word essay?

To write a 500-word essay, follow these steps:

Start by understanding and researching the assigned topic .
Create a clear thesis statement that presents your main argument.
Outline your essay with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
Write an engaging introduction to grab the reader’s attention.
Develop each body paragraph with relevant information and supporting evidence.
Ensure your essay has a logical flow and coherence.
Conclude your essay by summarizing your main points and reiterating your thesis statement.
Proofread and edit your essay for grammar, spelling, and clarity.

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College Application Essay Writing

College Application Essay Examples

College Application Essay Examples for 2024

21 min read

Published on: Feb 12, 2021

Last updated on: Jul 23, 2024

College Application Essay Example 250 Words

Some colleges require short essays of around 250 to 300 words. Writing these essays can be arduous as short essays need only important details about you, your objectives, and your accomplishments.

Carefully examine the example provided.

Sample College Application Essay 250 Words

College Application Essay Example 500 Words

If you are required to provide an essay of about 500 words, it means you have to share details about yourself. Sticking to the word count is as important as any part of your college essay.

For a 500-word college application or supplemental essay, a student can write about:

Intellectual challenge
Research query
Ethical dilemma

However, it depends on the essay prompt and personal preference.

Observe how a successful college application essay of 500 words is written effectively through the example provided.

Sample College Application Essay 500 Words

College Application Essay Example About Yourself

A college application essay can be written using different prompts. One very common college application essay prompt is writing about yourself. In this, an applicant is asked to shed light on his background identity, interest, or talent that is meaningful to them.

The committee wants to know the applicantâs real personality, thinking, objectives, and achievements. Therefore, drafting an essay about yourself will be a good idea.

Sample College Application Essay About Yourself

College Application Essay Example For Harvard

Every university has its criteria for granting admission to students. For this purpose, the application essays vary as well. If you wish for admission to Harvard University, observe the college essay presented below.

Sample College Application Essay for Harvard

College Application Essay Example for Johns Hopkins

To understand how to answer the essay prompt for Johns Hopkins, an example is provided. Carefully observe the sample to draft your personal statement in an effective way.

Johns Hopkins College Application Essay

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âWhy Usâ College Application Essay Example

Another common prompt that colleges require their students to use in their application essay is âWhy Usâ. Just as the name suggests, this prompt attempts to know the writerâs reasons for âwhy that specific collegeâ.

Analyze how to accurately and appropriately answer the âWhy usâ prompt in your college essay in the example below.

Sample College Application Essay on 'Why Us'

Engineering College Application Essay Example

Apart from general personal statements , some colleges require application essays specific to the field. For example, if you are to pursue your dream of doing engineering, you will be writing an essay related to that.

Sample Engineering College Application Essay

Computer Sciences College Application Essay Example

If you apply to a college for a degree in computer sciences, below is the example provided. It will help you draft your application essay successfully.

Graduate College Application Essay Examples

The college application essay is a difficult part of the admissions process, and it can be tough to come up with something original. Luckily for you, we have compiled some great examples, so your essay will stand out!

College Application Essay Example 300 Words

Nursing College Application Essay Examples

The purpose of a nursing application essay is to show that you are the best candidate for the nursing program. We've collected some great examples that will help you write a great essay.

Nursing College Application Essay Example

Honors College Application Essay Examples

The following is an example of an honors application essay. You can use this as inspiration for your own project or just get an idea of what kind of thing might work best with the prompts that you're given.

Honors College Application Essay Example

College Application Essay Writing Tips

A college application essay or a personal statement is a writing drafted by a student when applying for a college education. Being the most important part of the admission process, the essay should be written professionally.

To help you draft your essay correctly, expert writers of CollegeEssay.org have presented some tips to follow.

Come up with compelling ideas for your essay. Think of catchy openers and a brilliant insight for the essay.
Think of an interesting topic idea that makes you lose all track of time
Write about the time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure that made you learn important life lessons.
Reflect if you ever challenged a belief, a question solved, or a problem resolved.
Share about your growth in personality as well as in your career to impress the audience.
Be specific and clear about the essay. No matter which approach you are using to write a college essay, be explicit, clear, and focused.
The committee officers want to know about the applicant and how he feels about different things. Do not go for monotonous resume descriptions and high school transcriptions.
You should seem real from the essay content. The material you use in the text should be accurate enough for the readers to believe and get inspired.
Before working, go through some existing examples to observe how winning documents are written. Moreover, the examples will let you decide on the structure and format for your essay.
Always proofread and revise your essay after writing it. Revision makes the essay flawless, making the document appealing to the audience.

These incredible tips can do wonders for your college essay. Follow them to get admission to fulfill your dream of studying in college.

Small elements can either make or break your essay. This essay type must be drafted correctly and professionally if you desire to study in a dream college. This essay requires a writer to be good at self-evaluation. Also, impress the committee with his personality and knowledge.

A college essay is your only chance to get admission, so get it right with an AI writing tool .

Or get help from professional essay writing services such as CollegeEssay.org. It is a writing company that provides college essays, research papers, term papers, and any other writing type students want.

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Barbara is a highly educated and qualified author with a Ph.D. in public health from an Ivy League university. She has spent a significant amount of time working in the medical field, conducting a thorough study on a variety of health issues. Her work has been published in several major publications.

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Applying For Scholarships

How to Write a Great 500 Word Essay

David Feb 14, 2018

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During your scholarship applications, you may need to submit a 500-word essay answering a specific question. The theme of the essay can range from personal achievements to political controversies. This means you can adjust your writing style to fit the message of the prompt. This guide will explain how to write a 500-word scholarship essay. We will also provide an example for inspiration.

How to Format a 500-Word Scholarship Essay

The format of a 500-word scholarship essay is similar to a shorter essay. Each paragraph is about 75-125 words, and it consists of 3-5 well-written sentences. If you are writing a story or personal anecdote, the formatting can be more like a novel than a news article.

The main components of a 500-word essay include:

Introduction paragraph that engages the reader and establishes the thesis. The thesis may be a question that you will later answer in the essay content, or it can be a statement that you support in the body paragraphs. If you are writing a story, your “thesis” may not be as apparent.

4-6 body paragraphs that provide evidence to back up your thesis. Each paragraph should be a cohesive element with an intro and conclusion. The body paragraphs should flow well from one point to the next.

A conclusion paragraph that reminds the reader of the thesis and highlights key points from the body text. The conclusion should answer the question or complete the statement made in the introduction. It should give the reader a sense of closure and resolution

500-word essays do not have to be exactly 500 words, but they should be as close as possible. The essay prompt may say “in under 500 words” or “in at least 500 words,” which would state whether 500 is the minimum or maximum word count. If that information is not specified, write as much as you need to comprehensively address the prompt without frivolous content.

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500-Word Essay vs. 250-Word Essay

500-word scholarship essays offer more writing flexibility than 250-word essays . With a shorter word count, you are often forced to summarize long-winded thoughts into quick to-the-point snippets. 500 words give you more room to express your opinion. Yet, it is still short enough that it does not need footnotes and cited resources, usually.

500-Word Essay vs. 1000+ Word Essay

Another scholarship essay length you may encounter is 1,000 words. With a 1,000-word scholarship essay, you will need to cite sources and provide detailed references to support your claims. 1,000+ word essay prompts are often used for writing competitions, where you may be asked to create a fictional story. The extra length gives room for extra creativity, but it also requires more time to put the perfect piece together.

You should approach all essays with the same mentality, regardless of their length. Your goal is to compose a piece that clearly guides the reader through your thoughts and reasoning. You may have to adjust how you convey those thoughts based on the length. Your essay should always have a beginning, middle, and end.

Scholarships for High School Seniors

Looking for scholarships for high school seniors? You’ve come to the right place! This handy guidebook will give you all the information (and more) you need to find scholarships for high school seniors. In this guide, you’ll learn about scholarships for different types of students, different scholarships by subject, scholarship applications, easy and weird scholarships, local scholarships, corporate scholarships, fraternity and sorority scholarships, and more. Read on for more information on how you can win scholarships for high school seniors…

READ THE GUIDE

A Step-by-Step 500-Word Essay Example

To help you see how to write a 500-word scholarship essay, we want to show you each section of the essay step-by-step. Use this as a general guide when you write your essay. However, feel free to add your own spin to it. Our writing sample will be in green, and the commentary will be in plain text. So…let’s begin!

TOPIC: Should cell phone usage be controlled in college classrooms?

Step 1 – Create a Thesis

Everything in your essay revolves around your thesis. This is the big point you are trying to make, which is usually an answer to a question in the essay prompt. You will use the rest of the essay to support this thesis.

For the topic Should cell phone usage be controlled in college classrooms? our thesis will be:

“Cell phone usage should be controlled in college classrooms, as long as it does not hinder students’ rights.”

Step 2 – Write the Introduction

The introduction should grab your reader’s attention and prepare for an explanation of the thesis. It usually starts with a general statement related to the topic at hand, followed by supplementary sentences that lead into the thesis. Here is a sample introduction for our essay, including the thesis at the end of the paragraph:

Cell phones have gone from a sought-after luxury to a daily necessity. While these devices provide convenient access to the outside world, they can be problematic for educators. High school teachers can tell children in their classes to put their phones away, but should professors have the same control over adult men and women? The key is to create cell phone usage policies that limit distractions without hindering student rights.

Word count: an Intro paragraph, 70 words.

Step 3 – Write the Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs should provide support for the thesis. Why do you think this way, and what evidence do you have to support those beliefs? The paragraphs should flow from one to the next like a constant stream of thought. Each paragraph should conclude the statement made at the beginning of the paragraph.

Building on the thesis “Cell phone usage should be controlled in college classrooms, as long as it does not hinder students’ rights,” we will now explain how colleges can control cell phones in class while preserving student rights. If our thesis was that cell phones should NOT be controlled in college, we would explain the dangers of not having access to cell phones.

No matter which side of the argument you choose, you should acknowledge the other angle and negate those statements. As you will see below, we remark on why some students may not want cell phone usage policies. We will also suggest how to get around those concerns. Doing this provides the best possible support for your thesis because it shows you have taken every angle into consideration.

Here is the body for our 500-word essay sample:

The primary argument supporting cell phone control in the classroom is the fact that phones can be distracting. Not only do cell phones distract instructors, but they may also distract students trying to pay attention to the lecture. This is the same effect as a moviegoer looking at his phone in a theater. Even if the phone makes no noise, the light from the screen is enough to catch someone’s attention. Arguments against cell phone control typically focus on safety concerns. Should a crisis occurs in the classroom, students should have their phones on hand to make a call. If a student has a child, he or she may need a phone in case of a medical emergency. If the student is on call for work, he or she will need access to a phone. The list of exception-worthy scenarios is endless. The best solution is to create cell phone usage rules that allow devices to be accessible without disturbing other students’ educational opportunities. Students should be permitted to keep their phones in their bags, pockets, or other belongings as long as the phones are on silent in class. Vibrate settings may be permitted if the instructor does not believe it will distract him or her, since the noise of the vibration may not be noticeable in a large classroom. If a student needs to answer the phone during an emergency, he or she can step out of the classroom to do so. This setup would give the students and the instructor peace of mind. Cell phone restrictions in classrooms should also include specific disciplinary actions for breaking the rules. If a student is caught using the phone in class, he or she should be excused for the rest of the day. Professors should refrain from physically taking possession of a student’s phone because of liability conflicts. If the phone is damaged while in the professor’s possession, the school or the instructor could be held responsible for the repairs. It is safer to ask the student to leave the classroom than it is to take the phone away completely.

Word count: Body paragraphs, 349 words. Total essay is now 419 words.

Step 4 – Wrap It up with a Conclusion

Once you have covered all your points, you should summarize the essay’s contents in the conclusion. This is your last opportunity to convince the reader of your thesis. Touch on the most important aspects of your essay then leave the reader with something to think about. Here is an example of how to conclude our essay:

Each school, professor and student body is different. Colleges must adapt their rules and discipline efforts to reflect the current needs of their students. Eliminating cell phones in college classrooms is an overstretch, but there are ways to balance students’ rights and instructors’ rights. With the right amount of control and flexibility, colleges can create a pleasant learning environment with maximum safety and minimal interruptions.

Notice how our conclusion was definitive but optimistic. We explain that colleges need to adapt their rules to fit the needs of their students. Yet still, confirm that cell phone use policies should be enforced.

Word count: Conclusion paragraph, 65 words. Total essay is now 484 words.

But wait! You’re 16 words short! We know that. The essay covered everything we wanted to without the need for extra words. If the prompt asked for at least 500 words, we would add another sentence to support one of the paragraphs. Since that was not a requirement though, we kept the essay as-is to avoid sounding wordy or repetitive.

The Complete 500-Word Essay Example

Cell phones have gone from a sought-after luxury to a daily necessity. While these devices provide convenient access to the outside world, they can be problematic for educators. High school teachers can tell children in their classes to put their phones away, but should professors have the same control over grown men and women? The key is to create cell phone usage policies that limit distractions without hindering student rights. The primary argument supporting cell phone control in the classroom is the fact that phones can be distracting. Not only do cell phones distract instructors, but they may also distract students trying to pay attention to the lecture. This is the same effect as a moviegoer looking at his phone in a theater. Even if the phone makes no noise, the light from the screen is enough to catch someone’s attention. Arguments against cell phone control typically focus on safety concerns. Should a crisis occurs in the classroom, students should have their phones on hand to make a call. If a student has a child, he or she may need a phone in case of a medical emergency. If the student is on call for work, he or she will need access to a phone. The list of exception-worthy scenarios is endless. The best solution is to create cell phone usage rules that allow devices to be accessible without disturbing other students’ educational opportunities. Students should be permitted to keep their phones in their bags, pockets, or other belongings as long as the phones are on silent in class. Vibrate settings may be permitted if the instructor does not believe it will distract him or her, since the noise of the vibration may not be noticeable in a large classroom. If a student needs to answer the phone during an emergency, he or she can step out of the classroom to do so. This setup would give the students and the instructor peace of mind. Cell phone restrictions in classrooms should also include specific disciplinary actions for breaking the rules. If a student is caught using the phone in class, he or she should be excused for the rest of the day. Professors should refrain from physically taking possession of a student’s phone because of liability conflicts. If the phone is damaged while in the professor’s possession, the school or the instructor could be held responsible for the repairs. It is safer to ask the student to leave the classroom than it is to take the phone away completely. Each school, professor and student body is different. Colleges must adapt their rules and discipline efforts to reflect the current needs of their students. Eliminating cell phones in college classrooms is an overstretch, but there are ways to balance students’ rights and instructors’ rights. With the right amount of control and flexibility, colleges can create a pleasant learning environment with maximum safety and minimal interruptions.

Tips for Writing a Great 500-Word Essay

Here are some tips to help you write a great 500-word scholarship essay:

Give yourself at least two full days to write the essay. You can use the first day to write a draft and do some minor editing. Then on the second day, you can look at the essay with fresh eyes to do your final edits.

If you have a chance to show your essay to your English instructor or academic adviser, do so. You can use the feedback to improve the essay before submitting it.

Don’t focus on the word count as you write. Get all your thoughts on paper, and you can extend or shorten the essay during the editing process.

Write the first draft from start to finish, even if you know your thoughts are out of order. You can re-arrange them at a later time, but the initial run through will be as fluid as possible.

Re-read the prompt several times before writing. You don’t want to write an entire essay only to find out you were completely off topic.

Always think about your audience when writing a scholarship essay. What organization is issuing the scholarship, and how can you tie that into your writing? What is the underlying information they want to learn from your essay? Write in a way that shows you are the best candidate for the scholarship.

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177 College Essay Examples for 11 Schools + Expert Analysis

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

Worried about college applications? Our world-class admissions counselors can help. We've guided thousands of students to get into their top choice schools with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies.

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Want to write the perfect college application essay? We can help. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will help you craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay to proudly submit to colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts.

Connecticut college.

12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
10 Harvard essays from 2023
10 Harvard essays from 2022
10 Harvard essays from 2021
10 Harvard essays from 2020
10 Harvard essays from 2019
10 Harvard essays from 2018
6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

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Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.” The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings . If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download them for free now:

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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How to Write a 500 Word Essay

Gabriel Jimenez-Ekman is a content editor and writer at Scholarships360. He has managed communications and written content for a diverse array of organizations, including a farmer’s market, a concert venue, a student farm, an environmental NGO, and a PR agency. Gabriel graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in sociology.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Red pen rests on a paper after making edits to a 500 word essay

With only about a page and a half to get your point across, every word counts in a 500 word essay. A succinct response packed with impactful examples can easily put you ahead of the crowd!

Follow our concise step-by-step guide to write an effective 500 word essay:

Start with an outline

Applying the outline to an example.

Deciding on how many examples to use
Don’t worry about the word count in your first draft

Don’t forget to proofread!

Keep reading to learn how to write the best 500 word essay you have ever written!

Don’t miss: Scholarships360’s free scholarship search tool

Writing essays with word limits can be a balancing act. You may have a lot you want to say, but not enough space to sufficiently explain each point that you want to make. That’s why it is a great idea to start by outlining the 3-4 main ideas you’d like to address in your essay. Trying to pack any more than four main ideas into a 500-word essay could prevent you from effectively explaining your examples.

We suggest making a bullet point list for your outline, which could look something like this:

Hook the reader with an engaging first line and introduce your response.
Expand on your first point or example
Elaborate on your second point or example
Expand on your third point or example
Expand on your fourth point or example
Tie your examples together and conclude your essay with a meaningful last line

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Let’s try using this outline to respond to a prompt: Please describe your commitment to working within your community . With a prompt like this, you could hook your reader with a sentence emphasizing what community work means to you on a personal or emotional level, or how you first started working with your community.

Each body paragraph would be a description of different experiences you’ve had working in your community, and what they taught you. And you could use your conclusion to point out a common thread between these experiences; now that the reader has read all about your involvement in the community, you can use this opportunity to describe how the experiences have come together to reshape your relationship with community work.

See more : How to write a winning scholarship essay

Comparing essay lengths

As you sit down to write your essay, you might wonder how you should adjust your approach to a 500 word essay as opposed to a 250 or 1000 word essay. 250 word essays are expected to be extremely brief, with only minimal elaboration on each point, and 1,000 word essays are expected to be more thorough, and might even include citations. A 500 word essay falls in a grey area between these two; it gives you the freedom to elaborate on the details you find to be the most important.

Will an admissions officer keep reading my essay if I go over?

You might be wondering “what happens if I go over the word limit? Will an admissions officer still read my essay?”

As with many topics related to the admissions process, it depends. If you have gone way over and wrote 2,000 words, it is possible that the admissions officer will not continue to read your essay or may just skim it. Remember, admissions officers and scholarship essay readers are busy people who have to get through many applications and essays.

So if you go over by a few words or sentences, you are probably fine and the admissions officer will likely not even notice. However, if you go over the word count in an obvious, noticeable way, this is something that is unlikely to help you (even if the writing is excellent).

Also see: How to write a 250 word essay

Deciding on how many examples you should use

A common question for writing a 500 word essay is whether or not you should include a fourth example. If your examples require a lot of thorough explanation in order to be impactful, it might be best to only include three. It’s better to have three impactful examples than four examples that don’t resonate with the reader. However, if the prompt is straightforward and you can explain your examples quickly, go ahead and add that fourth body paragraph!

Recommended: Wondering how to format your essay? Scholarships360’s guide will tell you all that you need to know!

Don’t worry about the word count in your first draft!

Try writing out a first draft without worrying about your 500 word limit! This is a great way to get all your thoughts down on paper. It’s easier to cut the extra content down at the end than it is to keep interrupting your writing to edit it as you go. This can take you out of your writing flow, and make the essay take longer

A 500 word essay requires a lot of editing in order to make a point effectively in a limited number of words. It’s a great idea to ask a friend or family member to proofread your final copy. They can catch simple mistakes that you have been glossing over, or come up with new ways to reword your essay and slim it down to fit the word limit.

With this said, it’s important for you to maintain ownership over the voice of your essay. The job of the proofreader or editor is to catch mistakes and give general feedback–it is not to rewrite the entire essay.

A few more resources

Learn how to effectively conclude your scholarship essay by reading our guide on how to end scholarship essays . Many scholarships want to know more about you, so it’s important to know how to write an essay about yourself . If you are looking for additional scholarship opportunities that involve writing, check out our list of top writing & essay scholarships .

Remember, writing scholarship essays is an opportunity to show exactly why you are deserving of a scholarship. Learn to write in a way that puts your best self forward, and win all the awards that you qualify for!

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500 Word Essay Examples + Topic Ideas

Quality management for organizational excellence.

Subjects: Business Management

“Brain Plasticity and Behavior” by Bryan Kolb, Robbin Gibb, and Terry E. Robinson

Subjects: Health & Medicine Neurology

Journal Entry, Hermaphrodite or Intersex

Subjects: Gender Studies Sociology

Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Scribner (May 11, 2010)

Subjects: American Literature Literature

Sexual Harassment at the Workplace

Subjects: Business Workforce

Principles of Bauhaus production

Subjects: Design Urban Planning in Architecture

Gambling in Four Perspectives

Subjects: Psychological Issues Psychology

Case of Ski Pro Corporation

Subjects: Business Company Missions

Geography Is One of the Essential Disciplines in School

Subjects: Geography Sciences

Dishonest GOP, Exempts ACA from Budget Rules

Subjects: Health & Medicine Healthcare Financing

Computer Crimes Defense and Prevention

Subjects: Cyber Security Tech & Engineering

Social Work as a Profession

Subjects: Sociological Issues Sociology

September 11: Terror Attack and Huge Casualties

Subjects: Terrorism Warfare

The Relationships Between Advertising Appeals, Spending Tendency, Perceived Social Status and Materialism on Perfume Purchasing Behaviour

Subjects: Advertising Entertainment & Media

Poem – ‘Life’, by Emily Dickinson

Subjects: Literature Poems

Annotation Of: Hispanics and the Death Penalty

Subjects: Judicial Process on Criminals Law

“Just Say No? The Use of Conversation Analysis in Developing a Feminist Perspective on Sexual Refusal” by Kitzinger and Frith: Summary

Subjects: Gender Identity Sociology

Canadian Stereotypes

Subjects: Culture Worldwide Cultures

Political Interference in Texas’ Judicial System

Subjects: Government Politics & Government

Statistics as Evidence: Scaring Us Senseless

Subjects: Behavior Psychology

To Believe or Not to Believe with Insufficient Evidence

Subjects: Philosophical Theories Philosophy

A Response to the Article “Inequality and the American Dream”

Subjects: Economic Systems & Principles Economics

Why Foreign Education is worth the Price

Subjects: Education Education Abroad

Case for political risk

Difference between uk, usa and australia.

Subjects: Political Culture Politics & Government

Factors that Cause International Migration Flows

Subjects: Immigration Sociology

Immigration Admissions and Control Policies

The role of marketing trends in business.

Subjects: Business Financial Marketing

Play With a Purpose

Subjects: Developmental Theories Psychology

Healthcare Information needs at Presbyterian Hospital

Subjects: Administration and Regulation Health & Medicine

Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault

Subjects: Art Art Movement

The Cold War: Global Prosperity and Human Rights

Subjects: History United States

American Pragmatism and Analytic Philosophy

Subjects: Philosophical Concept Philosophy

About the B’nai Bagels

Giving an overview of music education.

Subjects: Cardiology Health & Medicine

Introduction to System Thinking

Subjects: Cognition and Perception Psychology

Mrs. Hale: Different but Equal – Legitimate Gender Differences

Subjects: Literature Plays

The Emperor of Ice Cream

Functionalist approach to deviance and crime, metaphysics as branch of philosophy, “introduction to manufacturing lipke, david. “american apparel focuses on fundamentals”. wwd issue.”.

Subjects: Business Case Study

Challenges of the Grant Administration

Concepts of match on recruitment, what is education for.

Subjects: Rhetoric Sociology

Analysis of the Article: Importance-Performance Analysis as a New Attempt to Satisfy Citizens’ Needs

Death, dying and bereavement, valuable leadership experience, are all instincts random and arbitrary, the stages of the creative process.

Subjects: Applications of Psychology Psychology

Environmental and Animal Ethics

Subjects: Environment Environmental Studies

Disclosing the Aspects of Female Authorship as Presented in Woolf’s Professions for Women and Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Right of Woman

Subjects: British Literature Literature

Tuscaloosa County School District Emergency Operations Plan in Alabama

Subjects: Education Education Theories

Does Social Class Make a Difference?

World with no advertising, no promotion, no marketing.

Subjects: Business Marketing

What is Applied Management Science?

Virginia teacher holds mock slave auction.

Subjects: Education Pedagogy

Setting up a Private Business: Optometry Business

A summary of “what the dog saw”.

Subjects: Concepts in American Novels Literature

America Does Not Celebrate Its Real Heroes

Special places to relax & find inspiration.

Subjects: Psychological Principles Psychology

Philosophical Analysis on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

The impact of immigration on the economy of the usa, fantasies of the master race.

Subjects: Cultural Studies Culture

Design, size and facilities

Subjects: Architecture Design

What a manager should know about control systems?

Subjects: Business Organizational Management

The Role of Popular Culture in the United States of America

The king’s speech.

Subjects: Art Historical Drama

Strategic Management Process

Labor economics: child labor, developmental psychology theories of piaget and vygotsky, human freedom and personal identity, gary okihiro’s arguments regarding the writing of american history, the value of a product.

Subjects: Education Education Issues

The Impact of Immigration on the American Society and Culture

Elementary children’s literature: infancy through age 13.

Subjects: Literature World Literature

How Jacob, as a Complex Character, Often Appears to have Opposing Aspects/Parts to his Personality

Subjects: Aspects of American Novels Literature

London during the Roman Age: A Critical Overview

Subjects: History Medieval History

How to Prepare the Students to Travel to a Foreign Country?

History of the united states to 1816.

Subjects: History Native Americans History

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Subjects: Dramatic Literature Literature

Critical Analysis: The Peter Principle as an Explanation of Problem of Career Development

The era of liberal consensus, johnson, e. patrick. “performing blackness down under: the café of the gate of salvation.”.

Subjects: Culture Ethnicity Studies

Syntagmatics and Paradigmatics

Subjects: Art Theater

Strange Fruit’ Music and Social Consciousness

Subjects: Art Film Studies

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Franchise Agreement

What were pilgrims, puritans, separatists, antinomians, and quakers how did these groups come together in the formation of new england, a social interaction problem in the usa, confrontation: employee and customer.

Subjects: Business Business Ethics

White Wines vs. Red Wines

Subjects: Health & Medicine Healthy Nutrition

The Influence of Social Media on Communication

Online education and pragmatism.

Subjects: Aspects of Education Education

Taking Credit for Writing

The revolutionary struggle in european countries and america.

Subjects: History World History

Dubai Aluminum: Opening a Branch in Saudi Arabia

Subjects: Business Industry

The Mass Media is Harmful to Society

Subjects: Entertainment & Media Media and Society

The Force Field Analysis for Leadership Team Effectiveness

Subjects: Business Leadership Styles

Information Technology: Computer Software

Subjects: Computer Science Tech & Engineering

Relationship between Indirect and Physical Aggression on Television and in Real Life

Quality gurus and their philosophies, is hick right that the project of soul-making explains how a perfect god might allow evil.

Subjects: Philosophy Philosophy of Religion

Slavery and the Old South

Course outcomes: vietnamese culture and experiences, why are we afraid of poetry, summary and comparison of articles; “hiding in plain sight” by heather rogers and, “on dumpster diving” by lans eighner.

Subjects: Environment Recycling

Abuse in Childhood Common Among Alcohol Addicts

The hollow men by t. s. eliot, critical analysis of the plays: the three sisters and happy days, negative opinion towards immigrants is not justified.

Subjects: Behavior Management Psychology

Economic Consequences of Immigration

“rumi’s world: the life and work of the great sufi poet”.

Subjects: Religion Theology

Is Public Shaming a Viable and Appropriate Punishment for Criminal Behavior

Subjects: Criminal Law Law

Immigrants, Their Ethnicity and Culture

Analyzing the differences between utilitarianism and libertarianism: ethical issues and moral judgments.

Subjects: Ethics Sociology

Business issues and the context of human resource

Subjects: Business Business Critique

Teamwork and Collaboration

Subjects: Health & Medicine Nursing

Do Vaccines Cause Autism?

Subjects: Health & Medicine Pharmacology

The O.J. Verdict Video

The secrets of management: acquiring the necessary information, management information systems and enterprise resource planning.

Subjects: Data Tech & Engineering

Writing a 500-word essay may seem like a piece of cake. But don’t get fooled by it! Although a paper of this length is short and takes only one page, its writing process has its pitfalls. And the most complicated aspect is finding a balance between the small size and the depth of argumentation.

A typical 500-word paper can be:

a traditional 5-paragraph essay
a college admission essay
a personal statement
a book report
a critical analysis essay, and many other types of written works.

If you need to write one of these, then definitely check out this article. Our simple explanations and inspirational topics will help you craft an exceptional 500-word paper. And make sure to check out our free essay examples for even more ideas!

🎓 Personal Statement Examples
📜 500-Word Memoir Topics
✨ My Values Essay Examples
✊🏿 Rosa Parks Essay Topics
💬 Narrative Essay Examples

✍️ How to Write a 500-Word Essay

😱 Stress Impact on Health Essay Samples
🚀 Sample Essays on Accountability
💡 Essay Topics on Respect
🎯 Example Essays on Career Goals
📚 Topics on the Importance of Education
🩺 Alzheimer’s Disease Topics
❤️ Romeo and Juliet Essay Examples
🏫 College Essay Topics

🎓 500-Word Personal Statement Examples

Personal Statement for a Major in Geography and Planning From my perspective, geography is a prominent professional field that has incredible potential, and I want to contribute to the advancement of this area to improve the lives of societies and organizations.
APRN Program Applicant Personal Statement While studying to be a nurse, I discovered the function of nurse practitioners and felt it was exactly what I was searching for.
Personal Statement on My Most Effective Learning Style Thus I believe my mode of learning is the best to use when studying. Through the use of this method, I have found learning to be more exciting and captivating.
Personal Teaching Philosophy Statement: Encouraging Lifelong and Individual Learning Thus, the learners will more easily relate to music, and as a result, necessary prerequisites for active engagement in the studies, and an enthusiasm for the required material, can be expected.

📜 500-Word Memoir Topics to Write About

Describe your most exciting adventure.
Share a story of a volunteer experience that changed your life.
How you rediscovered your passion for an old hobby.
Write about a lesson you’ve learned from a unique friendship.
What life events had the most significant impact on your personality?
Discuss your experiences in competitive sports.
Explore and discuss your heritage and cultural roots.
Write about the situation when you had to step out of your comfort zone.
Reveal your path to forgiveness and reconciliation.
What is your favorite childhood memory? Why is it significant?

✨ My Values Essay: 500 Words Examples

Nursing Values and Responsibilities Some of the legal responsibilities of a nurse include preventing malpractice cases and respecting a patient’s confidentiality. The legal responsibilities of a nurse involve preventing malpractice and respecting a patient’s confidentiality.
Social Work: Values, Experience, and Educational Goals First of all, I would like to start with the fact that people, as phenomena, have always attracted me, and also aroused a desire to help, if necessary.
Values in Caring for Dying Patients Therefore, medical professionals’ main task is to provide the most satisfying life for patients and peace of mind for loved ones. In conclusion, the care and treatment of dying patients imply adherence to certain professional […]
The Importance of Values and Virtues To further illustrate this concept in a more detailed manner, I will refer to a couple of the values I follow, while depicting a situation when I have broken them.
Businessperson’s Vision, Mission, and Values Statement In addition, I intend to use my skills and knowledge in finance to mitigate the risks that the company is facing.
Personality and Values in Human Services Practice In order to overcome this problem, I plan to find a colleague who can help me review the plans and assessments of current situations to ensure that I cover all the basic issues.

✊🏿 Rosa Parks Essay: 500 Words Topics

What were the early years of Rosa Parks and her upbringing?
Describe Rosa Parks’ involvement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Explore Rosa Parks’ collaboration with Martin Luther King Jr.
Write about Parks’ later years and continued activism.
What was Rosa Parks’ personal philosophy?
The cultural depictions of Rosa Parks in literature, film, and art.
Analyze Parks’ contribution to the fight for racial equality.
Study the cultural and historical context of Parks’ actions.
Discuss the legacy of Rosa Parks’ writings and speeches.
What is the significance of the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama?

💬 Narrative Essay Examples: 500 Words

Blog Response: Developing Different Kinds of Narratives I get the news set that makes her keep asking “is this journalism” and feel relaxed as she makes me realize am reading and not in the situation.
A Horrible Walk in the Wilderness Upon some reflection, Ashley concluded that she should have asked someone to meet her at the bus stop when she arrived at 10 o’clock and guide her to the picnic site.”One would have thought that […]
Counseling and Social Work Challenges Also, it may be important to try to work with different people and assess the impact that individual differences have on the work results.
Walking Tour: Irving Street in San Francisco The first place, which you can see is the Baskin Robbins store at the corner of the 24th avenue. The fine restaurant is located nearby the intersection of the Irving Street and the 23rd avenue.
Architectural Design of the Autostadt Roof This is one of the main attributes of this architectural design. It should be kept in mind that this work is located on the territory of Autostadt, the museum of Volkswagen.

Writing 500 words is not much work. If the topic is simple, you can easily finish everything in a couple of hours. However, writing essays on more complex issues is an entirely different process. It is essential to structure everything well and cover the topic fully within the tight word limit. Not sure how to do it? Have a look at the guide below.

500-Word Essay Structure

If you want to write an excellent 500-word essay, then make sure to outline it first. A standard 5-paragraph piece will have the following structure:

1 intro paragraph that provides the necessary background and states your thesis
3 body paragraph with a detailed presentation of all evidence and arguments
1 conclusion paragraph that sums everything up.

Each paragraph should contain about 100 words. Such length is enough to cover almost any topic.

An explanation of a 500-word essay structure.

Did you know you can use the power of AI to create an excellent essay plan? Our outline generator can make you a perfect one in no time.

500-Word Essay Introduction

In a 500-word paper, an introduction is usually 50—100 words long, which takes up about 10—20% of the general word count. The size may vary depending on the complexity of the topic.

Here are a few helpful tips on writing a good introduction:

Start with an arresting hook. It can be a thought-provoking question, a quote, or an intriguing piece of statistics. Need some inspiration? Try our essay hook generator !
Provide enough background. That’s a tricky part. The context you give should be sufficient for understanding your topic and arguments but not overly detailed.
Present a well-formulated thesis statement. It’s the most critical part of your intro. To create it quickly and painlessly, you can use our thesis statement generator .
Remember to use transition sentences. They will make your writing smoother and more logical. We recommend using them in body paragraphs as well.

500-Words Essay Conclusion

The conclusion of a 500-word paper is about the same size as an introduction. It wraps up all you’ve been discussing before and gives a sense of closure to your readers.

Follow these tips to write a striking conclusion:

Restate your thesis statement. Try paraphrasing your thesis to showcase a fresh understanding you’ve developed throughout your essay.
Sum up the main points you’ve used to support your opinion. Try to introduce them in a way that clearly shows how they are connected.
Finish with a memorable final thought. Our closing sentence generator will help you ensure perfect results.

How Many References for 500-Word Essay Should You Include?

The number of references in a 500-word essay may differ depending on the assignment type, academic level, and your instructor’s specific requirements. Generally, an essay includes 8 to 12 citations for every 1000 words. So, if the number is not specified, you can safely use 4—6 references for your 500-word paper. Want to be sure that your citations are correctly formatted? Make them with our AI-based citation generator !

😱 Stress Impact on Health Essay: 500 Words Samples

Effects of Stress on Human Health There are numerous theories and researches on stress and health, they all agree that stress has an adverse effect on human health; the statement goes “a stressed man is an unhealthy man”.
The Relationship Between Stress and Health: Article Summary The implications of the study allow for stating that the increased exposure to stress at work leads to worsened health of the stressed individuals.
Coping with Stress and Physical Health Problems In this regard, Julie, first of all, needs to accept the situation as it is, to appreciate the things and the context that she is no longer able to change.
Coping with Stress: Stress and Health In terms of physical, emotional, and behavioral signs, Julia is experiencing severe stress, which requires the help of specialists and the introduction of various techniques that contribute to the normalization of all aspects of life.
Occupational Health: Workplace Stress To avoid noise-related stress, Ruth handles her job with a positive attitude and this makes it easy to enjoy work. In conclusion, work-related stress is a major cause of poor performance by employees due to […]
Health and Stress in College Students We may believe that stress has only psychological relevance, but the perspective of psychologists is that stress is the physiological and psychological reaction of an individual to a condition that poses a threat calling for […]
Minority Stress and Health: Societal Issues Due to the peculiarities of the LGBT people’s personal life, they might experience limited support and restricted access to medical services.

🚀 500-Word Essay on Accountability: Examples

Social Work Career, Professional Behavior and Accountability I have the desire to fight for human rights and social change, and I want to fight for justice in all corners to make society a better place.
Pursuing Professional Accountability and Just Culture It is suitable to combine the quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluate organizational culture since this ensures that the strength of the other adjusts for the shortcomings of one method.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: Privacy and Security Rules Violation Most cases present with the use of malicious malware to access protected data without the consent of the insurers and inappropriate use of that information.
Civil Society and Political Accountability in Samoa Also, one of the priorities in the political life of Samoa is the attraction of local communities and governments to the state governance system to ensure progress in all aspects of the country’s life.
Accountability in Healthcare Organizations and Improving the Quality of Service This is true in view of the fact that the clients of a health care organization may not possess the knowledge to judge the technical quality of the healthcare service provided and the clients’ wellbeing […]
A Critical Reflection of “Accountability in the Shadow of Hierarchy” by Thomas Schillemans The article by Schillemans addresses the emergence of the phenomenon of horizontal accountability in response to the accountability deficit of agencies.
Wise Judgment: Ethics, Accountability, and Human Conscience The man, now in a state of dilemma, does not know whether to blow the whistle and lose his job or just maintain a blind eye to his manager’s unethical acts.

💡 Topics for a 500-Word Essay on Respect

The significance of respect for building healthy relationships.
Is self-respect a necessary condition for a happy life?
The unseen power of silent respect in non-verbal communication.
Discuss the importance of respecting and understanding different religious beliefs.
Write about the role of respect for older people in different cultures.
Should society show respect to criminals? In what way?
Explain the importance of politeness and open-mindedness in online communication.
Why is the ethical treatment of animals important?
Analyze how disrespect in the workplace affects productivity and motivation.
Recognition and respect towards indigenous cultures and traditions.

🎯 500-Word Essay on Career Goals Examples

Short and Long-Term Goals for Nursing Career For one to fulfill long-term goals, it takes him or her a lot of time while short-term goal is a part of the several steps involved in the long-term goal.
Family Nurse Practitioner Career Goals As I plan to deal with children, I will be involved with planning the care of children with their parents and treating childhood illnesses.
Career Goals in Educational Technology The University offers the Master of Arts and the doctor of Philosophy degrees in Educational Technology. One of the spread and reasonable career goal for an applicant is to achieve success in the field of […]
A Degree in Social Work: Reasons for Seeking, Career Goals and Aspirations I would like to pursue a degree in social work at this because I am in a position to accommodate the strict nature of the study being fresh from school, young and energetic at the […]
How the DTC Major Supports Your Career Goals Digital technology and culture ensures that the knowledge people have in art is updated depending on the modern technology and everyone for communication to be effective understands the language used.
Reaching the Career Goals: In Search for a Place Under the Sun Quicksilver Nespresso Fastsing Narrowing the Choice Down to Three Options While the list provided above offers a fairly detailed account of the career options that I can possibly use in order to achieve success in […]

📚 Topics for an Essay on Importance of Education in 500 Words

Importance of Higher Education Education creates awareness in the minds of individuals, a new sense of responsibility, openness to change and progress, all of which are important factors in the development of a nation.
The Importance of Education in the Global Society The role and the importance of education in the modern world is a subject of this essay. The elementary and secondary education is obligatory and free in the majority of them.
Importance of Education to Student-Athletes Education enables student athletes to develop appropriate skills that they require to be independent and to succeed in academics. Although athletics forms a vital part of a student athletes’ life, it is vital to understand […]
Importance of Sex Education for Teens One of the advantages of cohabitation in modern society is that it eliminates the obligations of marriage while providing sexual and emotional intimacy for couples. One of the disadvantages is that for most couples, cohabitation […]
Importance of Managing Students in the Education System This would not only benefit the students, but also the teachers who will be able to understand the capacity of the students they are admitting to the institution.

🩺 Alzheimer’s Disease Essay: 500 Words Topics

Describe early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
How does Alzheimer’s impact caregivers?
Explain the importance of overcoming the stigma associated with dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease and gender differences: prevalence and effects.
Discuss the common misperceptions of Alzheimer’s disease.
Is there a connection between Alzheimer’s and one’s lifestyle?
Study the role of music and art therapy in treating Alzheimer’s patients.
Write about the significance of inclusive clinical research of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease and the importance of physical activity.
Explore non-pharmacological interventions for Alzheimer’s patients.

❤️ Romeo and Juliet Essay: 500 Words Example Texts

Analysis of the Play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Another interesting scene of the production that makes it real understanding of the authors work is the casting of the romantic love between Romeo and Juliet, the physical love of the nurse and the contractual […]
Romeo and Juliet: Analysis of Play Being a tragedy, the story narrates the challenges two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, go through due to the enmity between their respective families. For example, the story of Juliet and Romeo presents a romantic and […]
Analysis of “Romeo and Juliet” Directed by Simon Godwin The actors played in the theater without an audience, and the shooting itself took two and a half weeks, but also due to the director’s attempt to combine the action on the theater stage and […]
Nurse and Friar Laurence in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” The way Friar Laurence supported Romeo and Juliet to get Married, The way the Nurse is opposing in her regards of Romeo and Paris, When Friar Laurence clandestinely married them, the way the Nurse is […]
“Analysis of Causes of Tragic Fate in Romeo and Juliet Based on Shakespeare’s View of Fate” by Jie Li The article is easy to read and makes a compelling case for the reasons that precipitated the tragedy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

🏫 500-Word College Essay Topics

Describe a book or movie that made a profound impact on you.
What academic achievement influenced your career choice?
Share the life lesson you’ve learned from a memorable mistake.
Write about the impact of a mentor on your academic or personal growth.
Describe a life-changing act of kindness.
How did participation in a community service project influence you?
Tell about a project or initiative you’ve started and its impact.
Talk about the time when you stood up for your beliefs.
What is your vision of a better world? How do you plan to contribute?
How did you discover your passion for a particular field of study?

📌 500 Word Essay: Answers to the Most Pressing Questions

📌 500 word essay is how many pages.

How many pages is 500 words of academic text? According to the guidelines of all the key citation styles, one page should contain approximately 250 words (12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced). If you follow these guidelines, your 500-word essay will be 2 pages. If you make it single-spaced, it will take one page.

📌 How Much Is 500 Words in Paragraphs?

How many paragraphs is a 500-word essay? Since a typical paragraph in academic writing contains 50-100 words, an essay of 500 words will consist of 5 to 7 paragraphs.

📌 How Many Sentences Is 500 Words?

How many sentences is a 500-word essay? A typical sentence in academic writing consists of 15-20 words. So, 500 words are not less than 25-28 sentences.

📌 How to Outline a 500-Word Essay?

A 500-word essay outline usually follows a standard five-paragraph structure. Start your paper with a short introduction that includes an attention-grabber, some background information, and a thesis. Then add three body paragraphs that focus on your arguments. Finish your 500-word paper with a conclusion that contains a restated thesis and a summary of your ideas.

📌 How Long Does It Take to Write 500 Words?

How long does it take to write a 500-word essay? It will take you 10-20 minutes to type 500 words on your keyboard (the total time will depend on your typing speed). Writing an academic paper will take more time because you’ll have to research, make an outline, write, format, and edit your text. It would be best if you planned to spend not less than 1 hour and 40 minutes for a 500-word paper.

📌 How Many Body Paragraphs Are in a 500 Word Essay?

A typical 500 words essay consists of 4 to 6 paragraphs. Each of the paragraphs should contain 75-150 words.

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College admissions

Course: college admissions > unit 4.

Writing a strong college admissions essay
Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes
Brainstorming tips for your college essay
How formal should the tone of your college essay be?
Taking your college essay to the next level

Sample essay 1 with admissions feedback

Sample essay 2 with admissions feedback
Student story: Admissions essay about a formative experience
Student story: Admissions essay about personal identity
Student story: Admissions essay about community impact
Student story: Admissions essay about a past mistake
Student story: Admissions essay about a meaningful poem
Writing tips and techniques for your college essay

Introduction

Sample essay 1, feedback from admissions.

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What are your chances of acceptance?

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Extracurriculars.

16 Strong College Essay Examples from Top Schools

What’s Covered:

Common App Essays
Why This College Essays
Why This Major Essays
Extracurricular Essays
Overcoming Challenges Essays
Community Service Essays
Diversity Essays
Political/Global Issues Essays
Where to Get Feedback on Your Essays

Most high school students don’t get a lot of experience with creative writing, so the college essay can be especially daunting. Reading examples of successful essays, however, can help you understand what admissions officers are looking for.

In this post, we’ll share 16 college essay examples of many different topics. Most of the essay prompts fall into 8 different archetypes, and you can approach each prompt under that archetype in a similar way. We’ve grouped these examples by archetype so you can better structure your approach to college essays.

If you’re looking for school-specific guides, check out our 2022-2023 essay breakdowns .

Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized.

Note: the essays are titled in this post for navigation purposes, but they were not originally titled. We also include the original prompt where possible.

The Common App essay goes to all of the schools on your list, unless those schools use a separate application platform. Because of this, it’s the most important essay in your portfolio, and likely the longest essay you’ll need to write (you get up to 650 words).

The goal of this essay is to share a glimpse into who you are, what matters to you, and what you hope to achieve. It’s a chance to share your story.

Learn more about how to write the Common App essay in our complete guide.

The Multiple Meanings of Point

Prompt: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (250-650 words)

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger.

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual.

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous.

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée, while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers.

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable.

The first obvious strength of this essay is the introduction—it is interesting and snappy and uses enough technical language that we want to figure out what the student is discussing. When writing introductions, students tend to walk the line between intriguing and confusing. It is important that your essay ends up on the intentionally intriguing side of that line—like this student does! We are a little confused at first, but by then introducing the idea of “sparring,” the student grounds their essay.

People often advise young writers to “show, not tell.” This student takes that advice a step further and makes the reader do a bit of work to figure out what they are telling us. Nowhere in this essay does it say “After years of Taekwondo, I made the difficult decision to switch over to ballet.” Rather, the student says “It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers.” How powerful!

After a lot of emotional language and imagery, this student finishes off their essay with very valuable (and necessary!) reflection. They show admissions officers that they are more than just a good writer—they are a mature and self-aware individual who would be beneficial to a college campus. Self-awareness comes through with statements like “surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become” and maturity can be seen through the student’s discussion of values: “honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.”

Sparking Self-Awareness

Prompt: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (250-650 words)

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire.

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family.

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt.

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him.

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses.

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

First things first, this Common App essay is well-written. This student is definitely showing the admissions officers her ability to articulate her points beautifully and creatively. It starts with vivid images like that of the “rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free.” And because the prose is flowery (and beautiful!), the writer can get away with metaphors like “I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms” that might sound cheesy without the clear command of the English language that the writer quickly establishes.

In addition to being well-written, this essay is thematically cohesive. It begins with the simple introduction “Fire!” and ends with the following image: “When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.” This full-circle approach leaves readers satisfied and impressed.

While dialogue often comes off as cliche or trite, this student effectively incorporates her family members saying “Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” This is achieved through the apt use of the verb “taunted” to characterize the questioning and through the question’s thematic connection to the earlier image of the student as a rustic princess. Similarly, rhetorical questions can feel randomly placed in essays, but this student’s inclusion of the questions “Was I so dainty?” and “Was I that incapable?” feel perfectly justified after she establishes that she was pondering her failure.

Quite simply, this essay shows how quality writing can make a simple story outstandingly compelling.

Why This College?

“Why This College?” is one of the most common essay prompts, likely because schools want to understand whether you’d be a good fit and how you’d use their resources.

This essay is one of the more straightforward ones you’ll write for college applications, but you still can and should allow your voice to shine through.

Learn more about how to write the “Why This College?” essay in our guide.

Prompt: How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying (650 words).

Sister Simone Roach, a theorist of nursing ethics, said, “caring is the human mode of being.” I have long been inspired by Sister Roach’s Five C’s of Caring: commitment, conscience, competence, compassion, and confidence. Penn both embraces and fosters these values through a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and unmatched access to service and volunteer opportunities.

COMMITMENT. Reading through the activities that Penn Quakers devote their time to (in addition to academics!) felt like drinking from a firehose in the best possible way. As a prospective nursing student with interests outside of my major, I value this level of flexibility. I plan to leverage Penn’s liberal arts curriculum to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges LGBT people face, especially regarding healthcare access. Through courses like “Interactional Processes with LGBT Individuals” and volunteering at the Mazzoni Center for outreach, I hope to learn how to better support the Penn LGBT community as well as my family and friends, including my cousin, who came out as trans last year.

CONSCIENCE. As one of the first people in my family to attend a four-year university, I wanted a school that promoted a sense of moral responsibility among its students. At Penn, professors challenge their students to question and recreate their own set of morals by sparking thought- provoking, open-minded discussions. I can imagine myself advocating for universal healthcare in courses such as “Health Care Reform & Future of American Health System” and debating its merits with my peers. Studying in an environment where students confidently voice their opinions – conservative or liberal – will push me to question and strengthen my value system.

COMPETENCE. Two aspects that drew my attention to Penn’s BSN program were its high-quality research opportunities and hands-on nursing projects. Through its Office of Nursing Research, Penn connects students to faculty members who share similar research interests. As I volunteered at a nursing home in high school, I hope to work with Dr. Carthon to improve the quality of care for senior citizens. Seniors, especially minorities, face serious barriers to healthcare that I want to resolve. Additionally, Penn’s unique use of simulations to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application impressed me. Using computerized manikins that mimic human responses, classes in Penn’s nursing program allow students to apply their emergency medical skills in a mass casualty simulation and monitor their actions afterward through a video system. Participating in this activity will help me identify my strengths and areas for improvement regarding crisis management and medical care in a controlled yet realistic setting. Research opportunities and simulations will develop my skills even before I interact with patients.

COMPASSION. I value giving back through community service, and I have a particular interest in Penn’s Community Champions and Nursing Students For Sexual & Reproductive Health (NSRH). As a four-year volunteer health educator, I hope to continue this work as a Community Champions member. I am excited to collaborate with medical students to teach fourth and fifth graders in the city about cardiology or lead a chair dance class for the elders at the LIFE Center. Furthermore, as a feminist who firmly believes in women’s abortion rights, I’d like to join NSRH in order to advocate for women’s health on campus. At Penn, I can work with like-minded people to make a meaningful difference.

CONFIDENCE. All of the Quakers that I have met possess one defining trait: confidence. Each student summarized their experiences at Penn as challenging but fulfilling. Although I expect my coursework to push me, from my conversations with current Quakers I know it will help me to be far more effective in my career.

The Five C’s of Caring are important heuristics for nursing, but they also provide insight into how I want to approach my time in college. I am eager to engage with these principles both as a nurse and as a Penn Quaker, and I can’t wait to start.

This prompt from Penn asks students to tailor their answer to their specific field of study. One great thing that this student does is identify their undergraduate school early, by mentioning “Sister Simone Roach, a theorist of nursing ethics.” You don’t want readers confused or searching through other parts of your application to figure out your major.

With a longer essay like this, it is important to establish structure. Some students organize their essay in a narrative form, using an anecdote from their past or predicting their future at a school. This student uses Roach’s 5 C’s of Caring as a framing device that organizes their essay around values. This works well!

While this essay occasionally loses voice, there are distinct moments where the student’s personality shines through. We see this with phrases like “felt like drinking from a fire hose in the best possible way” and “All of the Quakers that I have met possess one defining trait: confidence.” It is important to show off your personality to make your essay stand out.

Finally, this student does a great job of referencing specific resources about Penn. It’s clear that they have done their research (they’ve even talked to current Quakers). They have dreams and ambitions that can only exist at Penn.

Prompt: What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)

Coin collector and swimmer. Hungarian and Romanian. Critical and creative thinker. I was drawn to Yale because they don’t limit one’s mind with “or” but rather embrace unison with “and.”

Wandering through the Beinecke Library, I prepare for my multidisciplinary Energy Studies capstone about the correlation between hedonism and climate change, making it my goal to find implications in environmental sociology. Under the tutelage of Assistant Professor Arielle Baskin-Sommers, I explore the emotional deficits of depression, utilizing neuroimaging to scrutinize my favorite branch of psychology: human perception. At Walden Peer Counseling, I integrate my peer support and active listening skills to foster an empathetic environment for the Yale community. Combining my interests in psychological and environmental studies is why I’m proud to be a Bulldog.

This answer to the “Why This College” question is great because 1) the student shows their excitement about attending Yale 2) we learn the ways in which attending Yale will help them achieve their goals and 3) we learn their interests and identities.

In this response, you can find a prime example of the “Image of the Future” approach, as the student flashes forward and envisions their life at Yale, using present tense (“I explore,” “I integrate,” “I’m proud”). This approach is valuable if you are trying to emphasize your dedication to a specific school. Readers get the feeling that this student is constantly imagining themselves on campus—it feels like Yale really matters to them.

Starting this image with the Beinecke Library is great because the Beinecke Library only exists at Yale. It is important to tailor “Why This College” responses to each specific school. This student references a program of study, a professor, and an extracurricular that only exist at Yale. Additionally, they connect these unique resources to their interests—psychological and environmental studies.

Finally, we learn about the student (independent of academics) through this response. By the end of their 125 words, we know their hobbies, ethnicities, and social desires, in addition to their academic interests. It can be hard to tackle a 125-word response, but this student shows that it’s possible.

Why This Major?

The goal of this prompt is to understand how you came to be interested in your major and what you plan to do with it. For competitive programs like engineering, this essay helps admissions officers distinguish students who have a genuine passion and are most likely to succeed in the program. This is another more straightforward essay, but you do have a bit more freedom to include relevant anecdotes.

Learn more about how to write the “Why This Major?” essay in our guide.

Why Duke Engineering

Prompt: If you are applying to the Pratt School of Engineering as a first year applicant, please discuss why you want to study engineering and why you would like to study at Duke (250 words).

One Christmas morning, when I was nine, I opened a snap circuit set from my grandmother. Although I had always loved math and science, I didn’t realize my passion for engineering until I spent the rest of winter break creating different circuits to power various lights, alarms, and sensors. Even after I outgrew the toy, I kept the set in my bedroom at home and knew I wanted to study engineering. Later, in a high school biology class, I learned that engineering didn’t only apply to circuits, but also to medical devices that could improve people’s quality of life. Biomedical engineering allows me to pursue my academic passions and help people at the same time.

Just as biology and engineering interact in biomedical engineering, I am fascinated by interdisciplinary research in my chosen career path. Duke offers unmatched resources, such as DUhatch and The Foundry, that will enrich my engineering education and help me practice creative problem-solving skills. The emphasis on entrepreneurship within these resources will also help me to make a helpful product. Duke’s Bass Connections program also interests me; I firmly believe that the most creative and necessary problem-solving comes by bringing people together from different backgrounds. Through this program, I can use my engineering education to solve complicated societal problems such as creating sustainable surgical tools for low-income countries. Along the way, I can learn alongside experts in the field. Duke’s openness and collaborative culture span across its academic disciplines, making Duke the best place for me to grow both as an engineer and as a social advocate.

This prompt calls for a complex answer. Students must explain both why they want to study engineering and why Duke is the best place for them to study engineering.

This student begins with a nice hook—a simple anecdote about a simple present with profound consequences. They do not fluff up their anecdote with flowery images or emotionally-loaded language; it is what it is, and it is compelling and sweet. As their response continues, they express a particular interest in problem-solving. They position problem-solving as a fundamental part of their interest in engineering (and a fundamental part of their fascination with their childhood toy). This helps readers to learn about the student!

Problem-solving is also the avenue by which they introduce Duke’s resources—DUhatch, The Foundry, and Duke’s Bass Connections program. It is important to notice that the student explains how these resources can help them achieve their future goals—it is not enough to simply identify the resources!

This response is interesting and focused. It clearly answers the prompt, and it feels honest and authentic.

Why Georgia Tech CompSci

Prompt: Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech? (300 words max)

I held my breath and hit RUN. Yes! A plump white cat jumped out and began to catch the falling pizzas. Although my Fat Cat project seems simple now, it was the beginning of an enthusiastic passion for computer science. Four years and thousands of hours of programming later, that passion has grown into an intense desire to explore how computer science can serve society. Every day, surrounded by technology that can recognize my face and recommend scarily-specific ads, I’m reminded of Uncle Ben’s advice to a young Spiderman: “with great power comes great responsibility”. Likewise, the need to ensure digital equality has skyrocketed with AI’s far-reaching presence in society; and I believe that digital fairness starts with equality in education.

The unique use of threads at the College of Computing perfectly matches my interests in AI and its potential use in education; the path of combined threads on Intelligence and People gives me the rare opportunity to delve deep into both areas. I’m particularly intrigued by the rich sets of both knowledge-based and data-driven intelligence courses, as I believe AI should not only show correlation of events, but also provide insight for why they occur.

In my four years as an enthusiastic online English tutor, I’ve worked hard to help students overcome both financial and technological obstacles in hopes of bringing quality education to people from diverse backgrounds. For this reason, I’m extremely excited by the many courses in the People thread that focus on education and human-centered technology. I’d love to explore how to integrate AI technology into the teaching process to make education more available, affordable, and effective for people everywhere. And with the innumerable opportunities that Georgia Tech has to offer, I know that I will be able to go further here than anywhere else.

With a “Why This Major” essay, you want to avoid using all of your words to tell a story. That being said, stories are a great way to show your personality and make your essay stand out. This student’s story takes up only their first 21 words, but it positions the student as fun and funny and provides an endearing image of cats and pizzas—who doesn’t love cats and pizzas? There are other moments when the student’s personality shines through also, like the Spiderman reference.

While this pop culture reference adds color, it also is important for what the student is getting at: their passion. They want to go into computer science to address the issues of security and equity that are on the industry’s mind, and they acknowledge these concerns with their comments about “scarily-specific ads” and their statement that “the need to ensure digital equality has skyrocketed.” This student is self-aware and aware of the state of the industry. This aptitude will be appealing for admissions officers.

The conversation around “threads” is essential for this student’s response because the prompt asks specifically about the major at Georgia Tech and it is the only thing they reference that is specific to Georgia Tech. Threads are great, but this student would have benefitted from expanding on other opportunities specific to Georgia Tech later in the essay, instead of simply inserting “innumerable opportunities.”

Overall, this student shows personality, passion, and aptitude—precisely what admissions officers want to see!

Extracurricular Essay

You’re asked to describe your activities on the Common App, but chances are, you have at least one extracurricular that’s impacted you in a way you can’t explain in 150 characters.

This essay archetype allows you to share how your most important activity shaped you and how you might use those lessons learned in the future. You are definitely welcome to share anecdotes and use a narrative approach, but remember to include some reflection. A common mistake students make is to only describe the activity without sharing how it impacted them.

Learn more about how to write the Extracurricular Essay in our guide.

A Dedicated Musician

My fingers raced across the keys, rapidly striking one after another. My body swayed with the music as my hands raced across the piano. Crashing onto the final chord, it was over as quickly as it had begun. My shoulders relaxed and I couldn’t help but break into a satisfied grin. I had just played the Moonlight Sonata’s third movement, a longtime dream of mine.

Four short months ago, though, I had considered it impossible. The piece’s tempo was impossibly fast, its notes stretching between each end of the piano, forcing me to reach farther than I had ever dared. It was 17 pages of the most fragile and intricate melodies I had ever encountered.

But that summer, I found myself ready to take on the challenge. With the end of the school year, I was released from my commitment to practicing for band and solo performances. I was now free to determine my own musical path: either succeed in learning the piece, or let it defeat me for the third summer in a row.

Over those few months, I spent countless hours practicing the same notes until they burned a permanent place in my memory, creating a soundtrack for even my dreams. Some would say I’ve mastered the piece, but as a musician I know better. Now that I can play it, I am eager to take the next step and add in layers of musicality and expression to make the once-impossible piece even more beautiful.

In this response, the student uses their extracurricular, piano, as a way to emphasize their positive qualities. At the beginning, readers are invited on a journey with the student where we feel their struggle, their intensity, and ultimately their satisfaction. With this descriptive image, we form a valuable connection with the student.

Then, we get to learn about what makes this student special: their dedication and work ethic. The fact that this student describes their desire to be productive during the summer shows an intensity that is appealing to admissions officers. Additionally, the growth mindset that this student emphasizes in their conclusion is appealing to admissions officers.

The Extracurricular Essay can be seen as an opportunity to characterize yourself. This student clearly identified their positive qualities, then used the Extracurricular Essay as a way to articulate them.

A Complicated Relationship with the School Newspaper

My school’s newspaper and I have a typical love-hate relationship; some days I want nothing more than to pass two hours writing and formatting articles, while on others the mere thought of student journalism makes me shiver. Still, as we’re entering our fourth year together, you could consider us relatively stable. We’ve learned to accept each other’s differences; at this point I’ve become comfortable spending an entire Friday night preparing for an upcoming issue, and I hardly even notice the snail-like speed of our computers. I’ve even benefitted from the polygamous nature of our relationship—with twelve other editors, there’s a lot of cooperation involved. Perverse as it may be, from that teamwork I’ve both gained some of my closest friends and improved my organizational and time-management skills. And though leaving it in the hands of new editors next year will be difficult, I know our time together has only better prepared me for future relationships.

This response is great. It’s cute and endearing and, importantly, tells readers a lot about the student who wrote it. Framing this essay in the context of a “love-hate relationship,” then supplementing with comments like “We’ve learned to accept each other’s differences” allows this student to advertise their maturity in a unique and engaging way.

While Extracurricular Essays can be a place to show how you’ve grown within an activity, they can also be a place to show how you’ve grown through an activity. At the end of this essay, readers think that this student is mature and enjoyable, and we think that their experience with the school newspaper helped make them that way.

Participating in Democracy

Prompt: Research shows that an ability to learn from experiences outside the classroom correlates with success in college. What was your greatest learning experience over the past 4 years that took place outside of the traditional classroom? (250 words)

The cool, white halls of the Rayburn House office building contrasted with the bustling energy of interns entertaining tourists, staffers rushing to cover committee meetings, and my fellow conference attendees separating to meet with our respective congresspeople. Through civics and US history classes, I had learned about our government, but simply hearing the legislative process outlined didn’t prepare me to navigate it. It was my first political conference, and, after learning about congressional mechanics during breakout sessions, I was lobbying my representative about an upcoming vote crucial to the US-Middle East relationship. As the daughter of Iranian immigrants, my whole life had led me to the moment when I could speak on behalf of the family members who had not emigrated with my parents.

As I sat down with my congresswoman’s chief of staff, I truly felt like a participant in democracy; I was exercising my right to be heard as a young American. Through this educational conference, I developed a plan of action to raise my voice. When I returned home, I signed up to volunteer with the state chapter of the Democratic Party. I sponsored letter-writing campaigns, canvassed for local elections, and even pursued an internship with a state senate campaign. I know that I don’t need to be old enough to vote to effect change. Most importantly, I also know that I want to study government—I want to make a difference for my communities in the United States and the Middle East throughout my career.

While this prompt is about extracurricular activities, it specifically references the idea that the extracurricular should support the curricular. It is focused on experiential learning for future career success. This student wants to study government, so they chose to describe an experience of hands-on learning within their field—an apt choice!

As this student discusses their extracurricular experience, they also clue readers into their future goals—they want to help Middle Eastern communities. Admissions officers love when students mention concrete plans with a solid foundation. Here, the foundation comes from this student’s ethnicity. With lines like “my whole life had led me to the moment when I could speak on behalf of the family members who had not emigrated with my parents,” the student assures admissions officers of their emotional connection to their future field.

The strength of this essay comes from its connections. It connects the student’s extracurricular activity to their studies and connects theirs studies to their personal history.

Overcoming Challenges

You’re going to face a lot of setbacks in college, so admissions officers want to make you’re you have the resilience and resolve to overcome them. This essay is your chance to be vulnerable and connect to admissions officers on an emotional level.

Learn more about how to write the Overcoming Challenges Essay in our guide.

The Student Becomes the Master

”Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay is great because it has a strong introduction and conclusion. The introduction is notably suspenseful and draws readers into the story. Because we know it is a college essay, we can assume that the student is one of the competitors, but at the same time, this introduction feels intentionally ambiguous as if the writer could be a competitor, a coach, a sibling of a competitor, or anyone else in the situation.

As we continue reading the essay, we learn that the writer is, in fact, the competitor. Readers also learn a lot about the student’s values as we hear their thoughts: “I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was.” Ultimately, the conflict and inner and outer turmoil is resolved through the “Same, but Different” ending technique as the student places themself in the same environment that we saw in the intro, but experiencing it differently due to their actions throughout the narrative. This is a very compelling strategy!

Growing Sensitivity to Struggles

Prompt: The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (650 words)

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

When my parents learned about The Green Academy, we hoped it would be an opportunity for me to find not only an academically challenging environment, but also – perhaps more importantly – a community. This meant transferring the family from Drumfield to Kingston. And while there was concern about Max, we all believed that given his sociable nature, moving would be far less impactful on him than staying put might be on me.

As it turned out, Green Academy was everything I’d hoped for. I was ecstatic to discover a group of students with whom I shared interests and could truly engage. Preoccupied with new friends and a rigorous course load, I failed to notice that the tables had turned. Max, lost in the fray and grappling with how to make connections in his enormous new high school, had become withdrawn and lonely. It took me until Christmas time – and a massive argument – to recognize how difficult the transition had been for my brother, let alone that he blamed me for it.

Through my own journey of searching for academic peers, in addition to coming out as gay when I was 12, I had developed deep empathy for those who had trouble fitting in. It was a pain I knew well and could easily relate to. Yet after Max’s outburst, my first response was to protest that our parents – not I – had chosen to move us here. In my heart, though, I knew that regardless of who had made the decision, we ended up in Kingston for my benefit. I was ashamed that, while I saw myself as genuinely compassionate, I had been oblivious to the heartache of the person closest to me. I could no longer ignore it – and I didn’t want to.

We stayed up half the night talking, and the conversation took an unexpected turn. Max opened up and shared that it wasn’t just about the move. He told me how challenging school had always been for him, due to his dyslexia, and that the ever-present comparison to me had only deepened his pain.

We had been in parallel battles the whole time and, yet, I only saw that Max was in distress once he experienced problems with which I directly identified. I’d long thought Max had it so easy – all because he had friends. The truth was, he didn’t need to experience my personal brand of sorrow in order for me to relate – he had felt plenty of his own.

My failure to recognize Max’s suffering brought home for me the profound universality and diversity of personal struggle; everyone has insecurities, everyone has woes, and everyone – most certainly – has pain. I am acutely grateful for the conversations he and I shared around all of this, because I believe our relationship has been fundamentally strengthened by a deeper understanding of one another. Further, this experience has reinforced the value of constantly striving for deeper sensitivity to the hidden struggles of those around me. I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story.

Here you can find a prime example that you don’t have to have fabulous imagery or flowery prose to write a successful essay. You just have to be clear and say something that matters. This essay is simple and beautiful. It almost feels like having a conversation with a friend and learning that they are an even better person than you already thought they were.

Through this narrative, readers learn a lot about the writer—where they’re from, what their family life is like, what their challenges were as a kid, and even their sexuality. We also learn a lot about their values—notably, the value they place on awareness, improvement, and consideration of others. Though they never explicitly state it (which is great because it is still crystal clear!), this student’s ending of “I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story” shows that they are constantly striving for improvement and finding lessons anywhere they can get them in life.

Community Service/Impact on the Community

Colleges want students who will positively impact the campus community and go on to make change in the world after they graduate. This essay is similar to the Extracurricular Essay, but you need to focus on a situation where you impacted others.

Learn more about how to write the Community Service Essay in our guide.

Academic Signing Day

Prompt: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

The scent of eucalyptus caressed my nose in a gentle breeze. Spring had arrived. Senior class activities were here. As a sophomore, I noticed a difference between athletic and academic seniors at my high school; one received recognition while the other received silence. I wanted to create an event celebrating students academically-committed to four-years, community colleges, trades schools, and military programs. This event was Academic Signing Day.

The leadership label, “Events Coordinator,” felt heavy on my introverted mind. I usually was setting up for rallies and spirit weeks, being overlooked around the exuberant nature of my peers.

I knew a change of mind was needed; I designed flyers, painted posters, presented powerpoints, created student-led committees, and practiced countless hours for my introductory speech. Each committee would play a vital role on event day: one dedicated to refreshments, another to technology, and one for decorations. The fourth-month planning was a laborious joy, but I was still fearful of being in the spotlight. Being acknowledged by hundreds of people was new to me.

The day was here. Parents filled the stands of the multi-purpose room. The atmosphere was tense; I could feel the angst building in my throat, worried about the impression I would leave. Applause followed each of the 400 students as they walked to their college table, indicating my time to speak.

I walked up to the stand, hands clammy, expression tranquil, my words echoing to the audience. I thought my speech would be met by the sounds of crickets; instead, smiles lit up the stands, realizing my voice shone through my actions. I was finally coming out of my shell. The floor was met by confetti as I was met by the sincerity of staff, students, and parents, solidifying the event for years to come.

Academic students were no longer overshadowed. Their accomplishments were equally recognized to their athletic counterparts. The school culture of athletics over academics was no longer imbalanced. Now, every time I smell eucalyptus, it is a friendly reminder that on Academic Signing Day, not only were academic students in the spotlight but so was my voice.

This essay answers the prompt nicely because the student describes a contribution with a lasting legacy. Academic Signing Day will affect this high school in the future and it affected this student’s self-development—an idea summed up nicely with their last phrase “not only were academic students in the spotlight but so was my voice.”

With Community Service essays, students sometimes take small contributions and stretch them. And, oftentimes, the stretch is very obvious. Here, the student shows us that Academic Signing Day actually mattered by mentioning four months of planning and hundreds of students and parents. They also make their involvement in Academic Signing Day clear—it was their idea and they were in charge, and that’s why they gave the introductory speech.

Use this response as an example of the type of focused contribution that makes for a convincing Community Service Essay.

Climate Change Rally

Prompt: What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? (technically not community service, but the response works)

Let’s fast-forward time. Strides were made toward racial equality. Healthcare is accessible to all; however, one issue remains. Our aquatic ecosystems are parched with dead coral from ocean acidification. Climate change has prevailed.

Rewind to the present day.

My activism skills are how I express my concerns for the environment. Whether I play on sandy beaches or rest under forest treetops, nature offers me an escape from the haste of the world. When my body is met by trash in the ocean or my nose is met by harmful pollutants, Earth’s pain becomes my own.

Substituting coffee grinds as fertilizer, using bamboo straws, starting my sustainable garden, my individual actions needed to reach a larger scale. I often found performative activism to be ineffective when communicating climate concerns. My days of reposting awareness graphics on social media never filled the ambition I had left to put my activism skills to greater use. I decided to share my ecocentric worldview with a coalition of environmentalists and host a climate change rally outside my high school.

Meetings were scheduled where I informed students about the unseen impact they have on the oceans and local habitual communities. My fingers were cramped from all the constant typing and investigating of micro causes of the Pacific Waste Patch, creating reusable flyers, displaying steps people could take from home in reducing their carbon footprint. I aided my fellow environmentalists in translating these flyers into other languages, repeating this process hourly, for five days, up until rally day.

It was 7:00 AM. The faces of 100 students were shouting, “The climate is changing, why can’t we?” I proudly walked on the dewy grass, grabbing the microphone, repeating those same words. The rally not only taught me efficient methods of communication but it echoed my environmental activism to the masses. The City of Corona would be the first of many cities to see my activism, as more rallies were planned for various parts of SoCal. My once unfulfilled ambition was fueled by my tangible activism, understanding that it takes more than one person to make an environmental impact.

Like with the last example, this student describes a focused event with a lasting legacy. That’s a perfect place to start! By the end of this essay, we have an image of the cause of this student’s passion and the effect of this student’s passion. There are no unanswered questions.

This student supplements their focused topic with engaging and exciting writing to make for an easy-to-read and enjoyable essay. One of the largest strengths of this response is its pace. From the very beginning, we are invited to “fast-forward” and “rewind” with the writer. Then, after we center ourselves in real-time, this writer keeps their quick pace with sentences like “Substituting coffee grounds as fertilizer, using bamboo straws, starting my sustainable garden, my individual actions needed to reach a larger scale.” Community Service essays run the risk of turning boring, but this unique pacing keeps things interesting.

Having a diverse class provides a richness of different perspectives and encourages open-mindedness among the student body. The Diversity Essay is also somewhat similar to the Extracurricular and Community Service Essays, but it focuses more on what you might bring to the campus community because of your unique experiences or identities.

Learn more about how to write the Diversity Essay in our guide.

A Story of a Young Skater

“Everyone follow me!” I smiled at five wide-eyed skaters before pushing off into a spiral. I glanced behind me hopefully, only to see my students standing frozen like statues, the fear in their eyes as clear as the ice they swayed on. “Come on!” I said encouragingly, but the only response I elicited was the slow shake of their heads. My first day as a Learn-to-Skate coach was not going as planned.

But amid my frustration, I was struck by how much my students reminded me of myself as a young skater. At seven, I had been fascinated by Olympic performers who executed thrilling high jumps and dizzying spins with apparent ease, and I dreamed to one day do the same. My first few months on skates, however, sent these hopes crashing down: my attempts at slaloms and toe-loops were shadowed by a stubborn fear of falling, which even the helmet, elbow pads, and two pairs of mittens I had armed myself with couldn’t mitigate. Nonetheless, my coach remained unfailingly optimistic, motivating me through my worst spills and teaching me to find opportunities in failures. With his encouragement, I learned to push aside my fears and attack each jump with calm and confidence; it’s the hope that I can help others do the same that now inspires me to coach.

I remember the day a frustrated staff member directed Oliver, a particularly hesitant young skater, toward me, hoping that my patience and steady encouragement might help him improve. Having stood in Oliver’s skates not much earlier myself, I completely empathized with his worries but also saw within him the potential to overcome his fears and succeed.

To alleviate his anxiety, I held Oliver’s hand as we inched around the rink, cheering him on at every turn. I soon found though, that this only increased his fear of gliding on his own, so I changed my approach, making lessons as exciting as possible in hopes that he would catch the skating bug and take off. In the weeks that followed, we held relay races, played “freeze-skate” and “ice-potato”, and raced through obstacle courses; gradually, with each slip and subsequent success, his fear began to abate. I watched Oliver’s eyes widen in excitement with every skill he learned, and not long after, he earned his first skating badge. Together we celebrated this milestone, his ecstasy fueling my excitement and his pride mirroring my own. At that moment, I was both teacher and student, his progress instilling in me the importance of patience and a positive attitude.

It’s been more than ten years since I bundled up and stepped onto the ice for the first time. Since then, my tolerance for the cold has remained stubbornly low, but the rest of me has certainly changed. In sharing my passion for skating, I have found a wonderful community of eager athletes, loving parents, and dedicated coaches from whom I have learned invaluable lessons and wisdom. My fellow staffers have been with me, both as friends and colleagues, and the relationships I’ve formed have given me far more poise, confidence, and appreciation for others. Likewise, my relationships with parents have given me an even greater gratitude for the role they play: no one goes to the rink without a parent behind the wheel!

Since that first lesson, I have mentored dozens of children, and over the years, witnessed tentative steps transform into powerful glides and tears give way to delighted grins. What I have shared with my students has been among the greatest joys of my life, something I will cherish forever. It’s funny: when I began skating, what pushed me through the early morning practices was the prospect of winning an Olympic medal. Now, what excites me is the chance to work with my students, to help them grow, and to give back to the sport that has brought me so much happiness.

This response is a great example of how Diversity doesn’t have to mean race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, or ability. Diversity can mean whatever you want it to mean—whatever unique experience(s) you have to bring to the table!

A major strength of this essay comes in its narrative organization. When reading this first paragraph, we feel for the young skaters and understand their fear—skating sounds scary! Then, because the writer sets us up to feel this empathy, the transition to the second paragraph where the student describes their empathy for the young skaters is particularly powerful. It’s like we are all in it together! The student’s empathy for the young skaters also serves as an outstanding, seamless transition to the applicant discussing their personal journey with skating: “I was struck by how much my students reminded me of myself as a young skater.”

This essay positions the applicant as a grounded and caring individual. They are caring towards the young skaters—changing their teaching style to try to help the young skaters and feeling the young skaters’ emotions with them—but they are also appreciative to those who helped them as they reference their fellow staffers and parents. This shows great maturity—a favorable quality in the eyes of an admissions officer.

At the end of the essay, we know a lot about this student and are convinced that they would be a good addition to a college campus!

Finding Community in the Rainforest

Prompt: Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke (250 words).

I never understood the power of community until I left home to join seven strangers in the Ecuadorian rainforest. Although we flew in from distant corners of the U.S., we shared a common purpose: immersing ourselves in our passion for protecting the natural world.

Back home in my predominantly conservative suburb, my neighbors had brushed off environmental concerns. My classmates debated the feasibility of Trump’s wall, not the deteriorating state of our planet. Contrastingly, these seven strangers delighted in bird-watching, brightened at the mention of medicinal tree sap, and understood why I once ran across a four-lane highway to retrieve discarded beer cans. Their histories barely resembled mine, yet our values aligned intimately. We did not hesitate to joke about bullet ants, gush about the versatility of tree bark, or discuss the destructive consequences of materialism. Together, we let our inner tree huggers run free.

In the short life of our little community, we did what we thought was impossible. By feeding on each other’s infectious tenacity, we cultivated an atmosphere that deepened our commitment to our values and empowered us to speak out on behalf of the environment. After a week of stimulating conversations and introspective revelations about engaging people from our hometowns in environmental advocacy, we developed a shared determination to devote our lives to this cause.

As we shared a goodbye hug, my new friend whispered, “The world needs saving. Someone’s gotta do it.” For the first time, I believed that someone could be me.

This response is so wholesome and relatable. We all have things that we just need to geek out over and this student expresses the joy that came when they found a community where they could geek out about the environment. Passion is fundamental to university life and should find its way into successful applications.

Like the last response, this essay finds strength in the fact that readers feel for the student. We get a little bit of backstory about where they come from and how they felt silenced—“Back home in my predominantly conservative suburb, my neighbors had brushed off environmental concerns”—, so it’s easy to feel joy for them when they get set free.

This student displays clear values: community, ecoconsciousness, dedication, and compassion. An admissions officer who reads Diversity essays is looking for students with strong values and a desire to contribute to a university community—sounds like this student!

Political/Global Issues

Colleges want to build engaged citizens, and the Political/Global Issues Essay allows them to better understand what you care about and whether your values align with theirs. In this essay, you’re most commonly asked to describe an issue, why you care about it, and what you’ve done or hope to do to address it.

Learn more about how to write the Political/Global Issues Essay in our guide.

Note: this prompt is not a typical political/global issues essay, but the essay itself would be a strong response to a political/global issues prompt.

Fighting Violence Against Women

Prompt: Using a favorite quotation from an essay or book you have read in the last three years as a starting point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your values or changed how you approach the world. Please write the quotation, title and author at the beginning of your essay. (250-650 words)

“One of the great challenges of our time is that the disparities we face today have more complex causes and point less straightforwardly to solutions.”

– Omar Wasow, assistant professor of politics, Princeton University. This quote is taken from Professor Wasow’s January 2014 speech at the Martin Luther King Day celebration at Princeton University.

The air is crisp and cool, nipping at my ears as I walk under a curtain of darkness that drapes over the sky, starless. It is a Friday night in downtown Corpus Christi, a rare moment of peace in my home city filled with the laughter of strangers and colorful lights of street vendors. But I cannot focus.

My feet stride quickly down the sidewalk, my hand grasps on to the pepper spray my parents gifted me for my sixteenth birthday. My eyes ignore the surrounding city life, focusing instead on a pair of tall figures walking in my direction. I mentally ask myself if they turned with me on the last street corner. I do not remember, so I pick up the pace again. All the while, my mind runs over stories of young women being assaulted, kidnapped, and raped on the street. I remember my mother’s voice reminding me to keep my chin up, back straight, eyes and ears alert.

At a young age, I learned that harassment is a part of daily life for women. I fell victim to period-shaming when I was thirteen, received my first catcall when I was fourteen, and was nonconsensually grabbed by a man soliciting on the street when I was fifteen. For women, assault does not just happen to us— its gory details leave an imprint in our lives, infecting the way we perceive the world. And while movements such as the Women’s March and #MeToo have given victims of sexual violence a voice, harassment still manifests itself in the lives of millions of women across the nation. Symbolic gestures are important in spreading awareness but, upon learning that a surprising number of men are oblivious to the frequent harassment that women experience, I now realize that addressing this complex issue requires a deeper level of activism within our local communities.

Frustrated with incessant cases of harassment against women, I understood at sixteen years old that change necessitates action. During my junior year, I became an intern with a judge whose campaign for office focused on a need for domestic violence reform. This experience enabled me to engage in constructive dialogue with middle and high school students on how to prevent domestic violence. As I listened to young men uneasily admit their ignorance and young women bravely share their experiences in an effort to spread awareness, I learned that breaking down systems of inequity requires changing an entire culture. I once believed that the problem of harassment would dissipate after politicians and celebrities denounce inappropriate behavior to their global audience. But today, I see that effecting large-scale change comes from the “small” lessons we teach at home and in schools. Concerning women’s empowerment, the effects of Hollywood activism do not trickle down enough. Activism must also trickle up and it depends on our willingness to fight complacency.

Finding the solution to the long-lasting problem of violence against women is a work-in-progress, but it is a process that is persistently moving. In my life, for every uncomfortable conversation that I bridge, I make the world a bit more sensitive to the unspoken struggle that it is to be a woman. I am no longer passively waiting for others to let me live in a world where I can stand alone under the expanse of darkness on a city street, utterly alone and at peace. I, too, deserve the night sky.

As this student addresses an important social issue, she makes the reasons for her passion clear—personal experiences. Because she begins with an extended anecdote, readers are able to feel connected to the student and become invested in what she has to say.

Additionally, through her powerful ending—“I, too, deserve the night sky”—which connects back to her beginning— “as I walk under a curtain of darkness that drapes over the sky”—this student illustrates a mastery of language. Her engagement with other writing techniques that further her argument, like the emphasis on time—“gifted to me for my sixteenth birthday,” “when I was thirteen,” “when I was fourteen,” etc.—also illustrates her mastery of language.

While this student proves herself a good writer, she also positions herself as motivated and ambitious. She turns her passions into action and fights for them. That is just what admissions officers want to see in a Political/Global issues essay!

Where to Get Feedback on Your College Essays

Once you’ve written your college essays, you’ll want to get feedback on them. Since these essays are important to your chances of acceptance, you should prepare to go through several rounds of edits.

Not sure who to ask for feedback? That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review resource. You can get comments from another student going through the process and also edit other students’ essays to improve your own writing.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

500-Word Essay: Write 5 Paragraphs in 2 Hours

Icon Calendar 20 July 2024
Icon Page 4256 words
Icon Clock 20 min read

A 500-word essay is one of the short-length papers that individuals at any level of education must continually use for educational purposes. Basically, this guide starts with a detailed definition of a 500-word essay, its length, format, and steps on how to write such a paper, highlighting its three main sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. Further on, an evaluation of a sample paper, “The Dilemma of Compensation in College Athletics,” provides an example-based deconstruction of a 500-word essay structure. In this case, a comparison of 250-word, 500-word, and 1000+ word papers reveals differences regarding a paragraph count, structure, and complexity of a thesis statement. Further on, a guide provides simple mandatory rules on how to write a perfect 500-word compsition. As a result, a brief discussion highlights minor issues concerning a 500-word paper, such as a meaning of page length and word count and consistency of paper structures at different levels of education with common mistakes to avoid.

General Aspects

Essay writing is an essential skill at any level of education. Basically, a unique mastery of academic writing is a sequential process that begins at lower levels of education with a particular learning of basic English skills, such as making a complete sentence. Over time, students learn advanced English skills, which prepare them for academic writing. In this case, a 500-word paper is among the first papers that an individual learns upon introduction to paper writing. This paper type lays a valid foundation for an entire development of writing skills for a successful completion of complex and more extended compositions. Consequently, a 500-word essay is a focus of this guide, which analyzes core features using a sample paper.

What Is a 500-Word Essay and Its Purpose

According to its definition, a 500-word essay is a concise and focused piece of writing that typically explores a specific topic or answers a particular question within a limited word count. Basically, this paper format is commonly used in educational settings to help students to practice concise and effective communication and encourages them to prioritize their arguments, follow precise language, and structure their content effectively, ensuring each sentence serves a single idea (Greetham, 2023). In this case, the main purpose of writing a 500-word essay is to assess a person’s capacity for critical thinking, their skill in organizing and expressing their thoughts, and their ability to adhere to word limits, which is a valuable skill in both academic and professional contexts. Additionally, these papers are commonly utilized in scholarship applications, college admissions, and competitions, where an ability to articulate ideas succinctly and persuasively is crucial (Kirszner & Mandell, 2020). In terms of length, 500 words are approximately two pages long if double-spaced or one page if single-spaced. As a result, a 500-word essay consists of 4 to 6 paragraphs, contains about 16 to 24 sentences, and spans 28 to 36 lines of text with headings and subheadings. In turn, the length of 400-600 words means writing a short essay, typically suitable for brief responses or focused, concise topics.

A 500-word essay is a paper that contains an entire writing of a total of 500 words, which is inclusive of headings and in-text citations. Basically, a 500-word count does not consider a particular content of a title page, header or footer sections, and a reference page. In this case, a structure of a 500-word paper length has three writing segments that represent predetermined portions of a word count: introduction (10%), main body (80%), and conclusion (10%) (Warburton, 2020). Moreover, a standard 500-word paper should contain a total of five paragraphs by considering how many pages is a 500-word essay. In turn, introduction and conclusion segments should have only one paragraph each, while a main body section should have about three paragraphs. Besides, there may be headings of different levels within a paper’s body.

Section	Content	Limit
Introduction	Introduce a chosen topic and write a thesis statement.	50-100 words
Body Paragraph 1	Present a first main point or argument supporting a thesis and include evidence or examples.	100-150 words
Body Paragraph 2	Present a second main point or argument supporting a thesis and include evidence or examples.	100-150 words
Body Paragraph 3	Present a third main point or argument supporting a thesis and include evidence or examples.	100-150 words
Conclusion	Summarize central points, restate a thesis in light of the evidence provided, and write a closing thought.	50-100 words
List of References (Optional)	Cite all sources used in MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, or other formats.	No need to count.

Note: In general, a 500-word essay follows a 5-paragraph structure, but the number of body sections can be changed to 2 or 4 paragraphs. Moreover, a 500-word essay typically spans about one to two pages, depending on a specific writing format, such as font size, margins, and line spacing. Further on, to format a 500-word essay, people use a standard, eye-friendly font, like Times New Roman or Arial, 12-point font size, double spacing, 1-inch margins on all sides, and organized with a centered title, indented paragraphs, and appropriate headers and page numbers if required (Greetham, 2023). In turn, for a 500-word essay, about 2 to 4 references are sufficient to support arguments effectively. Finally, a 500-word essay does not have to be exactly 500 words, but it should be close, typically within a range of 475 to 525 words.

Steps on How to Write a 500-Word Essay

To write a 500-word essay, people start with a clear thesis statement, organize their content into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, and ensure they stay concise and focused while adhering to a defined word limit.

Understand a Prompt: Make sure you fully grasp a paper’s topic and any specific writing instructions provided.
Conduct Research: Gather important information from credible sources to support your argument or provide necessary context.
Create an Outline: Plan your paper’s structure, including an introduction paragraph, 2-4 body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.
Craft a Thesis Statement: Develop a clear and concise thesis that outlines a main point or argument of your composition.
Write an Introduction: Begin with a hook to capture a reader’s interest, provide some background information, and state your thesis.
Develop 2-4 Body Paragraphs: Write from two to four main paragraphs, each covering a single point that supports your thesis, and use evidence and examples to back up your points.
Write a Conclusion: Summarize your main points, restate your thesis in a new way, and end with a final thought or call to action.
Be Concise and Clear: Ensure every word count, avoid unnecessary details, and stay focused on your main argument.
Edit and Revise: Review your 500-word essay for clarity, coherence, and conciseness, and correct any grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.
Get Feedback: If possible, ask someone to read your paper to provide constructive criticism and writing suggestions for improvement.

500-Word Essay Example

Topic: The Dilemma of Compensation in College Athletics

Introduction

Nowadays, an ugly side to college sports exists, although people ignore it. Basically, participants in college sports are subjected to various compensation agreements by their colleges. Mostly, the compensation received is not equivalent to player skill or effort. In particular, college athlete compensatory models that provide limited bargaining rights for players and universal guidelines for sharing the proceeds acquired from college athletics programs are a permanent solution to the player compensation issues.

Note: A word count of an introduction part is 72 words .

The Problem of Defining Fair Pay

Firstly, player compensation problems revolve around the difficulty in determining “fair pay.” In this case, college players are typically entitled to some education-related benefits, which are outlined in the scholarship agreement, for example, free tuition and stipends for living expenses. Basically, the terms of scholarship packages are unique to each college. Then, the benefits of the scholarship may be distinct for each player, depending on their perceived value at the time of recruitment. Upon joining college athletics, students receive a raw deal. Moreover, the proceeds from the use of the player’s names and images and other endorsements do not have any influence on the terms of the scholarship agreements. As a result, college players are not given fair compensation packages despite the knowledge of other stakeholders regarding the dynamics of college athletics.

Note: A word count of a first body section in this 500-word essay example is 132 words .

A Conflict of Interest

Secondly, college athletics boards and state legislators are two stakeholders that hold polarized positions, which hinder the development of a universal compensation model. For instance, a universal compensation model can resolve the challenge of college player compensation to ensure that all students are protected equally. However, state legislators are concerned that the college players are a vulnerable group, which lacks any bargaining rights. In contrast, college sports representatives argue that it is critical to maintain the amateurism of college-level sports by constraining the role of monetary incentives. Hence, the disagreement regarding the hierarchy of concerns in college athletics complicates the process of establishing a universal compensation model, which may significantly benefit college players.

Note: A word count of a second body section in this 500-word essay example is 114 words .

The Value of a Solution

Thirdly, the creation of a universal compensation model should overcome the threat of instability to the college sports system. If college players retain full bargaining rights, there is a high probability that monetary incentives would become the new tool for negotiations while other aspects of college sports fade away, for instance, player development and education. Conversely, complete suppression of bargaining rights exposes players to exploitation because the proceeds of their hard work and talent are left entirely to the colleges. Therefore, it is vital to find a middle ground where students maintain some bargaining rights, and stringent regulations for managing the proceeds conserve the amateurism of college sports.

Note: A word count of a third body section in this 500-word essay example is 108 words .

College players need to retain a fair amount of bargaining power in negotiating the terms of their compensation agreements while enjoying a standardized portion of the proceeds generated by the sport. Basically, participants in college sports do not have fair compensation packages. On the whole, a balance between the maintenance of amateurism and the protection of bargaining rights, which have equal importance, is mandatory. Thus, the future of college athletics hangs in the balance.

Note: A word count of a conclusion part in this 500-word essay example is 74 words .

In order to understand what does a 500-word essay look like, there is a need to calculate an overall word count of a 500-word paper example. Hence, introduction + 3 body paragraphs + conclusion = 72+132+114+108+74 = a 500-word paper. In turn, writing a 500-word essay typically takes about 1 to 2 hours, depending on a person’s familiarity with a chosen topic.

Analysis of a Paper Example

Introduction Part

An introductory part contains writing three crucial elements: a hook, a run-through of a topic, and a thesis statement. Basically, to start a 500-word essay, people begin with an engaging hook that captures a reader’s interest, followed by some background information, and end an introduction with a clear thesis statement (Greetham, 2023). In this case, a hook is a first sentence of an opening section, and it catches a reader’s attention by suggesting there is something wrong with college sports. Then, two sentences that follow a hook provide a run-through of a compensation topic to create a particular context for a thesis statement. Lastly, a thesis statement appears at the end of an introductory section. In turn, some examples of sentence starters for beginning a 500-word essay are:

In today’s society, a hot debate over [topic] has become increasingly prominent as people continue to discuss and analyze its implications.
Throughout history, [event or concept] has played a crucial role in shaping a particular development of [related field or aspect], influencing countless aspects of human lives.
One of the most pressing issues facing a world today is [issue], which has long-term consequences for [related area or group].
If people imagine a scenario where [hypothetical situation], such a reality would profoundly impact [related field or issue], altering their understanding and approach to [topic].
It is widely believed that [common belief or saying], yet this perspective requires a deeper examination to fully understand its validity and implications.
A particular purpose of this composition is to explore potential complexities of [topic], shedding light on its various dimensions and a broader significance it holds.
In recent times, there has been a growing interest in [trend or development], prompting researchers and practitioners to investigate its potential benefits and challenges.
By considering direct effects of [event or phenomenon] on [related field or group], understanding these impacts is crucial for developing manageable strategies and solutions.
Many experts suggest that [expert opinion or research finding], highlighting a need for further exploration and discussion in this area.
A detailed examination of [specific aspect or case] reveals that [finding or insight], offering valuable insights into a broader context of [related topic].

Thesis Statement

A primary role of a thesis statement is to inform readers of an author’s response to a paper’s question in accordance with learning how to write a perfect 500-word essay. Basically, a thesis sentence takes a form of a single argument (Gray, 2018). In a paper’s example, a question-answer dynamic is apparent:

Question: Is there a solution to the problem of unfair compensation in college athletics?
Answer: College athlete compensatory models that provide limited bargaining rights for players and universal guidelines for sharing the proceeds acquired from college athletics programs are a permanent solution to the player compensation issues.

Hence, a thesis statement is the most crucial element for writing an entire 500-word essay.

Main Body Part

A main body part of a 500-word paper example has three paragraphs. Basically, there are four segments in each section: a topic sentence, evidence or fact, an evaluation, and a transition statement. In this case, a topic statement is a first sentence in all the paragraphs in a main body section of a paper (West et al., 2018). Then, an author presents a single idea that supports a main argument in this statement while writing. Basically, an evidence portion contains an undebatable piece of information, which may require an in-text citation to ascertain a source. Then, an evaluation part is a detailed explanation of an author’s rationale (Hotaling, 2020). This aspect led an author to propose a minor idea in a signle topic statement. In turn, a particular number of statements in evidence or evaluation segments varies depending on a paragraph’s length. Finally, a transition statement is a summary of an entire paragraph and links consecutive paragraphs.

Breaking Down a Body Section

Paragraph 2 :

Topic sentence: It is challenging to define fair compensation.
Evidence: College players sign scholarship agreements with different benefits.
Evaluation: Explains variations in college scholarship agreement’s terms.
Transition statement: Introduces a specific role of stakeholders in college sports.

Paragraph 3 :

Topic sentence: Recognizes a particular conflict between some priorities of college athletic boards and state legislators.
Evidence: Identifies a universal compensatory model as a possible solution.
Evaluation: Illustrates a potential impact of two stakeholders’ priorities on a development of a compensatory model.
Transition statement: Links a universal model with player benefits.

Paragraph 4 :

Topic sentence: Instability is a main threat to college athletics.
Evidence: Singles out monetary incentives as a cause of instability.
Evaluation: Describes an alternative situation.
Transition statement: Emphasises a particular association between monetary incentives, bargaining rights, amateurism, and compensation models.

Conclusion Part

A conclusion part of a 500-word essay has two elements:

Restatement of a thesis: An author repeats an argument in a thesis statement to develop a first statement of a last paragraph and employs different words to ensure statements are non-identical.
Summary of main points: An author develops a concise overview of ideas contained in a main body section of a paper and demonstrates their value to a thesis.

Differentiating Page Length and Word Count

Page length and word count do not necessarily refer to the same quantity of a complete text. Basically, a double-spaced page contains approximately half the words present in a single-spaced page. A larger line spacing utilizes a space on a page much faster despite each line containing the same number of words in both cases. Besides, a 500-word essay can effectively be divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion (Kirszner & Mandell, 2020). Further on, a word processing application can place additional spaces between sections. In this case, a presence of content in paper’s headers and footers can affect an available page size. Moreover, it reduces a particular number of words that appear on a page. Essentially, an existence of multiple formatting factors that influence sheet size demonstrates an ambiguity of page length by considering a defined size of a 500-word essay vs. a 750-word essay. As such, a word count is a superior measure of text length because a specific number of words is consistent regardless of a text’s formatting. As a result, it is even possible to write a 500-word essay in 2 hours with adequate planning, focus, and knowledge of a topic

Structure and Education Level

A standard structure of a 500-word composition is constant across all education levels. For instance, a presence of an introduction, main body, and a conclusion is necessary for students at high school, college, or tertiary education levels (Warburton, 2020). Moreover, it is entirely possible to write a 500-word essay in a day with sufficient focus, preparation, and understanding of a topic. Basically, this attitude provides a straightforward and organized approach to written communication. Then, a particular maintenance of a paper structure is a common practice, although there is a significant difference in a capability of authors to exploit a typical structure in communicating their ideas (Warburton, 2020). In turn, high school and postgraduate students’ papers (250-word essay vs. 500-word essay) must follow the same structure. Nonetheless, a postgraduate student’s paper must be of a higher quality compared to a high school student’s paper because an author is a more seasoned author.

Rule	Description
Font	Use a standard, eye-friendly, and easy-to-read font, such as Times New Roman or Arial.
Font Size	Set a font size to 12 points for an entire essay.
Line Spacing	Apply double or single spacing between lines throughout writing a paper.
Margins	Ensure 1-inch margins on all sides of a page (top, bottom, left, and right).
Title	Place a title in the center at the top of a first page.
Indentation	Indent a first line of each paragraph by 0.5 inches.
Paragraphs	Organize a 500-word essay into 4-6 paragraphs: an introduction paragraph, 2-4 body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.
Word Count	Make sure a paper is approximately 500 words, staying close to this writing limit without exceeding it significantly.
Grammar and Spelling	Check for and correct any grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.
Citations	When using in-text citations, quotes, or examples, follow a consistent citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, or other writing formats).
Header	Include a header with your name, date, and a paper’s title if required by assignment guidelines.
Page Numbers	Add page numbers in headers or footers if required.

Rules to Remember

A first statement for writing an essay should be a hook.
A thesis statement is a single statement appearing at the end of a first paragraph.
An introduction should be approximately 50 words.
A main body section of a paper should contain about 400 words.
There is a minimum of two paragraphs in a main body section when writing a 500-word paper.
Each part discusses one idea that supports a thesis statement.
An appropriate use of headings increases a readability of a 500-word composition.
All main body sections must have a minimum of four sentences.
Topic, evidence, evaluation, and transition sentences should be readily apparent in each paragraph.
A first sentence of a conclusion is a restatement of a thesis statement using different words.
A summary of main ideas in each section should appear in a conclusion section.
There is a 50-word limit on a conclusion’s length.

Paper Length Differences

Paragraph Count

A target word count influences a specific number of sections in a 500-word paper. In writing, a 500- or 600-word essay typically consists of about 4 to 6 paragraphs. As such, a particular process of determining a paragraph count requires an individual to consider a minimum number of sentences required in a single paragraph and an overall length (Kirszner & Mandell, 2020). In this case, a 250-word paper may have a maximum of 5 paragraphs. Each part must have at least four sentences, which is approximately 50 words per paragraph. Conversely, writing a 500- or 750-word essay cannot have less than 4 paragraphs. Having only two sections in a main body would translate to 200-word paragraphs that are relatively long for writing. In turn, a 500-word essay vs. 1000+ word essay is not subject to a minimum or a maximum number of paragraphs. However, an author must find a balance between appropriate paragraph lengths and proper idea separation.

All essays have a relatively identical structure, although increasing word count causes some alterations in a specific writing format. For example, introduction, main body, and conclusion sections are common features in each paper regardless of its length (Greetham, 2023). In this case, a 250-word, 500-word, 750-word, 1,000-word, 1,500-word, 2,000-word, and 2,500+ word compositions follow standard writing rules. Basically, a 750-word essay typically spans about 1.5 to 2 pages, depending on formatting, such as font size, line spacing, and margins. However, once a paper has passed 1,000 words, an abstract should be added to its writing structure. In this case, an abstract appears on a separate page immediately after a title page. Finally, introduction and conclusion sections in a paper that exceeds 1,000 words may have more than one paragraph.

Complexity of a Thesis Statement

A particular scope of thesis statements tends to broaden with an increase in a specific writing length of an essay. In this case, 250-word and 500-word papers usually have an extremely focused thesis statement. However, a short-length paper does not allow authors to explain complicated and extensive arguments (Warburton, 2020). In writing, a word count of 1,000 words or more enables authors to increase a scope of a thesis statement and facilitates a well-structured presentation of intricate arguments in a convincing manner. Moreover, an increased scope of a thesis statement forces writers to use third, fourth, and fifth heading levels. As a result, this aspect has less utility in 250-word or 500-word papers.

Common Mistakes

Lack of a Clear Thesis: Failing to present a central argument or main point that guides an essay.
Going Off-Topic: Including irrelevant information that does not support a thesis or main points.
Insufficient Evidence: Not providing enough examples, facts, or quotes in writing to support main arguments.
Poor Organization: Lacking a clear structure with well-defined introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion sections.
Repetition: Repeating same ideas or phrases instead of presenting new information or insights.
Wordiness: Using unnecessary words or writing overly complex sentences that obscure main points.
Ignoring a Word Limit: Exceeding or falling significantly short of a 500-word requirement.
Weak Introduction or Conclusion: Starting or ending a paper without effectively engaging a reader or summarizing key points.
Grammatical and Spelling Errors: Failing to proofread, resulting in distracting errors that undermine an composition’s credibility.
Lack of Personal Voice: Writing in a way that is too formal, without showing an author’s unique perspective or style.

Word of Advice

Beyond a mere adherence of a person to this guide, proper planning using an essay outline may be very useful in a successful completion of a 500-word essay assignment. Basically, the rules on how to write a 600-word essay are similar to a guide on how to write a perfect 500-word composition. In this case, a particular practice of writing papers without a direct use of an outline increases a risk of repetition, disorganization, and divergence from a preferred essay structure. Moreover, students should take the time to develop a good outline of an 500-word paper. Essentially, such a composition contains a hook, thesis statement, paragraph ideas and headings, and concluding remarks. In turn, people must assign each section a maximum word count. As a result, they must ensure introduction, main body, and conclusion sections maintain their ideal portions of a paper’s word count.

Word of Caution

This guideline presents the best practices for writing a 500-word essay. However, it does not represent a fixed set of regulations for all papers. At times, paper instructions have additional technical requirements. In the case where some of the technical requirements go against the best writing practices mentioned in this guide, an author should adhere to specific instructions provided along with a paper’s question under analysis. However, if there are no technical requirements issued with an assignment prompt, a person should follow basic writing recommendations provided in this guide to the letter.

Gray, J. A. (2018). Introduction sections: Where are we going and why should I care? AME Medical Journal , 3 , 112–112. https://doi.org/10.21037/amj.2018.12.03

Greetham, B. (2023). How to write better essays . Bloomsbury Academic.

Hotaling, S. (2020). Simple rules for concise scientific writing. Limnology and Oceanography Letters , 5 (6), 379–383. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10165

Kirszner, L. G., & Mandell, S. R. (2020). Focus on writing: Paragraphs and essays . Bedford/St. Martins.

Warburton, N. (2020). The basics of essay writing . Routledge.

West, H., Malcolm, G., Keywood, S., & Hill, J. (2019). Writing a successful essay. Journal of Geography in Higher Education , 43 (4), 609–617. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2019.1655720

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College Essay Format & Structure | Example Outlines

College Essay Format & Structure | Example Outlines

Published on September 24, 2021 by Meredith Testa . Revised on May 31, 2023.

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay, but you should carefully plan and outline to make sure your essay flows smoothly and logically.

Typical structural choices include

a series of vignettes with a common theme
a single story that demonstrates your positive qualities

Formatting your essay, outlining the essay, structures that work: two example outlines, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

You should keep the formatting as simple as possible. Admissions officers need to work very quickly, so fancy formatting, unnecessary flourishes, and unique fonts will come off as more distracting than individual. Keep in mind that, if you’re pasting your essay into a text box, formatting like italics may not transfer.

Your essay will be easier for admissions officers to read if it is 1.5- or double-spaced. If you choose to attach a file, ensure that it is a PDF.

You don’t need a title for your essay, but you can include one, especially if you think it will add something important.

Most importantly, ensure that you stick to the word count. Most successful essays are 500–600 words. Because you’re limited in length, make sure that you write concisely . Say everything that you need to express to get your point across, but don’t use more words than necessary, and don’t repeat yourself.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Once you’ve finished brainstorming topics but before you start writing, think about your writing’s trajectory: how you’ll start the essay , develop it, and end it .

Do you want to organize it chronologically? Would you prefer to make a “sandwich” structure by introducing a topic or idea, moving away from it, and then coming back to it at the end? There’s a variety of options (and a pair of strong examples below), but make sure you consider how you’d like to structure the essay before you start writing.

Although you should organize your thoughts in an outline, you don’t have to stick to it strictly. Once you begin writing, you may find that the structure you’d originally chosen doesn’t quite work. In that case, it’s fine to try something else. Multiple drafts of the same essay are key to a good final product.

Whatever structure you choose, it should be clear and easy to follow, and it should be feasible to keep it within the word count . Never write in a way that could confuse the reader. Remember, your audience will not be reading your essay closely!

Vignettes with a common theme

The vignette structure discusses several experiences that may seem unrelated, but the author weaves them together and unites them with a common theme.

For example, a student could write an essay exploring various instances of their ability to make the best of bad situations. A rough outline for that essay might look like this:

In a rehearsal for a school play when a lighting fixture malfunctioned and the set caught fire, I helped extinguish it.
To help the situation, I improvised fixes for the set and talked with the director about adding lines referencing the “disaster.”
I didn’t get into my first-choice high school, but I became class president at the school where I ended up.
When I had ACL surgery, I used the downtime to work on my upper body strength and challenged my friends to pull-up contests.
How these qualities will serve me in college and in my career

Single story that demonstrates traits

The narrative structure focuses on a single overarching story that shows many aspects of a student’s character.

Some such essays focus on a relatively short event that the author details moment by moment, while others discuss the story of a longer journey, one that may cover months or years.

For example, a student might discuss trying out for a sports team as a middle schooler, high school freshman, and high school senior, using each of those instances to describe an aspect of their personality. A rough outline for that essay might look like this:

Confident, there to have fun
Very passionate and in love with the sport
Little sister was born that day, so I had to go alone with a friend’s parents
Learned to be independent and less self-centered
Realized that as much as I love gymnastics, there are more important things
Gave up first homecoming of high school, had to quit other activities, lost countless hours with friends
I had to repeat level 9 and didn’t progress quickly
I had a terrible beam routine at one competition the previous year and still had a mental block
I got stuck on some skills, and it took over a year to learn them
Passion from age 7, perspective from age 11, diligence from age 15

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

Writing process
Transition words
Passive voice
Paraphrasing

Communication

How to end an email
Ms, mrs, miss
How to start an email
I hope this email finds you well
Hope you are doing well

Parts of speech

Personal pronouns
Conjunctions

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay , but these are two common structures that work:

A montage structure, a series of vignettes with a common theme.
A narrative structure, a single story that shows your personal growth or how you overcame a challenge.

Avoid the five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in high school.

Your college essay’s format should be as simple as possible:

Use a standard, readable font
Use 1.5 or double spacing
If attaching a file, save it as a PDF
Stick to the word count
Avoid unusual formatting and unnecessary decorative touches

You don’t need a title for your college admissions essay , but you can include one if you think it adds something important.

Cite this Scribbr article

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Why This College Essay Sample

Why this college essay sample – introduction.

Not sure how to start a “why this college” essay? Looking for a why this college essay sample? You’re in luck. We’ve compiled a collection of standout why school essay examples from a variety of schools to help you prepare to write your own why this college essay.

Throughout the admissions process, you’ll likely write “why this college” essays for many schools on your list. These prompts ask you to cite specific reasons why you’d like to attend a given school. As you start writing these essays, it can be tough to know where to start.

In this guide, we’ve included a variety of “why school” essay examples. Our why school essay examples come from many different schools—ten, to be exact. We hope these essay examples can help you prepare to write your own why this college essay.

We’ll review a “why this college” essay sample from each of the following schools and explain what made it effective.

We’ll look at why school essay examples from:

University of Chicago
Georgia Institute of Technology
Wake Forest University
Tufts University
Lewis & Clark College
Loyola Marymount University
Duke University
Franklin & Marshall College
University of Florida
Lafayette College

What are examples of Why School essay prompts?

Before we take a look at our why this college essay examples, let’s start with the prompts. You’ll notice that our why this college essay examples have a lot in common. Namely, each why this college essay sample discusses specific details why a student belongs at a given school.

Still, you should note that each why this college essay sample is different. Each essay responds to their own why this college essay sample prompt. While these prompts have a lot in common, you’ll notice some key differences.

Essay prompts change

As you read our why college essay examples, you may notice that the prompts are slightly different from those below. That is because some schools change their prompts in different years.

At times, colleges will also eliminate prompts entirely. Certain schools, like Franklin & Marshall and Lewis & Clark , no longer require a why this college essay. However, we have still included why college essay examples for these schools. By reading these why this college essay samples, you can learn more about how to approach this type of prompt.

Now, let’s look at some prompts in the table of why this college essay examples below.


University of Chicago	How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.	1-2 pages
Georgia Institute of Technology	Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech?	300 words
Wake Forest University	Why have you decided to apply to Wake Forest? Share with us anything that has made you interested in our institution.	150 words
Tufts University	Which aspects of the Tufts undergraduate experience prompt your application? In short, “Why Tufts?”	100-150 words
Loyola Marymount University	Please briefly state your reason for wishing to attend LMU and/or how you came to select your major.	500 words
Duke University	What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well.	250 words
University of Florida	Why is applying for the UF Honors Program important to you? Which aspects of the program’s three pillars of opportunity, community, and challenge pique your interests? How would you engage with the program to exemplify these pillars yourself? How does the program factor into your long-term goals?	400 words
Lafayette College	Students identify Lafayette as an excellent fit for countless reasons. In your response, be deliberate and specific about your motivation for applying to Lafayette.	20-200 words

As you can see from our why school essay examples prompts, not every prompt is as open-ended as “why this school.” So, compare each school’s why this college essay examples and prompt. Then, you’ll notice certain similarities and differences. You can apply this knowledge as you draft your own essays.

By reading through our “why college” essay examples, you’ll also familiarize yourself with the different prompts you might encounter. You can approach any prompt that references a school itself, either generally or specifically ( academics , curriculum, culture, etc.). You can see this in our why college essay examples prompts.

Different schools, different prompts

Some of the prompts are quite straightforward. They simply ask the question you’ll see answered in our why college essay examples: “Why this school?”

Other prompts, however, are a bit more leading. These might ask students about their chosen majors and how they align with a school’s values. They may also ask why a specific school will help them achieve their goals.

In all of our “why college” essay examples, you’ll notice that the prompts discuss each school by name. You’ll find questions like “why are you applying” and “how did you learn about us?” in these prompts. However, each of these boil down to the same essential question: why are you a good fit for our school?

Next, we’ll look at how our why college essay examples answer this question. But first, let’s take a look at a handful of schools and their essay prompts. This will help you understand how your why this college essay sample fits into your application strategy.

Which schools require a Why This College essay?

As you’ll see from our why school essay examples, many schools require a why this college essay sample. Our why this college essay examples include many schools, but this list isn’t exhaustive. So, do your own research to see if each school on your list requires a why this college essay.

The good news is many of our why school essay examples prompts are very similar. So, wherever you apply , our why college essay examples are great resources to reference as you write your own why school essay.

To get you started, here are some of the schools that require a why this college essay. You’ll find some why this college essay examples for these schools below. Others, you can check out in our school-specific essay guides :

Top Universities with a Why School Essay

Northwestern
American Unviersity

Why college essay examples for some of these schools didn’t make it into our list of college essays that worked. However, we still wanted to mention a few more schools that require a why this college essay.

More Why School Essay Examples Guides to Explore

Why northwestern.

Northwestern University has a two-part “why this college” essay sample prompt. They want to know what resources, opportunities, and/or communities you plan to engage with on campus. They also want to know how these offerings may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

Why Barnard

The why this college essay sample prompt for Barnard College is a little more open-ended. Similar to other schools, Barnard asks what factors led you to apply at Barnard. They also ask you to share why you think Barnard will be a good match for you.

Yale University’s why this college essay sample prompt is similar to Barnard’s: “What is it about Yale that has led you to apply?” This is your opportunity to get specific about why Yale excites you. It also lets you share what you hope to take advantage of on campus.

Why Dartmouth

Dartmouth College’s why this college essay sample prompt asks students “Why Dartmouth?”—a classic why school prompt. Similar to Northwestern’s prompt, Dartmouth’s specifically asks what aspects of their academic program, community, or campus environment attract you.

Brown University asks students to describe their academic interests and how they might use Brown’s Open Curriculum to pursue them. In this instance, since the curriculum is specific to Brown, you can think of this prompt in two parts. First, what do you want to study, and second, why do you want to study it at Brown? In this way, this essay is a why this college essay, so should also be our list.

Why This College Essay Examples

You can use our why school essay examples to help you begin to write your why school essays. Each of our college essays that worked was chosen because it is a strong and compelling “why this college” essay sample.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read a why this college essay sample, you’re in luck. Take some time to read some below from over ten schools. These include our UF supplemental essay examples, Tufts essays that worked, Georgia Tech essay examples, why Duke essay examples, and more.

Why this college essay sample #1- UChicago

The University of Chicago is well-known for its quirky supplemental essay requirements. Among those you can expect to find some kind of Why This College essay. Below is an example of how one student crafted their response.

Why UChicago Essay Examples

How does the university of chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to uchicago. (1-2 pages).

The best thing about the University of Chicago is its subtle inconspicuousness. The ivy leagues and big select schools all have a stereotype/reputation it holds in the public eye that is difficult to live up to. Go to Harvard? Oh, you must be the smartest person ever! Go to UC Berkeley, MIT? You must be the greatest genius the world has ever seen. But when U Chicago is mentioned, most people find it difficult to generalize the institution as anything outside of “top university” or “prestigious school.” This is because while universities at the forefront of media attention are some of the best in the United States, such overexposure lends itself to negative connotations that cannot be escaped.

I myself knew little about U Chicago, but soon came to realize how great knowing little could actually be in the grand scheme of things.

Everything starts with the amazing education system U Chicago prides itself on. Core Curriculum allows for students to really engage in critical thinking with an expanded view of the world and how it works. Students at U Chicago are not there for the perceived prestige or bonus points you get from attending a top university, they’re there to learn, and not just learn for the final exam and forget. They are there to learn and continue to use their gained knowledge as they expound upon it throughout their journey through schooling and life.

In high school and in my time taking community college courses, I haven’t been exposed to these types of students. People take courses just to put a check mark on the list, and I have been doing the same because it’s what required and it’s all I’ve ever known. There was never an opportunity to take specialized courses and as a result, my classmates’ zeal for knowledge acquisition has never been awakened. Though I try to satisfy my curiosities through articles and books, there was never anyone to discuss it with in depth without one of us leaving frustrated.

Though I plan to major in a Neuroscience-related program as a pre-medical student, I want to be able to learn new languages, Norwegian mythology, the situation of public health; anything that has piqued my interests for multiple years but remained untouched due to circumstances. I like that U Chicago forbids students from taking courses solely for their major and requires them to spend a large portion of their time in the Core Curriculum in order to make this happen.

Instead of dealing with constant pressure from society, students at U Chicago are free to pursue their passions without fear of judgment or stereotype. With the focus on education where it belongs, the overall atmosphere at the institution is laid-back and does not add stress to the rigorous course load.

A secret utopia of sorts, U Chicago sets an invincible foundation that will exponentially increase the vitality of a person in any field of work or practice and I want to be a part of that.

Explaining why this essay worked

This is one of our Why UChicago essay examples and one of our first college essays that worked. In it, the author reflects on UChicago’s academic values and culture. This “why this college” essay sample highlights the type of student that thrives at UChicago. It also shows how this student’s values align with UChicago’s.

As you’ll see in our other why school essay examples, this writer mentions specific qualities about UChicago’s Core Curriculum. They foreground how it will allow them to pursue all of their academic interests. In doing so, this student makes a strong case for why they belong at UChicago.

If you want to read another why this college essay sample, check out our guide . There, you’ll find more UChicago why school essay examples.

Why this college essay sample #2 – Georgia Tech

The second why this college essay sample we are sharing is Why School essay from Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech only requires one supplemental essay and it is a Why This College essay. Let’s look at how one student responded to the prompt below.

Georgia Tech Essay Examples

Why do you want to study your chosen major at georgia tech, and what opportunities at georgia tech will prepare you in that field after graduation (300 words).

March 29, 2019. 11 AM EST. GT Shadow Day. I remember it all so clearly: Descending the red-brick steps of the Old Civil Engineering Building. My friend and I, chatting up a storm, our minds blown by our newfound perspectives.

We had just walked out of ECON-4060: Money & Capital Markets. To say that it changed my life would be no exaggeration; within an hour, The professor had upended my perception of society and defined my future aspirations.

We had been asked to consider a popular commodity, diamonds. Hardly rare, fast-decaying, and intrinsically worthless. So why do we buy them? The professor had then illuminated the factors in our economic behavior that cause us to gift a ring in marriage rather than something with real value, say a treasury bond. These realizations were enough to rock me back on my heels, for I had never before noticed the large degree to which our everyday economic decision-making is irrational.

Craving more than that one splendid hour, I knew where and what I wanted to study for the next four years. I saw myself strolling through Bobby Dodd Way, bumping into old friends as I made my way to Midtown Atlanta. I saw myself exploring the realm of economics, probing questions ranging from price formation to income disparity. I saw myself at a place that felt familiar enough to call “home,” learning in a way that felt genuine enough to call “discovery.”

Educating myself on the mechanics of economics is just a glimpse of my great desires. Through the senior research project, I seek the one-on-one guidance of faculty in yielding a publishable journal paper. Someday, with the support of the program’s alumni network, I plan to pursue career and internship opportunities in the great company headquarters of Atlanta.

Why did this Georgia Tech essay work?

This is one of our favorite Georgia Tech essay examples because the writer drops us into a story that defines their interest in attending Georgia Tech. This “why this college” essay sample has a delightful and passionate tone. It communicates the writer’s interest in economics, passion for learning, and desire to explore these ideas at Georgia Tech.

Once again specificity is key (something you’ll continue to see in our other why school essay examples). This writer mentions Bobby Dodd Way, which is a street on campus. They also discuss opportunities for a senior research project and the specific professor and class that inspired them.

Why this college essay sample #3 – Wake Forest

Our next college essay that worked is from Wake Forest University.

Why Wake Forest Essay Examples

How did you become interested in wake forest university and why are you applying (150 words) .

Each time I return to campus, I see a true fit between myself and Wake Forest. I will dedicate myself to furthering the university motto, pro humanitate, by actively working with the Volunteer Service Corps and continuing my community service of providing for the basic needs of others. In addition, I will engage in the world around me and pursue a minor in Spanish while studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain; since I am currently taking AP Spanish, the language and cultural immersion would advance my fluency and expand my exposure to other cultures. In the diverse and intellectual community of Wake Forest, I will continue to pursue my goals with natural curiosity while growing as a leader in the service of others. Wake Forest is the window into the endless possibilities of my future.

Why this Wake Forest essay worked

This why this college essay sample shows how to successfully and succinctly write a why this college essay. Just like in our longer why school essay examples, this writer combines values, academics, and specificity. In doing so, they show how Wake Forest will impact their continued growth and future goals.

College essays that worked #4 – Tufts

Why tufts essay examples, “why tufts” (150 words).

I fell in love with Tufts immediately upon entering the Granoff Music Center. Standing in the lofty, sunlit atrium, I imagined being there with my enormous ekantha-veena gathered in my arms. Catching sight of the World Music Room, the glistening Indonesian gamelan housed inside—I knew that both my instrument and I would feel right at home at Tufts.

After all, Tufts is the type of school that embraces women who play instruments twice their size and, moreover, actually listens to their music.

Tufts provides women like me ample space in the music center, as well as on ground-breaking research teams such as the Sandler International Research Program; or access to intimate classroom settings with faculty such as one key professor whose dissertations are lauded by the American Sociological Association.

Tufts is a place where both the young woman and her ekantha-veena, her music and her ideas, will be heard.

This why this college essay sample prompt from Tufts admissions is extremely simple. In fact, this essay is one of our Tufts essays that worked because of its simplicity. We imagine Tufts admissions gravitated towards this essay because it reveals the writer’s passion for music. It also highlights the type of research and culture they’d like to engage with at Tufts.

Check out Tufts admissions page for more why Tufts essay examples and advice on Tufts essays that worked.

Why this college essay sample #5- Lewis and Clark

Lewis & clark supplemental essay example, lewis & clark college is a private college with a public conscience and a global reach. we celebrate our strengths in collaborative scholarship, international engagement, environmental understanding and entrepreneurial thinking. as we evaluate applications, we look for students who understand what we offer and are eager to contribute to our community. in one paragraph, please tell us why you are interested in attending lewis & clark and how you will impact our campus..

For the last eighteen years, my dad has repeated the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” at least once a week, attempting to satisfy my unrelenting curiosity. In response, I’ve adopted the mantra “but knowledge brought him back.” At Lewis and Clark College, I seek to fulfill my intense interest about the workings of society by conducting sociology research on issues in urban areas under one professor at Lewis and Clark. This research will also support my plans to perform an independent study on the aspects of criminal justice in urban environments, as the unique tensions in cities often affect the role of criminal justice.

I’ve read countless books on America’s legal system and wish to use sociology to analyze the factors that influence how justice is carried out. My unwavering curiosity also extends to my adoration of architecture, so the chance to explore my fascination with urban design through a self-designed major at Lewis and Clark deeply excites me. I know that creating my own course of study will enable me to explore my curiosity about urban history and planning. Furthermore, the chance to double major will allow me to combine architecture and social perspective and explore the connections between my majors.

The freedom to study both sociology and urban architecture at Lewis and Clark will give me a distinctive perspective on the artistic and social issues that are present in Portland and other major cities. Another opportunity that excites me is the chance to study abroad in Seville, Spain.

I am particularly enthusiastic about the ability to use my sociology and architecture education to explore a unique geographical area. Classes such as Art History of Spain will supplement my concentration on urban architecture, while Contemporary Issues of Spain will allow me to study the sociological aspects of a different culture. I also plan to study Spanish in college, so living with a host family gives me the unique ability to practice Spanish around the clock.

I believe that studying abroad in Seville, Spain through Lewis and Clark will enable me to engage in many unforgettable learning experiences. Finally, Lewis and Clark is bursting with non-traditional learning opportunities outside of the classroom. I can’t wait to learn a new skill by joining the sailing team and debating moral theories with the philosophy club.

I believe that there is no better place for me to study sociology and architecture because Lewis and Clark’s emphasis on diversity and international study are values that align perfectly with my interests.

Exploring the strengths of this essay

The Lewis and Clark College acceptance rate is higher than that of some other top schools. Still, you can tell how much thought and care this writer put into their “why this college” essay sample. Since the Lewis and Clark College acceptance rate is 79% , you might think crafting a strong supplemental essay would be easy. However, you can tell the writer of this “why this college” essay sample took their time time. In their essay, they weave a clear and compelling story about their interests and how Lewis & Clark will allow them to pursue those interests.

No matter a school’s acceptance rate, whether it is lower or higher than the Lewis and Clark College acceptance rate, make sure you take the time with every essay you write to make it the best it can be.

Why this college essay sample #6 – Loyola Marymount

Loyola marymount essay example, please briefly state your reason for wishing to attend lmu and/or how you came to select your major. (500 words).

Whether I’m bustling through people in the Metro station, taking a leisurely stroll on the beach, or studying at my local cafe, I embrace the sights, sounds, and people of Los Angeles. Though I was born in New York, I am a true L.A. native: the sunset is my muse, and my dreams are ambitious (I want to cure cancer, win a Pulitzer-Prize, and walk the red carpet, simultaneously).

Even if I don’t accomplish all of these things, I am encouraged by the fact that they are all possibilities at LMU. With a unique fusion of academic excellence, strong communal identity, and a faith-based education, LMU would prepare me to be an innovative and compassionate leader in the real world.

Reflective of L.A.’s rich cultural diversity, LMU offers students a wide array of resources. For one thing, the student to teacher ratio is 10:1, which enhances learning by fostering personal relationships with professors and peers. Furthermore, it creates a collaborative group environment, something I consider integral to my education. Secondly, as someone who is passionate about both Chicano/Latino studies and Biology, I was excited to discover that with LMU’s major and minor policy, I would be able to study both, even if they are located in different colleges.

Ultimately, I want to become a doctor, possibly a neurologist, hence my desire to major in biology. With a broad course list–encompassing everything from Immunology to Animal Behavior– and intensive, faculty-mentored research, LMU’s biology program will enable me to pursue my passion for science. At the same time, I wish to apply my medical studies to serving a greater purpose.

This is why I’ve chosen to minor in Chicano Studies. I have always taken great pride in my ethnicity, so being able to examine the Latino identity through political, historical, and cultural lenses would enrich how I understand myself and the entire Latino/a community.

The final and most important reason why I want to attend LMU is its emphasis on serving the community and the world at large. Being a practicing Catholic myself, it is important to me that faith be integrated in my education, not only because it is a part of my own identity, but because it nurtures both spiritual and personal growth. At my current high school, I have encountered and conversed with students of different faiths, or even no faith, who fully embrace the spirit of community service that characterizes Christianity.

This is what I admire most about LMU; regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or religion, LMU embraces everyone and teaches students to do the same. In short, LMU would not only augment my love of service, it would propel me forward in my mission: to be a woman of great heart and right conscience for others.

With a higher word count, this is one of our longer why school essay examples. This writer likely captured the attention of Loyola Marymount admissions with their eloquence and ambition.

While there’s no one right way to impress Loyola Marymount admissions, showcasing the school’s unique programs will help show them why attending Loyola is vital to your future. This why this college essay sample touches on LMU’s faith-based curriculum, and biology and chicano studies programs, and why they are important to this writer.

Why this college essay sample #7 – Duke

Duke University is another school that asks students Why This College as part of their supplemental essay requirements. Take a look at the essay that worked below for some ideas about how to write your Why Duke essay.

Why Duke Essay Examples

What is your sense of duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you if there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 words).

At Duke University, I would get the opportunity to immerse myself in interests that I harbored but never had the opportunity to explore due to circumstances. With incredible resources from world-renowned professors, I would learn directly from the best in any subject, and be able to use this advantage to further myself in my future career plans and goals.

The quality of my education, though attributed to the institution, would be the most highly enriched from the students. Although from diverse backgrounds, all the students share the same thirst for knowledge and a drive to make a difference. With the focus on education where it belongs, the overall atmosphere at the institution is collaborative and does not add stress to the rigorous course load.

A secret utopia of sorts, Duke sets an invincible foundation that will exponentially increase the vitality of a person in any field of work or practice.

Why this essay worked

This is one of our favorite why Duke essay examples because it highlights the people this writer plans to learn from at Duke: their professors and their fellow students. Surprisingly, this is probably one of the least specific why school essay examples. However, this writer still successfully manages to capture their passion for learning and how excited they are to pursue these goals on Duke’s campus.

Want more why Duke essay examples and tips on how to approach this “why this college” essay sample prompt? Check out our Duke University Essay Guide .

Why this college essay sample #8 – University of Florida

Uf supplemental essay examples, the university of florida honors program is a “community of scholars” bound together by a shared interest in maximizing the undergraduate experience. why are you drawn to this type of community at uf, and how do you plan to contribute to it in and out of the classroom.

Anyone who’s ever played a high school sport can attest to the fact that every coach has his or her own catchphrase. For some coaches, it might be “always give 110%”. Others say, “You miss every shot you don’t take.”

My 10th grade basketball coach? His catchphrase was more like a repeated lecture. It would start off as “This team is made up of different personalities.” Pause. “80% of you are pulled either up or down by your teammates. 10% of you have negative energy and bring everyone down.” Pause and sigh. “And then there’s the last 10%. You guys are the ones who carry this team with positive energy. So what percent do you want to be tonight?”

His rhetorical questions seemed like another pep talk to the rest of my team but would always strike a chord within me. From that basketball season and on, I strived to be the 10% pulling everyone positively.

My reformed attitude taught me many things. I learned how productive and influential a positive force on a team can be. I learned something about myself too: wherever I went to college, I wanted to be in a team-like environment. A close-knit group of scholars full of diverse perspectives, but all striving towards the same common goal: gaining knowledge.

This is what I see in the UF Honors Program. The opportunity to be surrounded by like minded people. People who are all part of that 10% who pull you up. People who are genuinely interested in learning, research, and discussion. To be able to walk into a room with overlapping conversations about an intellectual topic like the current economic status of Dubai or the psychosocial issues in the United States is something I crave in my college experience.

Not only do I envision myself in a place like this, but I also see a platform which will give me great opportunities, beginning with peers who share the same academic drive as me and smaller class sizes, which result in profound discussions. I hope to be given an opportunity to walk onto this platform and show everyone just how high I can raise it.

Why this UF Honors Program essay worked

It’s important to note that a why this college essay sample is not necessarily a required portion of your UF application. You only need to submit a why this college essay with your UF application if you apply to the UF Honors Program.

However, we still included this “why this college” essay sample as part of our why school essay examples because this writer beautifully described the kind of student and community member they hope to be at UF. They highlight a personal story—a moment where they grew and learned a valuable lesson. Then, they combine it with what they hope to find in UF’s honors community.

Why this college essay sample #9 – Franklin & Marshall

Franklin & marshall essays.

A Franklin and Marshall education is in line with my commitment to stimulate and chronicle a more just world through health, justice, and activism for marginalized people locally and internationally in a way that giving a check never could.

I would be able to synthesize my fascination with medicine and people by seeking out experiences in biomedical research and patient care through the Quick Response Service organization as an EMT responder for the Lancaster community. Most importantly, I can investigate a breadth of topics to a much fuller extent than I can at any other institution.

With a Franklin and Marshall acceptance rate of 38% , this is considered a more selective school. However, the Franklin and Marshall acceptance rate should not affect your why this college essay. Also, as you craft your Franklin and Marshall application, note that the university no longer requires a Why School essay. Still, this essay provides a useful blueprint for other why school essay samples.

Rather than focusing on the Franklin and Marshall acceptance rate, you’ll want to review the supplemental essay requirements . Then, use the prompt to articulate the benefits of receiving an education from Franklin and Marshall. In order to gain acceptance to Franklin and Marshall, you should focus on what attending this particular college means to you.

Why this college essay sample #10- Lafayette College

Our final why this college essay sample, is from Lafayette College. A Why School essay is the cornerstone of Lafayette College’s supplemental essay requirements. Let’s take a look at an example from a student accepted to Lafayette.

Why Lafayette College Essay Examples

Students identify lafayette as an excellent fit for countless reasons. in your response, be deliberate and specific about your motivation for applying to lafayette. why do you see yourself at lafayette (200 words).

“If you were to be accepted to every college in the country, which one would you choose above all others?” An admissions officer prompted the room with this question early in my college search. Back then, I didn’t know the answer, but now it’s a obvious choice: Lafayette.

When I visited Lafayette, I’d already seen 15 colleges. However, when I toured campus, I instantly felt a difference in the school and the students themselves. Everyone looked truly happy to be there, especially considering the people I saw were remaining at school during break while their peers returned home.

When I looked around, I saw people I could imagine myself befriending and spending time with, something I struggled to find at other institutions. I later connected with my tour guide, who also happened to be a Civil Engineering major. I’m interested in pursuing an architecture minor, and she told me about a project in her Architectural Engineering class in which students design bus stops with features like charging stations or mini libraries. I appreciated that she took time to email me, and her genuine enthusiasm about her classes was infectious. With that email, I cemented my decision to apply.

There’s a difference between being busy and being engaged. Lafayette comes alive each day with the energy of students who are deeply engaged in their academic, co-curricular and extracurricular explorations.

Of all of our why school essay examples, this why this college essay sample discusses an actual experience the student had on campus. In truth, this is a great strategy. Using this topic, admissions gets to hear about how they connected with a student. They also learn how this student already sees themself as part of the student community.

Like many of our other why school essay examples, this writer follows a strong structure. They started with a personal story, sprinkled in specific and valuable details, and ended with a big-picture summary of “Why this school.”

How To Write A Why This College Essay

We’ve read some outstanding why school essay examples, including Why Duke essay examples, Tufts essays that worked, and more. Next, let’s talk about how to write your own why this college essay.

At times, you’ll find a “why this college” essay sample or two with a longer word count. However, most of our why school essay examples prompts have a smaller word limit. So, you generally need to be succinct when writing a why this college essay. For some students, this may mean writing your initial draft without worrying about the word count, then editing your draft down to the most important parts.

Do your research

Before you get into writing your why this college essay sample, we recommend getting to know more about the school you are applying to. One of the most important things you can do to prepare to write your why this college essay sample is to spend time researching specific aspects of the school that align with your candidate profile.

For example, let’s say you’re a student who wants to study engineering , you want a big school, and you’re also passionate about doing your own research. As you begin your college search , you’d want to look for schools that meet all of your needs. Once you have a list of potential schools , do some research into each school and their requirements. Watch webinars , read guides about meeting application requirements, like what is a good SAT score and test-optional colleges , and guides about approaching your college application essays .

How to Start a Why This College Essay

Next, let’s go over how to start a “why this college” essay. The beginning of your essay is always the most important because it can draw your reader in and make them want to read more. We have tons of guides to help you through every step of the writing process. So, after reading through our why school essay examples, take a look at exercises to help determine a college essay topic and what admissions officers think of 3 common college essay topics.

Once you have a topic for your why this college essay sample, take a look at our 39 essay tips . These helpful tips are from our admissions experts. We also have a resource with tips on how to craft your college essay . Then, when you’re ready to start editing your essay, check out our advice on making your essays shine .

Use these examples to help brainstorm

We’ve reviewed a variety of why this college essay examples. By reading these examples, we hope you got some insight into how to write a why this college essay. These why school essay examples are college essays that worked. That is, they used specific details to show why an applicant was a perfect fit for a given school. Each why this college essay sample is slightly different—and every student is, too. So, use our why school essay examples as a jumping-off point.

We can’t include a why this college essay sample from every school in our college essays that worked roundup. But, keep reading to the end of the guide for more CollegeAdvisor.com resources full of why school essay examples. These resources include: why Northwestern essay examples and why Yale essay examples. They also include why NYU essay examples and a why Barnard essay example.

Other CollegeAdvisor Resources on Why This College Essays

If you’re looking for a why this college essay sample for a school we haven’t touched on, you’re in luck! We have “why school” essay examples for a ton of top schools that are sure to be on your college list. These why this college essay examples will be just as helpful as the ones we’ve already covered, like our Tufts essays that worked, Georgia Tech essay examples, and why Duke essay examples.

First, we have our why Northwestern essay examples. This guide offers two why Northwestern essay examples and a breakdown of what made each essay so impactful.

Why Northwestern Essay Examples

Then, check out our why Barnard essay example page. In addition to a why Barnard essay example, you can get some application tips. The article also covers information about Barnard’s acceptance rate and essay requirements.

Barnard Essay Examples

Next, stop by our Why Yale essay examples guide. The why Yale essay examples cover all three Yale supplemental essay requirements. These include the essays about your potential majors and a topic or idea that excites you.

Why Yale Essay Examples

Finally , read some Why NYU essay examples (and why they worked). Each of our why NYU essay examples is accompanied by feedback from an ex-admissions officer on why the essay worked.

NYU Essay Examples (And Why They Worked)

Why This College Essay Sample – Final Thoughts

After reading our why school essay examples, we hope you have a better sense of what a “why this college” essay sample should include. We also hope it can help you go about writing your own. While there is no perfect formula for writing your supplemental essays , don’t forget to take advantage of all of the resources available to you.

If you’re nervous to begin writing your why this college essay sample, don’t worry! Each of our “why school” essay examples was written by a student just like you that managed to gain a college acceptance letter from their dream school. All it takes is time, patience, and dedication to making your college essays the best they can be. To find more examples of college essays that worked, check out our personal statement examples .

This essay guide was written by Stefanie Tedards. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. I n fact, d uring your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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How to Write a 500 Word Essay & How Many Pages Is It? + Examples

Have you ever struggled with writing a 500-word essay? Generally, 500 words are a standard word count for college essays or, more often, for scholarship essays and personal statements. Even though 500-word papers are short (about 2 pages), they must be written according to all the rules of academic writing. There should be no spelling or grammar mistakes, and your paper should be well-organized.

This article will discuss how to write and structure a 500-word essay . Some helpful writing prompts and examples are also waiting for you below!

✍️ How to Write a 500-Word Essay
🖊️ Writing Prompts
👩‍🎓 Personal Statement Examples
💼 Essay on Career Goals: Examples
📚 500-Word Essay Topics

🔗 References

📋 what does a 500 word essay look like.

Appropriately structuring your essay is critical to academic success. In the following paragraphs, we will consider the 500-word essay format and length in detail.

500 Word Essay Format

A 500-word college essay has the same structure as a shorter or longer one. It consists of an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Let’s dive in to learn some more information about it!

Introduction

The purpose of the introduction paragraph is to capture your reader’s attention and create a basis for your essay. There are several main components of a compelling introduction:

Hook . A hook is an opening sentence in an essay that seeks to pique readers’ interest and entice them to continue reading.
Background information . Background information often describes the topic’s history or the root cause of the problem being addressed.
Thesis statement . It is a sentence that sums up the main arguments of your essay.

Body Paragraphs

The main body focuses on supporting your thesis statement . Generally, the main body of a 500-word essay includes 3 paragraphs but can contain up to 5 if you write shorter paragraphs. Each paragraph should be structured according to the PEE (Point-Evidence-Explanation) framework.

	A statement that you want to prove and develop.
	Statistics, examples, or quotations that support your argument.
	Sentences linking a specific piece of evidence to your point.

A conclusion is a crucial component of the essay since it gives readers a sense of closure and reminds them of the paper’s contents and value. Here are some valuable tips on how to write a strong conclusion:

Remind your reader of the essay’s key ideas.
Share your thoughts on what you and your readers might do in response to the issues you addressed.
Leave something to think about.

500 Word Essay Length

The 500-word essay length depends on the font and page parameters that you use. For instance, if you use Times New Roman font and 12 pt font size, your essay will take 1 single-spaced page or 2 double-spaced pages. If you are writing your draft by hand, it will take 2-3 pages, depending on your handwriting.

How many paragraphs should a 500-word essay have? It usually takes a form of a standard 5-paragraph essay with an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Now, let’s look at how to divide the 500-word essay length among its constituents.

	60-90 words (3-4 sentences).
	70-120 words (3-6 sentences) per body paragraph. 290-360 words in total.
	The remaining 80-100 words (4-5 sentences).

✍️ How to Write a 500 Word Essay

If you have been assigned a 500-word essay but do not know where to begin, our 6-step framework will assist you with this task:

Step 1: Conduct the Research

You can start writing your essay by gathering background information on your topic. Use only reliable sources, such as books, scholarly journals, or websites of reputable organizations. This step is essential even if you are not writing a research paper. For example, if you work on a scholarship essay, you should learn the program’s requirements to maximize your chances of success.

Step 2: Create an Outline

An outline is the skeleton of your paper. It should include your thesis statement, all the main points you will make, and the evidence you will use to support your claims. An essay plan assists you in organizing your writing and making your thoughts more focused and coherent.

Step 3: Write the Introduction

Begin your essay with something that will pique readers’ interest . For example, you can highlight your essay’s central point and tell your readers what they will find in the main part. Other ways to start a paper include asking a thought-provoking question relevant to the topic or citing surprising statistics.

Step 4: Develop Body Paragraphs

Your main body should contain information on your core issue backed up by examples, properly cited statistics, or research findings. Each paragraph should be specific and comprise ideas relevant to your topic and thesis. Ensure your thought flow is smooth by adding transitional words and sentences.

Step 5: Write the Conclusion

Your conclusion should summarize what you discussed in your paper. Begin by restating your thesis statement and continue by mentioning major points discussed in the body. Finish by adding a call to action or stating the significance of your topic.

Step 6: Proofread Your Piece of Writing

Proofreading ensures your paper has no lingering flaws, errors, or writing inconsistencies. Don’t rely solely on spell checkers: they can identify spelling and grammar mistakes but cannot spot weak arguments or non-cited evidence.

🖊️ 500 Word College Essay: Writing Prompts

Have you ever been stuck on an essay due to a lack of ideas? Don’t worry! We have valuable writing prompts to help you create a paper on various topics.

📃 500 Word Essay on Diversity

Your paper can focus on the importance of diversity and culture in psychology. For example, provide information about the psychological adaptations that immigrants have to undergo. You can also suggest ways for counselors to help immigrants to adapt while valuing and preserving their traditions and cultures.

📃 500 Word Essay on Respect

You can start your essay by explaining the term “respect” and highlighting its role in social life. Also, it is a good idea to find out how people show their respect to others and why it makes them internally stronger.

📃 500 Word Essay on Integrity

Integrity is one of the most fundamental components of personal and professional success. Your essay can discuss integrity as a key to becoming a leader in a business or academic field. Besides, you can analyze the impact of integrity on a person’s character and lifestyle.

📃 500 Word Essay on Drinking and Driving

Provide statistics on drinking and driving cases occurring each year to attract readers’ attention to this problem. Then, you can tell in detail why such driving is dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians. Finally, give your own opinion on actions that should be taken to address this issue.

📃 500 Word Essay on Responsibility

In your paper on responsibility, you may raise the following questions:

What is a responsibility, and why is it crucial?
Why is responsibility important in a family?
What is the duty of parents towards their children or vice versa?

📃 Abortion Essay — 500 Words

Abortion is one of the most controversial problems in modern society. You can provide arguments to show whether you support abortions or whether you are against them. Don’t forget to use evidence to back up your point of view.

📃 500 Word Essay on Leadership

Your leadership essay can focus on the following aspects:

The concept of leadership.
The role of leadership in school or at work.
A real-life example of leadership.

👩‍🎓 500 Word Personal Statement Examples

The personal statement is an essay you write when applying to a university, a college, or a scholarship program. It is your chance to present yourself during the application process. Here are some beneficial tips that may help you create a perfect personal statement:

Use an intriguing hook. The opening paragraph determines whether you capture or lose the reader’s interest. Therefore, start your statement with a unique fact about yourself.
Conduct some research. Researching what your college requires and how it differs from others will help you tailor your personal statement to that particular school.
Avoid clichés. Stay away from obvious or overused statements. For example, if you’re applying to a nursing school, don’t write that you are pursuing this profession because you want to help people. Instead, add unique information about yourself and your interests.
Be specific. Back up your claims by providing logical reasons and discussing experiences that have shaped your career choice.
Adjust your answers. You may receive similar questions if you apply to many colleges. Avoid the temptation to use the same personal statement in every application.
Be creative. Let your creativity inspire the essay’s structure and content.
Provide new information. Tell the facts about yourself that have not been mentioned in your application form.

This image shows the dos and don'ts when writing a personal statement.

500 Words Essay About Myself

In your personal essay, focus on your own life. Instead of spending the entire paper describing the life of your favorite or most successful family member, concentrate on how they have influenced you and your decisions.

📝 Check out an example of a 500-word essay about myself shared by a nursing student: College Degree and Its Role in Nursing Career .

500 Word Essay on Why I Deserve a Scholarship

In this essay, you should discuss your educational and career goals. You can also provide background information about your interests, volunteer work, hobbies, etc. Give arguments on why you need this scholarship and how it will impact your life.

📝 Take a look at a scholarship essay example submitted by your fellow student: Bachelor of Science in Web Design and Development: Scholarship Application.

Why This College Essay: 500 Words

This essay aims to distinguish you from other applicants and increase your chances of getting into college. You can spend the first half of your paper describing your passions. Include a personal anecdote that will draw the reader in. Devote the remaining half to explaining why and how you will thrive in your chosen college.

📝 Here’s an example of a 500-word Why This College essay: Nursing College Education and Career.

‍💼 500 Word Essay on Career Goals: Examples

Writing about your future job is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate to universities and scholarship committees how you intend to put your knowledge to use. Take these steps to write about your dream job:

Choose the career you are excited about.
Begin your essay by stating your desired career and introducing significant experiences that affected your choice.
Build your story by using robust evidence and examples from your life.
Conclude by shedding new light on your key idea.

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to Be a Nurse

If your career goals essay is about why you want to be a nurse, consider the following ideas:

Nursing as meaningful work.
High demand for nurses.
Job stability and flexibility.
Community respect for nurses.

📝 Look at an example of a 500-word essay on why I want to be a nurse: Nursing Career: Achieving Goals and Objectives.

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to Be a Teacher

In an essay on why you want to be a teacher, you can focus on the following aspects:

Importance of being a teacher.
Rewards that a teacher receives.
Pitfalls of working as a teacher.
Teacher as a role model.

📝 Check out an example of a 500-word essay on a teacher’s career aspirations: My Philosophy of Education.

📚 500 Word Essay Topics

Your leadership role in school activities.
The obstacles or challenges you’ve overcome.
The diversity of the perspective you gained from learning a foreign language.
The role of commitment in your life accomplishments.
Your professional goals for the future.
The impact of COVID-19 on your education.
The experience that best demonstrates your character.
The role of an after-school job in shaping your career choice.
The experience of a woman seeking a predominantly male profession.
Growing up with a sibling with a mental disability.
Why should college campuses be smoke-free?
The benefits of volunteer work for college students.
Simple actions every person can do to cope with climate change.
Bicycling as a healthy alternative mode of transportation.
Is net neutrality essential to democracy?
Hitler and Stalin: Two evils of the 20 th century.
The Storming of the Bastille analysis .
Field experience: Science lesson .
Ancient Greek, Roman, and medieval philosophies.
Arguments that the South “won” the Civil War.
How to caramelize onions?
Nursing student’s college experience.
Sensitivity training against workplace prejudices.
An archbishop as a legitimate authority.
Hidden costs of integrating computers in the school setting.
Andrew Johnson’s biography.
Shakespeare’s sonnets from Magnusson’s perspective.
New and old media: Form, impact, and accessibility.
Reflection of Livy’s ideas in Aeschylus’s book.
Gifted education program and its issues.
Social workers’ effectiveness and professional skills.
Writing a memo with research information.
The dabbawalas and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patient-centered care, quality, and safe practice.
Military bases in Okinawa: The impact on the economy.
Reducing food packaging litter in Ireland.
HIV/AIDS epidemiology in Miami, Florida.
The Revolution in American history.
Self-reflexivity: Body ritual among the Nacirema.
World Trade Organization: Definition and tasks.
Document analysis of the Code of Hammurabi.
Lost childhood in a ghetto in Elie Wiesel’s Night .
Handwashing compliance of healthcare workers.
Balance and gait in neurodegenerative patients.
English language learners should be immersed in English.
Taxes in the Australian gambling industry.
Honor: Traditional meaning and broader definition.
What does it mean to be a Pacific Islander today and in the future?
Quantitative research: Methodology and main focus.
Microsoft Corporation’s resources and capabilities.

❓500 Words Essay: FAQ

How many pages is a 500 word essay.

When you convert 500 words to pages, consider the font parameters and page layout. For instance, if you use Times New Roman font and 12-point font size, your paper will be 1 single-spaced page or 2 double-spaced pages. A handwritten draft can require 2-3 pages, depending on your handwriting.

How Many Paragraphs Is a 500 Word Essay?

A 500-word essay should have at least 3 paragraphs: an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Considering that a paragraph should have at least 65 words, a 500-word essay can have a maximum of 7 paragraphs: an introduction, 5 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. As a result, the total number of paragraphs is 3-7.

How Long Is a 500 Words Essay?

The 500-word essay usually takes 1-2 pages, depending on the font and line spacing. Each part of the essay consists of the following number of sentences:

Introduction : 3-4 well-written sentences.
Main body : 14-18 sentences.
Conclusion : 4-5 sentences.

How Long Does It Take to Write a 500 Word Essay?

You will need 2-3 hours to compose a 500-word essay. Here is the time each step takes:

Researching some information : 30-60 minutes.
Organizing : 20 minutes.
Writing : 35-50 minutes
Proofreading : 20-30 minutes.
The 5-Step Personal Essay Writing Guide: “Future Career” | GEAR Up Waco
Essay Writing Advice: “Why X University?” Essays | The University of Chicago
How To: Write Your Personal Essay | Vanderbilt University
Writing the Personal Statement | Purdue Online Writing Lab
Structure Suggestions for a 500 Word Essay | Stanford School of Medicine
How to Write a 500-Word Application (Advice from the Archives) | Rutgers
College Admissions Essay Tips | Texas Tech University
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160 College Essay Topic Ideas for an Outstanding Paper

Writing a standout college essay can be one of the most important aspects of your college application. However, selecting the right topic can often be a daunting task. With countless possibilities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s why we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of 160 best college essay topic ideas to inspire your writing.

Then, with an essay topic idea, just start your writing. You can check our ChatGPT Prompts for Essay Writing for more writing tips with the help of AI writing tool .

Also read: Top 10 Research Topics for Students [2024 Ultimate Guide]

Table of Contents

How to Pick the Perfect College Essay Topic

Reflect on Personal Growth : Choose a topic that highlights a significant personal experience that showcases your development and resilience. Consider challenges you’ve overcome and the lessons learned.
Identify Passion and Values : Write about a subject that genuinely interests you or reflects your core values. This can be an issue you are passionate about, a unique hobby, or a defining moment that illustrates who you are.
Seek Uniqueness : Consider less conventional topics that may not be commonly explored by other applicants. This could be an unusual interest or a distinctive family tradition that provides insight into your character.
Consider Future Aspirations : Connect your topic to your future goals. An essay that explains how your experiences align with your intended field of study can demonstrate motivation and clarity.
Ensure Authenticity : Above all, select a topic that feels true to who you are. Authenticity resonates deeply with admissions committees and can make your essay more impactful.

By focusing on these elements, you can choose a compelling essay topic that effectively communicates your unique story and qualifications to college admissions officers.

Funny College Essay Topic Ideas

My Most Epic Fail: Why I Should Never Attempt DIY Projects
Confessions of a Caffeine Addict: A Day in the Life of My Coffee Dependence
How I Accidentally Joined a Cult (Sort of)
Lessons Learned from My Cat: The True Master of Napping
The Day I Tried to Be Cool and Ended Up in a Tree
Why I Should Have Listened to My GPS (And Other Tech Disasters)
My Journey to Becoming a (Terrible) Influencer
The Great Sibling Showdown: Who Can Make Mom Laugh More?
My Attempt at Going Vegan: The Hilarious Results
The Worst Date Ever: A Comedy of Errors
Why My Family Should Be on Reality TV: A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Love Letter to My Favorite Sweatpants
Why I Will Never Be an Instagram Model (And What I Learned)
The Day I Became the Family Chef (And Why We’re Back to Takeout)
Lessons from Losing a Monopoly Game: A Study in Betrayal
How I Accidentally Ruined Thanksgiving Dinner
The Time I Tried to Help My Friend Move and Ended Up in the Hospital
My Life as a Professional Napper: The Untold Story
The Misadventures of My Last Haircut: A Comedy of Errors
Why I Will Never Make a TikTok Dance Video Again

Argumentative College Essay Topic Ideas

The role of government in regulating internet content.
Should higher education be a right or a privilege?
The ethical implications of gene editing in humans.
Are standardized tests an accurate measure of student intelligence?
The impact of social media on youth and society.
Should college athletes be paid for playing sports?
The viability of a four-day workweek.
Is a gap year beneficial before starting college?
The influence of advertising on consumer behavior.
Privacy vs. security: How much surveillance is too much?

Persuasive College Essay Topic Ideas

The importance of arts education in schools.
Why volunteering should be part of the college curriculum.
The benefits of bilingual education.
The necessity of making public transport free.
Why we must invest in renewable energy sources.
The case for banning single-use plastics.
Should voting be mandatory?
The importance of preserving historical monuments.
Why we need stricter regulations on animal testing.
The need for more progressive tax systems.

Compare and Contrast College Essay Topic Ideas

Living on campus vs. commuting: Which is better for college students?
Online classes vs. traditional classes: A comparison of effectiveness.
The pros and cons of private vs. public universities.
Western vs. Eastern philosophies of education.
Fast food vs. home-cooked meals: Implications on health.
Traditional vs. alternative medicine: A comparative study.
The leadership styles of two prominent figures in history.
Book adaptations: When the book or the movie is better?
Comparing two different approaches to environmental conservation.
The impact of different parenting styles on child development.

Cause and Effect College Essay Topic Ideas

The effects of social networking sites on communication.
How does consumerism affect the global economy?
The impact of college debt on future life choices of students.
The effects of global warming on polar ice caps.
The causes and effects of insomnia during exam periods.
How does stress affect health and well-being?
The influence of diet on cognitive functions.
The effects of music on mood and productivity.
The impact of technology on the job market.
Causes and effects of cultural appropriation.

Creative College Essay Topic Ideas

Imagine a day in the life of your favorite book character.
If you could invent something, what would it be and why?
The adventures of living in a parallel universe.
Writing a eulogy for a historical villain.
A world without smartphones: Chaos or calm?
If you could converse with an artist from the past, who would it be?
The experience of time travel to your most and least favorite historical periods.
What if you were the president for a week?
If animals could form their own society, how would it look?
A letter to a future generation about life in the 21st century.
A conversation with yourself from the past.
What would life be like on a rogue planet?
If you were an ancient conqueror.
A children’s fairy tale.
What if there is no money in the world?
A new perspective on a famous story.
If you lived in another era.
What are animals thinking?
A perfect world as you see it.
A horror story in the style of Kafka.

College Essay Topic Ideas about Life Goals

How your career goals have evolved over time.
The influence of a family business on your professional aspirations.
The importance of role models in shaping your future ambitions.
A major life goal and the steps you’re taking to achieve it.
How overcoming a significant challenge has refocused your life goals.
The impact of travel on your personal and professional objectives.
The importance of lifelong learning in your career path.
The role of mentorship in achieving success.
How do you plan to give back to your community in your future career?
The pursuit of happiness: Defining and achieving your life’s goals.

Informative College Essay Topic Ideas

The history and impact of the feminist movement.
The process of neural network development in artificial intelligence.
Exploring the causes of economic recessions.
The role of genetics in determining personality.
The significance of the Green Revolution in agriculture.
The evolution of space exploration technology.
The impact of colonialism on modern-day global relations.
The fundamentals of quantum computing.
Understanding the human impact on ocean life.
The rise of virtual reality and its potential applications.
What your hometown is like.
What you dislike about the Internet.
If emotions were personified.
How you experience art.
Holiday season and nostalgia.
Your personal teaching experience.
How regular workout makes you feel.
The impact of music on your body.
National holidays in different countries.
Traditions you observed around the world.

Read also: 350 Expository Essay Topics & Tips for Academic Success

Research College Essay Topic Ideas

Analyzing the efficacy of the current educational model in fostering innovation.
The role of social media influencers in shaping youth culture.
The effects of urbanization on biodiversity.
The relationship between mental health and modern work culture.
The impact of cryptocurrencies on global finance.
The evolution of gender roles over the past century.
The influence of climate change policies on international relations.
The effects of diet trends on public health.
The future of genetic engineering in medicine.
The role of artificial intelligence in shaping the future of employment.

Narrative College Essay Topic Ideas

The moment you overcame a profound fear.
An encounter that changed your perspective on life.
The experience of losing something or someone important.
A moment of failure that turned into a lesson of success.
Your first day at college and how it met your expectations.
A journey that was more than just travel.
A significant memory that defines your childhood.
The challenge of adapting to a new culture.
An act of kindness that left a lasting impact on you.
A situation where you had to stand up for what you believed in.
The life of Socrates.
Nero and the Roman Empire.
Everyday life of Puritans.
Events of Mexican-American War.
Life during the Great Depression.
Women in Trojan War.
The start of the Nuclear Age.
Heroes of the Space Race.
Pearl Harbor through the eyes of a witness.
The fall of the Sumer civilization.

Personal College Essay Topic Ideas

Your perfect date.
Settling an argument.
What’s usually in your bag.
Your most memorable purchase.
What your upbringing was like.
One quote that inspired you the most.
What you do to make the world better.
Where you want to spend your life.
When the effort was worth the result.
An unusual feeling you’ve experienced.
How has a book or movie influenced your understanding of the world?
The role of a particular extracurricular activity in shaping who you are.
A personal philosophy or mantra that guides your life.
The journey of self-discovery during your teenage years.
Overcoming a personal struggle to achieve a goal.
A cultural tradition that holds significant meaning for you.
The impact of a mentor or teacher on your life.
A pivotal moment of realization about your identity.
How do you cope with stress and maintain mental well-being?
The importance of a work-life balance in your personal vision.

Topics for Different College Essay Types

Below you’ll find writing prompts for problem solution, cause and effect, and definition essays. There’s also a section with personal statement essay topics. Check them out!

In a problem-solution essay , you need to introduce an issue and suggest several ways to fight it. Usually, each body paragraph describes a different solution. This essay aims to convince the audience that these scenarios are the best ways to eliminate the problem.
In a cause and effect essay , you need to discuss a problem, its reasons, and possible consequences. It’s better to pay attention to topics that involve multiple studies of the issue
In a definition essay , you need to explain a term, concept, or idea. Sometimes a definition is only a part of a more extensive research paper. It’s crucial to study the topic from different perspectives to provide an extended definition. Before you start working on your essay, make sure that the meaning of the word you’ve chosen is not too simple.
In a personal statement , you write about yourself. Writing a personal statement or a transfer essay is crucial when applying to college. How do you make it a winning paper? Read our thesis statement guide .

Steps to Write a College Essay

Writing a college essay can be a rewarding yet challenging endeavor. Here’s a structured approach to help you craft a compelling essay:

Understand the Promp t

Carefully read the essay prompt and make sure you understand what is being asked.
Highlight keywords and themes that you need to address.

Brainstorm Ideas

Reflect on your experiences, values, and interests that relate to the prompt.
Jot down stories or moments that illustrate your perspective and character.

Create an Outline

Organize your thoughts into an outline. A typical structure includes:

Introduction : Hook the reader with an engaging opening that introduces your main theme or story.
Body Paragraphs : Develop your narrative or argument, incorporating specific examples and reflections.
Conclusion : Summarize your main points and reflect on their significance. Consider how this ties to your future aspirations.

Write a Strong Introduction

Start with a compelling hook—an intriguing question, a striking fact, or a vivid anecdote.
Set the tone for the essay and introduce the main topic.

Develop Body Paragraphs

Use clear and concise language. Each paragraph should focus on a specific idea or experience.
Provide concrete examples that illustrate your points.

Craft a Thoughtful Conclusion

Reinforce your main message.
Discuss the importance of your experiences and how they relate to your future goals.
Leave the reader with a lasting impression.

Revise and Edit

After completing your draft, take a break before revising. Look for clarity, coherence, and conciseness. Ensure your voice remains authentic.
Check for grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Seek Feedback

Share your essay with trusted peers, teachers, or mentors.
Constructive feedback can help you refine your essay.

Tips for Success

Be authentic: Write in your voice and stay true to your experiences.
Keep the audience in mind: Tailor your content to the values and expectations of the college you’re applying to.
Stay within word limits: Be concise, and choose your words carefully.

By following these steps, you can write a reflective and engaging college essay that showcases your personality and sets you apart in the admissions process.

Choosing the right topic for your college essay is crucial for presenting your authentic self to admissions committees. With 160 best college essay topic ideas , you now have a wealth of options at your fingertips, ranging from lighthearted reflections to profound personal insights.

With the help of our AI writing tool , you can streamline the writing process and craft a standout college essay with confidence.

A good subject for a college essay is one that reflects your unique experiences, values, and personality while addressing the specific prompts provided by institutions. Consider writing about a significant personal challenge you overcame, as this can demonstrate resilience and growth. Reflecting on a transformative experience, whether it relates to a hobby, travel, or a pivotal moment in your life, can also provide depth and insight into your character.

Reflect on your experiences, values, and interests that relate to the prompt. Jot down stories or moments that illustrate your perspective and character.

Some of the most common college essay topics include: Overcoming Challenges : Discussing personal obstacles and how they shaped you. Personal Growth : Reflecting on significant experiences that influenced your development. A Meaningful Accomplishment : Writing about achievements that matter to you. Passions and Interests : Sharing hobbies or activities that define your identity. Influential People : Describing someone who has greatly impacted your life. Cultural Background : Exploring how your heritage has shaped your perspective. Future Goals : Outlining your aspirations and how college fits into your plans. These topics allow applicants to showcase their individuality and experiences.

400+ Compare and Contrast Essay Topics for Diverse Themes

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Biology, study of living things and their vital processes. The field deals with all the physicochemical aspects of life. The modern tendency toward cross-disciplinary research and the unification of scientific knowledge and investigation from different fields has resulted in significant overlap of the field of biology with other scientific disciplines. Here, we are providing a list of some important biology…

110 Best Discursive Essay Topics for Meaningful Discussion

A discursive essay is a form of an academic essay in which you express your beliefs or points of view in favor of or against the issue. This type of essay would help you to present your points of view objectively on all sides of an argument. We present 110 best discursive essay topics and…

218 Social Issues Topics for Insightful Explorations

Social issues essay topics refer to current events that have an impact on society as a whole. In a rapidly changing world, social issues dominate current conversation, influencing our communities, politics, and global connections. Thus, social issues topics can foster personal growth, broaden horizons, and serve as a platform to initiate dialogue and action on pressing…

154 Unforgettable First Date Topics to Ignite Chemistry

Going on a first date can feel exhilarating yet nerve-wracking at the same time. You want to make a good impression while also getting to know the other person better. Here are 154 engaging first date topics that are both fun and informative to make your first date unforgettable. Regardless of whether it’s a blind…

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500 Word Essay
😍 Examples of 500 word college essay. Write A Killer 500 Word Essay (With Example). 2019-01-05
How to Write a 2000 Word Essay and How Long Is It? Structure, Length, & Examples
250 Word Essay
Create Your Impressive 500 Word Essay
Professional and Best 500 Word Personal Statement Samples Online

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How To Write An Amazing 500 Word Essay For College And ...
Learn how to format and write a 500 word essay that stands out and showcases your strengths for college and scholarship applications. See examples of essays that use a hook introduction, context, examples, and a conclusion to respond to essay prompts.
27 Outstanding College Essay Examples From Top Universities 2024
This college essay tip is by Abigail McFee, Admissions Counselor for Tufts University and Tufts '17 graduate. 2. Write like a journalist. "Don't bury the lede!" The first few sentences must capture the reader's attention, provide a gist of the story, and give a sense of where the essay is heading.
How to Write a 500 Word Essay
In such scenarios, 500-word essay examples can be of great help. Below you can find some 500-word essay examples on different topics to better understand the various style formats. 500 Word Essay On Honesty. A 500-word essay on honesty is a commonly assigned task to high school and college students.
500 Word Essay
It is usually assigned to high school and college students to teach them necessary essay writing skills. Every type of essay can follow the 500-word essay format, including: Persuasive essay. Descriptive essay. Argumentative essay. Expository essay. Narrative essay.
500 Word Essay
500-Word Essay Examples. To understand any type of essay, one needs to look into some good examples. Unfortunately, when it comes to writing a 500-word essay, things become a bit technical for the writer. ... From writing a good college essay to providing you with the best research paper, we have got you covered.
How to Write a 500-Word Essay (With Examples)
Here are some tips on how to write a clear and concise conclusion for a 500-word essay: Restate your thesis statement differently to remind the reader of your main argument or point. Summarize the main points or arguments you discussed in the body paragraphs. Provide a final thought or reflection on the topic.
14 College Essay Examples From Top-25 Universities (2024-2025)
College essay example #1. This is a college essay that worked for Harvard University. (Suggested reading: How to Get Into Harvard Undergrad) This past summer, I had the privilege of participating in the University of Notre Dame's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program .
22 Best College Application Essay Examples for Students
College Application Essay Example 500 Words. If you are required to provide an essay of about 500 words, it means you have to share details about yourself. Sticking to the word count is as important as any part of your college essay. For a 500-word college application or supplemental essay, a student can write about: Intellectual challenge;
Easy Guide To Writing A Killer 500 Word Essay (W/ Example)
How to Format a 500-Word Scholarship Essay. The format of a 500-word scholarship essay is similar to a shorter essay. Each paragraph is about 75-125 words, and it consists of 3-5 well-written sentences. If you are writing a story or personal anecdote, the formatting can be more like a novel than a news article. The main components of a 500-word ...
177 College Essay Examples for 11 Schools + Expert Analysis
Smith College. Each year, Smith asks its applicants to answer a different prompt with a 200-word essay. Here are six of these short essays answering the 2014 prompt: "Tell us about the best gift you've ever given or received." 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018. You really can find everything at the library.
How to Write a 500 Word Essay
Follow our concise step-by-step guide to write an effective 500 word essay: Start with an outline. Applying the outline to an example. Deciding on how many examples to use. Don't worry about the word count in your first draft. Don't forget to proofread!
Common App Essays
We've provided seven essay examples, one for each of the Common App prompts. After each essay, we've provided a table with commentary on the essay's narrative, writing style and tone, demonstrated traits, and self-reflection. Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check. Try for free.
500-Word Essay Samples: A+ Paper Examples for Free
1480 samples of this type. A 500-word essay is a short piece. It might be assigned by a school teacher to test the student's knowledge of the topic and their ability to formulate thoughts concisely. The most common genres for texts of 500 to 550 words are a discussion board post and a personal statement for a college application.
500 Word Essay Examples + 500 Word Essay Topics
A typical 500-word paper can be: a traditional 5-paragraph essay. a college admission essay. a personal statement. a book report. a critical analysis essay, and many other types of written works. If you need to write one of these, then definitely check out this article.
Sample essay 1 with admissions feedback
Sample essay 1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you (500 word limit). A misplaced foot on the accelerator instead of the brakes made me the victim of someone's careless mistake. Rushing through the dark streets of my hometown in an ambulance, I attempted ...
500 Word Personal Statement Examples
What Should Be Included in a 500 Word Personal Statement? A 500-word personal statement should include a compelling introduction to hook the reader's attention, followed by a clear explanation of your interest in the field and relevant experiences, skills, and achievements. Avoid including irrelevant information, excessive detail, clichés, negative tone, and repetition.
College Essay Examples
Essay 1: Sharing an identity or background through a montage. Essay 2: Overcoming a challenge, a sports injury narrative. Essay 3: Showing the influence of an important person or thing. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about college application essays.
16 Strong College Essay Examples from Top Schools
First things first, this Common App essay is well-written. This student is definitely showing the admissions officers her ability to articulate her points beautifully and creatively. It starts with vivid images like that of the "rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge ...
How to Write a Perfect 500-Word Essay With Samples and Tips
Further on, an evaluation of a sample paper, "The Dilemma of Compensation in College Athletics," provides an example-based deconstruction of a 500-word essay structure. In this case, a comparison of 250-word, 500-word, and 1000+ word papers reveals differences regarding a paragraph count, structure, and complexity of a thesis statement.
College Essay Format & Structure
College Essay Format & Structure | Example Outlines. Published on September 24, 2021 by Meredith Testa. Revised on May 31, 2023. ... Most importantly, ensure that you stick to the word count. Most successful essays are 500-600 words. Because you're limited in length, make sure that you write concisely. Say everything that you need to ...
Why this college essay sample
Why this college essay sample #2 - Georgia Tech. The second why this college essay sample we are sharing is Why School essay from Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech only requires one supplemental essay and it is a Why This College essay. Let's look at how one student responded to the prompt below.
How to Write a 500 Word Essay & How Many Pages Is It? + Examples
A 500-word essay should have at least 3 paragraphs: an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Considering that a paragraph should have at least 65 words, a 500-word essay can have a maximum of 7 paragraphs: an introduction, 5 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. As a result, the total number of paragraphs is 3-7.
160 College Essay Topic Ideas for an Outstanding Paper
How to Pick the Perfect College Essay Topic. Reflect on Personal Growth: Choose a topic that highlights a significant personal experience that showcases your development and resilience.Consider challenges you've overcome and the lessons learned. Identify Passion and Values: Write about a subject that genuinely interests you or reflects your core values.

A Complete 500 Word Essay Writing Guide

What is 500 word Essay?

500 Words Essay Format

How Long is a 500 Word Essay?

How Long Should a 500 Word Essay Take?

How Many Paragraphs is a 500 Word Essay?

500-Word Essay vs. 250-Word Essay

500-Word Essay vs. 1000+ Word Essay

How to Write a 500-word Essay?

Step 1: Create An Outline

Step 2: Write A Strong Introduction

Step 3: Composing The Body Paragraphs

Step 4: Write an Impressive Conclusion

500 Word Essay Examples

500 Word Essay On Honesty

500 Word Essay On Punctuality

500 Word Essay On Responsibility

500 Word Essay On Why I Deserve a Scholarship

500 Word Essay on Respect

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to be a Teacher

500 Word Essay on Why I Want to be a Nurse

500 Word Essay Topics

Frequently Asked Questions

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Writing a 500 Word Essay - Easy Guide

500 Word Essay Definition

How to Write a 500 Word Essay

Make an Essay Outline

Write a Good Introduction

Compose the Body Paragraphs

Draft a Compelling Conclusion

500 Word Essay Format

Frequently Asked Questions about Writing a 500 Word Essay

How Long is a 500 Word Essay?

How Many Paragraphs is a 500 Word Essay?

How Long Does it Take to Write a 500 Word Essay?

What is the difference between 500 words essay vs 250 words essay

What is the difference between 500 words essay vs 1000 words essay

500 Word Essay Topics

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Planning Your 500-Word Essay: Outlining and Organizing Your Thoughts

Writing a Strong Introduction for Your 500-Word Essay

Crafting a Compelling Body Paragraph for Your 500-Word Essay

Using Evidence and Examples to Support Your Arguments

Writing a Clear and Concise Conclusion for Your 500-Word Essay

Editing and Proofreading Your 500 Word Essay: Tips and Tricks

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College Application Essay Examples for 2024

College Application Essay Example 250 Words

College Application Essay Example 500 Words

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