the essay that got me into columbia

5 Columbia University Supplemental Example Essays (2023)

If you want to get into Columbia University in 2023, you can make sure you have the best chances of getting accepted by writing powerful essays.

In this article I've gathered 5 of the best college essays that got accepted into Columbia University to help you improve your own essays.

You can see how real students answered Columbia's writing supplement section and Common App personal statement.

What is Columbia University's Acceptance Rate?

This past year 60,377 students applied to Columbia and of those 2,253 were admitted for the Class of 2026.

That gives Columbia an overall admit rate of 3.73% , or in other words about 1 in 25 students are offered admission.

Columbia University Acceptance Scattergram

Admissions into Columbia is clearly highly competitive, but there's an upside:

The more selective a college is, the more your application essays matter.

What are Columbia University Supplemental Prompts for 2023?

This year, Columbia requires applying students to respond to several "list" questions, short answers, and short essay prompts.

Here are the Columbia writing supplement questions for 2023:

Columbia Writing

The questions on this page are being asked by Columbia University Applicants are asked to respond to Columbia-specific questions to tell the Admissions Committee more about their academic, extracurricular and intellectual interests. These questions allow us to better understand your intellectual curiosity, habits of mind, love of learning and sense of self. These questions also allow the Admissions Committee to learn more about you in your current community and why you feel Columbia’s distinctive experiences in and out of the classroom would be a good fit for your undergraduate education.

For the three list questions that follow, there is a 75 or 125 word maximum. Please refer to the below guidance when answering these questions:

• Your response should be a list of items separated by commas or semicolons.
• Items do not have to be numbered or in any specific order.
• It is not necessary to italicize or underline titles of books or other publications.
• No author names, subtitles or explanatory remarks are needed.

For the three short answer questions, please respond in 200 words or fewer.

For additional guidance, visit our website.

Please note that the third short answer question will not appear until you have selected Columbia College or Columbia Engineering in the "Academics" section of Columbia's application questions.

List the titles of the required readings from academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (75 words or fewer)

List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (75 words or fewer)

We’re interested in learning about some of the ways that you explore your interests. List some resources and outlets that you enjoy, including but not limited to websites, publications, journals, podcasts, social media accounts, lectures, museums, movies, music, or other content with which you regularly engage. (125 words or fewer)

A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and live in a community with a wide range of perspectives. How do you or would you learn from and contribute to diverse, collaborative communities? (200 words or fewer)

Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. (200 words or fewer)

For applicants to Columbia College, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you previously noted in the application. (200 words or fewer)

For applicants to Columbia Engineering, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you previously noted in the application. (200 words or fewer)

5 Columbia University EssaysThatWorked

Here are 5 of the best essays that worked for Columbia University.

Below you can read answers to the 2022-23 Columbia writing supplement, as well as past year's prompts. I've also included personal statement essays from admitted Columbia students.

Columbia University Essay Example #1

Columbia university essay example #2, columbia university essay example #3, columbia university essay example #4, columbia university essay example #5.

Prompt: List a few words or phrases that describe your ideal college community. (150 words max)

Filled with activity around the clock. A place to come home to.

Trying to get past locked doors (literal and metaphorical).

Offering intellectual freedom and curiosity, without forcing specialization. Accommodating students who are unwilling to wait to make a difference. Willing to look critically at itself.

Socially conscious and politically active.

Never taking its eye off the national or global stage.

Buzzing with so much life it flows beyond the campus into the outside world.

So much life that sometimes it intimidates, that it yearns for more hours in the day. With too many options to choose from, Too much to do in four years.

Filled with clever eyes that see new ideas in the lessons of history.

Diverse of origin, of culture, of opinion, of religion, of personality, Diverse like an international center of thought and ideas and passions. An urban wonderland.

Supporting of extraordinary ambitions.

Prompt: List the titles of the required readings from academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (150 words max)

Survival of the Sickest - Sharon Moalem

What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses - Daniel Chamovitz

The blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy - Drew Pardoll

The Physical Universe - Arthur Beiser

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

Sexual Politics and Religious Reform in the Witch Craze - Joseph Klaits

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers - Paul Kennedy

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

On World Government - Dante Alighieri

Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 - Tony Judt

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Prompt: List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (150 words max)

A Most Incomprehensible Thing (the mathematics of relativity) - Peter Collie

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki

Weapons of Math Destruction - Cathy O’Neil

Algorithms to Live By - Brian Christian

Giant of the Senate - Al Franken

The Sublime Object of Ideology - Slavoj Zizek

The Theoretical Minimum - Leonard Susskind

Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World - Tim Whitmarsh

The Casual Vacancy - J.K. Rowling

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Volume 1 - Richard Feynman

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov

Justice by Lottery - Barbara Goodwin

History: A Very Short Introduction - John H. Arnold

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II - John Dower

Prompt: We’re interested in learning about some of the ways that you explore your interests. List some resources and outlets that you enjoy, including but not limited to websites, publications, journals, podcasts, social media accounts, lectures, museums, movies, music, or other content with which you regularly engage. (125 words max)

The Economist

The New York Times

Reddit - /r/programming /r/machinelearning /r/lifeprotips /r/iwanttolearn /r/politics /r/science /r/physics /r/economics Hacker News

The Atlantic

The Washington Post

Paulgraham.com

Waitbutwhy.com

whatif.xkcd.com arXiv.org - arXiv-sanity.com

Scientific American

Flowingdata.com

StackExchange

Prompt: For applicants to Columbia College, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the field or fields of study that you noted in the Member Questions section. If you are currently undecided, please write about any field or fields in which you may have an interest at this time. (300 words max)

Studying computer science gives me the opportunity to be in a field that evolves so quickly I can always be on the forefront and do cutting-edge work. This summer at an ad-tech company, I moved the data science team’s analysis programs to a novel cluster-computing engine (Kubernetes), which can manage and distribute tasks across thousands of computers at once. Kubernetes is so new that barely any information has circulated about it. Because of this novelty, I was able to publish the first existing documentation of a data science pipeline in Kubernetes.

Computer science can also automate the manual drudgery of life. For example: to manage my clubs, I’ve written a program that checks for emails from members with excuses for missing meetings and automatically logs their absences.

Since computers have become the platform for every science, coding allows me to contribute to numerous fields. When I started at Einstein College of Medicine last year, I knew nothing about computational biology. Our project showed me that basic programming was all I needed to find fascinating results in the mostly unstudied mountains of genomic data.

As a person, I’m drawn to seemingly impossible challenges, in particular, the quest to teach machines and create mechanical consciousness. When I started taking online courses in AI, I became fascinated by the gradient descent method in machine learning. The method casts complex input data (e.g. photos) as thousand-dimensional surfaces and attempts to descend to the lowest points (minima) of those surfaces. It works best on data with underlying patterns, like pictures of human faces. This indicates that, in some way, the very nature of what a ‘face’ is, what unique structure is shared by nearly all faces, is found in the minima that AI models descend towards. My dream is to do foundational artificial intelligence research.

If you're trying to get into Columbia, you'll need to stand out from the competition. These 5 Columbia essays that worked showcase successful examples of responses to the Columbia writing supplement for 2022.

What did you think of these Columbia essays?

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Princeton Admitted Essay

People love to ask why. Why do you wear a turban? Why do you have long hair? Why are you playing a guitar with only 3 strings and watching TV at 3 A.M.—where did you get that cat? Why won’t you go back to your country, you terrorist? My answer is... uncomfortable. Many truths of the world are uncomfortable...

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Her baking is not confined to an amalgamation of sugar, butter, and flour. It's an outstretched hand, an open invitation, a makeshift bridge thrown across the divides of age and culture. Thanks to Buni, the reason I bake has evolved. What started as stress relief is now a lifeline to my heritage, a language that allows me to communicate with my family in ways my tongue cannot. By rolling dough for saratele and crushing walnuts for cornulete, my baking speaks more fluently to my Romanian heritage than my broken Romanian ever could....

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A cow gave birth and I watched. Staring from the window of our stopped car, I experienced two beginnings that day: the small bovine life and my future. Both emerged when I was only 10 years old and cruising along the twisting roads of rural Maryland...

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How To Answer Columbia's 2023/24 Supplemental Essays: Tips & Insights

What's New

What Are Columbia's Essay Prompts?

How to Answer Columbia's Essay Prompts?

General Guidelines

Columbia's supplemental essays are a crucial part of the application, offering a deeper insight into your fit with the university. This guide provides detailed prompts, tips, and insights to craft compelling responses that resonate with Columbia's ethos. Approach with authenticity, align with Columbia's offerings and showcase your unique perspective to stand out.

The Essay That Got Me Into Columbia

Columbia's 2023/24 Supplemental Essay Updates: What's Changed?

Securing a spot at Columbia University , with its acceptance rate of around 4% , is a monumental achievement. In the intricate dance of college admissions, your supplemental essays are instrumental in portraying your distinctive narrative and alignment with Columbia's ethos.

Elite institutions like Columbia refine their application criteria each academic year to ensure they gain a holistic perspective of their prospective students.

For the 2023/24 admissions cycle, Columbia has made several pivotal changes to its supplemental essay questions:

• Consolidation of Prompts : The initial list-based questions about favorite readings from high school courses and beyond and resources and outlets of interest have been merged into a single comprehensive prompt. This new question seeks to understand the texts, resources, and outlets influencing the applicant's intellectual journey outside formal education.
• Word Limit Reduction : Several questions now have reduced word limits, emphasizing the need for applicants to provide concise and focused responses.
• Emphasis on Inclusivity : The question about learning from diverse communities has been refined to underscore the importance of an "equitable and inclusive community." This change prompts applicants to reflect more deeply on their perspectives and experiences.
• Introduction of a Resilience Question : A new question has been added to gauge the applicant's resilience. It asks them to describe an obstacle they've faced and the steps they took to overcome it.
• Minor Adjustments : While the question about the applicant's interest in Columbia remains, its word limit has been shortened. The prompt about attraction to specific areas of study at Columbia has been slightly rephrased but retains its essence.

These modifications highlight Columbia's evolving admissions approach, emphasizing a deeper understanding of the diverse life experiences and intrinsic values that applicants would bring to its dynamic undergraduate community.

What Are Columbia's Supplemental Essay Prompts for 2023/24?

For the 2023/24 application cycle, Columbia University has meticulously crafted supplemental essay prompts to delve deeper into the profiles of its applicants. These prompts aim to uncover your intellectual influences, personal perspectives, resilience, and your vision for your journey at Columbia.

List-Based Question

Columbia's list-based question offers a glimpse into your intellectual influences outside the classroom.

• Intellectual Influences : List a selection of texts, resources, and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums, and other content that you enjoy. (100 words)

Short Answer Questions

These questions provide deeper insights into your perspectives, experiences, and values.

• Equitable and Inclusive Community : A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. Tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint, or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia's diverse and collaborative community. (150 words)
• Navigating Adversity : In college/university, students are often challenged in ways that they could not predict or anticipate. Please describe a barrier or obstacle you have faced and discuss the personal qualities, skills, or insights you have developed as a result. (150 words)
• Interest in Columbia : Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. (150 words)
• Areas of Study : What attracts you to your preferred areas of study at Columbia College or Columbia Engineering? (150 words)

Requirements

For the list question, adhere to a 100-word maximum. Your response should be a list of items separated by commas or semicolons without the need for numbering, italicizing, or underlining titles. No author names, subtitles, or explanatory remarks are required. Responses should be limited to 150 words or fewer for the four short answer questions.

Columbia's application process is undeniably competitive, with an acceptance rate of around 4%. These prompts offer applicants a unique opportunity to showcase their intellectual influences, personal growth, and the distinct perspectives they'll bring to the Columbia community.

Looking for inspiration? Dive into these  Columbia essay examples  to see what successful applications look like!

How to Answer Columbia’s Supplemental Essay Questions?

Prompt 1 (list-based question), list a selection of texts, resources and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums and other content that you enjoy., - 100 words or fewer.

This prompt is an invitation to showcase the diverse range of materials that have shaped your intellectual journey outside the confines of a classroom. It's a chance to provide a snapshot of your intellectual curiosity, interests, and the resources instrumental in your growth .

Diversify Your List

While focusing solely on academic or highbrow materials might be tempting, remember that intellectual growth can come from various sources. A podcast episode might have changed your perspective on a social issue, or a museum visit might have deepened your appreciation for art or history.

Be Authentic

It's essential to be genuine in your selections. Don't list items you think might impress the admissions committee but don't resonate with you. Your list should reflect your true intellectual diet.

Consider the Impact

While the prompt doesn't ask for explanations, the items you choose should have clearly impacted your intellectual development. Whether it's a book that introduced you to a new field of interest or a documentary that deepened your understanding of a global issue, each item should have contributed to your growth.

Format and Presentation

Given the word limit, you'll need to be concise. List items in a clear, organized manner, using commas or semicolons to separate them. While you don't need to provide detailed explanations, the order and grouping can subtly indicate connections or themes.

• "1984" by George Orwell; "The Daily" podcast; TED Talks; The Louvre; "The Social Dilemma" documentary; National Geographic website; "The Future of Humanity" by Michio Kaku; Shakespeare's "Hamlet"; The Economist.
• "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho; MoMA; "How I Built This" podcast; "The World in a Grain" by Vince Beiser; TED-Ed videos; "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Díaz; The Smithsonian Magazine.

Columbia's first list question is a window into your intellectual world outside school. It's an opportunity to showcase the breadth and depth of your interests and the resources that have been pivotal in your academic journey. Approach this list with authenticity, diversity, and a clear sense of how each item has contributed to your growth .

Prompt 2 (Short Essay)

A hallmark of the columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to columbia's diverse and collaborative community., - 150 words or fewer.

This prompt delves into your personal experiences and how they've shaped your perspective. Columbia is seeking students who will not only benefit from its diverse community but also actively contribute to it .

Reflect on Your Unique Perspective

Start by identifying a specific experience, background, or aspect of your identity that has profoundly influenced your perspective. This could be related to your cultural background, personal challenges, unique experiences, or any other facet of your life that has shaped your worldview.

Show, Don't Just Tell

Instead of merely stating your perspective, narrate a brief anecdote or experience that encapsulates it. This makes your essay more engaging and provides a clearer insight into your viewpoint.

Connect to Columbia's Community

Reflect on how your unique perspective will enrich Columbia's community. How will you engage with others, participate in discussions, or contribute to campus activities? Consider how your viewpoint can foster understanding, spark meaningful conversations, or inspire collaborative projects.

Embrace the NYC Advantage

Given Columbia's unique location in New York City, consider how your perspective aligns with NYC's dynamic, diverse, and cosmopolitan environment. How might the city's cultural resources amplify your learning and contributions?

• "Growing up in a multicultural household, I've learned to navigate and appreciate multiple cultures simultaneously. This has taught me the value of open-mindedness and adaptability. At Columbia, I aim to bridge cultural gaps, fostering understanding and collaboration in this diverse community, while also immersing myself in NYC's rich tapestry of cultures."
• "Facing economic hardships, I've developed resilience and a deep appreciation for education as a tool for change. My experiences have instilled in me a drive to advocate for equitable opportunities. At Columbia, I'd champion initiatives that support underprivileged students, leveraging the resources and platforms that NYC offers."

Columbia's second short essay question invites you to share how your unique experiences and perspectives will enrich its vibrant community. By weaving a narrative that connects your journey to Columbia's ethos and the broader NYC environment , you can effectively convey the value you'll bring to the university's diverse and collaborative landscape.

Prompt 3 (Short Essay)

In college/university, students are often challenged in ways that they could not predict or anticipate. it is important to us, therefore, to understand an applicant's ability to navigate through adversity. please describe a barrier or obstacle you have faced and discuss the personal qualities, skills or insights you have developed as a result..

This prompt seeks to understand your resilience, adaptability, and growth in facing challenges . Columbia wants students who persevere, learn from adversity, and contribute positively to the community despite unexpected obstacles.

Identify a Genuine Challenge

Begin by pinpointing a specific challenge or obstacle you've encountered. This could be academic, personal, social, or even professional. Ensure it's a situation where you faced genuine difficulty, uncertainty, or setback.

Narrate the Journey, Not Just the Outcome

While it's essential to discuss how you overcame the challenge, also delve into the emotions, thoughts, and processes you went through. This provides depth to your narrative and showcases your problem-solving and coping mechanisms.

Highlight Personal Growth

Discuss the qualities or skills you developed from facing this challenge. Did it make you more empathetic? Did you develop better communication or analytical skills? Maybe it gave you a fresh perspective or a renewed sense of purpose.

Connect to the College Experience

Reflect on how this growth prepares you for the unpredictable challenges of college life. How will these qualities or skills help you navigate Columbia's academic and social intricacies?

• "When a close family member fell ill, I had to balance school with significant home responsibilities. This period taught me time management and the value of support networks. I've learned that seeking help isn't a sign of weakness but of strength. At Columbia, I'll proactively join study groups and access available resources."
• "Facing academic challenges in my calculus class, I initially felt defeated. However, I sought tutoring, collaborated with peers, and spent extra hours practicing. This experience honed my perseverance and collaborative spirit, qualities I'll carry into challenging coursework at Columbia."

Columbia's third short essay question provides a window into your character, resilience, and growth mindset. By detailing a genuine challenge and the subsequent personal development , you can effectively convey to Columbia how you'll handle the unpredictable challenges of college life and contribute positively to the community.

Prompt 4 (Short Essay)

Why are you interested in attending columbia university we encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about columbia..

This is a classic " Why This School " essay, a staple in the college application process. Columbia wants to understand not just why you want to attend an Ivy League institution but why you're specifically drawn to Columbia over other prestigious schools .

Research, Research, Research

Before you start writing, research Columbia's programs, culture, and opportunities. Go beyond the obvious and look for unique offerings or traditions that resonate with your interests and aspirations.

Connect to Your Goals and Interests

Discuss specific Columbia programs, courses, or opportunities that align with your academic and extracurricular interests. Maybe there's a particular professor you're excited to work with or a unique program that aligns with your career goals.

Beyond Academics

Columbia is more than just its academic programs. Maybe you're drawn to its location in New York City, diverse student body, or its commitment to community engagement. Highlight aspects of Columbia's culture or values that resonate with you.

The Core Curriculum

While many applicants will mention the famed Columbia Core Curriculum, make your mention stand out. Dive deep into specific courses or texts within the Core that excite you. How do you see the Core enriching your academic journey?

• "Columbia's interdisciplinary Science and Society program perfectly aligns with my passion for bioethics. The blend of rigorous scientific study with philosophical inquiry offers a holistic education I'm eager to dive into."
• "Being in the heart of NYC, Columbia offers unparalleled opportunities for real-world learning. I'm excited to engage with the city's diverse communities and bring those experiences back to the classroom."

Columbia's fourth short essay question is your chance to showcase your genuine interest in the university and how it aligns with your goals. By connecting specific Columbia offerings to your aspirations, you demonstrate a clear vision of your future at the university .

Prompt 5 (Short Essay)

What attracts you to your preferred areas of study at columbia college or columbia engineering.

Columbia wants to understand the driving force behind your academic choices . This question delves into your intellectual passions and how they align with what Columbia offers in your preferred study area.

Reflect on Your Journey

Begin by considering the experiences, both academic and personal, that have shaped your interest in your chosen field. Was it a particular class, a personal project, or maybe an internship or mentorship?

Specificity is Key

Avoid generic statements about the value of education or the prestige of Columbia. Instead, delve into specific programs, courses, or opportunities within Columbia College or Columbia Engineering that resonate with your interests.

Connect Past, Present, and Future

Discuss how your past experiences have prepared you for your intended major. Then, bridge this with how Columbia's offerings will further your academic and career goals.

• "My internship at a local tech firm ignited my passion for computer engineering. Columbia Engineering's renowned Data Science Institute offers the perfect platform for me to delve deeper into machine learning applications."
• "After spearheading a community art project, I realized the power of visual storytelling. Columbia College's interdisciplinary approach to art and media studies will allow me to explore the intersection of art, culture, and social impact."

Columbia's fifth short essay question seeks to understand the depth of your commitment to your chosen field and how Columbia's specific offerings align with your academic journey. Connecting your past experiences with Columbia's resources demonstrates a clear vision of your academic future at the university . Remember to be genuine and specific, and show how your background and Columbia's offerings align with your educational aspirations.

How Anuar Got Into Columbia

General Guidelines for Answering Columbia's Supplemental Essay Questions

• Deep Dive into Columbia's Offerings : Columbia's prompts are tailored to understand your fit within its academically rigorous and culturally diverse environment. Highlight specific programs, courses, or professors that align with your interests. Demonstrating this level of specificity indicates genuine interest and thorough research.
• Reflect on Personal Growth : Columbia values introspective students. When discussing challenges or personal perspectives, always circle back to what these experiences have taught you and how they've shaped your worldview.
• Celebrate Your Unique Perspective : Columbia thrives on various voices and backgrounds. Emphasize how your unique experiences or viewpoints will enrich classroom discussions and the broader Columbia community.
• Authenticity Above All : Be genuine in your responses. Rather than trying to fit a mold, showcase your true self, interests, and aspirations. Authentic narratives resonate more deeply.
• Conciseness is Key : With tight word limits, it's essential to be concise yet impactful. Prioritize depth over breadth, giving a comprehensive view of selected experiences or thoughts.
• Engaging Narratives : Engaging storytelling can elevate your essay. Whether you're listing resources that have shaped your intellectual journey or explaining why you're drawn to Columbia, a narrative touch can make your response memorable.
• Meticulous Proofreading : Ensure your essays are polished and free from errors. Beyond grammar, ensure clarity and coherence in your narrative. Seek feedback from trusted individuals for fresh perspectives.
• Connect to the Columbia Experience : Relate your answers to how you'll engage with and contribute to the Columbia community. This showcases a long-term vision of your time at Columbia beyond just securing admission.
• Embrace the Opportunity : These essays are more than just a formality; they're your platform to present a holistic picture of who you are. Use them to articulate why the synergy between you and Columbia would benefit both.
• Stay Updated : Columbia, situated in the heart of New York City, is ever-evolving. Stay updated with recent developments, courses, or initiatives that might align with your interests.

Columbia's supplemental essays are your gateway to showcase your fit, passion, and potential contributions to its esteemed community. By thoughtfully crafting your responses and intertwining them with Columbia's ethos and offerings, you can compellingly convey why you're a perfect match for Columbia University.

For more inspiration, you might want to explore these  Columbia essay examples  to understand what makes an application truly stand out.

Final Thoughts

Embarking on the journey to Columbia is not just about showcasing academic prowess but weaving a narrative that aligns with Columbia's esteemed legacy and the admissions committee's expectations. Your supplemental essays are a window into your character, aspirations, and the unique contributions you'll bring to the Columbia community.

Every Columbia aspirant has a distinct story to share. This is your moment to articulate yours. Approach your essays with authenticity, depth, and a genuine passion for your narrative.

If you're unsure whether your essay truly captures your essence or stands out amidst many applications, our essay review service is here to guide you. Our experienced experts will provide a thorough review and feedback, ensuring your essay resonates with Columbia's admissions officers. For further inspiration, dive into our ebook , which showcases essays from students who clinched spots at top-tier institutions. And for those targeting Columbia, our compilation of successful Columbia essay examples will be invaluable.

For those just beginning their college application journey, consider scheduling a free consultation with our seasoned college counselors. We're dedicated to assisting you in crafting an application that enhances your chances of joining the ranks of Columbia's Lions. Your dream of becoming a part of Columbia's legacy is within reach, and we're here to support you at every juncture.

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Key Resources & Further Reading

• Everything you need to know about US Application Supplemental Essays
• Acing your College Application Essay: 5 Expert Tips to Make it Stand Out from the Rest
• How to Tackle Every Type of Supplemental Essay
• 2023-24 Common App Essay Prompts
• What are the Most Unusual US College Supplemental Essay Prompts?

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10 great common app essay examples from accepted students.

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How to Write the “Why Columbia” Supplemental Essay

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Joseph Recupero in a CollegeVine Livestream. You can watch the full Livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

• Do Your Research
• Discuss How You Will Contribute to the Columbia Community  
• Don’t Talk About Generic Features
• Speak with Current Students for Inspiration
• Don’t Answer Other Prompts  

This post will address how to write Columbia’s fourth supplemental essay about why you’re interested in attending Columbia.

This prompt encourages you to consider the aspects you find unique and compelling about Columbia. The most important word in this prompt is unique . The best essays written in response to this question give a compelling reason why you want to attend this school specifically. Below are 5 tips to follow when drafting your essay. 

1. Do Your Research

You have to do your research for this prompt. You can’t just say Columbia is an awesome school and it’s an Ivy league school and it’s in New York. These points are easy turnoffs. Don’t mention New York City. There are plenty of schools in NYC; this is not why Columbia is unique.  

Instead you want to focus on what in particular about Columbia appeals to you. Is there a specific professor whose research is related to your academic interests? Is there a unique club or activity that you are passionate about joining? Are there special programs at Columbia that align with your career goals? Things like this are much more compelling for an admissions officer to hear, and they tell the committee more about who you are as an applicant.

2. Discuss How You Will Contribute to the Columbia Community 

A great essay speaks to both individual experiences and activities you’re excited to pursue on campus. It should also demonstrate how you relate to the campus culture and why you find that attractive.

This goes back to the idea that Columbia is really looking for students who are going to be energetic members of their community. Including specific details here is always a good idea. Columbia’s admissions officers want to understand how you will fit into their student body and be active on campus. 

3. Don’t Talk About Generic Features

You want to avoid talking about generic features like location and things that are shared by many colleges. For example, every college has a gym and every college has an alumni network. You want to highlight things that are unique or different about Columbia. 

Because there are many competitive applicants to Columbia, this essay prompt can be a real danger or give you a leg up! It’s one of the real big ways you can differentiate yourself. If you highlight the fact that you have really done your research by including specifics about Columbia’s curriculum, community, or offerings, you will set yourself apart from other applicants.

4. Speak with Current Students for Inspiration

A great way to learn about unique aspects of Columbia is by talking to current students. You can get a perspective that is a little bit more textured and qualitative than what you would read about online.

One way to find current Columbia students is through your own personal network; however, if this is not an option you can reach out to your school counselor and see if they know any alumni who went to Columbia. 

You can also contact a Marketplace expert from Columbia or attend a virtual panel with current Columbia students to learn more about why Columbia is unique. 

5. Don’t Answer Other Prompts 

You could write about career aspirations and unique associated opportunities, but these topics line up better with other essay prompts. You certainly don’t want to get too deep into academics because you want to have material left over for your intended major essay.

Keep these 5 tips in mind when writing your “Why Columbia” essay to differentiate yourself from other applicants. 

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to get into columbia: 3 key tips.

College Admissions

Columbia University is a prestigious school, not just because of its low acceptance rate or high starting salary for graduates. It's one of the oldest colleges in the US, and has had huge numbers of well-known graduates, including Founding Fathers, famous directors, and politicians.

Like any Ivy League , Columbia is a place for both education and networking, creating a solid foundation and social circle for your future career. But first, you have to know how to get into Columbia. And with a school and selective as Columbia, that's going to be difficult—but not impossible.

Follow this guide to get your college application in shape for a Columbia acceptance!

What Should I Know About Columbia?

If you're reading this, you probably already know that people want to go to Columbia because it's a prestigious college with a long and important history. It's an Ivy League school, granting it a reputation of academic excellence; with a degree for Columbia on your resume and the connections you make there, you'll have an edge in the job market.

Columbia is also one of the most selective colleges in the United States . Its acceptance rate for the class of 2026 was 3.7%.

Columbia students tend to major in STEM programs like Engineering or Computer Sciences, with around 54% of incoming students declaring a STEM program as their first choice major. But that doesn't mean that Columbia isn't a great humanities school! Columbia is also the alma mater of many prominent artistic figures—Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Katherine Bigelow, Langston Hughes, and Art Garfunkel, to name a few.

In fact, it's ranked as the best college for English studies, the fourth best for performing arts , and the second best college for philosophy —so despite enrolling slightly more STEM undergrads, Columbia is by no means exclusively a STEM-focused college . Its Arts and Social Sciences departments are highly regarded, so students shouldn't feel like pursuing something other than a STEM field puts them at a disadvantage.

Given all this, it's no surprise that enrollment will be competitive no matter what. So if you want to go to Columbia, you need to make sure you're a stand-out applicant!

How Hard Is It to Get Into Columbia?

Columbia's low acceptance rate is part of why it's such a prestigious school. If it was easy to get in, it wouldn't carry so much academic and social clout!

Reported rates vary from year to year, but you can be sure that the acceptance rate in a given year will be 6 percent or lower . For the class of 2025, Columbia reported an acceptance rate of 3.7 percent , so just about four students out of every 100 applicants will receive a treasured acceptance letter.

Because Columbia considers applications holistically, every part of the application matters. Good standardized test scores and an excellent grade point average are essential, but don't make the mistake of assuming your chance of acceptance is based entirely on those two factors.

What GPA and SAT/ACT Scores Do I Need to Get Into Columbia?

Columbia is an Ivy League school , so you need an excellent GPA and SAT/ACT score. Positive study habits and test preparation are a must.

That said, don't despair if your grades don't quite match up with Columbia's expectations. Again, they consider applications holistically; if you can explain your grades, demonstrate growth, and impress with extracurriculars, you still have a chance.

Think of admissions to Columbia as a race. Some people may have worked on theoretical racing so much that they have little experience in actually running. Other racers have lots of experience in running, but lack the finesse of runners who've been coached by professionals. Any of those runners could conceivably win, but those with a mixture of both experience and theoretical knowledge will have an advantage.

Essentially, don't be afraid that poor grades in your sophomore year have ruined your chances forever. If you can prove that Columbia is truly the school for you, you still have a chance...you'll just have some extra hurdles to jump!

What's the Average SAT Score for Columbia Students?

The average SAT score for Columbia students is between 1490 and 1560, making the college extremely competitive . Remember, this is an average—it's not the only score you can have, as students who score about that will have a little extra boost, and students who score below that will have to demonstrate how well they'll succeed elsewhere in the application.

This is why it's important to get started on SAT prep early. If your first score misses the mark, you can always try again . Spending some time prepping for the SAT will help you get closer to your score goal, and therefore closer to holding that coveted acceptance letter in your hand.

What's the Average ACT Score for Columbia Students?

Columbia is similarly selective with ACT scores. Columbia reports their scores as between 34 and 35, so while you might have a little bit of wiggle room, a higher score is always better.

As with SAT scores, it's important to get started on preparing early. Don't wait until junior or senior year to start thinking about your scores if you plan to attend Columbia —you're up against some of the brightest minds in the world, so you need to lock in a good score through lots of studying and practice.

Your best bet is to study like a perfect score is the only one that'll get you in, but know that your test scores aren't the only factor in your acceptance.

What's the Average GPA for Columbia Students?

Columbia's average GPA is a whopping 4.12 . What this means is that you'll need to be taking heavier weighted courses, typically AP or honors courses, to be competitive with other prospective Columbia students.

Again, it's not impossible to get in if you don't have a GPA above 4.0—it also depends on if your school weights GPAs—but reaching for as high of scores as possibly certainly won't hurt your chances. Study hard in your first couple years of high school to ensure that you're prepared for the advanced courses you'll need to push your GPA to a Columbia-approved level.

Remember, your school may weigh AP, honors, or gifted courses more, so a B in an AP course might mean more than an A in a standard course. Don't despair if your grades aren't perfect in AP courses, but do always strive for the best, and set yourself up for success. You simply can't earn a 4.12 GPA if you're not in AP, honors, or gifted courses, so plan to take them.

Though Columbia doesn't offer average GPAs for its acceptance rates, it does state that over 95% of its accepted students were in the top 10 percent of their class . Don't take that to mean that being in the top 10 percent is enough—remember, 95 percent of the students you're competing with are also in that same demographic. You need to excel and stand out.

Because Columbia is holistic, everything counts. But one Ivy League college admissions officer has revealed a little secret— everything counts, but the most important thing to not do poorly on is your GPA . This is general advice for Ivy Leagues, not specifically Columbia, but don't discount your GPA as a vital factor in getting accepted to Columbia.

What Extracurriculars Should I Have to Get Into Columbia?

Your competition is not necessarily every single student who applies to Columbia. Your competition is every student like you—students who have your GPA, your SAT score, your diversity of extracurriculars. So find a way to stand out from the pack; what areas do you excel in? And if you don't excel now, what can you do to target your application to be less of a Renaissance applicant and more of a specialist?

Consider the "spike" approach to applying to college . A variety of skills is great, but most applicants will also have good grades, test scores, and multiple extracurriculars. To stand out, you want something memorable—a spike in your well-roundedness. If you have an interest spike, an area where you particularly excel or that emphasizes your dedication to a certain field, you can tie much of your application to that spike and make your application more memorable.

How to Answer Columbia's Essays

Writing a good answer to the "Why Columbia" essay is essential . The admissions office already knows Columbia is a good school, so use this space to explain why it's the right school for you and how you'll contribute to the community there. Again, this is a great place to return to your spike to tie things together.

Be sure to emphasize your own personal experience in your essay. Reading successful Columbia application essays is a great way to get a feel for what Columbia likes to see, and to better understand how personal details can change the entire feel of an essay.

How to Answer Columbia's Supplemental Writing Questions

Columbia's further supplemental questions may seem unusual compared to other colleges; they ask about books you've read, concerts you've attended, and so on. Be honest—though your temptation might be to reach for the most sophisticated answers, this is an opportunity for the college to get to know you better.

If your favorite concert of the year was indeed the obscure bassoon recital you attended, by all means, list it. But don't write in the prestigious documentary du jour if you have no interest in watching it. That said, Hop on Pop is not a grade-appropriate choice, so do try to choose things that represent your interests and your age level.

Should You Include Supplementary Material?

Certain majors accept supplementary materials , such as some scientific fields, artistic disciplines, or performance-based majors. Students with research experience, you can include an abstract to flesh out your application. Students in the arts can include a portfolio but should be aware that there is an additional fee—this fee can be waived, but Coalition Application students will need to email the school directly for a fee waiver.

Good recommendation letters are a key part of how to get into Columbia.

What Recommendation Letters Should You Have?

Columbia requires three recommendation letters: one from a counselor, and two from teachers . Though Columbia does accept one supplemental letter of recommendation , students should only do so if the source is academic and if the letter will add something new to your application. More isn't always better.

Teachers, coaches, and other mentor figures are great options for letters of recommendation. Be sure that you're setting your teachers up to write you a great letter by asking early and providing them with any information they might need.

Take a look at letters that got students into Ivy League schools for the caliber of recommendations you should strive for. Take note of how these teachers write about personality as well as academics— select teachers who have the same knowledge of your personality and skills so they're equipped to write about you with the same depth.

What Should You Know About Applying for Financial Aid?

Columbia takes a need-blind approach to processing applications from US citizens, undocumented students, and eligible non-US citizens. International students are processed as need-aware , meaning there may be some consideration of financial need while processing the application.

Columbia meets 100 percent of student need and does so without loans. Students whose parents or guardians make under $60,000 annually are considered to have a $0 parental contribution, which will instead be made up with financial aid.

Columbia has a helpful tool for students to determine what documentation and forms they'll need based on when they're applying, their citizenship status, and what year they're applying for. Use this early to be sure that you can get all your paperwork done ahead of time!

Recap: How to Get Into Columbia University

Applying to Ivy League schools like Columbia University can be incredibly stressful. You know you're up against the best, and setting yourself apart can feel like an insurmountable task. But you can do it.

Start early. Think about what you want your application to look like before you start working on it, and take steps to prepare for the advanced courses, test scores, and extracurriculars you need . If you're already later in your academic career, change what you can now and start thinking about how you can address gaps in your personal statement.

Read a ton. Stay on top of changes to the application, new prompts, and what's most advisable for students like you. Assuming all your grades are in order and your test results are on track, start preparing for your essays . Of course, the prompts may not be available yet—consult past and current essays and start thinking about how you'll answer similar questions.

Create a spike. Remember, every other student applying to Columbia is also concerned about having great grades, AP courses, and test scores. If you're competing against the best of the best, you need to stand out. Instead of being well-rounded, develop a particular area of expertise, something that will set you apart from other students and really showcase what makes you unique.

What's Next?

Learn more about what makes Columbia one of the most selective colleges in the United States , and how it compares to other selective schools. If you're applying to multiple Ivy Leagues, it's a good idea to know your chances at each!

Columbia is one of the country's most selective schools. Even if you're only interested in Columbia, learning more about how to get into other selective schools, such as Harvard , can give you additional insight into how to polish up your application.

Knowing the essay requirements is just the beginning. More in-depth reading about the topics and how to answer them will give you an even stronger shot at impressing the admissions office.

Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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Columbia University Essay Examples (And Why They Worked)

The following Columbia University essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to Columbia University. All names have been redacted for anonymity. CollegeAdvisor.com has shared these essays with admissions officers at Columbia University in order to deter potential plagiarism.

For more help with your Columbia University essay supplements, check out our 2020-2021 Columbia University Essay Guide ! For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, sign up for a monthly plan to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.

List a few words or phrases that describe your ideal college community. (150 words or less)

Supportive and collaborative (Let’s trauma bond and get through college together!); Tight-knit and friendly; Accepting; Socially and environmentally-aware; Quirky but also down-to-earth; Know how to enjoy a good movie/book/tv show marathon; Appreciate the arts, scientific achievements, and social accomplishments; Be willing to help out a first year being lost around campus for the first few weeks; Not afraid to stand up for what is right and use our resources to create a difference in the world.

List the titles of the required readings from courses during the school year or summer that you enjoyed most in the past year. (150 words or less)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin -Harriet Beecher Stowe (APUSH): This book offered me the raw and emotional look at slavery and showed me the complexities of the US society before the Civil War.

The Grapes of Wrath -John Steinbeck (APUSH): Another emotional book that offered me a raw look at how the migrant workers were hurt during the Great Depression. This book along with Uncle Tom’s Cabin humanize history for me.

L’Étranger -Albert Camus (AP Lang): Existentialism. Interesting read. It really made me question life.

Sociologie des pratiques culturelles (Sociology of Cultural Practices) by Philippe Coulangeon is a required text I particularly appreciated this year. I enjoyed how the novel examines the principle trends that characterize the evolution of modern cultural practices, as well as the results of the democratization of culture in modern-day France.

Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) by Baudelaire is an extremely powerful poetry collection that I found to be at the same time thought provoking and a pleasure to read. The poet expresses both his “Spleen,” or his agony, and his Ideal through beautiful and captivating verses.

I also absolutely loved Don Juan by Moliere, a play written and set in 17th century France during the reign of Louis XIV. Moliere’s clever mix of the classic and baroque styles was a joy to read, and the way he uses comedy as a tool to criticize society was brilliant.

Why this Columbia University essay worked, according to an ex-admissions officer

This response to the Columbia University essay prompt works well because it highlights the cultural and linguistic diversity of the student. The student succinctly and convincingly discusses what they connected to in the various works, showing their intellectual curiosity as well their ability to appreciate mature pieces of literature. Applying to Columbia, or any other prestigious university, can be challenging. Take our quiz to see just how prepared you are to tackle the Columbia admissions process!

List the titles of the books you read for pleasure that you enjoyed most in the past year. (150 words or less)

Most haunting book: Kindred -Octavia Butler (Like Dana, I rooted for Rufus, hoping he wouldn’t turn out to be a villainous and selfish enslaver. I was betrayed)

Most emotional book: Thirteen Reasons Why -Jay Asher (This is one of those books that makes you question your entire life after reading it. It just has the power to make you wonder: Am I a good person? Have I made a good or bad difference in the lives of others? Highly recommended)

Best reread of the year: To All the Boys I’d Loved Before -Jenny Han (Three claps for Asian representation in YA books!)

Most nostalgic book: The Percy Jackson series-Rick Riordan (Earlier this year, I was at the Met, where Percy willed his power to push Nancy Bobofit into the water! Bucket list item #14: checked)

Honorable mentions: The Jungle -Upton Sinclair, The Hate U Give -Angie Thomas, Jurassic Park -Michael Crichton, and The Sympathizer -Viet Thanh Nguyen.

I like this response to this Columbia University essay prompt because the student is unapologetically herself. A lot of students feel the need to make themselves more impressive, or more sophisticated/well read, and the risk in that is that they lose that personal warmth, genuine voice, and connection with the reader. It’s far better to be honest and forthcoming, inviting the reader into your world view, humor, experience, and unique and fun perspective on the world.

One novel I read for pleasure that I found gripping and profound is Brave New World by Huxley. In addition to being a call for freedom during the rise of totalitarian societies, the novel also addresses philosophical and ethical questions that remain relevant today.

Bel Ami by Maupassant is another novel that spoke to me. This naturalist novel depicts the journey of the protagonist’s rise to power through manipulation and corruption in late 19th century France. I enjoyed following how this anti-hero climbs the social ladder from his humble working-class beginnings to become one of the most powerful men in Paris.

I was inspired by Histoire de l’autre (Story of the Other), a book that presents both the Israeli and Palestinian points of view on key historical events throughout the conflict. It was written by six Israeli and six Palestinian history professors, who narrate the same events from different perspectives.

List the titles of the print, electronic publications and websites you read regularly. (150 words or less)

I get caught up on current events from three main news sites: the Saint Louis Post Dispatch for the local perspective, the New York Times for the national perspective, and the BBC for the international perspective. It’s a habit of mine to read about current events from at least 3 perspectives. That way, I know I’m getting the most objective view of the world.

Entertainment news: Buzzfeed and Kenh14 (a Vietnamese newsite)

News not covered by mainstream media but are highly important: Stories on Instagrams, Facebook, and Reddit.

Again, I feel like this student is being honest and forthcoming. You get a sense of ethnicity/identity, and also of a person who is willing to be informed without trying to prove anything. There’s a fine balance between being genuine and trying to seem impressive.

I follow the news on BBC (www.bbc.com). BBC gives me a well-rounded view of political, economic and social events from around the world, with the necessary background information to understand today’s global issues.

I also use the mobile app News Republic on a daily basis. News Republic provides articles from over 1,000 trusted news sources, so I can be informed of global issues from multiple perspectives. Further, I can design my news page to follow the topics I am most interested in.

Another website I follow regularly is Time Out Madrid ( www.timeout.com/madrid ). It helps me take full advantage of all the opportunities Madrid has to offer, such as cultural exhibitions, hidden parks and cafes, concerts, plays and movies. My latest discovery is a list of eleven original bookshops, where, in addition to finding books, friends and I can have a coffee, enjoy a concert or listen to a lecture.

Again, what works about this kind of response is that the reader can get a sense of the global perspective and experience of the student. Without being too obvious with it, the student brings the reader into their life – bookstores, social life, international experience – and makes the reader a part of it.

List the titles of the films, concerts, shows, exhibits, lectures and other entertainments you enjoyed most in the past year. (150 words or less)

Musical: Hamilton, Legally Blondes, Miss Saigon (I love the music but hate the historical inaccuracies as well as the ignorance of Vietnamese culture portrayed in the musical)

Films: Avengers: Endgame, Spiderman: Far from Home, Candy Jar, Lincoln, Us, Get Out.

TV shows: Marvel’s Agents of Shield (My all time favorite show. I learned English watching Shield in middle school), Goong (amazing soundtracks, jump started my K-drama binge for the last 2 months, inspired a Viet-styled Goong fanfiction currently in the works), and High Kick Through the Rooftop (It’s an awesome Korean sitcom. I highly recommend it. Just ignore the last 6 episodes)

Music: Soundtracks. My current favorite is Dah Ji Mot Han Ma Eum from Goong!

I saw back-to-back Ionesco’s two classic plays, La cantatrice chauve (The Bald Soprano) and La leçon (The Lesson), at Le Théâtre de la Huchette in Paris, where they have been playing non-stop since 1957. It was fascinating to see these plays with the same original mise-en-scene dating back to the era when they were written.

Additionally, I loved the exhibition Pop Art Myths at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. I enjoyed seeing how this art form developed in the 50s and 60s and its witty critique of consumerism.

Finally, I was inspired by the documentary Beyond Right and Wrong . It follows the stories of individuals who lost their loved ones in terrible conflicts from Northern Ireland, the Middle East and Rwanda, and shows what it took for them to forgive the other side. Their strength impressed me, and their courageous acts allowed me to observe forgiveness under a different light.

The reader gets a strong sense that art, in a variety of forms, is an important part of this student’s life.This is someone who looks beyond the entertainment factor. An admissions officer would most likely get the impression that as a student, this is someone who considers historical context and likes to make deeper connections with the curriculum.

Please tell us what you value most about Columbia and why. (300 words or less)

I hate the word “common” and avoid being associated with it at all cost. Being called “Common” is the worst insult possible. It implies that I’m just another face in a sea of faces and reminds me that not so long ago, in order to blend in with the crowd, I had ignored the injustices I saw. To me, a common person of a common society is nothing more than a lonely cog in the machine who is unable and unwilling to protest against the injustices in the society.

Given my hatred of all things common, it’s a surprise to see me apply to Columbia University, a place famous for its Core Curriculum. However, after October 14, 2019, all my negative thoughts about the Core Curriculum have vanished. Instead of a group of passive ancient philosophers in modern vessels molded by the Core, I got to see a vibrant, accepting, and socially aware group of changemakers on Campus that morning. Columbia students are powerful individuals who are not hesitant to use their power to demand changes. Exhibit A: the mini awareness events to demand the recognition of Indegenous People’s Day that I got to witness. The students made their presence known with posters and chants, demanding for recognition.

It was this display of bravery that changed my view of Columbia. Upon closer research, I can see that the Common Core is not a rigid mold but rather a template for empowerment by making sure that all students are equipped with the knowledge to lead courageous lives and be informed citizens. After all, why else would the university has all students learn about Contemporary Civilization?

Columbia’s Common Core will prepare me to lead a life of courage. Haizz, of course Columbia would be the place that makes me tolerate the word “common.”

This essay works for a number of reasons. Overall, the reader gets a great understanding of what the author values. This is someone who has grown in terms of their thinking, and will continue to seek opportunities for growth. This is a student who will more than likely be involved in a number of communities both on and off campus; a future change agent.

Naturally, most applicants will write about Columbia’s Core Curriculum, for which they are well known. However, this student’s evolved understanding of why and how it’s central to Columbia’s pedagogy, and how they would engage the curriculum is radically refreshing, I would imagine. As an admission officer I would get the sense that while the author is opinionated, they will likely lead and contribute to great classroom discussions. However, what’s equally important in a university setting is that they can listen to others’ perspectives and are also open to change, which it seems this applicant is.

Lastly, the student incorporated the fact that they had been on campus in an effective way that communicated their connection to the University, and allows an admissions officer to understand how this student would fit on campus.

In 2013, I embarked on a whirlwind tour of seventeen American universities. Of all the schools I visited, Columbia stood out. In addition to stellar academic programs, its emphasis on civic and global engagement really spoke to me. It is vital for me to attend a college where both academic rigor and openness to the world are widely promoted.

Perhaps what draws me to Columbia the most is the impact it has had on my sister, Maysa (Columbia College 2018). I have never seen her happier than she is today, as she talks about the diversity of the student body, her amazing professors and advisor, and the truly transformative and eye opening educational experience the Core Curriculum is giving her. Her experience at Columbia makes me dream of having my very own Lit Hum discussion sessions, surrounded by a group of passionate Lions.

At Columbia, I would also take advantage of the many enriching clubs and student organizations. For example, I would like to become a member of the Columbia Model United Nations Team, one of the most renowned in the United States, and the Peace by PEACE club. In addition, I would like to join or set up a Club or Intramural Swim Team.

Being at Columbia would also allow me to take advantage of everything New York has to offer, from acclaimed guest speakers visiting campus to world-class performances and exhibitions. I believe Columbia is the place where all the aspects of my personality would thrive. Columbia students and faculty are motivated, active, and inspiring. At Columbia College, I would grow both academically and socially in an international and openminded environment. It would be an honor to spend the next four years “in the greatest college, in the greatest university, in the greatest city in the world.”

This student took a more traditional approach to writing this essay. The author gave a well rounded response as to how they would engage in Columbia’s community both inside and outside of the classroom. They named specific clubs and organizations they envision becoming a member of, and highlighted characteristics of the University that resonates with them. Lastly, because the author’s sister attended Columbia, they were able to incorporate some personal reflections as to why they too wish to attend.

Please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the field or fields of study that you noted in the Member Questions section. If you are currently, undecided, please write about any field or fields in which you may have an interest in at this time. (300 words or less)

In seventh grade, a phenomenon exploded at my school: YA stories about a world without adults. The premise is simple: A strange accident evaporated all the adults, leaving only young people to inhabit the new world.

Like everyone, I was in love with those stories and enjoyed fantasizing how I would be in that situation. However, something didn’t sit right with me: Why only the adults? How come anyone under the age of 16 got to stay? I was desperate for an answer and since I couldn’t find them in the pre-existing stories, I decided to write my own story with a valid reason for the disappearance of the adults. After weeks of theorizing and researching, I finally got it. The story premise was similar: All adults on Earth have been turned into zombies by invading aliens. Luckily, thanks to a DNA mutation caused by a live virus vaccine that was administered to all children aged 17 and younger, the young people were spared. Now, they are our planet’s last hope.

What started as harmless research to satisfy my curiosity quickly developed into a long lasting fascination with cells and mutations. I marvel at how simple changes in our genetic codes could have great impact on our bodies. It’s interesting and scary to realize how easy it is for our DNA to be manipulated by outside factors. Similar to the unforeseen benefit of the DNA mutation in my story, my research has helped me discover a great passion of mine.

This is a great story! Colleges, particularly top tier schools, are looking for intellectually curious students. The author effectively demonstrates that curiosity, shows its inception, and how they have further pursued their interest. This applicant is clearly a deep and creative thinker who has discovered their passion and will fully engage in furthering their understanding in their chosen field.

Columbia University offers many fields of study closely aligned with my academic and career goals.

My Middle Eastern heritage and international background have made me passionate about social justice, peace, and conflict resolution. I am especially interested in Middle Eastern international affairs and social problems. The unrest and violence in this region have repercussions all over the globe. I believe it is vital for our generation to find long-lasting solutions for peace in the Middle East and to protect the rights of women, children, and ethnic minorities that are being abused in the region. I hope to pursue an undergraduate program focused on Human Rights, taking classes such as “International Human Rights Law,” “Equality, Identity & Rights” and “Human Rights and Human Wrongs.”

For example, in summer 2013, I participated in a two-week course called “Identity, Diversity, and Leadership” at Brown University. This course challenged me to study my own social and individual identity. I learned the values of listening, sympathizing, and understanding those who are unlike me. Similarly, in October 2014, I took part in a seminar on Non-Violent Communication organized by Seeds of Peace, focusing on ways to bridge dialogue divides and maintain empathy during difficult conversations.

Like us, an American-Lebanese-Colombian family living in Madrid, my extended family all have very international backgrounds and have lived all around the world. I have American-Lebanese-Austrian cousins living in London and American-Lebanese- Belgian cousins living in Hong Kong. Even though we all have lived very different lives, we have something in common – the feeling of being citizens of the world, immersed in a plethora of distinct cultures, yet being part of one close-knit family.

I am lucky to have been raised in this environment. It has helped me become a more adaptable, flexible, and understanding person with intellectual curiosity and openness to the world.

Additionally, Columbia College would offer me the opportunity to take an array of classes taught by leading scholars in the Departments of Political Science; Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies; and Linguistics. These classes would give me a global view of the complex world we live in, help me better understand the international challenges we face today, and further expand my global outlook and knowledge of world cultures and customs. I look forward to taking classes such as “National Security Strategies of the Middle East: A Comparative Perspective”, “Rethinking Middle East Politics” and “Language and Society”. I am also keen on continuing to build on my Arabic language skills to complement my interest in Middle Eastern history and politics through the amazing resources provided by the Columbia Global Center in Amman, where I hope to spend at least two summers.

With my background and experiences, I believe I would contribute new perspectives to class discussions and learn from the ideas of the inspiring and diverse students that Columbia University attracts.

This essay works because the author did a great job at showing what their interests are, ways they have already pursued them, and how they will take advantage of Columbia’s curriculum to further pursue and achieve their academic and personal goals. While not every student has the opportunity to participate in tuition-based summer programs (colleges do not expect this), this student was able to highlight their participation and the ways in which they grew as a result.

The author has an incredibly diverse background and global perspective, which they effectively used to demonstrate what they will be able to contribute to the classroom as well as take away from it. This is precisely why diversity is important in a college setting. More importantly, however, the reader gets a strong sense of this student’s values and what’s important to them in terms of the contributions they hope to make to society.

These Columbia University essay examples were compiled by the advising team at CollegeAdvisor.com . If you want to get help writing your Columbia University application essays from CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts , register with CollegeAdvisor.com today.

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10 Columbia Supplemental Essay Examples That Worked

Looking at Columbia supplemental essay examples can be helpful for students who are preparing their college applications for Columbia, any of the  Ivy League Schools , or other highly selective institutions like the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) . Top colleges tend to have a holistic admissions process, meaning that they look at more than just your academic background. They also want to get to know the person behind the grades and ensure that you are a good fit for their college campus. Your  supplemental college essays  play a significant role in helping them make a decision. It is therefore important that you submit college essays that stand out in order to beat the competition. 

In this blog, we share ten essays that respond to the prompts provided by  Columbia University  to help you get inspired for your own  college essays .

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Article Contents 9 min read

Columbia's supplemental college essay questions are divided into two. First, there is a series of list questions. You will be required to answer these prompts in the form of a list without any explanatory text or additional formatting. The school asks that you separate each item on the list with commas or semicolons. Secondly, you have what most students are familiar with when we talk about supplemental college essays. In the case of Columbia, the essays are limited to 200 words or fewer, meaning that applicants have to find a way to incorporate a lot of information in a relatively short text. To put that into context, we have included examples from both sections in this blog.

As you read through the examples, pay attention to the way the authors infuse their personalities into the text, and how they use specific examples to make their essays more memorable.

Columbia supplemental essay example #1

Please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you noted in the application. ( 200 words or fewer)

According to my mother, I never played dress-up with my dolls when I was a child. Apparently, instead of braiding their hair, I placed them down in neat little rows and taught them how to braid hair. I'm not sure how accurate that story is, but it does sound like me. For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed learning and teaching others what I have learned.

I first noticed this when my family and I went on vacation to Disneyland, and It seemed like I was the only person who was interested in the guided tour. I wanted to know everything about the buildings, how old the park was, and the people that designed it. On the flight back home, I talked everyone's ear off about all the new things I had learned about how parks work. It is still one of my most cherished experiences, even though I didn't get to go on as many rides as the rest of my family. 

 I have followed that passion for learning and teaching by tutoring in middle and high school. These experiences as a tutor confirmed that teaching is the right career path for me. (197 words)

"Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak." Those are Rachel Zoe's words, and I wholeheartedly believe them. Growing up, one of my favorite parts of the day was the night before school, when I would spend 20 to 30 minutes picking out the perfect outfit to wear the next day. 

When it came time for me to go to high school, my parents decided that I would get a better education from a private school that had a dress code. All students were required to wear clean-cut khakis and a white polo shirt. I had to say goodbye to my matching sets, graphic t-shirts, and jean jackets.

A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and live in a community with a wide range of perspectives. How do you or would you learn from and contribute to diverse, collaborative communities? ( 200 words or fewer)

Four years ago, my father remarried, giving me a loving stepmom, two wonderfully annoying younger sisters, and an introduction to a whole new world. For context, I am an eighteen-year-old white girl who grew up in the suburbs, and my step-family is Afro-Latinx. Although they grew up in a suburb similar to the one I call home, their experiences were very different from mine. 

For example, I went shopping with one of my sisters recently, and I noticed that she always insisted on getting a paper copy of her receipt. I tried to tell her that she could ask for it to be emailed to her as that'd be better for the environment, but she explained that she often gets accused of stealing in upscale stores and that having the receipt made proving her innocence easier. 

This is one of the many conversations I have had in the past few years that have taught me to look past my own experiences and listen. We all experience life differently, meaning that we all have something to learn from each other. I plan on bringing my perspective to Columbia, and I look forward to listening and learning from students with different viewpoints. (200 words)

2,789. That is the total population of Imagined, the small, remote town I grew up in. It is a town that I have a love-hate relationship with. I love the sense of community it fosters and the beautiful views surrounding it. I also hate how small it is and how closed-minded its inhabitants can be. 

Like most of Imagined's residents, I have never really lived outside of our town, but I like to think that I have traveled through the numerous books I spend my days reading. It is those books that introduced me to people who practice different religions, who look different from me, and who have points of view that are very different from mine. Even though I may not agree with everything I have read, it has given me a chance to question my belief systems and make informed decisions. 

I hope that by attending Columbia, which is located at the heart of one of the most diverse cities in the world, I will be exposed to even more perspectives so that I can learn more about the human experience and relate with others better. (188 words)

The opening sentence of your essay needs to be attention-grabbing if you want to write a strong essay. We recommend starting with a quote, an anecdote, or a fun fact like the writer did with the essay above. ","label":"Tip","title":"Tip"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

Columbia supplemental essay example #5

Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. ( 200 words or fewer)

Two years ago, my mother and I toured thirteen universities across the country. Of all the schools I visited, Columbia quickly stood out. We had already put the school on our list because of its stellar academic programs but being on campus convinced me that Columbia is the right university for me. 

During the tour, I spoke to several students who gushed about the diversity of the student body, the excellent professors and advisors, and the eye-opening educational experience the Core Curriculum provides. My mother went to Columbia, and she found it amazing that even though the school has evolved, its core values remain the same. 

The experiences she and the other students described make me dream of having my own Lit Hum discussion sessions and participating in the many enriching clubs on campus, such as the Columbia Model United Nations team. 

Being at Columbia would also allow me to take advantage of everything New York offers. I would get to explore my various academic and personal interests in an international and open-minded environment. 

Some say that Columbia is the greatest college at the greatest university in the greatest city in the world. I suspect they might be right. (199 words)

I was on the Columbia campus on October 14, 2019, when the Native American Council gathered and called on the University to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day. I had reluctantly come to the school for a visit with a friend who is currently in her first year at Columbia. My general idea of this school was that it was very traditional and not very open-minded. This display of bravery changed my view of Columbia and prompted me to research the school. 

I found that it has a strong academic program that gives students a strong foundation through the common core curriculum. I especially like the fact that the core includes studies in non-western major cultures and masterpieces of western literature. 

As an African-American-Lebanese student, my background and heritage have made me passionate about the world's different cultures, specifically how globalization has affected them and how they have been affected by it. Columbia would allow me to learn more about this topic and explore other aspects of world culture I am interested in. 

I hope to get the chance to learn in class and outside the classroom from the diverse and open-minded student body at Columbia over the next four years. (198 words)

This is essentially a \u201cwhy this college essay\u201d so the admissions committee will be trying to find out if you are interested in Columbia specifically. So, take the time to research the school and mention something specific about it such as a course, a requirement, a student organization, etc. ","label":"Tip","title":"Tip"}]" code="tab2" template="BlogArticle">

Do you have questions about the college application process? This video can help:

Columbia supplemental essay example #7

List the titles of the required readings from academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (75 words or fewer)

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë; All My Sons by Arthur Miller; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou; Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head. (47 words)

List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (75 words or fewer)

Frying plantain by zalika reid-benta; Heavy by Kiese Laymon; An Untamed State by Roxanne Gay; The girl with the louding voice by Abi dare; Born a crime by Trevor Noah; Becoming by Michelle Obama; Such a fun age by Kiley reid; Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde; The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang; Turtles all the way down by John Green; Our Stories, Our Voices by Amy Reed; Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. (72 words)

It\u2019s important that you think about the list of books that you are sharing. You want to be honest, but you also want the books that you share to say something about you. For example, even though this person reads a few different genres, we can tell from the list of books that this applicant clearly has a penchant for social justice and history. ","label":"Tip","title":"Tip"}]" code="tab3" template="BlogArticle">

Columbia supplemental essay example #9

John Green's Turtles all the way down; Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo; Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet; Andy Weir's The Martian, Marlon James’ Black leopard, red wolf; V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series,  V.E. Schwab’s Shadowshaper. (41 words)

Want to learn more about what makes a strong college essay? Check out this video:

Columbia supplemental essay example #10

We’re interested in learning about some of the ways that you explore your interests. List some resources and outlets that you enjoy, including but not limited to websites, publications, journals, podcasts, social media accounts, lectures, museums, movies, music, or other content with which you regularly engage. (125 words or fewer)

Publications: The New York Times, n+1, Vanity Fair, TIME; Music: Beyonce, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean, Florence & the machine, Kasey Musgraves. Movies & TV shows: Succession, Gilmore Girls, Greys Anatomy, Explained, Derry Girls; Lectures on YouTube: Designing Your Life (Bill Burnett and Dave Evans), TEDx talks. (47 words)

Columbia is one of the most selective schools in the country. Last year, it had an acceptance rate that was close to 5%. Meaning that for every 100 applicants, only about five get offered admission.

Columbia requires students to submit three short supplemental essays of 200 words or less and answer three additional questions with lists.

The supplemental Columbia-specific questions you have to answer are less than 200 words.

Reviewing different supplemental essay examples will expose you to different types of prompts used for college essays and give you a better idea of how to approach them.

A strong college essay tells a story, uses specific examples, and has a strong opening.

You can make your essay stand out by ensuring that it tells a story and uses specific examples to back up claims that you make about yourself.

College essay advisors  are admission consultants who typically work with application or college essay review services. They use their admissions knowledge and training to help you prepare the strongest college essays possible.

Columbia does not have a minimum GPA requirement, but it does expect applicants to have a strong academic background. 95% of the recently admitted class graduated in the top 10% of their class. So if you are hoping to  get into college with a low GPA , you would need an impressive application for that school to be Columbia.

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5 “Why Columbia” Essay Intros That Worked

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Considering applying to Columbia University ? Columbia has one of the most unique core curriculum that brings over 30,000 applicants every year.

Columbia’s application requires 4 short answer questions and 2 supplemental essays on why you want to attend. Here’s the prompt:

Please tell us what you value most about Columbia and why.

Lia_Columbia ‘20

Charades is a game that demands a common repertoire of experience with the other people playing. If players have not seen the same movies, heard the same news stories, or read the same books, they cannot communicate effectively.

TASP, like Columbia, brings together people from vastly different backgrounds. Most of us had never been exposed to the ideas and philosophers we studied. We debated Plato’s view on the value of art late into the night, and discussed the merits of communism in the bathroom in the morning. Keep reading . 

Sakilan ‘19

Searching for invisible matter in the universe. Studying the genetics and evolution of social communication using the South African clawed frog. Using deep-sea sediments to study the climate history of the last ice age. These are all  the research projects I  thought were out of my reach, but Columbia gives me the opportunity to hone my intellect and create new knowledge as it  gave so many of its students. View full profile .

Lmelcher ‘20

When I visited Columbia’s campus last summer, I had the best chocolate pastry of my life at a nearby restaurant. But that is not the only reason I want to go to Columbia.

The Columbia students I met were extremely enthusiastic about the Core Curriculum, and I can certainly see why. Not only do the Core classes provide every student with the opportunity to study classic works of literature and art, they also bring the students together and enable them to discuss their shared intellectual experiences. As a top-ranked national circuit debater, I would definitely welcome such a forum for academic discourse and debate. Continue reading . 

G.reynoso.95 ‘17

Growing up in New York City for my entire life, I realize in what a rich and engaging city Columbia is located. While I want to remain in an urban environment, I also want to attend a college that is small and will allow me to take advantage of individual and intimate attention placed on its students, supportive faculty, and a large array of academic opportunities. Columbia offers this ambiance for me, and I believe that its mission to refine its students’ analytic and imaginative thinking is inspiring and will be beneficial to my education. Read full essay.

Starlysantos ‘18

My parents have sacrificed continuously to put me through a very academically competitive private high school to shape me as well-rounded as possible. Unfortunately, though, 21st century students are more plagued with fanaticism of getting an “A” than with what school is truly meant for, learning. Columbia offers a true education, not only scholastically from its esteemed faculty, but also culturally from the international powerhouse that is New York City. Usually faring fewer than twenty students each, Columbia’s intimate classes allow deeply intellectual group discussion among the familiarity of young adults equally astute as myself. Further, the quaint Morningside Heights campus inevitably ensures running into professors and being able to carry a conversation over coffee and build more personal relationships with them. Keep reading . 

———

Interested in reading these students full personal statements, and Why Columbia supplements? Unlock all of them in one go with our  Why Columbia package ! 

Our  premium plans  offer different level of profile access and data insights that can help you get into your dream school. Unlock any of our  packages  or search our  undergraduate profile database  to find specific profiles that can help you make an informed choice about where to apply! 

About The Author

Frances was born in Hong Kong and received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She loves super sad drama television, cooking, and reading. Her favorite person on Earth isn’t actually a member of the AdmitSee team - it’s her dog Cooper.

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A Story of My Success: How I got into Columbia University

EssayEdge > Blog > A Story of My Success: How I got into Columbia University

Hi there! My name is Chris, and I’m gonna share my story. It’s a story of an international applicant with a dream of getting accepted to an Ivy League college. Every applicant will feel my pain, as the admission process is so damn HARD! Read my story to learn what helped me make all my dreams come true! It’s gonna be interesting!

Table of Contents:

How It All Started

I still remember those days when I started my admission process. It was one of the hardest periods of my life. So many doubts, worries, and hopes… All applicants understand this feeling of despair. And my dream of getting accepted into Columbia University was the only ray of hope at those times.

After reading all the requirements, I supposed that a personal statement would become the easiest thing to prepare. But I was TOTALLY wrong about it. My first mistake was believing that a personal statement is smth like a college essay. Still, it’s not just a simple essay. Believe me, it’s freaking HARD! I had NO idea how to start my personal statement. A LOT of ideas came to my mind, but nothing worth the admission committee’s attention. I was really freaking out!!!

I wrote 30 drafts, or smth like this, and changed a lot of topics, but I understood that all of them were shit. When I wrote a draft that deserved to be NOT SO BAD as dozens of others, I understood that I was not sure it was free of mistakes. All these thoughts were hanging over my head and making me stressed ALL THE TIME. I couldn’t even sleep at night because I searched for a solution.

I Decided to Act

I realized that I needed someone to share my pain. I asked my relatives and my friends for help. They gave me advice SO different that my head was buzzing. I decided to check the website one more time. What was a SURPRISE when I found the additional requirements for the personal statement! This thing totally puzzled me. Reading about the specific structure for the essay and formatting issues, I realized that the situation comes worse and worse. The time passed by, but I still HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO!!!

I surfed the net and joined some forums hoping to find soulmates to share my pain. Some applicants told that they searched for recommendations in blogs. It was a nice try to deal with this dilemma. Then the idea, like a flash, came to my struggling mind: “ I NEED AN EXPERT WHO WILL HELP ME WITH MY ADMISSION !” I thought of one great article I found recently in the EssayEdge blog. I started to read it, hoping to find some useful recommendations. And what was a surprise when I realized that it’s NOT just a blog! There were offers for applicants who prepare docs for admission, EXACTLY WHAT I NEED!

Need help? Check out EssayEdge editing services:

THO I finally found the admission service, I started doubting. What if it is NOT legal? While browsing some forums, I read that the admission committee is REALLY strict. So, I have no room for error. I had to be sure that this service is COMPLETELY LEGAL, and using them does not mean that I am cheating or smth like this.

I decided to chat with support and learn more about the EssayEdge service. They replied immediately, answered all my questions, and assured me that it’s completely LEGAL , as there is no cheating. I will get only expert help with my admission papers, nothing more illegal. Also, I found out that the service takes care of the privacy and anonymity of each client . It was the last and strongest argument for me.

About My EssayEdge Experience

After reviewing all pricing plans, I chose the best fitting OFFER and started to work with the best specialist EVER! Right from this moment, I felt a little bit more CONFIDENT than several months ago. I supposed that I would get only some help with the personal statement, such as checking it for mistakes, and so on. But I was totally wrong.

As I chose the Premier Plan, I got many EXTRA services. Another good news for me was a 10% discount on this offer. After choosing the expert, I had a phone conversation with my editor Anna S. She is DEFINITELY the best in this field! I chose her because Anna graduated from Yale and had a lot of editing experience. Just imagine, YOU have a chance to work with a former student of the Ivy League! I was excited about this opportunity, as the editor understood HOW it is to be in my shoes.

Anna fixed all mess in my head. I got all the necessary info about the personal statement, its structure, and specifites. We discussed the ideas on how to make the essay look PERFECT and stand out from the rest. I wanted to impress the admission officers, and, thanks to my editor, I had a clear plan on how to do it. I start to breathe easier.

After sending my draft to Anna, I got an essay COMPLETELY free of mistakes and other language inconsistencies. Also, the editor left various comments on how to improve my personal statement. I was afraid that my unique style would be damaged AT ALL after the expert’s check. THO everything was OK as the essay still looked like it was written by myself . When we finally finished work on my essay, I waited for early action and sent it with my application form.

THE HAPPIEST DAY IN MY LIFE

Days passed by, and I still waited for a reply. Whether I would be accepted or not? I was like a cat on hot bricks. It was hard for me to live a normal life. I forgot about everything except for checking my email ALL THE TIME. And finally (Thank God!) I got this letter. I was accepted to IVY LEAGUE!

Now, I am a student at Columbia University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the world. And there’s a moral to this story. DO NOT GIVE UP! And remember that WE (applicants) are not alone! And, sometimes, we need someone who will give a helping hand. For me, EssayEdge became a lifeboat in the lake of lost hope. I am happy that I found this service with the best experts who are always ready to share their experience and knowledge with applicants.

Thanks for reading my story,

Your Chris!

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10 Successful Harvard Application Essays | 2021

Our new 2022 version is up now.

Our 2022 edition is sponsored by HS2 Academy—a premier college counseling company that has helped thousands of students gain admission into Ivy League-level universities across the world. Learn more at www.hs2academy.com . Also made possible by The Art of Applying, College Confidential, Crimson Education, Dan Lichterman, Key Education, MR. MBA®, Potomac Admissions, Prep Expert, and Prepory.

AcceptU is the #1 rated college admissions consulting group. With a team composed entirely of former college admissions officers, AcceptU advises families on all aspects of the college planning process, from early profile-building to strategy and essay editing. More than 90% of our past students are admitted to at least one of their top three choices and AcceptU clients achieve 4x higher rates of admission to highly selective colleges. Learn more at www.AcceptU.com and schedule an introductory call with an AcceptU advisor today.

Successful Harvard Essay

I had never seen houses floating down a river. Minutes before there had not even been a river. An immense wall of water was destroying everything in its wake, picking up fishing boats to smash them against buildings. It was the morning of March 11, 2011. Seeing the images of destruction wrought by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I felt as if something within myself was also being shaken, for I had just spent two of the happiest summers of my life there.

In the summer of my freshman year, I received the Kikkoman National Scholarship, which allowed me to travel to Japan to stay with a host family in Tokyo for ten weeks. I arrived just as the swine flu panic gripped the world, so I was not allowed to attend high school with my host brother, Yamato. Instead, I took Japanese language, judo, and karate classes and explored the confusing sprawl of the largest city in the world. I spent time with the old men of my neighborhood in the onsen, or hot spring, questioning them about the Japan of their youth. They laughed and told me that if I wanted to see for myself, I should work on a farm.

The next summer I returned to Japan, deciding to heed the old men’s advice and volunteer on a farm in Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. I spent two weeks working more than fourteen hours a day. I held thirty-pound bags of garlic with one hand while trying to tie them to a rope hanging from the ceiling with the other, but couldn’t hold the bags in the air long enough. Other days were spent pulling up endless rows of daikon, or Japanese radish, which left rashes on my arms that itched for weeks. Completely exhausted, I stumbled back to the farmhouse, only to be greeted by the family’s young children who were eager to play. I passed out every night in a room too small for me to straighten my legs. One day, I overslept a lunch break by two hours. I awoke mortified, and hurried to the father. After I apologized in the most polite form of Japanese, his face broke into a broad grin. He patted me on the back and said, “You are a good worker, Anthony. There is no need to apologize.” This single exchange revealed the true spirit of the Japanese farmer. The family had lived for years in conditions that thoroughly wore me out in only a few days. I had missed two hours of work, yet they were still perpetually thankful to me. In their life of unbelievable hardship, they still found room for compassion.

In their life of unbelievable hardship, they still found room for compassion.

When I had first gone to Tokyo, I had sought the soul of the nation among its skyscrapers and urban hot springs. The next summer I spurned the beaten track in an attempt to discover the true spirit of Japan. While lugging enormously heavy bags of garlic and picking daikon, I found that spirit. The farmers worked harder than anyone I have ever met, but they still made room in their hearts for me. So when the tsunami threatened the people to whom I owed so much, I had to act. Remembering the lesson of compassion I learned from the farm family, I started a fund-raiser in my community called “One Thousand Cranes for Japan.” Little more than two weeks later, we had raised over $8,000 and a flock of one thousand cranes was on its way to Japan.

Professional Review by AcceptU

This essay is very clean and straightforward. Anthony wisely uses imagery from a well-known historic event, the 2011 tsunami, to set the scene for his story. He visited Japan for two summers and provides depth about what he learned: In his first summer, he explored Tokyo and studied the language and culture; in his second summer, he lived in rural Japan and worked long hours on a farm.

We like to see how applicants learn, grow or change from the beginning to the end - and Anthony rightfully spends more time describing the hard work and lifestyle of farming and what he learned from this experience.

The beauty of the essay actually lies in its simplicity. Admittedly, it is not a groundbreaking or original essay in the way he tells his story; instead, Anthony comes across as someone who is very interesting, hardworking, intellectually curious, dedicated, humble and likable - all traits that admissions officers are seeking in applicants.

We like to see how applicants learn, grow or change from the beginning to the end - and Anthony rightfully spends more time describing the hard work and lifestyle of farming and what he learned from this experience. Anthony concludes with a reference to his opening paragraph about the tsunami, and impresses the reader with his fundraising to help victims.

It is not necessarily missing, but perhaps a sentence or two could have been added to explain why Anthony was in Japan in the first place. What was his connection to the country, language or culture? Does it tie into an academic interest? If so, that would make his already strong essay even stronger in the eyes of admissions officers.

Sponsored by Bridge to College, a data company that matches students to colleges that are an academic, financial, and social fit. We provide services to students, families, high schools, and colleges to support all of their admissions needs. Visit https://bit.ly/bridge-to-college-successful-essays for more information on the new platform, sign up for updates and consultations, and learn more about what we do.

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I entered the surprisingly cool car. Since when is Beijing Line 13 air-conditioned? I’ll take it. At four o’clock in the afternoon only about twenty people were in the subway car. “At least it’s not crowded,” one might have thought. Wrong. The pressure of their eyes on me filled the car and smothered me. “看看！她是外国人！”(Look, look! She’s a foreigner!) An old man very loudly whispered to a child curled up in his lap. “Foreigner,” he called me. I hate that word, “foreigner.” It only explains my exterior. If only they could look inside.…

I want to keep reading because there is something she is saying about her identity--be it performative or actual--that I am curious about.

They would know that I actually speak Chinese—not just speak, but love. They would know that this love was born from my first love of Latin—the language that fostered my admiration of all languages. Latin lives in the words we speak around the world today. And translating this ancient language is like watching a play and performing in it at the same time. Each word is an adventure, and on the journey through Virgil’s Aeneid I found that I am more like Aeneas than any living, dead, or fictional hero I know. We share the intrinsic value of loyalty to friends, family, and society. We stand true to our own word, and we uphold others to theirs. Like Aeneas’s trek to find a new settlement for his collapsed Troy, with similar perseverance I, too, wander the seas for my own place in the world. Language has helped me do that.

If these subway passengers understood me, they would know that the very reason I sat beside them was because of Latin. Even before Aeneas and his tale, I met Caecilius and Grumio, characters in my first Latin textbook. In translations I learned grammar alongside Rome’s rich history. I realized how learning another language could expose me to other worlds and other people—something that has always excited me. I also realized that if I wanted to know more about the world and the people in it, I would have to learn a spoken language. Spanish, despite the seven years of study prior to Latin, did not stick with me. And the throatiness of French was not appealing. But Chinese, more than these other traditional languages, intrigued me. The doors to new worlds it could open seemed endless. Thus I chose Chinese.

If these subway passengers looked inside me, they would find that my knowledge of both Latin and Chinese makes me feel whole. It feels like the world of the past is flowing through me alongside the world of the future. Thanks to Latin, Chinese sticks in my mind like the Velcro on the little boy’s shoes in front of me. If this little boy and his family and friends could look inside, they would understand that Latin laid the foundation for my lifelong commitment to languages. Without words, thoughts and actions would be lost in the space between our ears. To them, I am a foreigner, “外国人” literally translated as “out-of-country person.” I feel, however, more like an advena, the Latin word for “foreigner,” translated as “(one who) comes to (this place).” I came to this place, and I came to this country to stay. Unfortunately, they will not know this until I speak. Then once I speak, the doors will open.

Professional Review by Bridge to College

Your college essay should serve two purposes: allow the reader to gain insights about you that they are not able to do in other parts of your application and provide an example of your writing abilities. To the former, you are hoping to demonstrate five soft skills that most colleges are at least implicitly interested in gleaning, those that indicate your capacity to be a good student at their institution.

Alex arrives at both goals in an interesting way. Without seeing the rest of her application, I can only assume that she is possibly interested in pursuing a major in a language (if she is pursuing a major in an applied math, this essay would be extremely interesting) and she has likely participated in some kind of team sport to demonstrate the soft skill of teamwork. To be honest, as someone who speaks five languages myself and studied Latin in undergrad, I don’t necessarily agree with her assessment of the languages. BUT I’m interested. I want to keep reading. She isn’t supposed to get everything right in this essay; she’s supposed to demonstrate a capacity for learning. And she does that.

I want to keep reading because there is something she is saying about her identity--be it performative or actual--that I am curious about. With our work in college access and admissions, we’ve only worked in underserved communities, be they students of color or girls interested in STEM or first-generation college students or more. People make an assumption that we are exploiting these identities into sob stories that admissions readers will immediately hang on to. We’re not doing that. We are encouraging students to write about something similar to what Alex did—describe how your identity has created a learning opportunity or a moment of resilience or determination. Alex seems like someone who is well resourced: her access to certain text; language curricula and the amount of time she spent studying those languages; even her sentence structure, gives that away. But her openness to adapt with humility is a critical skill that is so necessary to be a great student, and unfortunately a skill that many students miss.

For the second goal, she does a tremendous job of demonstrating her writing abilities. Her sentence structures are varied and there aren’t egregious mistakes in grammar and spelling. The last two sentences of the second paragraph sold me on her skill-level and personhood. I also really appreciated that she wasn’t shying away from what she has been able to access as far as her schooling. Alex is smart, witty, and well-traveled, and you’re going to know it. I love that.

The essay works as an introduction to who she is and her soft skills, as well as a demonstration of her writing abilities.

CEO and Founder of Bridge to College

Elite Educational Institute has been helping students reach their academic goals through test preparation, tutoring, and college consulting services since 1987. Learn more at www.eliteprep.com .

When I was a child, I begged my parents for my very own Brother PT-1400 P-Touch Handheld Label Maker to fulfill all of my labeling needs. Other kids had Nintendos and would spend their free time with Mario and Luigi. While they pummeled their video game controllers furiously, the pads of their thumbs dancing across their joysticks, I would type out labels on my industrial-standard P-Touch with just as much zeal. I labeled everything imaginable, dividing hundreds of pens into Ziploc bags by color, then rubber-banding them by point size. The finishing touch, of course, was always a glossy, three-eighths-inch-wide tag, freshly churned out from my handheld labeler and decisively pasted upon the numerous plastic bags I had successfully compiled.

Labeling became therapeutic for me; organizing my surroundings into specific groups to be labeled provides me with a sense of stability. I may not physically need the shiny color-coded label verifying the contents of a plastic bag as BLUE HIGHLIGHTERS—FAT, to identify them as such, but seeing these classifications so plainly allows me to appreciate the reliability of my categorizations. There are no exceptions when I label the top ledge of my bookshelf as containing works from ACHEBE, CHINUA TO CONRAD, JOSEPH. Each book is either filtered into that category or placed definitively into another one. Yet, such consistency only exists in these inanimate objects.

Thus, the break in my role as a labeler comes when I interact with people. Their lives are too complicated, their personalities too intricate for me to resolutely summarize in a few words or even with the 26.2 feet of laminated adhesive tape compatible with my label maker. I have learned that a thin line exists between labeling and just being judgmental when evaluating individuals. I can hardly superficially characterize others as simply as I do my material possessions because people refuse to be so cleanly separated and compartmentalized. My sister Joyce jokes freely and talks with me for hours about everything from the disturbing popularity of vampires in pop culture to cubic watermelons, yet those who don’t know her well usually think of her as timid and introverted. My mother is sometimes my biggest supporter, spouting words of encouragement and, at other instances, my most unrelenting critic. The overlap becomes too indistinct, the contradictions too apparent, even as I attempt to classify those people in the world whom I know best.

For all my love of order when it comes to my room, I don't want myself, or the people with whom I interact, to fit squarely into any one category.

Neither would I want others to be predictable enough for me to label. The real joy in human interaction lies in the excitement of the unknown. Overturning expectations can be necessary to preserving the vitality of relationships. If I were never surprised by the behaviors of those around me, my biggest source of entertainment would vanish. For all my love of order when it comes to my room, I don’t want myself, or the people with whom I interact, to fit squarely into any one category. I meticulously follow directions to the millimeter in the chemistry lab but measure ingredients by pinches and dashes in the comfort of my kitchen. I’m a self-proclaimed grammar Nazi, but I’ll admit e. e. cummings’s irreverence does appeal. I’ll chart my television show schedule on Excel, but I would never dream of confronting my chores with as much organization. I even call myself a labeler, but not when it comes to people. As Walt Whitman might put it, “Do I contradict myself? / Very well, then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.).”

I therefore refrain from the temptation to label—despite it being an act that makes me feel so fulfilled when applied to physical objects—when real people are the subjects. The consequences of premature labeling are too great, the risk of inaccuracy too high because, most of the time, not even the hundreds of alphanumeric digits and symbols available for entry on my P-Touch can effectively describe who an individual really is.

Professional Review by Elite Prep

Amusing yet insightful, perhaps the most outstanding quality of Justine’s personal statement lies in the balance she strikes between anecdotal flourish and honest introspection. By integrating occasional humour and witty commentary into an otherwise lyrical and earnest self-reflection, Justine masterfully conveys an unfettered, sincere wisdom and maturity coveted by prestigious universities.

Justine breaks the ice by recalling a moment in her childhood that captures her fervent passion for labelling. When applying to selective academic institutions, idiosyncrasies and peculiar personal habits, however trivial, are always appreciated as indicators of individuality. Justine veers safely away from the temptation of “playing it safe” by exploring her dedication towards organizing all her possessions, a dedication that has followed her into adolescence.

She also writes from a place of raw honesty and emotion by offering the rationale behind her bizarre passion. Justine's reliance on labelling is underpinned by her yearning for a sense of stability and order in a messy world—an unaffected yearning that readers, to varying degrees, can sympathize with.

She also writes from a place of raw honesty and emotion by offering the rationale behind her bizarre passion. Justine’s reliance on labelling is underpinned by her yearning for a sense of stability and order in a messy world—an unaffected yearning that readers, to varying degrees, can sympathize with. She recognizes, however, it would be imprudent to navigate all facets of life with an unfaltering drive to compartmentalize everything and everyone she encounters.

In doing so, Justine seamlessly transitions to the latter, more pensive half of her personal statement. She extracts several insights by analyzing how, in staunch contrast with her neatly-organized pencil cases, the world is confusing, and rife with contradictions. Within each individual lies yet another world of complexity—as Justine reflects, people can’t be boiled down into “a few words,” and it’s impossible to capture their character, “even with the 26.2 feet of laminated adhesive tape compatible with [her] label maker.”

In concluding, Justine returns back to the premise that started it all, reminding the reader of her take on why compartmentalizing the world would be an ultimately unproductive effort. The most magical part of Justine’s personal statement? It reads easily, flows with imagery, and employs a simple concept—her labelling practices—to introduce a larger, thoughtful conversation.

The best compliment I ever received was from my little brother: “My science teacher’s unbelievably good at telling stories,” he announced. “Nearly as good as you.” I thought about that, how I savor a good story the way some people savor last-minute touchdowns.

I learned in biology that I’m composed of 7 × 10 27 atoms, but that number didn’t mean anything to me until I read Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. One sentence stayed with me for weeks: “Every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to becoming you.” It estimates that each human has about 2 billion atoms of Shakespeare hanging around inside—quite a comfort, as I try to write this essay. I thought about every one of my atoms, wondering where they had been and what miracles they had witnessed.

My physical body is a string of atoms, but what of my inner self, my soul, my essence? I've come to the realization that my life has been a string as well, a string of stories.

My physical body is a string of atoms, but what of my inner self, my soul, my essence? I’ve come to the realization that my life has been a string as well, a string of stories. Every one of us is made of star stuff, forged through fires, and emerging as nicked as the surface of the moon. It frustrated me no end that I couldn’t sit down with all the people I met, interrogating them about their lives, identifying every last story that made them who they are.

I remember how magical it was the first time I read a fiction book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I was duly impressed with Quidditch and the Invisibility Cloak, of course, but I was absolutely spellbound by how much I could learn about Harry. The kippers he had for breakfast, the supplies he bought for Potions—the details everyone skimmed over were remarkable to me. Fiction was a revelation. Here, at last, was a window into another person’s string of stories!

Over the years, I’ve thought long and hard about that immortal question: What superpower would you choose? I considered the usual suspects—invisibility, superhuman strength, flying—but threw them out immediately. My superhero alter ego would be Story Girl. She wouldn’t run marathons, but she could walk for miles and miles in other people’s shoes. She’d know that all it takes for empathy and understanding is the right story.

Imagine my astonishment when I discovered Radiolab on NPR. Here was my imaginary superpower, embodied in real life! I had been struggling with AP Biology, seeing it as a class full of complicated processes and alien vocabulary. That changed radically when I listened, enthralled, as Radiolab traced the effects of dopamine on love and gambling. This was science, sure, but it was science as I’d never heard it before. It contained conflict and emotion and a narrative; it made me anxious to learn more. It wasn’t that I was obtuse for biology; I just hadn’t found the stories in it before.

I’m convinced that you can learn anything in the form of a story. The layperson often writes off concepts—entropy, the Maginot Line, anapestic meter—as too foreign to comprehend. But with the right framing, the world suddenly becomes an open book, enticing and ripe for exploration. I want to become a writer to find those stories, much like Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich from Radiolab, making intimidating subjects become familiar and inviting for everyone. I want to become Story Girl.

By combining her previous interest with her newfound love for biology, Carrie is able to highlight how her past experiences have assisted her in overcoming novel challenges. This portrays her as a resilient and resourceful problem-solver: traits that colleges value heavily in their students.

Carrie begins her essay with a fondly-remembered compliment from her brother, introducing her most passionate endeavor: storytelling. By recalling anecdotes related to her love of stories, she establishes herself as a deeply inquisitive and creative person; someone whose greatest virtue is their unfettered thirst for knowledge. Curiosity is greatly prized by colleges, and Carrie’s inclusion of this particular value encourages admissions officers to keep reading.

Going on to explore the intersections between stories and science, Carrie reveals her past difficulties with AP biology; that is, until she learnt about the amazing stories hidden within the subject. By combining her previous interest with her newfound love for biology, Carrie is able to highlight how her past experiences have assisted her in overcoming novel challenges. This portrays her as a resilient and resourceful problem-solver: traits that colleges value heavily in their students.

Carrie ends her essay with her belief that through stories, everything is possible. She expounds on her future ambitions in regards to storytelling, as well as her desire to make learning both fun and accessible to everyone via the power of stories. By comparing her goals to that of a superhero, Carrie is able to emphasise her enthusiasm for contributing to social change. Most importantly, Carrie’s ambitions show how she can contribute to the Harvard community positively, making her a strong applicant.

As an admission essay specialist , Dan Lichterman has been empowering students to find their voice since 2004. He helps students stand out on paper, eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary may speak. Drawing upon his storytelling background, Dan guides applicants to craft authentic essays that leap off the page. He is available for online writing support within the US and internationally. To learn more and schedule a brief complimentary consultation visit danlichterman.com.

I have a fetish for writing.

I’m not talking about crafting prose or verses, or even sentences out of words. But simply constructing letters and characters from strokes of ink gives me immense satisfaction. It’s not quite calligraphy, as I don’t use calligraphic pens or Chinese writing brushes; I prefer it simple, spontaneous, and subconscious. I often find myself crafting characters in the margins of notebooks with a fifty-cent pencil, or tracing letters out of thin air with anything from chopsticks to fingertips.

"One's handwriting," said the ancient Chinese, "is a painting of one's mind." After all, when I practice my handwriting, I am crafting characters. My character.

The art of handwriting is a relic in the information era. Why write when one can type? Perhaps the Chinese had an answer before the advent of keyboards. “One’s handwriting,” said the ancient Chinese, “is a painting of one’s mind.” After all, when I practice my handwriting, I am crafting characters.

My character.

I particularly enjoy meticulously designing a character, stroke by stroke, and eventually building up, letter by letter, to a quote person­alized in my own voice. Every movement of the pen and every drop­let of ink all lead to something profound, as if the arches of every "m" are doorways to revelations. After all, characters are the build­ing blocks of language, and language is the only vehicle through which knowledge unfolds. Thus, in a way, these letters under my pen are themselves representations of knowledge, and the delicate beauty of every letter proves, visually, the intrinsic beauty of know­ing. I suppose handwriting reminds me of my conviction in this vi­sual manner: through learning answers are found, lives enriched, and societies bettered.

Moreover, perhaps this strange passion in polishing every single character of a word delineates my dedication to learning, testifies my zeal for my conviction, and sketches a crucial stroke of my character.

"We--must--know ... " the mathematician David Hilbert's voice echoes in resolute cursive at the tip of my pen, as he, addressing German scientists in 1930, propounds the goal of modern intellectu­als. My pen firmly nods in agreement with Hilbert, while my mind again fumbles for the path to knowledge.

The versatility of handwriting enthralls me. The Chinese devel­oped many styles -- called hands -- of writing. Fittingly, each hand seems to parallel one of my many academic interests. Characters of the Regular Hand (kai shu), a legible script, serve me well during many long hours when I scratch my head and try to prove a mathematical statement rigorously, as the legibility illuminates my logic on paper. Words of the Running Hand (xing shu), a semi-cursive script, are like the passionate words that I speak before a committee of Model United Nations delegates, propounding a decisive course of action: the words, both spoken and written, are swift and coherent but resolute and emphatic. And strokes of the Cursive Hand (cao shu) resemble those sudden artistic sparks when I deliver a line on stage: free spontaneous, but emphatic syllables travel through the lights like rivers of ink flowing on the page.

Yet the fact that the three distinctive hands cooperate so seamlessly, fusing together the glorious culture of writing, is perhaps a fable of learning, a testament that the many talents of the Renaissance Man could all be worthwhile for enriching human society. Such is my methodology: just like I organize my different hands into a neat personal style with my fetish for writing, I can unify my broad interests with my passion for learning.

“...We -- will -- know!” Hilbert finishes his adage, as I frantically slice an exclamation mark as the final stroke of this painting of my mind.

I must know: for knowing, like well-crafted letters, has an inherent beauty and an intrinsic value. I will know: for my versatile interests in academics will flow like my versatile styles of writing.

I must know and I will know: for my fetish for writing is a fetish for learning.

Professional Review by Dan Lichterman

We learn that he expresses his innermost self through an art that has become a relic within the information age. As we peer into his mind, we learn something essential about Jiafeng's character–that he is irrepressibly drawn to the intricate beauty of pure learning.

Jiafeng’s essay succeeds by using the metaphor of handwriting, and it’s immense physical satisfaction, to showcase the unbounded pleasure of pursuing knowledge. We can visualize spontaneously crafted letters filling his notebooks. We see him trace Chinese characters into air by chopstick and fingertip. We learn that he expresses his innermost self through an art that has become a relic within the information age. As we peer into his mind, we learn something essential about Jiafeng’s character–that he is irrepressibly drawn to the intricate beauty of pure learning.

Jiafeng goes on to reveal that his intellectual pursuit has been shaped by not one but three Chinese styles of handwriting, each reflecting a distinct element of his intellectual growth. We see Jiafeng’s logic when engaged in mathematical proof, rhetorical flair when speaking before Model United Nations, and improvisational spark when delivering lines on stage. He presents these polymath pursuits as united by writing, indicating to readers that his broad interests are all an expression of the same principle of discovery. By the time readers finish Jiafeng’s essay they have no doubts regarding the pleasure he derives from learning–they have experienced him enacting this celebration of thought throughout every line of this well-crafted personal statement.

Crimson Education is the world’s most successful US/UK university admissions consultancy. A member of the NACAC and the IACAC, the company counts US News & World Report and Times Higher Education as its partners. Crimson's students work with expert tutors and mentors to gain admission to the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke — as well as Oxford, Cambridge and other world leading institutions in the UK — at 4x the general applicant rate. Crimson’s unique model of support sees students work one-on-one with Ivy League and other top school graduates on every aspect of their application, from their academics to their extracurriculars, personal statements and supplemental essays. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Jamie Beaton, who at only 26, has completed an undergraduate dual degree at Harvard, an MBA at Stanford, is an Oxford Rhodes Scholar. In February 2022, Jamie will release his first book: “ACCEPTED! Secrets to Gaining Admission To The World's Top Universities.

“Ella, what did you think of Douglass’s view on Christianity?” I gulped. Increasingly powerful palpitations throbbed in my heart as my eyes darted around the classroom – searching for a profound response to Dr. Franklin’s question. I took a deep breath while reaching the most genuine answer I could conjure.

“Professor, I don’t know.”

Dr. Franklin stared at me blankly as he attempted to interpret the thoughts I didn’t voice. My lack of familiarity with the assigned text wasn’t a consideration that crossed his mind because he was familiar with my past contributions to class discussions. I was a fervent critic of the corrupted culture behind Christianity of the Puritans in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and modern evangelicals involved in the puzzling divinity of Donald Trump. He arched his flummoxed brows as he began to open his mouth.

“Professor, what I mean is that I’m not sure whether or not I even have a say on Douglass’s statements on Christianity in his Narrative of the Life.”

In class, I often separated the culture of Christianity from the religion. To tie these immensely disparate concepts as one and coin it as Christianity would present fallacies that contradict with the Christianity I knew. Lack of tolerance and hostility were products of humans’ sinful nature – not the teachings of Christ. People were just using Christianity as an excuse to exalt themselves rather than the holy name of Jesus. These were the “facts.”

My greatest realization came when Douglass declared Christian slave-holders as the worst slave-holders he ever met because of their deceptive feign of piety and use of Christianity to justify the oppression of their slaves. I realized that I couldn’t bring myself to raise the same argument that I used to convince myself that my Christianity of love was the only true Christianity. To Douglass, Christianity was the opposite. I didn’t want to dismiss his story. People use this sacred religion to spread hatred, and to many, this is the only Christianity they know. Their experiences aren’t any bit falser than mine.

Christianity isn’t the only culture that harbors truth that transcends the “facts.” America’s less of a perfect amalgamation of different ethnic cultures and more of a society severed by tribal conflicts rooted in the long established political culture of the nation. Issues such as racism, white privilege, and gender disparity are highly salient topics of current political discussion. However, during a time when people can use online platforms with algorithms that provide content they want to see, we fail to acknowledge the truth in other people’s experiences and express empathy.

My protective nature drives my desire to connect with different people and build understanding. To do so, however, I step outside my Korean American Southern Baptist paradigm because my experiences do not constitute everyone else's.

As a Korean-American in the South, I am no stranger to intolerance. I remember the countless instances of people mocking my parents for their English pronunciation and my brother’s stutter. Because their words were less eloquent, people deemed their thoughts as less valuable as well. I protect my family and translate their words whenever they have a doctor’s appointment or need more ketchup at McDonald’s. My protective nature drives my desire to connect with different people and build understanding. To do so, however, I step outside my Korean American Southern Baptist paradigm because my experiences do not constitute everyone else’s.

Excluded from the Manichaean narrative of this country, I observe the turmoil in our nation through a separate lens - a blessing and a curse. Not only do I find myself awkwardly fixed in a black vs. white America, but I also fail to define my identity sandwiched between Korean and American. In the end, I find myself stuck amongst the conventional labels and binaries that divide America.

“You seem to work harder than most to understand other people’s points of view,” Dr. Franklin said after I shared these thoughts to the class.

“I find this easier because I spent my childhood assuming that my culture was always the exception,” I replied. As an anomaly, accepting different truths is second nature.

Professional Review by Crimson Education

At a time in which the Black Lives Matters movement was sweeping America and racial tension was at a high, Ella was able to offer a powerful and brave perspective: how she feels to be neither Black nor White. The true strength of this essay is its willingness to go where people rarely go in college essays: to race, to politics and to religion.

This is a trait that exists in a powerful independent thinker who could push all kinds of debates forwards - academic ones or otherwise.

Her dedication to her religion is evident - but so is her willingness to question the manipulation of the word ‘Christianty’ for less than genuine purposes. It requires intellectual bravery to ask the hard questions of your own religion as opposed to succumbing to cognitive dissonance. This is a trait that exists in a powerful independent thinker who could push all kinds of debates forwards - academic ones or otherwise.

Her word choice continues to emphasize bravery and strength. “I protect my family” inserts Ella as the shield between her family and the daily racism they experience in the south because of their accents and heritage. Her humorous quirks show the insidious racism. She even needs to shield her family from the humble request for some more Ketchup at McDonalds! Imagine if one is nervous to ask for some more Ketchup and even such a mundane activity becomes difficult through the friction of racial tension and misunderstanding. This is a powerful way to deliver a sobering commentary on the real state of society through Ellen’s lived experiences.

She demonstrates her intellectual prowess in her discussion of somewhat high-brow topics but also grounds herself in the descriptions of her daily acts of kindness.

She connects major societal debates (Trumpism for example) with daily experiences (her translations at the doctor’s office) with a gentle but powerful cadence. She demonstrates her intellectual prowess in her discussion of somewhat high-brow topics but also grounds herself in the descriptions of her daily acts of kindness.

Creatively Ella weaves numerous literary devices in and out of her story without them being overbearing. These include alliteration and the juxtaposition of longer sentences with shorter ones to make a point.

Her final dialogue is subtle but booming. “....my culture was the exception”. The reader is left genuinely sympathetic for her plight, challenges and bravery as she goes about her daily life.

Ella is a bold independent thinker with a clear social conscience and an ability to wade in the ambiguity and challenge of an imperfect world.

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"Paint this vase before you leave today," my teacher directed as she placed foreign brushes and paints in my hands. I looked at her blankly. Where were the charts of colors and books of techniques? Why was her smile so decidedly encouraging? The sudden expectations made no sense.

She smiled. "Don't worry, just paint."

In a daze, I assembled my supplies the way the older students did. I was scared. I knew everything but nothing. And even in those first blissful moments of experimentation, it hurt to realize that my painting was all wrong. The gleam of light. The distorted reflection. A thousand details taunted me with their refusal to melt into the glass. The vase was lifeless at best.

As the draining hours of work wore on, I began wearing reckless holes in my mixing plate. It was my fourth hour here. Why had I not received even a single piece of guidance?

At the peak of my frustration, she finally reentered the studio, yawning with excruciating casualness. I felt myself snap.

"I barely know how to hold a brush," I muttered almost aggressively, "how could I possibly have the technique to paint this?"

She looked at me with a shocked innocence that only heightened the feeling of abandonment. "What do you mean you don't have the technique?"

It was as though she failed to realize I was a complete beginner.

And then suddenly she broke into a pitch of urgent obviousness: "What are you doing! Don't you see those details?? There's orange from the wall and light brown from the floor. There's even dark green from that paint box over there. You have to look at the whole picture," she stole a glance at my face of bewilderment, and, sighing, grabbed my paint,stained hand. "Listen, it's not in here," she implored, shaking my captive limb. "It's here." The intensity with which she looked into my eyes was overwhelming.

I returned the gaze emptily. Never had I been so confused…

But over the years I did begin to see. The shades of red and blue in gray concrete, the tints of Phthalo in summer skies, and winter’s Currelean. It was beautiful and illogical. Black was darker with green and red, and white was never white.

I began to study animals. The proportions and fan brush techniques were certainly difficult, but they were the simple part. It was the strategic tints of light and bold color that created life. I would spend hours discovering the exact blue that would make a fish seem on the verge of tears and hours more shaping a deer’s ears to speak of serenity instead of danger.

As I run faster into the heart of art and my love for politics and law, I will learn to see the faces behind each page of cold policy text, the amazing innovation sketched in the tattered Constitution, and the progressiveness living in oak-paneled courts.

In return for probing into previously ignored details, my canvas and paints opened the world. I began to appreciate the pink kiss of ever-evolving sunsets and the even suppression of melancholy. When my father came home from a business trip, it was no longer a matter of simple happiness, but of fatigue and gladness' underlying shades. The personalities who had once seemed so annoyingly arrogant now turned soft with their complexities of doubt and inspiration. Each mundane scene is as deep and varied as the paint needed to capture it.

One day, I will learn to paint people. As I run faster into the heart of art and my love for politics and law, I will learn to see the faces behind each page of cold policy text, the amazing innovation sketched in the tattered Constitution, and the progressiveness living in oak-paneled courts.

It won’t be too far. I know that in a few years I will see a thousand more colors than I do today. Yet the most beautiful part about art is that there is no end. No matter how deep I penetrate its shimmering realms, the enigmatic caverns of wonder will stay.

Professional Review by College Confidential

My favorite college essays begin with one moment in time and end by tying that moment into a larger truth about the world. In this essay, Elizabeth uses this structure masterfully.

This essay is a great example of a create essay. It's real strength, however, lies in showing how the writer pursues her goal despite frustration and grapples with universal questions.

The essay opens with dialogue, placing the reader right in the middle of the action. She shares only the details that make the scene vivid, like the holes in her mixing plate and her teacher’s yawn. She skips backstory and explanations that can bore readers and bog down a short essay. The reader is left feeling as though we are sitting beside her, staring at an empty vase and a set of paints, with no idea how to begin.

The SPARC method of essay writing says that the best college essays show how a student can do one (or more) of these five things: Seize an opportunity, Pursue goals despite obstacles, Ask important questions, take smart Risks, or Create with limited resources. This essay is a great example of a “create” essay. It’s real strength, however, lies in showing how the writer pursues her goal despite frustration and grapples with universal questions.

As the essay transitions from the personal to the universal, her experience painting the vase becomes a metaphor for how she sees the world. Not only has painting helped her appreciate the subtle shades of color in the sunset, it has opened her up to understand that nothing in life is black and white. This parallel works especially well as a way to draw the connection between Elizabeth’s interest in political science and art.

Written by Joy Bullen, Senior Editor at College Confidential

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When I failed math in my sophomore year of high school, a bitter dispute engulfed my household -- “Nicolas Yan vs. Mathematics.” I was the plaintiff, appearing pro se, while my father represented the defendant (inanimate as it was). My brother and sister constituted a rather understaffed jury, and my mother presided over the case as judge.

In a frightening departure from racial stereotype, I charged Mathematics with the capital offences of being “too difficult” and “irrelevant to my aspirations," citing my recent shortcomings in the subject as evi. dence. My father entered a not guilty plea on the defendant's behalf, for he had always harbored hopes that I would follow in his entrepreneurial footsteps -- and who ever heard of a businessman who wasn't an accomplished mathematician? He argued that because I had fallen sick before my examination and had been unable to sit one of the papers, it would be a travesty of justice to blame my "Ungraded” mark on his client. The judge nodded sagely.

With heartrending pathos, I recalled how I had studied A-Level Mathematics with calculus a year before the rest of my cohort, bravely grappling with such perverse concepts as the poisson distribution to no avail. I decried the subject's lack of real-life utility and lamented my inability to reconcile further effort with any plausible success; so that to persist with Mathematics would be a Sisyphean endeavor. Since I had no interest in becoming the entrepreneur that my father envisioned, I petitioned the court for academic refuge in the humanities. The members of the jury exchanged sympathetic glances and put their heads together to deliberate.

Over the next year, however, new evidence that threw the court's initial verdict into question surfaced. Languishing on death row, Mathematics exercised its right to appeal, and so our quasi-court reconvened in the living room.

In hushed tones, they weighed the particulars of the case. Then, my sister announced their unanimous decision with magisterial gravity: "Nicolas shouldn't have to do math if he doesn't want to!" I was ecstatic; my father distraught. With a bang of her metaphorical gavel, the judge sentenced the defendant to "Death by Omission"-- and so I chose my subjects for 11th Grade sans Mathematics. To my father's disappointment, a future in business for me now seemed implausible.

Over the next year, however, new evidence that threw the court's initial verdict into question surfaced. Languishing on death row, Mathematics exercised its right to appeal, and so our quasi-court reconvened in the living room.

My father reiterated his client's innocence, maintaining that Mathematics was neither "irrelevant" nor "too difficult." He proudly recounted how just two months earlier, when my friends had convinced me to join them in creating a business case competition for high school students (clerical note: the loftily-titled New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition), I stood in front of the Board of a company and successfully pitched them to sponsor us-- was this not evidence that l could succeed in business? I think I saw a tear roll down his cheek as he implored me to give Mathematics another chance.

I considered the truth of his words. While writing a real-world business case for NZSSCC, l had been struck by how mathematical processes actually made sense when deployed in a practical context, and how numbers could tell a story just as vividly as words can. By reviewing business models and comparing financial projections to actual returns, one can read a company's story and identify areas of potential growth; whether the company then took advantage of these opportunities determined its success. It wasn't that my role in organizing NZSSCC had magically taught me to embrace all things mathematical or commercial -- I was still the same person -- but I recognized that no intellectual constraints prevented me from succeeding in Mathematics; I needed only the courage to seize an opportunity for personal growth.

I stood up and addressed my family: “I’ll do it.” Then, without waiting for the court’s final verdict, I crossed the room to embrace my father: and the rest, as they (seldom) say, was Mathematics.

Professional Review by KEY Education

For some, math concepts such as limits, logarithms, and derivatives can bring about feelings of apprehension or intimidation. So, Nicolas’s college essay reflecting on his personal conflict coming to terms with Mathematics offers a relatable, down-to-earth look at how he eventually came to realize and appreciate the importance of this once-dreaded subject. Not only does Nicolas’s statement use a unique, engaging approach to hook the reader in, but also he draws various connections from Mathematics to his relationship with his family, to his maturation process, and to his extracurricular involvement. A number of factors helped Nicolas’s statement add color to his application file, giving further insight into the person he is.

Nicolas’s choice of Mathematics as the focusing lens is effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is genuine and approachable. It is not about some grandiose idea, event, or achievement. Rather, it is about a topic to which many students—and people for that matter—can relate. And from this central theme, Nicolas draws insightful linkages to various aspects of his life. At the outset of his essay, Mathematics is presented as the antagonist, or as Nicolas skillfully portrays, the “defendant”. However, by the end of his piece, and as a demonstration of his growth, Nicolas has come to a resolution with the former defendant.

Adding to the various connections, Nicolas presents his case, literally, in an engaging manner in the form of a court scene, with Nicolas as the plaintiff charging the defendant, Mathematics, with being too difficult and irrelevant to his life.

Through Nicolas’s conflict over Mathematics, we gain a deeper understanding of his relationship with his father and the tension that exists in Nicolas fulfilling his father’s wishes of following in his entrepreneurial footsteps. His father’s initial attempts at reasoning with him are rebuffed, however Nicolas later acknowledges that he “considered the truth of his words” and eventually embraces his father, signifying their coming to a resolution with their shared understanding of each other. Furthermore, Nicolas connects his evolved understanding of Mathematics to his important organizational role in creating the business-focused New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition, acknowledging how “mathematical processes actually made sense when deployed in a practical context, and how numbers could tell a story just as vividly as words can.” As he states, “I needed only the courage to seize an opportunity for personal growth,” which he ultimately realizes.

Adding to the various connections, Nicolas presents his case, literally, in an engaging manner in the form of a court scene, with Nicolas as the plaintiff charging the defendant, Mathematics, with being too difficult and irrelevant to his life. Bearing in mind word count limitations, what would have been interesting to explore would be deeper insights into each of the connections that Nicolas drew and how he applied these various lessons to other parts of his life.

Nicolas employs a number of characteristics essential for a successful essay: a theme that allows for deeper introspection, an engaging hook or approach, and a number of linkages between his theme and various aspects of his life, providing insight into who he is and how he thinks.

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Successful Harvard Essay by Abigail Mack

Abigail gained national attention after reading her application essay on TikTok earlier this year, with over 19.9 million views on the first video. Her essay helped her to recieve a rare likely letter in the most competitive Harvard application cycle in history with a less than 4 percent acceptance rate, and now she uses her platform to help other college hopefuls navigate the application process. Watch her read the beginning of her essay here and check out her other writing tips on her TikTok .

I hate the letter S. Of the 164,777 words with S, I only grapple with one.

I hate the letter “S”. Of the 164,777 words with “S”, I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use 0.0006% of the time sounds statistically absurd, but that one case changed 100% of my life. I used to have two parents, but now I have one, and the “S” in “parents” isn’t going anywhere.

“S” follows me. I can’t get through a day without being reminded that while my friends went out to dinner with their parents, I ate with my parent. As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word “parent” telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn’t listen to edit suggestions. I won’t claim that my situation is as unique as 1 in 164,777, but it is still an exception to the rule - an outlier. The world isn’t meant for this special case.

The world wouldn’t abandon “S” because of me, so I tried to abandon “S”. I could get away from “S” if I stayed busy; you can’t have dinner with your “parent” (thanks again, Grammarly) if you’re too busy to have family dinner. Any spare time that I had, I filled. I became known as the “busy kid”- the one that everyone always asks, “How do you have time?” Morning meetings, classes, after school meetings, volleyball practice, dance class, rehearsal in Boston, homework, sleep, repeat. Though my specific schedule has changed over time, the busyness has not. I couldn’t fill the loss that “S” left in my life, but I could at least make sure I didn’t have to think about it. There were so many things in my life that I couldn’t control, so I controlled what I could- my schedule. I never succumbed to the stress of potentially over-committing. I thrived. It became a challenge to juggle it all, but I’d soon find a rhythm. But rhythm wasn’t what I wanted. Rhythm may not have an “S”, but “S” sure liked to come by when I was idle. So, I added another ball, and another, and another. Soon I noticed that the same “color” balls kept falling into my hands- theater, academics, politics. I began to want to come into contact with these more and more, so I further narrowed the scope of my color wheel and increased the shades of my primary colors.

Life became easier to juggle, but for the first time, I didn’t add another ball. I found my rhythm, and I embraced it. I stopped running away from a single “S” and began chasing a double “S”- passion. Passion has given me purpose. I was shackled to “S” as I tried to escape the confines of the traditional familial structure. No matter how far I ran, “S” stayed behind me because I kept looking back. I’ve finally learned to move forward instead of away, and it is liberating. “S” got me moving, but it hasn’t kept me going.

I wish I could end here, triumphant and basking in my new inspiration, but life is more convoluted. Motivation is a double edged sword; it keeps me facing forward, but it also keeps me from having to look back. I want to claim that I showed courage in being able to turn from “S”, but I cannot. Motivation is what keeps “S” at bay. I am not perfectly healed, but I am perfect at navigating the best way to heal me. I don’t seek out sadness, so “S” must stay on the sidelines, and until I am completely ready, motivation is more than enough for me.

Professional Review by HS2 Academy

There's an honesty here as she reveals to the reader her attempts at filling this void in her life by constantly keeping busy. It's further satisfying to see these attempts at committing to various activities evolve into what she terms a double

Abigail’s essay navigates one of the most delicate sorts of topics in college applications: dealing with personal or family tragedy. Perhaps the most common pitfall is to take a tragic event and effuse it with too much pathos and sense of loss that the narrative fails to reveal much about the author’s own personality other than the loss itself. In short, a “sob story.” However, Abigail’s essay adeptly skirts this by utilizing wit and a framing device using the letter “S” to share a profoundly personal journey in a manner that is engaging and thought-provoking.

Rather than focus purely on the loss of one of her parents to cancer, Abigail reflects on her life and the adjustments she has had to make. It is particularly poignant how she expresses the sense that her life with only one remaining parent seems somehow anomalous, that the constant reminders of the completeness in the familial structures of others haunts her.

What also makes this essay all the more intriguing is how we get a glimpse into her internal life as she learns to cope with the loss. There’s an honesty here as she reveals to the reader her attempts at filling this void in her life by constantly keeping busy. It’s further satisfying to see these attempts at committing to various activities evolve into what she terms a “double S,” or “passion,” as she discovers things that she has become passionate about. Perhaps this essay could have been strengthened further by giving the reader a sense of what those passions might be, as we’re left to speculate based on the activities she had mentioned.

Lastly, we see a sense of realism and maturity in Abigail's closing reflection. It’s easy to end an essay like this with a sense of narrative perfection, but she wisely concedes that “life is more convoluted.” This poignant revelation gives us a window into her continuing struggles, but we are nonetheless left impressed by her growth and candor in this essay.

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I learned the definition of cancer at the age of fourteen. I was taking my chapter 7 biology test when I came upon the last question, “What is cancer?”, to which I answered: “The abnormal, unrestricted growth of cells.” After handing in the test, I moved on to chapter 8, oblivious then to how earth-shattering such a disease could be.

I learned the meaning of cancer two years later. A girl named Kiersten came into my family by way of my oldest brother who had fallen in love with her. I distinctly recall her hair catching the sea breeze as she walked with us along the Jersey shore, a blonde wave in my surrounding family's sea of brunette. Physically, she may have been different, but she redefined what family meant to me. She attended my concerts, went to my award ceremonies, and helped me study for tests. Whenever I needed support, she was there. Little did I know that our roles would be reversed, forever changing my outlook on life.

Kiersten was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 22. Tears and hair fell alike after each of her 20 rounds of chemotherapy as we feared the worst. It was an unbearable tragedy watching someone so vivacious skirt the line between life and death. Her cancer was later classified as refractory, or resistant to treatment. Frustration and despair flooded my mind as I heard this news. And so I prayed. In what universe did this dynamic make any sense? I prayed to God and to even her cancer itself to just leave her alone. Eventually, Kiersten was able to leave the hospital to stay for six weeks at my home.

But the beauty that resulted from sympathizing as opposed to analyzing and putting aside my own worries and troubles for someone else was an enormous epiphany for me. My problems dissipated into thin air the moment I came home and dropped my books and bags to talk with Kiersten. The more I talked, laughed, smiled, and shared memories with her, the more I began to realize all that she taught me.

My family and I transformed the house into an antimicrobial sanctuary, protecting Kiersten from any outside illness. I watched TV with her, baked cookies for her, and observed her persistence as she regained strength and achieved remission. We beat biology, time, and death, all at the same time, with cookies, TV, and friendship. Yet I was so concerned with helping Kiersten that I had not realized how she helped me during her battle with cancer.

I had been so used to solving my problems intellectually that when it came time to emotionally support someone, I was afraid. I could define cancer, but what do I say to someone with it? There were days where I did not think I could be optimistic in the face of such adversity. But the beauty that resulted from sympathizing as opposed to analyzing and putting aside my own worries and troubles for someone else was an enormous epiphany for me. My problems dissipated into thin air the moment I came home and dropped my books and bags to talk with Kiersten. The more I talked, laughed, smiled, and shared memories with her, the more I began to realize all that she taught me. She influenced me in the fact that she demonstrated the power of loyalty, companionship, and optimism in the face of desperate, life-threatening situations. She showed me the importance of loving to live and living to love. Most of all, she gave me the insight necessary to fully help others not just with intellect and preparation, but with solidarity and compassion. In this way, I became able to help myself and others with not only my brain, but with my heart. And that, in the words of Robert Frost, “has made all the difference.”

Professional Review by collegeMission

Nikolas is candid, writing about how he could solve problems intellectually, but struggled to cope emotionally during Kiersten's diagnosis and treatment. Ultimately, he finds his way and gains a deeper perspective on life, and thus shares a story of overcoming and of complex intellectual and emotional growth.

Nikolas uses an unexpected approach in this essay, sharing a story of someone else’s struggle, as he highlights change within himself. The emotions and connection that he felt for Kiersten, his older brother’s girlfriend, are quite powerful, as is his recognition of his own attempt to navigate his way through the experience. Nikolas is candid, writing about how he could solve problems intellectually, but struggled to cope emotionally during Kiersten’s diagnosis and treatment. Ultimately, he finds his way and gains a deeper perspective on life, and thus shares a story of overcoming and of complex intellectual and emotional growth.

Nikolas’ use of imagery is terrific. We first see it in the essay when he describes one of his first impressions of Kiersten, with her blonde hair flowing in the wind by the Jersey Shore and how that contrasted with the dark hair of his family. That description then flows as we read the next paragraph, where he talks about the impact of her cancer. “Tears and hair fell alike after each of her 20 rounds of chemotherapy as we feared the worst.” Instead of explicitly sharing everyone’s heartbreak, through details that heartbreak becomes so very evident.

One missing piece here is an explanation of why Kiersten stayed with Nikolas’ family rather than returning home to her own family. Maybe a quick explanation would have helped the reader make sense of her location, and create an even stronger linkage with Nikolas and his family. Additionally, Nikolas might have taken one more step toward the end of the essay to connect this newfound emotion to other parts of his life. The final paragraph feels slightly repetitive, and a compelling route could have been to show how he went on to embrace the idea of “loving to live and living to love.” Nonetheless, Nikolas reveals that he is capable of growing through adversity, a character trait that this admissions committee clearly appreciated.

Ideological growth of a poison Ivy: Columbia’s journey from scholarship to activism

T he images of the recent protests at Columbia University have grabbed the attention of the American public: students chanting for a Palestinian state, “from the river to the sea”; activists setting up a mass tent encampment on the campus lawn; masked occupiers seizing control of Hamilton Hall. 

For some, it was a sign that ancient antisemitism had established itself in the heart of the Ivy League. For others, it was déjà vu of 1968, when mass demonstrations last roiled campus.

Columbia president Minouche Shafik feigned surprise. In a statement to students, she expressed “deep sadness” about the campus chaos. 

But to anyone who has observed Columbia in recent decades, the upheaval should not come as a surprise. 

Behind the images of campus protests lies a deeper, more troubling story: the ideological capture of the university, which inexorably drove Columbia toward this moment. 

Columbia for decades has cultivated the precise conditions that allowed the pro-Hamas protests to flourish. The university built massive departments to advance “postcolonialism,” spent hundreds of millions of dollars on “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and glorified New Left–style student activism as the telos of university life.

Terms like these might sound benign, but the reality is sinister. 

As the protests revealed, postcolonial theory is often an academic cover for antisemitism , DEI is frequently a method for enflaming racial grievances and student activism can become a rationalization for violence and destruction.

The university, founded by royal charter in 1754 and a great American institution for more than two centuries, has lost its way. There will need to be a reckoning before it can return to its former glory.

The first part of that process is understanding what went wrong. To do so, we will attempt to uncover the roots of Columbia’s intifada.

The first element driving the current unrest is ideology.

Columbia has long been a pioneer in the theoretical approaches — postcolonialism, decolonization and Islamism — that have shaped progressive opinion of Third World and Middle Eastern affairs. 

These systems of thought apply the basic principle of critical theory — that politics is a conflict between oppressed and oppressor groups — to the colonized populations of geopolitical history. 

In practice, white Europeans and Jewish Zionists play the oppressor role, while Third World nations, including the Palestinians, play the oppressed. In these ideologies, violence can be not only justified but essential to the process of “liberation.”

At Columbia, this mindset has become gospel . The university’s academic departments employ some of the world’s most prominent postcolonial scholars. 

The university press has published dozens of books on the subject, and the course directory lists at least 46 classes offered since the fall with descriptions including the words “postcolonial” or “postcolonialism.”

Faculty and student adherents of the mindset have long focused on the Middle East. Columbia was the academic home of Edward Said, a founding postcolonial scholar who was among the first to translate Marxism and postmodern principles to the study of the relationships between Western and Islamic societies. 

Since Said’s death in 2003, the university has built massive programs to continue his work. These have employed increasingly radical figures.

In 2003, for example, the university hired the controversial historian Rashid Khalidi to lead the university’s Middle East Institute. Khalidi once allegedly served as an unofficial spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he denies, and has denounced Israel as an “apartheid system in creation” and a “racist” state. 

The historian has long supported the campaign to “boycott, divest, and sanction” Israel and, in 2016, was one of 40 Columbia faculty who signed a BDS petition. Early in his Columbia tenure, Khalidi was dismissed from a New York City teacher-training program for allegedly endorsing violence against Israeli soldiers, a charge he also denied.

But Khalidi is only the tip of the spear. 

In 2010, Columbia launched its Center for Palestine Studies, which it describes as “the first such center in an academic institution in the United States.” The center currently has 26 affiliated faculty members and hosts a score of visiting professors. 

Their orientation is distinctly anti-Israel. One affiliated professor has claimed that Israeli archaeologists faked or manipulated information to legitimize the State of Israel. Another teaches a class called “Settlers and Natives,” which examines “the question of decolonization” and compares the International Criminal Court’s relationship to the “Israel/Palestine” conflict to that of the Nuremberg Court and the Holocaust.

Columbia further expanded its postcolonial program in 2018. That year, the school opened the Center for the Study of Muslim Societies, which serves as a central organizing point for ideologically aligned professors and activists. The center boasts affiliations with 80 “scholars,” including more than a dozen who focus explicitly on postcolonialism, making it one of the largest such programs in the United States.

This sudden expansion of postcolonial programs was funded, in part, by wealthy individuals and a government from the Middle East — a fact Columbia sometimes has tried to hide. 

For example, the university kept its donor list secret as it sought to raise an estimated $4 million to endow a chair for Rashid Khalidi. After an uproar, however, administrators succumbed and quietly released a list of 18 donors, which included the United Arab Emirates, a Palestinian oil magnate who supported anti-Israel policies, and other activists. 

During that same period, the university also failed to report $250,000 it received from an unidentified Saudi Arabian donor, violating federal and state law.

While the extent of Arab-state funding is unknown, this much is certain: Columbia’s postcolonial studies programs have steadily pushed BDS, Islamist and anti-Israel narratives on campus, with predictable results. 

Today’s campus protests parrot the language of such ideologies. For many Columbia students, it is enough that some Israelis look white to condemn them as colonial “oppressors” and to call for the destruction of the Jewish state. 

Following the work of Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, they have internalized the argument that Israelis are conducting a campaign akin to the American genocide of the Native Americans, or even that of the Nazis against the Jews. Judging from the rhetoric at the pro-Hamas protests, it appears that at least some of the students were paying attention in class.

The second factor driving Columbia’s intifada is diversity, equity and inclusion.

Columbia has built one of the most substantial DEI bureaucracies in the Ivy League. 

Former president Lee Bollinger — the respondent in Grutter v. Bollinger, the landmark 2003 Supreme Court case that established the constitutionality of race-based college admissions — was an ardent supporter of DEI and racial preferences. Bollinger, who retired last year, built DEI into the structure of the university. 

He boasted in 2021, “Since 2005, Columbia has proudly invested $185 million to diversify our faculty.”

Following the 2020 George Floyd riots, Bollinger leveraged the political unrest to strengthen left-wing ideologies’ grip on campus, under the guise of a “[c]ommitment to [a]ntiracism.” 

Today, each school and center at Columbia has a formal DEI team. Almost all have a chief diversity officer, provide DEI training, “identity-based support,” DEI-based recruitment or retention, external partnerships and “DEI focused fundraising.”

Beginning under Bollinger’s leadership, the university opened the floodgates for ideological and racially discriminatory programs. Columbia has made several such big-money efforts in recent years: an initiative to hire faculty who study racism; funding to bolster the number of “underrepresented faculty candidates” hired in STEM fields and across all disciplines; a program to “ensure equity and enhance diversity in our graduate programs’ applicant pools”; and grants “for faculty projects that engage with issues of structural racism.”

To Bollinger, many of these programs were apparently justified by the belief that Columbia was a racist institution. In 2014, for example, the university under the former president’s leadership published a preliminary report declaring that “slavery was intertwined with the life of the college.”

As the document goes on, however, it becomes clear that slavery was no more “intertwined” with Columbia than it was with any other northern institution. Even The New York Times’ coverage of the report noted that the university itself never appeared to have owned slaves and that most Columbians sided with the Union in the Civil War. 

But the purpose of the report was not historical accuracy; it was to stoke anger and guilt.

This is characteristic of Columbia’s DEI efforts. Rather than cultivate scholarship, the university and its diversity bureaucracy have fostered a perpetual sense of grievance. Supposedly marginalized students don’t see themselves as individuals in pursuit of knowledge but as a coalition of the oppressed in pursuit of social justice. DEI is not oriented toward truth; it is oriented toward power.

The final element: student activism.

To the outside observer, Columbia’s campus protests might appear spontaneous, driven by students’ own initiative. 

But the university has promoted a mythology of left-wing activism and encouraged students to engage in “ongoing antiracism work and activism at Columbia.”

The myth was established in 1968. That year, New Left activists held demonstrations, occupied the Hamilton Hall building and engaged in a dramatic confrontation with police. 

For some observers, such as Allan Bloom, who wrote 1987’s “The Closing of the American Mind,” this was the moment that American universities lost their moral authority and capitulated to the activist mob. 

But for Columbia’s current administrators, the campus protests were a symbol of rebellious triumph.

The 1968 students were the heroes, in this view; the real enemies were the police and the defenders of order. 

As Bollinger said on the 50th anniversary of the 1968 protests, the decision to call in the police to break up protests was “a serious breach of the ethos of the university,” adding that “you simply do not bring police onto a campus.”

The glorification of student activism is not only embedded in administrative culture; it’s also part of the curriculum. 

Consider Fawziah Qadir, a Columbia-affiliated education professor and critical race theorist, who promises on her personal website to “transform education into a tool for liberation.” Qadir teaches a course called “Making Change: Activism, Social Movement” at the university. According to the description, the course teaches “the ways people power has pushed for change in the United States educational landscape” and calls on students to “propose actions” for activist campaigns in the future.

Under these conditions, it’s hard to blame Columbia students for taking the protests to excess. They were recruited, taught, and trained to do precisely what they’ve done.

The real scandal is that the university has long since relinquished its role as the responsible authority . There should be no sympathy for president Shafik and other administrators, who have perpetuated a colossal double standard: teaching students how to conduct a radical left-wing protest, and then arresting them as soon as they did exactly what their university had encouraged them to do.

In any conflict, people naturally want to pick a side. Sometimes, however, no one is worthy of support.

Columbia’s intifada is one such conflict. The students are obviously in the wrong, promoting antisemitism, destroying property and using violent methods to achieve dubious political aims. 

The faculty are a disaster: Their ideologies are anathema to scholarly detachment and their re-enactments of 1968 are childish and nihilistic. And the administration is complicit in the entire drama.

 Bollinger established the conditions for this disaster, and Shafik did nothing to change them — she saw the light only after it was blinding her.

We don’t have to choose a side, but this does not mean that those of us on the outside have no influence. In recent years, Columbia has received approximately $1 billion in annual federal funding — meaning the American taxpayer is funding the Ivy League intifada.

Congress could change this dynamic tomorrow. Rather than subsidize left-wing activism and pseudo-scholarship, congressional representatives could strip funding from Columbia and other Ivy League universities, impose severe restrictions on discriminatory DEI departments and restrict all future support for left-wing ideological programs such as “decolonization” and “post-colonial theory.” 

The faster that Congress can change the structural conditions that underpin these institutions, the better. Rather than boycott, divest and sanction Israel, Congress should boycott, divest and sanction the Ivy League.

Now, there’s an activist campaign the American public could easily support.

Christopher F. Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a contributing editor of City Journal, from which this essay is adapted . 

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Hunter biden ‘chose to lie’ about drug use to buy gun, feds say; defense claims he was pushed into sale.

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WILMINGTON, Del. — Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that  Hunter Biden “chose” to lie about his drug addiction to obtain a gun,  telling a jury in the first son’s hometown that “no one is above the law” — while the defense argued their  client was pushed into buying a lethal weapon .

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what your name is,” prosecutor Derek Hines said in his opening statement. “The defendant Robert Hunter Biden chose to illegally own a firearm. He was a user of crack and a drug addict. He chose to lie.”

Hines said Hunter, 54, deliberately fibbed on a federal form used for background checks by claiming he wasn’t in thrall to controlled substances when he bought the Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver on Oct. 12, 2018, when in fact he was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction.

On that day, the Biden son had driven his dad’s Cadillac to an AT&T store in Wilmington with plans to buy himself a phone, when he saw the gun store — StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply — across the street and decided to go inside, Hines said.

“Because he lied, Mr. Biden was able to walk out with a revolver, speed loader and ammunition,” the prosecutor went on.

Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika previously ruled that prosecutors don’t have to prove that the first son was high when he filled out the gun application form.

The younger Biden owned the shooter for 11 days and orchestrated meetings with drug dealers during that time, Hines claimed, even arguing that Hunter had introduced Hallie Biden — his sister-in-law-turned-lover — to crack cocaine.

In the days after the gun purchase, the prosecutor said, Hunter sent texts to Hallie saying he was “waiting for a dealer” and had been “sleeping on a car smoking crack.”

On Oct. 23, 2018, Hallie found the revolver inside the center console of the younger Biden’s unlocked Ford F-150 Raptor, which had the windows rolled down and drug paraphernalia inside, Hines said.

She took the revolver and tossed it into the garbage outside a Wilmington grocery store, Janssen’s Market, the prosecutor narrated.

“When the defendant found out his gun was gone, he was angry,” Hines said, before playing a brief excerpt of the audiobook of Hunter’s 2021 memoir ,  “Beautiful Things , ” describing his struggle with drugs.

The prosecution would go on to play excerpts from the book and recite Hunter’s messages  from a summary chart  of evidence throughout proceedings Tuesday.

In his own opening statement, lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell admitted his client has battled addiction as a result of multiple traumas, beginning with the  car accident that killed his mother and sister in 1972  and continuing through the death of his brother, Beau, from brain cancer in 2015.

“Hunter has been a user of drugs and alcohol, there is no disagreement about that, none,” Lowell said.

Follow the latest on Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial:

• Hunter Biden ‘chose to lie’ about drug use to buy gun, prosecutors say: ‘No one is above the law’
• Hunter Biden’s wife lashes out at ex-Trump adviser in trial break: ‘Nazi piece of s—t’
• Joe Biden told Hunter to ‘get some help’ in 2018 voicemail — three days after son allegedly lied to buy gun
• Everything you need to know about the Hunter Biden federal gun case as trial kicks off

“Hunter succumbed to those traumas,” the defense attorney went on. “He had abused alcohol since he was a teenager and drugs as an adult.” 

“Grief and trauma led to his abuse of alcohol and drugs,” Lowell reiterated. “Hunter has never asked anyone to excuse his use of alcohol or drugs to dull his pain from trauma.”

Lowell said that during the 11-day period that Hunter owned the gun, he never loaded it and only took it out of a locked case one time. 

The attorney then attempted to shift blame onto Hallie, saying she was the one who placed the gun into a pouch that had cocaine residue on it.  The presence of drug traces had been highlighted by prosecutors in pre-trial filings . 

Turning to the gun application form, Lowell argued it merely asked if the purchaser was a drug user, rather than asking if the person had formerly or currently used drugs. 

He added that Hunter didn’t “knowingly” lie on the form — a key requirement that prosecutors have to prove — but rather was in a “deep state of denial” about his addiction. 

The defense team also tried to paint StarQuest Shooters employee Gordon Cleveland, expected to be a key witness at trial, as a pushy salesman who wanted Hunter to walk out with a firearm that day .

 “A sale is a sale and that was their goal that day,” Lowell said. “They wanted it done quickly.”

One day after purchasing his gun on Oct. 12, 2018, Hunter Biden sets up a drug deal with "Mookie" at the 7/11 on Greenhill and Lancaster. "He has my money mad I'm getting pissed," Hunter texts Hallie Biden. pic.twitter.com/U6r4pp2biv — Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) June 3, 2024

And despite Noreika’s ruling that prosecutors don’t have to prove that Hunter was high when he purchased the firearm, that didn’t stop Lowell from making the argument.

“Hunter was not using drugs when he bought that gun,” Lowell said. “Times before, times after, but not during.”

Lowell also played up Hunter’s alcoholism, implying that the first son may have been under the influence of booze rather than hard drugs when he purchased the Colt Cobra.

“There may be high functioning alcoholics but there is no such thing as high functioning crack addicts , ” Lowell said, listing off several cushy gigs Hunter was working at the time .

Notably, Lowell didn’t mention that Hunter was on the board of Ukraine-based energy company Burisma Holdings, a gig which initially piqued the interest of House Republicans leading an impeachment inquiry into the president.

Lowell added that jurors should pay careful attention to the anticipated testimony of both Hallie Biden and of Hunter’s ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan, both of whom, Lowell said, had received immunity from the feds.

After opening arguments wrapped, prosecutors called FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen to the stand and played roughly an hour of excerpts from the “Beautiful Things” audiobook — narrated by Hunter.

Hunter — who had appeared stoic in court so far — shifted in his chair while his own voice resonated in the room.

At one point, first lady Jill Biden, in court for a second straight day among the spectators, put her arm around daughter Ashley — who appeared to get emotional during the reading and eventually walked out of the courtroom.

Jurors largely remained impassive and didn’t laugh at all when a joke from the manuscript was played.

At one pivotal moment, Hines walked over to the witness stand and presented Jensen with a Macbook Pro 13 wrapped in plastic.

At the prosecutor’s prompting, Jensen confirmed the laptop belonged to Hunter, citing the serial number on the back of the machine and noting the FBI corroborated its authenticity with information from Hunter Biden’s iCloud account, which they subpoenaed from Apple.

That done, Jensen went on, investigators extracted data including WhatsApp messages, iMessages and text messages showing Hunter’s drug dependency

In an April 28, 2018, text to alleged drug dealer Clifford O’Brien, Hunter sent a photo of a digital scale with a mound of white powder sitting on it, intimating he’d been ripped off and that the haul of powder was underweight. 

O’Brien responded: “Bro that’s it. I don’t want to do this no more. I go out of my way to get you the best out here.”  

In another 2018 message to O’Brien from Hunter, the first son said: “Can you get baby powder, the real soft stuff.” 

O’Brien responded affirmatively and added he had pills available as well.

The trial got off to a rocky start Tuesday morning, after openings were delayed when jurors couldn’t make it to the courthouse on time.

Noreika told prosecutors and the defense that the court had received an email from one juror — identified as number 16 during Monday’s jury selection and who lives in Milford, Del. — saying that she doesn’t have a car and “I live an hour away.”

The judge said she would let the woman out of serving due to hardship and replace her with an alternate, also a woman. The initial jury of six men and six women  had been seated Monday . 

Proceedings were also delayed from the 9 a.m. scheduled start time after four other panelists showed up late. 

Openings didn’t get underway until nearly an hour later, at 9:55 a.m., but the jury was engaged, taking notes as lawyers from both sides laid out their cases.

Hunter, 54, arrived to the federal courthouse shortly before the scheduled start wearing a suit and tie and an American flag pin on his lapel. He was accompanied again by his wife Melissa Cohen, who held his hand on their way inside.

The first son watched intently from the defense table throughout the entire 30 minutes of Hines’ arguments and for the roughly 50 minutes that Lowell spoke.

Special counsel David Weiss, whose office brought the case against Hunter, was also present for the first day of arguments.

Jill and Ashley Biden left the courthouse during the lunch break, while Weiss popped in and out of proceedings throughout the day.

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The younger Biden is facing a separate tax evasion case in Los Angeles slated to commence trial on Sept. 5.

The Delaware case is not expected to last longer than two weeks.

Additional reporting by Miranda Devine

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A Final Graduation Requirement: Making Sense of Protest

As students in Columbia’s class of 2024 received their diplomas, many of them were grappling with what intense activism on campus would mean to their futures.

At Barnard College, Mariame Sissoko, the student government president, began to question the value of always following the rules. Credit... Ahmed Gaber for The New York Times

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By Emma Goldberg

Emma Goldberg spent the weeks leading up to graduation interviewing more than a dozen students across Columbia’s and Barnard’s campuses and attending their graduations.

• May 28, 2024

Standing on the stage at Radio City Music Hall, Mariame Sissoko began to speak in a voice trembling, ever so slightly. Growing up in Philadelphia, Sissoko was outspoken, a high achiever, captain of the high school debate team. In other words, just the sort of person who would go to Barnard College, run for student government and wind up giving a graduation speech before an audience of 4,700 university officials, classmates and parents.

Sissoko, 22, who uses nonbinary pronouns, had been warned by administrators not to deviate from the speech they had turned in weeks earlier. But that speech was written before a pro-Palestinian encampment sprang up on the main lawn of Columbia (Barnard’s sibling school), before students occupied an academic building, Hamilton Hall, and the police made more than 100 arrests, before the campus became a locus of anger over the more than 35,000 people killed in Gaza during the war and of fear over rising antisemitism . Now, on graduation day, Sissoko put those warnings from administrators aside.

“To stand on this stage today is a privilege,” Sissoko said. “It is a privilege that over 15,000 children in Gaza will never receive.”

Sissoko’s classmates broke into applause. On Sissoko’s lapel was a poppy, meant to honor a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed during the war and a 10-month-old Israeli baby taken hostage by Hamas. “I know that there are countless poppies with the names of children in Gaza who have been killed,” Sissoko continued. “They will walk across this stage with us.”

As Sissoko paused, classmates seated in the audience began to sing an anthem that was popularized during the civil rights movement and that pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia had now taken up: “We shall not, we shall not be moved.”

From the rows of family seating came cries of “Boo!,” a chorus that grew louder as the students kept singing. An automated voice came over the loudspeaker: “Today’s speaker shared personal views, which may not reflect the views and values of Barnard College.”

New chants rose from the audience: “Bring them home!,” referring to the roughly 125 hostages remaining in Gaza, taken on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants crossed the border into Israel and killed about 1,200 people . Others in the crowd called back, “Free Palestine!” One disgruntled parent shouted: “I have a reservation!”

Graduation speakers usually offer encomiums about how college changes people with its intellectual striving, its community of peers, its moral dilemmas straddling the real world and the textbook page. But this year, students faced a test that for some really was foundational — one that asked them to define what they stood for and what they were willing to lose, from clean disciplinary records to social standing .

In the weeks leading up to graduation, I spoke with more than a dozen Columbia and Barnard students about how the campus protests had shaped them. An aspiring comedian, Jackson Schwartz, did a stand-up set about being arrested and suspended for pro-Palestinian protest; he told me that he was now thinking about law school, moved by the resolve of the lawyers who had counseled him. A psychology major, Daniella Coen, an Israeli citizen, said she had asked her family not to fly to New York for graduation because she felt ostracized at school for being a Zionist. A student filmmaker, Chambit Miller, described feeling torn between a sense of thrill in supporting her protesting classmates and disillusionment about their capacity to create change.

I focused especially on students at the periphery of the protests — not those whose conviction led them to sleep at the encampment, but those who took it in from more of a distance, a bit uncertain and searching. Some of them said that what they had witnessed in the last months of college influenced how they viewed the world and their career choices.

Sissoko has always created change in a largely orderly fashion — running for student government, getting good grades — but watching the protests unfold called into question some of that commitment to rule following. Reading the words that deviated from the preapproved graduation script, Sissoko tried not to cry. Then they took in the applause, which felt as if it roared on for hours, though in reality only moments passed before the ceremony continued.

Caught in the Middle

The effects of being part of student protests can linger, for those involved, long after school ends.

In June 1964, more than 1,000 young people traveled to Mississippi to register Black voters as part of what civil rights groups called Freedom Summer . Two decades later, Doug McAdam, a Stanford sociologist, dug through applications for the project and contacted the volunteers, along with some 300 people who applied but hadn’t ultimately participated.

McAdam found that for the students who went to Mississippi, the experience was transformational. They were more likely than the group who didn’t participate to still be politically active in their 40s, attending demonstrations and local meetings for environmental, feminist and racial justice organizations; their incomes also tended to be lower, because they had taken community-oriented jobs.

Later, McAdam studied his own institution. He surveyed more than 500 students in the Stanford class of 2017 , starting before their first year and continuing over six years. Roughly 200 of the students reported being involved in campus activism. McAdam concluded that activism during a person’s senior year was a statistically significant predictor of whether that person stayed involved in social movements after college.

Why people became active in the first place, McAdam found, was a combination of their ideological predispositions and their peer relationships on campus. What his study did not delve into was the subtle effect of campus movements on students who did not jump in as leaders.

At Columbia, the pro-Palestinian protests have already left their imprint on Jeremy Faust, even though he wasn’t directly involved.

Faust, 23, grew up on Long Island, where he went to a Reform temple and Jewish summer camp. He felt unsettled by the entirely sunny view of Israel that both taught him. “The vibe was hummus, falafel and ‘Yay, Israel,’” Faust said. “It was presented as nonpolitical to be really into Israel.”

When he arrived at Columbia four years ago, he gravitated to the campus chapter of J Street , a center-left advocacy group that opposes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and supports the coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians in two states.

Even before this year, Faust, a political science major with a dual degree in Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary, was planning student events that challenged Israeli treatment of Palestinians, including a program with a group called Breaking the Silence, made up of former Israeli soldiers denouncing Israel’s settlements in the West Bank.

But Faust said he “felt caught in the middle,” especially after the Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The left-wing group Jewish Voice for Peace rejected J Street for being Zionist, while some pro-Israel students said J Street’s hosting of programs critical of Israel was shameful.

Faust was most comfortable in the Jewish communal home where he lived with some 30 other students who pooled their money for groceries and cooked dinner in a kosher kitchen. There was an informal rule that nobody would talk about the Israeli-Hamas war unless they could confirm that everyone in the room wanted to have the conversation.

Faust’s sense of political isolation heightened over the past two months, as classmates erected tents at the pro-Palestinian encampment and called for Columbia to divest from Israel. Some of the protest slogans unnerved him. The chants of “Intifada revolution” brought to mind the hundreds of civilians killed during the second intifada.

Still, when one of his friends invited him to attend a Sabbath service in the encampment, which was led by a group called Jews for Ceasefire, Faust decided to go. As he sat on the campus lawn, surrounded by students in kaffiyehs, singing familiar Friday night Hebrew prayers, he felt immense gratitude to the organizers.

Videos of the Sabbath services captured jubilant students wearing yarmulkes and dancing. But Faust’s joy was quickly tempered. The next day, he saw that an Israeli assistant professor at Columbia’s business school had reposted videos of the services on social media, referring to those who participated as akin to the Jews who supported the Nazi regime.

Faust always knew he wanted his life after college to be filled with Jewish ritual. He even imagined that he might start a side gig leading tours of New York focused on Jewish history. But his struggle to find a politically inclusive Jewish community made him think more deeply about becoming a rabbi.

“The appeal of being a rabbi is you’re part psychologist, researcher, community leader and activist at the same time,” he said.

On Mother’s Day, as senior year sped to a close, Faust went home to Long Island. He submitted his last paper of the year at 5 p.m., went downstairs where his family was hanging out and immediately opened his laptop. He navigated to the portal for rabbinical school applications, while his family members told him to close the computer. It was time to rest.

What Should a College Be?

Julien Roa studied classics at Columbia, and he delighted in the arcane questions that anchored his seminars on ancient literature, poetry and philosophy. Campus social issues he treated with more distance, defining himself as the type of person who could argue any side of an issue.

But some of that intellectual distance dissolved as the intensity of pro-Palestinian protests deepened. Roa, 22, was with friends at a party in Midtown Manhattan on April 30, past midnight, when he got a text from a friend saying protesters were trying to enter Hamilton Hall, a campus building that has been a prominent site for activist occupation over the years. Roa called an Uber and headed uptown to witness a moment he knew would be historically important. He stood by with dozens of classmates until 4 a.m., watching as protesters overtook the building.

When the police removed the occupiers, he struggled to reconcile the university’s response with how proudly it had taught students about the school’s legacy of protest. “Nineteen sixty-eight is plastered all over Columbia’s websites,” Roa said, referring to the anti-Vietnam War protesters who took over Hamilton Hall 56 years ago. “They’ve subsumed it as part of their brand.”

In the weeks since, what has consumed Roa in conversations with friends and professors is the question — still esoteric, but also now deeply personal — of how colleges can live up to their promise of being spaces where students tangle with thorny ideas. After four years of abstract academic deliberating, he is alarmed to see schools quashing dissent, and wants campuses to stay open to free expression.

Roa hopes to find a way to research university decision-making, whether in law school or in his spare time. “Pretty much with every person I’ve spoken to in recent weeks, this is intellectually what’s on my mind.”

Pomp and Unusual Circumstances

In any normal year, graduation week is that liminal space of bliss between final exams and real-world tests. Not this year.

Columbia canceled its main commencement ceremony and moved its Class Day, a long-running tradition celebrating the graduates, off the main campus and uptown to Baker Athletics Complex, which the school said was meant to ensure a smooth event. The university’s president did not attend.

Some graduates crossed the stage wrapped in kaffiyehs and carrying signs that read, “Divest.” Roa held up a graduation cap with a picture of the university president, his way of gesturing that a school leader should show up and face students, especially when confronting acrimony.

At the Jewish Theological Seminary’s graduation, where Faust’s parents and grandmother waited eagerly for his name to be called, students and their families stood to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” They remained standing to sing Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.” Administrators had worried that some students would protest, though none did.

While Faust listened to the speakers reciting prayers for Israel, he felt that now familiar sense of discomfort, though he tried to focus on his family, all abuzz with excitement.

At Radio City Music Hall, Sissoko’s speech was followed by remarks from Barnard’s commencement speaker, Ruth Simmons, a former president of Brown University. Simmons was visibly moved by what she had witnessed in the room. She pledged to match the senior class gift, which supports Barnard initiatives, of $8,100.

“I find myself unduly emotional,” she said through tears. “I will never forget having been here today.”

As soon as Sissoko left the stage, their parents, two sisters, brother and uncle and three childhood friends rushed forward with hugs. Sissoko’s mom had a bouquet of red roses. Sissoko’s middle sister, Kemi, through tears, texted the video of her sibling’s speech to friends. “They were like, ‘Yup, this is what we expected Mariame to do,’” Kemi said laughing.

During their four years at Barnard, Sissoko took classes on politics, speculative literature and women’s health, but they weren’t entirely certain where it all would lead. They had looked into doctoral programs in anthropology, but with ambivalence.

By the time Sissoko was posing for pictures in Radio City Music Hall, they felt confident in their ambition: become a college professor. It was a goal influenced by members of Columbia’s faculty, who had linked arms and surrounded the encampment organizers in a show of protection when the police first arrived.

“Seeing my professors show up for students, it’s like: Yes, I can see myself doing this in 20 or 30 years, for whatever the next world crisis is,” Sissoko said.

And after all the conflicting voices Sissoko absorbed and answered to, even a role as a university administrator seems possible: “I don’t think it’s completely off the table,” they said. “I have a very deep understanding of how universities work now.”

Emma Goldberg is a business reporter covering workplace culture and the ways work is evolving in a time of social and technological change. More about Emma Goldberg

The Campus Protests Over the Gaza War

News and Analysis

​Harvard said that it will no longer take positions on matters outside of the university , accepting the recommendations of a faculty committee that urged the school to reduce its messages on issues of the day.

​Weeks after counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, the university police have made the first arrest related to the attack .

​​A union for academic workers in the University of California system announced that an ongoing strike challenging the system’s handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations would extend to two more campuses , U.C.L.A. and U.C. Davis.

The Battle Over College Speech:  ​University demonstrations over the war in Gaza have reignited the debate over campus speech, and have led to a rethinking of who sets the terms for language in academia .

Making Sense of the Protests:  In the weeks leading up to graduation, our reporter spoke with more than a dozen students at Columbia University and Barnard College about how the campus protests had shaped them .

A Complex Summer:  Many university leaders and officials may be confronting federal investigations, disputes over student discipline  — and the prospect that the protests start all over again in the fall.

A New Litmus Test:  Some Jewish students say their views on Zionism — which are sometimes assumed — have affected their social life on campus .

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