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Successful College Essays Admitted to Top Universities

This page features all of the successful college essays available within Inline, from Common App essays to college supplement essays and short answers. Use them to see what it takes to get into top schools and get inspiration for your own application.

Get Inline for supplemental, college-specific essays, including our “Inline INTEL,” which analyzes sample essays and provides an inside view on how those essays would be evaluated by a college admissions officer.

By Question Type / Format

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Activities
Amherst Supplemental Essay Sample
Barnard Supplemental Essay Sample
Civic Engagement
Commentary Quote Response
Common App Accomplishment Personal Growth Sample
Common App Background/Interest
Common App Challenge Belief Sample
Common App Gratitude Sample
Common App Obstacles/Setback
Common App Personal Essay
Common App Topic of Your Choice
Common App Topic/Idea Sample
Creative
Difficult Topic
Dreams / Goals
Favorites
Formative Background
Formative Community
Formative Person
Formative Place
Future Roommate
Intellectual Curiosity
Misc Topics
Perspectives You Bring
Problem Solving
Supplemental Essays
Why CMU
Why College X
Why Major X Essays

Activity Sample 2

Last summer, I landed an internship that gave me the opportunity to do field testing of environmental equipment measuring air pollution.
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Activity Sample 3

I would continue working for my school publication because the experience has led to my development as a writer, leader, and contributor to my school.
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Activity Sample 4

Below are 10 samples of responses to the activity/work experience short answer question. They touch on the most common types of activities and work experiences and should give you a great starting point for your own answer.
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Activity Sample 5

When I transferred to my new school, the first club that I joined was Project Green.
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Activity Sample 6

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve drawn. First with crayons, but once I discovered pencils, they’ve been the only medium for me. I carry a sketch book everywhere I go.
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Activity Sample 8

Formula One racing, a global motor racing sport barely known in the US, is MY spectator sport. It is truly a contest in strategy, engineering, and flat out speed.
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Commentary Quote Response Sample 1

When I chose to travel to Costa Rica to learn about tropical medicine the summer after my sophomore year, I expected to learn all about infectious diseases and their pharmaceutical treatments.
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Commentary Quote Response Sample 2

I screw my eyes shut, then slowly peek at the screen. It worked! I jump up and down waiting for the capture to finish, frantically print off a copy, and race down the hallway to compare it to my notes.
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Common App Accomplishment Personal Growth Sample 1

I wake up on a cool Colorado morning and look out the window at the mountain ridges. Today is the “Elk Hike,” a ten-year tradition in my family and part of our week-long summer trip to Colorado.
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Common App Background/Interest Sample 1

My home swaddles me in the history of my family. My ancestor's loopy cursive traverses the old documents hanging in our living room and each night I dive into the bed onto which my great-grandmother etched little notes when she was my age.
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