20 Successful College Essay Examples + Why They Worked (2026)

Writing your college essays can be challenging.

And in 2026, with many schools dropping test scores from their application, your college essays are one of the most important parts of your application if you want to get accepted.

That means there's a whole lot more opportunity for students without the best SAT or ACT scores to boost their chances of admission by writing outstanding essays.

20 of My Favorite Essays That Worked

One of the best ways to write your own successful essays is to read and learn from past essays that worked.

Here's 20 of our favorite college essays examples. From Personal Statement examples to "Why this college?" supplements, find any type of essay you're looking for.

I've chosen these examples because they represent almost every type of essay you'll need to write.

Plus, they are all high-quality examples that have an authentic voice, one of the most important parts of a great essay.

Table of Contents

• Personal Statement Essay Examples

  • 1. The Itch
  • 2. Paint Dance
  • 3. Football Manager
  • 4. Restaurant Job

• Additional Personal Statement Examples

• Additional Common App Essay Examples

• University of California Essay Examples

  • 5. Summer Counselor
  • 6. Teaching Talent
  • 7. Linguistics
  • 8. Linguistics Society
  • 9. New Perspectives

• Supplemental Essay Examples

  • 10. Fermat's Last Theorem
  • 11. Bug Fixing
  • 12. Why UPenn?
  • 13. Story of My Name
  • 14. Ideal College Community
  • 15. Why Computer Science
  • 16. Volunteering at Hospital
  • 17. Why Carnegie Mellon
  • 18. Why NYU?
  • 19. Moving Places
  • 20. Double Major

Ready to get inspired to write the next great admissions essays?

Let's jump right in.

Part 1: Personal Statements That Stand Out

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Your Personal Statement essay is arguably the most important essay you'll write.

Since it's sent to every college you apply to, you need to carefully choose how you use your 650 words.

In this section, I'll show you several examples of successful Common App essays accepted into the most selective colleges.

Let’s dive right in.

Most students write their personal statement essay on their Common Application.

That's why it's called your Common App essay.

If you're having trouble starting your essay, be sure to check out some Common App inspiration.

Personal Statement Essay Examples

Here are some of the best Common App essay examples that have gotten students into top colleges.

Below are some of our favorite personal statement essay examples from the Ivy League and other top-20 colleges.

College Essay Example #1: The Itch

This Common App personal statement was accepted into Stanford University.

College Essay Example #2: Paint Dance

This Common App personal statement was accepted into Williams College.

College Essay Example #3: Football Manager

This Common App personal statement was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania.

College Essay Example #4: Restaurant Job

This Common App personal statement is an accepted Tulane essay.

Want to read more Common App essay examples?

If you're looking for more outstanding Common App essays, check out our Common App guide with examples.

For more, check out our list of top personal statement examples.

Part 2: UC Personal Insight Questions

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Your UC essays are more important in 2022, now that UC's have dropped SAT and ACT scores from your application.

And if you're looking to write great UC essays, the best place to start is by learning from essays that worked in the past.

If you're looking for tons of UC essay examples, you're in the right place.

University of California Essay Examples

Every student applying to University of California must write four Personal Insight Questions. Each short essay must be fewer than 350 words each.

Check out our guides and examples for UCLA essays and UC Berkeley essays.

Within those posts, you'll be able to read dozens of the best UC Personal Insight Questions.

College Essay Example #5: Summer Counselor

This essay was accepted into UCLA.

Why This Essay Works:

• Specific Example: For UC essays, it's important to directly and clearly answer the prompt. This student does a good job of using a specific moment that clearly answers the prompt.
• Honest About Challenges: You don't have to present yourself as a perfect human being. Instead, by showing your flaws and challenges, it makes you more relatable. This student does that well by admitting: "I was unconvinced that I was being the role model I had envisaged of myself."

What They Might Change:

• Give More Details: In addition to stating "...it required a firmer stance to get them to calm down," it's better to show this. How did you act in that moment? How can you illustrate that assertiveness, without just stating it?

College Essay Example #6: Teaching Talent

This essay was accepted into UCLA.

College Essay Example #7: Linguistics

This Personal Insight Question essay was accepted into UCLA among others.

College Essay Example #8: Linguistics Society

Here's another UCLA essay that worked.

College Essay Example #9: New Perspectives

This essay was accepted into UC Berkeley.

Part 3: Supplemental Essay Examples

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Many top colleges require students to supplemental essays.

Each school may ask different prompts or none at all. And often your answers will be more specific and directly about the school.

In this section, you'll find supplemental essay examples from top universities. I've included a variety of prompts to cover common supplemental prompts, from "Why this college?" to major and area of study questions

Let's jump into the essays.

Supplemental Essay Examples

In addition to the your personal statement or statement of purpose (SOP), many colleges also require supplements.

These supplemental essays are often specific to the school and ask you to answer a specific question, such as "Why this college?" or "Why this major?"

In this section, you'll find supplemental essay examples from top universities. I've included a variety of prompts to cover common supplemental prompts that you may encounter.

Enjoy!

College Essay Example #10: Fermat's Last Theorem

This supplemental essay was accepted into Cornell University.

College Essay Example #11: Bug Fixing

Here's another Cornell essay that worked.

College Essay Example #12: Why UPenn

If you enjoyed the UPenn Common App essay, here's a supplement that was also accepted into the University of Pennsylvania.

College Essay Example #13: Story of My Name

This interesting essay is a Dartmouth essay that was admitted. Enjoy!

College Essay Example #14: Ideal College Community

This supplement was accepted into Columbia University.

College Essay Example #15: Why Computer Science

This essay was accepted into Columbia University. To read more exceptional Columbia essays, be sure to check out our list for more Columbia essay examples.

College Essay Example #16: Volunteering at Hospital

This essay was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Want to read more UNC essay examples? Check out our list of the best UNC essays for this year.

College Essay Example #17: Why Carnegie Mellon

This essay was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University. Want to read more essays that worked for CMU? Check out our list of Carnegie Mellon essays that worked.

College Essay Example #18: Why NYU?

This essay was accepted into New York University. Writing your NYU essays doesn't have to be stressful if you get inspired by these examples.

College Essay Example #19: Moving Places

This essay was accepted into Pomona College. Check out this Pomona supplement that worked.

College Essay Example #20: Double Major

Here's another liberal arts essay that worked, again for Pomona College.

Want to read more Essays That Worked?

Want to read hundreds more college essay examples?

Check out our other lists of accepted college essays for top schools. We've gathered the best essays that worked for colleges like:

• UCLA
• UC Berkeley
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Stanford University
• Columbia University
• Brown University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Duke University
• Northwestern University
• Princeton University
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Southern California

And dozens more! In total, we've gathered hundreds of admitted essays from top schools.

Want to check them out all in one place?

Try out our new Essay Library! It's a searchable database of hundreds of essays admitted to top schools.

What You Can Learn From These Essays

With the number of applicants to top schools skyrocketing, it’s becoming more and more difficult for students to get accepted. To stand out from the crowd, you'll need to write interesting essays.

In this article and on our site, we've compiled hundreds of successful college essay examples so that you can see how other students got accepted and learn exactly what to do in order to help make your application a success too.

In this post you can learn from successful essays from Ivy League universities and other top schools like:

• University of Pennsylvania
• Dartmouth College
• Cornell University
• Brown University
• Columbia University
• University of Virginia

Let me know, which essay example was your favorite?