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Essays That Worked is a community of students and parents to share their successful college application essays, inspire others, and learn how to write your own outstanding college essays.
With over 230+ essay examples from real students who got into the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, UCLA, and more, you'll learn what it takes to write essays that stand out and get you admitted.
At Essays That Worked, you'll find:
Essay Examples
Be inspired and learn from hundreds of real, successful essays from students who got into top colleges.
Read Essay Examples →College Essay Workshop
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Learn how to write your best college application essays with strategies based on the lessons of hundreds of successful applicants.
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No matter where you are in your college application journey, our goal is simple: to help you write essays you're proud of, so that you can maximize your college opportunities.
What do outstanding essays have in common?
Here are our 23 most effective strategies based on lessons from admitted students.
Real Essays.
Real Acceptances.
Discover over 230 real college essays that worked for over 40 top colleges, written by real students who were accepted to the most selective schools.
Ivy League Essays That Worked
See how real students got accepted into Ivy League schools. Write outstanding admissions essays for top Ivy League schools like...
6 Brown Essays That Worked + Why Brown Examples
5 Columbia University Supplemental Example Essays (2023)
5 Princeton Supplemental Essays That Worked
7 University of Pennsylvania Essays That Worked
6 Dartmouth College Essays That Worked
4 Cornell University Essays That Worked
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Private Colleges Essays That Worked
Read amazing essay examples for top private universities like Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, and more.
4 Carnegie Mellon Supplemental Essay Examples (2023)
6 Duke Supplemental EssaysThatWorked for 2023
6 Outstanding Johns Hopkins EssaysThatWorked for 2023
5 How to Write Outstanding MIT Supplemental Essays (With Real Examples)
6 Northwestern Essay Examples & Why Northwestern (2023)
12 Best Stanford Supplemental Essays That Worked 2023
4 University of Southern California (USC) EssaysThatWorked
9 Tufts University Essays That Worked
8 Notre Dame Essays That Worked
7 Emory University Essays That Worked
6 Rice University Essays That Worked
4 Tulane University Essays That Worked
3 Georgetown University Essays That Worked
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Public Colleges Essays That Worked
Read our best essay examples for public universities like the University of California, University of Michigan, and more. Public colleges receive the most applicants out of all types of schools, so your application essays are increasingly important each year.
18 UC Berkeley Essay Examples that Worked (2023)
18 UCLA Essays That Worked (and Why) for 2023
12 UNC Chapel Hill Essay Examples (2023)
26 University of Michigan Supplemental Essay Examples (2023)
18 UC Santa Barbara Essays That Worked
18 UC San Diego Essays That Worked
7 University of Virginia Essays That Worked
3 University of Wisconsin-Madison Essays That Worked
3 University of Pittsburgh Essays That Worked
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What do outstanding essays have in common?
Here are our 23 most effective strategies based on lessons from admitted students.
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