Read 176 Best College Admissions Essay Examples for 2020-21

Read Common App essays

Best personal statement examples, written by accepted students

Read Supplemental essays

Explore additional writing prompts, specific to each college

Read University of California essays

Read essays that respond to UC Personal Insight Questions 1-8

Read Ivy League essay examples

Brown University campus

Brown University

5 Accepted Essay Examples

University of Pennsylvania campus

University of Pennsylvania

2 Accepted Essay Examples

Cornell University campus

Cornell University

4 Accepted Essay Examples

Columbia University campus

Columbia University

8 Accepted Essay Examples

Dartmouth College campus

Dartmouth

3 Accepted Essay Examples

Princeton University campus

Princeton

5 Accepted Essay Examples

Read University of California essay examples

The UC application requires students to write 4 essays responding to any of the 1-8 Personal Insight Question prompts. Each essay has a word limit of 350 words max and are a highly important part of the UC application.

University of California, Los Angeles campus

UCLA

27 Accepted Essay Examples

University of California, Berkeley campus

UC Berkeley

25 Accepted Essay Examples

University of California, San Diego campus

UC San Diego

16 Accepted Essay Examples

University of California, Santa Barbara campus

UC Santa Barbara

5 Accepted Essay Examples

Read Top 20 College Essay Examples

Some colleges also ask or require students to write additional essays as a supplement to the rest of their application. College writing supplements are usually specific to an individual college and particularly highly selective schools require supplements.

Stanford University campus

Stanford

13 Accepted Essay Examples

University of California, Los Angeles campus

UCLA

27 Accepted Essay Examples

Brown University campus

Brown University

5 Accepted Essay Examples

Duke University campus

Duke University

4 Accepted Essay Examples

Johns Hopkins University campus

Johns Hopkins

5 Accepted Essay Examples

Columbia University campus

Columbia University

8 Accepted Essay Examples

Princeton University campus

Princeton

5 Accepted Essay Examples

University of California, Berkeley campus

UC Berkeley

25 Accepted Essay Examples

Georgetown University campus

Georgetown

3 Accepted Essay Examples

Northwestern University campus

Northwestern University

9 Accepted Essay Examples

University of Southern California campus

University of Southern California

7 Accepted Essay Examples