Common App main essay (max, 650 words)

I was excited.  I wanted to share my news with someone.  My first choice would have been Mom or Dad or even Grier, but only Sage was home.  I knew it was risky—Sage being a preteen with a recently dis

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Yale Supplement: Reflect on your engagement with a community to which you belong. How has this engagement affected you? (250 words)

Once Jack had left the room, we began deliberations.  I felt shaky and uncertain.  For a while it was hard to gauge what the adults in the room were thinking.  Eventually, though, it seemed that we ha

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

My friend Henry goes to Yale.  When I asked him about his experience, he said, “It’s all the best parts of St. Albans.”  This excited and intrigued me, and I investigated further. Yale’s Residential C

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Yale Supplement: Think about an idea or topic that has been intellectually exciting for you. Why are you drawn to it? (250 words)

At first, utilitarianism seems to be not only the most objective philosophy in normative ethics, but also the only reasonable one.  After all, how could the concept that ethical action should be asses

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Yale Supplement: Why does your indicated major appeal to you? (program on Ethics, Politics, and Economics)

I suspect that we are moving into another Dark Age.  Our media prioritizes speed over depth; In our political climate, punchlines eclipse understanding.  Available information is just recycled materia

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Yale Supplement: What inspires you?

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Yale Supplement: Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask?

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Yale Supplement: You are teaching a Yale course. What is it called?

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Yale Supplement: Most first-year Yale students live in suites of four to six students. What do you hope to add to your suitemates’ experience? What do you hope they will add to yours? (Short Answer, 35 words)

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Michigan Supplement: If you could only do one of the activities you have listed in the Activities section of your Common Application, which one would you keep doing? Why? [150 words]

On Thursdays, my friends and I stay at school until 8:00 p.m. to participate in a political debating society known as “Government Club.” We wear coats and ties, call each other Mr. and Ms., and feel p

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Michigan Supplement: Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? [550 words]

When I visited Ann Arbour last spring, I had the opportunity to hear from an admissions officer about the different offerings of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. LSA, he made sure to

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UVA Supplement: College of Arts and Sciences - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way? (300 words)

I got interested in politics at the beginning of high school. Back then, I was a proud Democrat - mainly because my parents and most of my friends were Democrats - but proud nevertheless. Parents an

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UVA Supplement: UVA students are charged with living honorably and upholding a Community of Trust. Give us an example of a community that is important to you and how you worked to strengthen that community. (300)

St. Albans is like an overbearing parent. It takes all of my time to live up to its expectations and then expects more. It demands my best, even when I am not prepared to give it. As a result, St.

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