life after college essay

• Essay Samples
• College Essay
• Writing Tools
• Writing guide

↑ Return to College Essay

Life after college – Definition essay

Introduction

In my essay, I define what life after college means to most people based on my experience and some general assumptions. There is a certain feeling amongst most students that their life will be different after they leave college compared to if they entered the working world without going to college. My essay defines the experience most students expect to have after leaving college.

The Qualification

A student leaves college with a qualification. The qualification – whether academic (degree) or vocational (certificate or diploma) usually garners respect. This respect comes from either the wider community (usually for academic qualifications) or from specialists and employers (vocational qualifications). There is also usually respect and a sense of pride and achievement from members of the graduate’s family.

Time to become an adult

Many students believe that being in college extends the amount of time they are not yet part of the adult society. This is because students may continue to live with their parents when they are studying, which means house rules similar to those the student had as a child. Alternatively, a student may live in a college dorm, which too may be considered an extension of childhood because there are a lot of rules in dorm–especially when it comes to adult behavior such as smoking, drugs, sex, parties and drinking. It is therefore not illogical to assume that under these circumstances a student experiences an extended childhood.

Getting a job for a better wage

Life after college should mean that a graduate gets a job that pays more money than someone who didn’t go to college. This is true in many cases, though the current economic climate, a qualification or degree of any kind is no guarantee of a job and no guarantee of a higher wage. There are even arguments that experience counts for more in some industries. In jobs where experience is more important than qualifications, the student with the degree is at a disadvantage.

Having to work after being in extended education

Having to work a full-time job after being in extended education is another aspect that defines life after college. A graduate has to adapt from being in college with a fairly easy-going timetable to being in a job with rigorous timeframes. There may be far fewer opportunities to expand knowledge, and a job may become mundane very quickly. There is also the fact that the person may not have much experience working for a boss or working with coworkers and may struggle in adapting to the working life.

Life after college can be defined as when students become adults, when they learn how to work and fit into a corporate environment and when they may get a better wage than if they were unqualified. None of these definitions are set in stone, as there are so many possibilities open to students when they leave college, but the definition given is the one most expected and most experienced by students, both in college and those who have left college.

Follow Us on Social Media

Get more free essays

Send via email

Most useful resources for students:.

• Free Essays Download
• Writing Tools List
• Proofreading Services
• Universities Rating

Contributors Bio

Find more useful services for students

Free plagiarism check, professional editing, online tutoring, free grammar check.

Navigating Life After College: Tips From a 25-Year-Old

A class of 2017 grad shares his advice for combatting post-graduation anxiety.

Editor's note: The following essay was contributed by Lute Moss, a sales development representative on Handshake's Employer team. To learn more about life as a Handshake SDR, check out this post !

Forget the “Sunday Scaries”—not knowing what comes after graduation can feel like the most nerve-wracking moment of all. Like many graduating students, I had no idea what my future held when I received my diploma only a few years ago.

Getting paid to do what you love doesn’t just magically happen. There are lessons you have to learn. There are obstacles you have to overcome. But guess what? Everything will be okay! How do I know? Well, I’ve gone through the ringer and come out the other side. (Not unscathed of course… but that’s the fun part!) Here are five suggestions, based on lessons I’ve learned, for navigating your way through those first few years after college.

Explore people, places, opportunities, and anything else you deem worthy of exploration. Use the uneasiness of not knowing your path yet to explore as many options as possible. Some people know exactly what they want to do from a young age, but if you’re like me, it’s not always that easy. Use this time as an opportunity to discover your likes, your dislikes, and people you do and don’t enjoy spending time with. It’s a great time to discover areas where you truly excel, and identify other things that you might need to work on.

College is an amazing time in your life. Many people view it as the first time you truly have the ability to make your own decisions. However, I’d argue the first few years out of school is even more freeing. Why? College is structured, while post-grad life is not. You can learn to thrive in this environment by exploring as much as you can, as often as possible.

2. Define what success means for you

Trust me: this is not as straightforward as it sounds. Success means different things for different people. What’s important to you? 50 years from now, who do you want to be?

Before you define what success means for you, consider defining your value system. Knowing your values — a system of principles based on what is most important to you, and what is least important — is critical when understanding what you want out of life. Don’t overestimate the amount of time you have to figure this out; life starts now, and trust me, it goes by fast.

3. Read everything

Read short books. Read long books. Read books about history. Read books about fantasy. Read The Defining Decade by Meg Jay. Read news articles. Choose a random book, from a random bookstore, from a random part of town, and read it.

If I were to give a single piece of advice to any young twenty-something, it would be to get into the habit of reading as often as possible.

It’s hard to read for pleasure when you’re in school because there’s always another assignment waiting in the wings, or a test to study for, or some task to check off some list while working towards your degree. But don’t let the years of school-mandated textbooks distract you from continuing your self-education after college! The more you know, the more you’ll grow.

4. Get off Facebook for a while

While you’re at it, get off Instagram and Snapchat for a while too. Everyone needs an occasional break from social media, and taking that break right after finishing college is the perfect time. Trying to navigate your own life’s challenges and goals as a young professional is difficult enough without spending time looking at your peers’ highlight reels; comparison can hinder your own self-discovery period.

There's no denying that social media is an amazing tool to communicate with the world—it’s how you can build your own digital brand, communicate with potential employers, and more. So if you can’t go cold turkey, simply be mindful of the way you’re using social media. Scrolling through TikTok is fun until you realize you’ve seen the same video four times and wasted hours of your life. (Trust me… I have firsthand experience with this!)

5. Be intentional

The biggest mistake I made coming out of college was not being intentional about what I was doing, or considering why I was doing it. Do you want to own your own business one day? Great! Use Handshake’s network of employers to find somewhere to work that will teach you skills applicable to that goal. How about having a family at some point? Amazing. Now is a great time to start making responsible financial decisions, and thinking about where you might see yourself living in the future.

In your early 20s, you’re not expected to have life all figured out—but that doesn’t mean you can’t be purposeful about what you do. There are many ways to be intentional, but for me it meant writing down goals: yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals. This helped me become purposeful about paving a path for myself to become successful. Setting measurable goals can help motivate you when you wake up every morning. Try it! You might just find that life after college becomes easier to navigate when you do.

Find the right jobs for you. Get hired.

Related stories, most recent stories.

Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

This content is licensed by Khan Academy and is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

• College Life Essay

Anticipated Experiences During Our College Life

College Life is one of the most remarkable and lovable times of an individual's life. Unlike School Life, College Life has a different experience, and a person needs to have this experience in his/her life. College Life exposes us to whole new experiences which we always dream of experiencing after our school life. Lucky are those who get the chance to enjoy their college life, as many people don't get this chance due to their circumstances or financial issues. For every person, College Life has a different meaning. While some people spend their college life partying with friends, others become more cautious about their careers and study hard. Whatever the way, every individual enjoys their college life and always wishes to relive that time once it is over.

College Life Experience: How is it different from School Life?

Both school life and college life is the most memorable time of a person's life, but both of them are quite different from each other. While in School life, we learn everything in a protected environment, College Life exposes us to a new environment where we have to learn new things and face new challenges by ourselves. We spend half of our young lives in school, and thus we get comfortable living in that environment. But College Life is for three years only, where every year introduces new challenges and lessons to us. While in school, our teachers and friends always protect and guard us, in college life we form a relationship with our mentors, and they don't protect us all the time as our school teachers did. 

Unlike school life, we don't have many limitations in college life, and it is up to us how we want to spend our college life. In college life, we see new faces and experience a unique environment in which we have to mingle ourselves. We make new friends there who stay with us for the rest of our lives. Also, we get a chance to shape our careers asking the right decisions and studying hard. College life is not only about the study but also about the overall development of an individual through various activities and challenges.

In College Life, one gets a chance to make their own decisions. In school life, students get an opportunity to be class monitors. In College Life, an individual gets a chance to nominate himself/herself for more prominent positions like College President, Vice President, Secretary, and Vice Secretary. Apart from deciding the course and stream, an individual gets a chance to build his/her confidence by being a part of various societies and events that take place all year.

Different from School Life, College Life has its importance in a person's life, and one should always enjoy his/her college life.

A Bridge Between Our Student and Adult Lives

College life is considered a bridge in our lives between our school days and our career. It prepares us with the finest academics and platform to generate dreams into realities. It acts as a transition to prepare us to be more independent. In school, we were dependent on our parents. However, we became independent in college regarding studying, traveling, decision-making, and financially independent after college. It is a valued and very smooth transition where we do not realize that we have become independent. 

Some Fun Memories from College Life

Firstly, some of the most fun memories of college are “college canteen”. The canteen is supposed to be where most of the students satisfy their hunger and hang out with their friends. 

Secondly, it’s the “annual fest” of the colleges. Fests always filled the student’s life with excitement and buzz. It gave new opportunities to explore, compare, compete and provide a platform to showcase their talent. It became a place where students take lots of pictures and record their experiences. 

Last but not the least, it’s the college trips. One of the best things in college life is field trips where they can go out and have quality time with their friends and teacher and learning experience. Field trips or just any other college trips are filled with stories and dramas. Every student has their own story to tell about their college trips. 

We should enjoy our college days as they cannot be brought back just like our school days. 

The Hardest Part of College Life

As a college student, the hardest part of college life was leaving college after graduation or post-graduation. The last days of college were the hardest, knowing that soon you will be departing your friends, the campus, teachers and completely leaving behind a part of life.  

My College Days Experience

Talking about my college life, I had enjoyed my college life to the fullest and had some of the best college days of my life. I was a student of one of the most reputed colleges of Delhi University and, i.e. Gargi College. I have completed my B.A. (Hons.) in Applied Psychology from there. Gargi College is one of the renowned and best colleges of Delhi University. Built in a larger area, it is a beautiful college with many courses in streams like Science, Commerce, Arts, and Humanities. With an outstanding academic record, it is a girls college.

When I took admission to this college, I was really afraid as all the people were new to me. But soon, I started enjoying my college life and made some fantastic friends. I loved everything about my college and participated in the events at my college. Even I joined the dance society of my college and participated in many dance competitions that occurred in different colleges of Delhi University. 

One of the best things about college life is that you get a new experience every day. In my college life, along with studying, I and my friends enjoyed a lot of other things. We traveled to lots of places, had new experiences, and learned many new things. Our college's canteen was a remarkable place in my college life as whenever we got time, we used to chill in the canteen. 

Another thing I loved about my college life is Annual Fests. Every year, every college of Delhi University organizes an annual fest that lasts for 2-3 days. In this annual fest, various competitions happen, and students from various colleges come to be a part of this annual fest. Every year, our college organizes a massive annual fest and all the students of our college participate in various events and enjoy a lot in this fest. These fests allow students to socialize with new people and showcase their talent to everyone which builds their confidence and helps them in their future. I have participated in my college's annual fest for all three years, and I have got the best exposure and experience of my life through this fest. I had the best time of my life in college, and my college life memories will always make me happy.

Life After College

One fine day, you will be silently smiling with wet eyes, looking at the pictures from your college and old friends, and remembering all the good times you had in your college days. That is the beauty of studying in a college. Despite climbing the ladders of success, you will cherish the memories of your college life.

College Life is a remarkable and essential time in a person's life, and everyone should enjoy it. College Life teaches us many things and builds our confidence to face the challenges and struggles in our future. Instead of just focussing on the study, a person must participate in other activities and socialize as much as possible in his/her college life as all these things help in the overall development of a person.

FAQs on College Life Essay

Q1. What is the difference between college life and school life?

When compared to each other, they both are completely different from each other. College life provides us with different opportunities to explore to nurture our confidence in the outside world. In school, the teacher acts as a monitor whereas, in college, they act like our friends, and not to forget, in college, we face more challenges than we had in our school.

Q2. Explain some of the common memories of college life.

Whenever you hear the word college, the first thing that comes to our mind is “college canteen”. The most beloved place for every student was to feed their empty stomach, spend time with friends, and create thousands of memories. Another most common memory is of the annual fest that bought buzz in every student’s life.

Q3. Why are colleges necessary?

When we go to school, they ensure that we have common educational knowledge. Whereas in college, we get specialization in a particular field we want to pursue as our career. That’s the reason our school friends get scattered in various colleges to make their dreams a reality and open better career options.

Q4. Which two things need to be focused on the most in college?

The two most important things in college are the Grade Point Average (GPA) and your participation in other co-curricular activities.

How to Plan for a Future After College

In this article, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Expert Meaghan shares tips for how students can take steps to plan for a future after college. For more guidance on planning for the future and the college application process in general,  sign up to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.

Life After College

As a high school student, you might feel like everything has been leading up to the college process. And, in a way, it has. However, as you enter the college process, don’t view college as the finish line. It’s a new beginning.

The college application process is actually a great time to start thinking about your life after college. As you develop your college essays and build your candidate profile, you’ll consider your broader story. In other words, who you are and what has influenced you. You’ll reflect on your values and decide who you want to be as an individual and as a community member. All of these things are just as important—if not more so—than the school you attend.

There are many ways to explore your interests and define your values. Identifying what you enjoy doing and learning about will help you determine your goals and how you can achieve them.

As you grow and try new things, you may pivot, and that’s okay! You don’t need to know everything about your future right now. However, exploring, planning, and goal-setting can help clarify your vision.

Explore Your Interests

We’ve all been asked the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Usually, the answer is something that you’re good at or something that you enjoy, and ideally, it’s both. Sometimes the answer is not so easy. Thankfully, there are many different ways to explore your interests and passions that can help shape your plan.

Academic Coursework

Think about the classes that you’ve taken throughout high school. Did you gravitate more to STEM or social sciences? Did you love your music and art electives, or were you more excited about your computer programming elective?

The classes that you enjoyed most can be an eye-opener to what you might want to pursue in the future. Use your junior and senior years of high school to take higher-level courses in your favorite subjects (AP, IB, Honors). Take advantage of exciting electives that your school might offer. In addition, check with your guidance counselor to see if you can pursue dual-degree classes at your local college or community college.

Your academic interests can also help you better understand how you view your role in the world beyond the classroom. For example, if you love history, ask yourself why that is. Do you have a passion for helping people’s stories be told? Do you want to learn from the past such that we can bring those lessons to the future?

Most students won’t ultimately spend their lives in classrooms. Classes—in both college and high school—teach us practical skills. They also teach us how to exist in a community with one another. As you develop your interests, keep an eye on how these interests inform your relationship to the world around you.

The workplace is changing, and many of today’s jobs—particularly in science and technology—did not exist twenty years ago. As a high school student, you don’t need to know exactly what you want to do as an adult. Instead, use this time to pay attention to the ideas, relationships, and spaces that engage you. Find your passions, and follow them—they might surprise you!

Extracurricular Activities

Once you’ve narrowed down your general interests, you can further explore them through extracurricular activities. For example, if sports are your thing, you might want to join an athletic team or volunteer as a team manager. Maybe you love STEM classes but want to explore engineering. Join an engineering club or pursue research. It is a great way to learn more about what a future in that field would look like. Perhaps education is your passion and you love working with kids—there are many volunteer and part-time job opportunities out there when it comes to tutoring, camp counseling, and babysitting.

Extracurricular activities also allow you to function as an individual in a less structured setting. While leadership roles might look good on college applications, these roles are made more valuable for the interpersonal skills that they help you develop. Don’t view your extracurriculars as a means to an end; instead, use them to greater understand the kind of person you want to be.

Get Experience for After College

The best way to solidify your interests is through experience. By undertaking internships and work positions, you’ll get a taste of adult life. These opportunities will also help you learn about the roles you might want to pursue after college.

Internship/Externship

An externship is a short-term experience that provides you the opportunity to shadow a professional in their day-to-day work and ask them questions about their job. This is a great way to get a better understanding of different career paths in an informal setting with a low time commitment.

An internship consists of meaningful and practical work experience that gives you a taste of a career in a particular field. In high school, internships typically occur during the summer. However, you can check with your guidance counselor to see if your school offers credit for internships during the school year. Hands-on experience in a field that interests you can help you determine whether you want to seek additional opportunities in that area.

When having these experiences, be sure to ask questions that will help you determine if you can see yourself working in that field. Think about what level of education is needed for the job, what major people in that particular field typically study in college, what excites them most about the job, and what they like least about the job.

If you choose to intern, keep in mind that every workplace is different. Use these opportunities to develop your career skills as well as your interpersonal skills.

Whether you are interested in STEM, the social sciences, or anything in between, research is a great experience to have before heading off to college. Check out your local college to see if there are research opportunities available for high school students. By performing research, you will gain deep expertise in a topic while also learning research skills and methodology. This will be very valuable when you write papers in college or pursue research in the future. If there are no local opportunities, don’t be afraid to reach out to professors who are conducting research on a topic you are interested in and see if you can connect virtually.

Volunteering

Volunteering is a great way to support your local community while also gaining experience. For example, if you are interested in the environment and sustainability, you can help out with beach cleanups and food recovery. Not only will this help you obtain a deeper understanding of the different facets of environmental sciences, but you will also be providing an important service that has widespread benefits. You can find many different volunteer opportunities for a range of fields both through your high school and by searching externally.

Above all, if you choose to volunteer, do so because you  genuinely want to . Don’t use volunteer opportunities to pad your college applications, and be wary of entering into other people’s communities.

Align Interests to Potential Careers

Once you have a better understanding of what subjects and activities you enjoy, it’s time to identify different careers that align with your interests. Remember that there are many possibilities available, so consider various options before narrowing them down further.

Though colleges ask applicants to present a cohesive application narrative, this does not mean that you need to decide your career at age 18. As stated, college should be a beginning rather than an ending. Think about who you are, what interests you, and what you value. Use this to inform your career and life goals.

Life After College: Final Thoughts

Finally, as you plan your future, remember to keep an open mind. For example, you may find yourself being excited about a new field of study once you’ve started college, and that’s totally fine! It’s never too late to try something new, and you can always change your major or modify your plan.

This informational essay was written by  Meaghan Gee , Cornell ‘19. If you want to get help with planning your future from Meaghan or other  CollegeAdvisor.com  Admissions Experts ,  register with CollegeAdvisor.com today .

Personalized and effective college advising for high school students.

• Advisor Application
• Popular Colleges
• Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice
• Student Login
• California Privacy Notice
• Terms and Conditions
• Your Privacy Choices

By using the College Advisor site and/or working with College Advisor, you agree to our updated Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy , including an arbitration clause that covers any disputes relating to our policies and your use of our products and services.

Login or sign up to be automatically entered into our next $10,000 scholarship giveaway

Get Started

• College Search
• College Search Map
• Graduate Programs
• Featured Colleges
• Scholarship Search
• Lists & Rankings
• User Resources

Articles & Advice

• All Categories
• Ask the Experts
• Campus Visits
• Catholic Colleges and Universities
• Christian Colleges and Universities
• College Admission
• College Athletics
• College Diversity
• Counselors and Consultants
• Education and Teaching
• Financial Aid
• Graduate School
• Health and Medicine
• International Students
• Internships and Careers
• Majors and Academics
• Performing and Visual Arts
• Public Colleges and Universities
• Science and Engineering
• Student Life
• Transfer Students
• Why CollegeXpress
• $10,000 Scholarship
• CollegeXpress Store
• Corporate Website
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• CA and EU Privacy Policy

Articles & Advice > Student Life > Articles

10 Ways to Prepare Now for a Great Life After College

There are many things you can do during college to build a great foundation for career success and life after graduation. Here are 10 steps to get started!

by Leon Collier Blogger and Academic Writer

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2023

Originally Posted: Apr 30, 2021

While college students have the freedom to manage their time a little more loosely, procrastination is a common affliction that affects most students, and sometimes you lose track of your goals. But prioritizing your schoolwork, skills, and knowledge creates a great foundation for your future career and postgrad success. These 10 tips can help you prepare well and plan for life after your college education.

1. Actively look for a job

The more you apply for appropriate job opportunities, the better chance you’ll have to be employed as soon as possible after graduation. Job boards, social media, and network referrals are some of the ways you can find career opportunities. Frustration may build if you’re applying for jobs and you don’t get an interview, especially during a time when so many others are looking for employment. You might want to stop, but the secret is to never give up. Always work to improve your résumé and ensure that you’ve listed relevant skills mentioned in each job post. Tailoring your application to every opportunity you find could make a world of difference to your job search success.  

Related: Job Search Advice for the Coronavirus Crisis  

2. Take on internships

As much as organizations need vibrant and youthful employees, they require people who demonstrate that they have the skills to do the job. Having internships in college will give you hands-on experience and the confidence to handle assignments and deadlines. If you’re an underclassman, you don’t have to wait until you graduate to start building your job experience . Long breaks and periods when you have fewer classes are the perfect time to take on internships.

3. Build your network

Active networking has a lot of benefits for career growth. When you surround yourself withpeople who have the same interests and goals as you, you’ll get new ideas, career support, job referrals, professional advice, and long-lasting personal relationships. Your network can be made up of professors, advisors, friends, family members, coworkers, or new people you interact with every day. Building a good reputation with these people and being a regular contributor in group settings will help you reap the maximum benefits of your network.

Related: How to Use Your College Network to Land a Job  

4. Find a mentor

Every successful professional has someone to look up to as a mentor or role model—someone who inspires them to reach greater heights. A mentor will guide you through your career and entrepreneurial journey by providing you with advice and encouragement and improving your overall life. Remember that a mentor should not do it for material gain; instead, they should be driven by the urge to help others succeed and want to share their success stories with you.

5. Stick to a budget

Even if you’re still in college, you need a way to manage your finances every day. Coming up with a financial plan can be a daunting task, but the trick is figuring out one that works for you by making adjustments until you’re satisfied. By creating and sticking to a budget , you’ll be able to track your income, identify situations where you’re spending the most money, cut the unnecessary spending, and funnel the extra cash into your goals and savings. But remember, a financial plan is not a fixed blueprint—it should be reviewed regularly and updated according to your lifestyle and changing circumstances. 

Related: Budgeting Basics for College Students, Plus Example Spreadsheet  

6. Refine your social media profiles and posts

LinkedIn is afoundation for personal branding. You should build a LinkedIn profile that strongly describes your professional skills and experiences to potential employers. A good account will have a professional profile picture, relevant skills, an eye-catching headline, and relevant highlighted job experiences. While you’re at it, polish your other social media networks too, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Get rid of things that you wouldn’t want employers to see. It’s normal to have fun, but you need to protect your professional image online.

7. Service your loans

You may have sought financial assistance in the form of student loans to help finance your college costs. Help yourself out with those by boosting your pocket money now with a small business project or part-time job. There’s no secret formula to paying off your loans, but you can make financial sacrifices, stick to your budget, look for side hustles, and stay motivated to enjoy the power of living a debt-free life as soon as possible. Fast loan servicing means that you pay more than the minimum payment required every month, so be sure to factor that into your postgrad budget.

Related: 8 Ways to Pay Off Student Loans Faster and Save Money  

8. Follow your interests

Your interests are the most vital aspects of your career success. Take time to research what you love most and would enjoy doing every day concerning your field of study. While there are numerous factors that will influence you to drift away from your interests and career development , the most valuable thing is never losing focus until you see the results you seek. You should never choose a career based on salary, people’s influence, or prestige, as it may lead to dissatisfaction and job disqualification.

9. Have a clear plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail—it’s that simple. While you’re in college, you should create an outline of the path you wish your career to follow. This plan will help you see how far you progress in achieving your set goals and how far you still have to go. Map out how you’ll acquire job skills, manage class time and free time, and navigate the postgrad job search . This road map will motivate you to work harder and accomplish your life goals within a shorter period.

10. Prepare for your next step

If you’re still in college, preparing well for exams and avoiding last-minute cramming should also be part of your success plan. Schedule study time and make outlines with key points to help you comprehend what you need to pass your exams and ace your courses. For those about to enter the real world, putting your practical skills to use is vital to boosting your employment chances. Get as much hands-on experience as possible, whether it’s through part-time work, internships, or volunteering. And before any job interview, be sure to familiarize yourself well with your résumé, practice common interview questions , and research the hiring company. 

Related: 4 Great Ways to Start Thinking About Your Future Career

If you’re graduating this year and have put off some of these tasks, it’s not too late to get on track. Taking these steps will no doubt lead to a promising future, but it’s also crucial to relax, hang out with friends, and have fun to remedy stress. By finding a good balance between your educational, professional, and social activities, you’ll have the best job search experience and be ready to conquer the real world. Good luck!

Looking for an internship or your first postgrad job? Check out all the advice in our Internships and Careers section.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Tags: adulting careers life after college postgrad student life

Join our community of over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Josiah Kegg

High School Class of 2021

I want to sincerely thank you all for this amazing website that's legitimately helped me find so many different scholarship opportunities. I've been stressing out for the longest time about paying for college since I would rather stay out of debt and have been working days trying to find any scholarship opportunity. When I found CollegeXpress, I discovered many easy scholarships that have given me hope for the future. Thank you and God bless!

Jeannie Borin, MEd

President and Founder, College Connections

I frequently visit CollegeXpress to answer questions from students and parents. There are countless hot topics in admissions that need to be addressed. I enjoy reading what my colleagues post and gain additional insight from different perspectives.

High School Class of 2022

I never would have found the college I plan on attending without CollegeXpress! I've always been a person of ambition and have been dreaming of studying and working on my passion for law, legal studies, and political science. Washington College is where I plan on pursuing my career. My journey with my education has been difficult, and oftentimes, I was told I would never amount to much, but now I'm dual enrolled at Caroll Community College and have had experience in the fields I am dedicated to. Without the help of CollegeXpress (even in its early days), I would never have found Washington College and the information I need to apply and become a part of their community.

Yuhlani Patterson

High School Student

CollegeXpress has helped me find so many scholarships that fit me. They match me to colleges I have specific interest in to make searching for colleges way easier and more efficient. CollegeXpress refers me to schools that have my major of interest and backup schools if I want to change my mind. CollegeXpress also gives out their own scholarships, so you have even more of a chance at gaining multiple scholarships. This website has helped me de-stress from the pressure of not being able to afford college, [of finding] what schools are right for me, and how to find easy access to scholarships that most people never knew existed.

Joseph Johnsly

It's an honor for me to be writing to share a little about my experience with CollegeXpress. I've been using CollegeXpress for about a year now, and the reason why I chose it is because it provides astonishing scholarships for every student around the globe. Besides that, this organization dispenses all the information necessary to help students get to college. CollegeXpress has helped me have an easier experience with applying to colleges and choosing the best fit for myself.

•   Our Best Advice for Managing and Saving Your Money as a Student
•   5 Unhealthy Money Habits to Avoid Developing in College
•   Looking to the Future: How to Prepare Now for a Better Life After College

Colleges You May Be Interested In

Washington College

Chestertown, MD

Meredith College

Raleigh, NC

Oklahoma State University

Stillwater, OK

The Ohio State University

Columbus, OH

New England Institute of Technology

East Greenwich, RI

Personalize your experience on CollegeXpress.

With this information, we'll display content relevant to your interests. By subscribing, you agree to receive CollegeXpress emails and to make your information available to colleges, scholarship programs, and other companies that have relevant/related offers.

Already have an account?

Log in to be directly connected to

Not a CollegeXpress user?

Don't want to register.

Provide your information below to connect with

Home — Essay Samples — Education — Graduation — Life After University: What I Want to Do After Graduation

What to Do after Graduation from University

• Categories: Graduation Life Goals

About this sample

Words: 485 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 485 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

• A gap year.
• Studying a master’s degree in abroad.
• Travelling Asian countries after master.
• Do an internship for good job.
• Getting a job.

Works Cited:

• American Association of University Women. (2017). The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap. https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/simple-truth/
• Ahmed, L. (1992). Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. Yale University Press.
• Khan, F. (2019). Hijab and Muslim Women's Dress: Beyond the Headscarf. Routledge.
• MeToo. (n.d.). Home. https://metoomvmt.org/
• National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2021). Sexual Harassment Statistics. https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics
• United Nations Development Programme. (2019). Gender Inequality Index. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
• United Nations Women. (n.d.). Empowering Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/empowering-women

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Heisenberg

Verified writer

• Expert in: Education Life

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 787 words

5 pages / 2074 words

1 pages / 548 words

2 pages / 824 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Graduation

How do you think this graduate degree can help you achieve your career goals? This essay explores the symbiotic relationship between pursuing a graduate degree and achieving one's career aspirations. A graduate degree holds [...]

Prom night, a rite of passage for high school students, holds a unique significance in the American cultural landscape. It symbolizes a blend of tradition, expectations, and realities that shape the teenage experience. This [...]

As I approach the end of my college journey, one question looms large in my mind: What's my plan after graduation? This is a question that many college students grapple with as they near the end of their academic careers. In [...]

Prom, a highly anticipated event in the lives of high school students, not only serves as a celebratory occasion but also plays a significant role in shaping adolescent development. This essay explores the psychological and [...]

There are serious objections whether or not the federal government’s efforts to raise graduations rates are working. Throughout the years federal government have been trying to raise graduation rates. Some may ask whether or not [...]

Prom. The very word brings giggles and butterflies to millions of high school students. It seems to be a source of hope or a light at the end of the tunnel, many endlessly fantasize how and with whom they will spend this magical [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 177 college essay examples for 11 schools + expert analysis.

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

7 Things No One Tells You About Life After College

Does life get better after college? Here are 7 things you need to know about life after college that no one tells you.

Life does get better after college. Graduating college is merely the beginning of your life and there are many opportunities for you to find success in your life after college. If you are worried about what life will be like after college, I’ll be sharing these 7 honest truths about life after college.

*This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing a product or service through an affiliate will earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. Please read our Disclaimer Policy for more information about the use of affiliate links on this site.

Life after college isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible either

The transition from college to adulthood can be quite a shock.

It’s no surprise, though, that after being in school for the past 20-ish years you’re used to the structure and the grind of learning something new, getting assessed on it, and going through the motions of moving up one grade-level at a time.

But now that college graduation is nearing, you are now being thrusted into the world of adulthood that’s full of uncertainty.

For some soon-to-be college graduates, the thought of life after college can be relieving. No more homework, no more tests, and no more teachers or professors controlling and sucking all the happiness from you.

But for others, life after college is frightening. There’s no true guide or manual to adulthood. You practically get handed a huge blank canvas and are told to paint whatever you want on it.

With all the uncertainty that comes with life after college, I am here to give you the inside scoop of what life after college graduation is really like: here are 7 things you need to know about life after college that no one tells you.

Life does get easier after college

The structure of school for the past 20 years has provided you a safe and consistent routine.

Get up, get dressed, go to school, do homework, eat, shower, and sleep–rinse and repeat–it’s a routine you can probably do blindfolded after being spun around 5 times.

However, once you graduate college, you’ll be surprised (if you haven’t recognized it already) how soul-sucking of a routine it is to go to school all day, do homework all night, and be expected to function day after day for 20 so years.

With that in mind–life after college is actually easier. Here’s how it gets easier…

Your success is no longer driven by letters

Grades in school are the absolute worse, especially if you’re wildly driven to succeed, study hard, and still do not get the grade you worked hard for. For some college students, grades can be anxiety-provoking and one bad grade can ruin their confidence.

Luckily, life after college means no more grades. And having no more grades can be so freeing. Now instead of grades, you’re working towards a paycheck, which can buy and get you a lot more than just an A+ written in red ink on your test ever could.

You get to pivot as much as you want

College places you in a weird situation where if you don’t settle on a college major, you’re going to be stuck in college way longer than you anticipated and spending more money just trying to find your pathway to a fulfilling degree.

However, if you do “settled” down with a major and want to change it later… well good luck graduating on-time.

Your life after college lets you pivot as much as you want.

You can literally start something and stop something whenever you want to and you can continue to progress through life.

New opportunities will always be right around the corner, as long as you seek them out, and there’s a lot of different pathways to success. In college, there’s only one pathway to success–passing one class at a time.

Money buys you happiness comfort

You’ve probably been told time and time again that money does not buy you happiness.

And while in some cases, money cannot buy you happiness–like working an extremely stressful job that pays well–in most cases, money does buy you happiness. But even more-so, money buys you comfort.

Having the money and knowing you have the money to pay for rent, groceries, gas, clothes, and non-essentials lifts a huge weight off of your shoulders.

However, many soon-to-be college graduates struggle with the thought of and making an action plan to start paying off their student loan debt.

According to Nerd Wallet , in 2018, the average student loan debt per student was $29,200. Knowing that you have to pay off that money, plus pay for your basic needs, can be overwhelming especially if you do not have a job lined up after college.

Here are a few things you can do before graduating to help ease your worried mind about student loan debt:

• Start building an emergency fund in college–begin with the goal of saving up $1000 and then go for a 3-month and then a 6-month emergency fund.
• Learn how to be more frugal with your money –like not buying a Starbucks coffee every morning, only buying things you absolutely need or buying second hand.
• Go to job fairs , be intentional with who you interact with, and make sure to follow up with the recruiter after the job fair.
• Get a part-time job and allocate 5-15% of each paycheck to help you pay off your student loans–every penny counts.
• Open up a savings account, like Qapital , that allows you to round up your purchases to the next dollar and use those round-ups to help you pay off your student loan debt.
• Do a deep cleaning of your college apartment and sell the items you won’t need post-graduation. You can use websites like eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark or even Facebook Marketplace to easily sell, advertise your listings, and communicate with potential buyers.

No one cares about your GPA after college

So you know GPA you worked your butt off for in college?

It doesn’t even matter after you walk across the stage at graduation.

Literally, no one in the real world or the workforce cares that you got an A+ in your organic chemistry class or if you got a C in statistics.

And no one goes around at parties using their GPA as an icebreaker.

Really all that truly matters is that you got the degree and, most importantly, that you can accurately apply the skills you learned in college.

Now if you are going for a Master’s Degree, Ph.D., medical degree, law degree, etc. your GPA does matter a whole bunch, so keep up the good work! But take what I’m saying into perspective though.

Of course, your GPA isn’t something you shouldn’t care about while you are in college. And I’m not telling you to do just the minimum in your classes. You pay good money for your classes, so make the most out of your education and strive to always do your best.

What I really mean is: your GPA does not necessarily guarantee you will be successful in life after college.

In other words, getting a 4.0 GPA doesn’t automatically result in you getting a 6-figure job out of college.

If it did, everyone and their mom would be striving for a 4.0 GPA. But do you know what could potentially result in a 6-figure salary after graduation?

Your experience and skills you have acquired during college.

So essentially if you are debating between a unique internship experience versus taking a few summer college classes to graduate early, take the internship!

That internship will look way better on your resume, you’ll be able to network with people in the industry, and potentially have a job lined up after graduating college.

And that’s a million times better than graduating early or stressing out about a B- on your last test.

You will lose touch with friends

Unfortunately, some of the friendships you made during college will dwindle once you graduate college.

You may slowly find yourself not speaking much to your sorority sisters post-college graduation or not reaching out to your previous roommates except for a few times a year on their birthday or around the holidays.

And it’s not because those friendships didn’t mean anything, they meant a lot to you at the time, but when you graduate college your priorities change.

No longer are you worried about studying for the next test or trying to see who wants to grab lunch with you on campus before your next class.

Now your focus is on being in the workforce and creating a future for yourself whether that means starting your own business, starting your own family, or even moving across the country for a brand new job opportunity.

You may also like: 9 Steps You Can Take To Prepare Yourself For Life After College

Your friendships will naturally grow apart and you will find yourself keeping up with your friends from college from afar on social media like Instagram and Facebook. And this is all perfectly normal.

You will make new friends in your current stage of life and you will find comfort in the people who mean the most to you like your significant other, siblings, parents/guardians, and those one or two best friends from college or childhood.

Nowadays, two years post-college graduation, I rarely speak to any of my sorority sisters. Occasionally I will text my sorority littles , but it may be months before we catch up again. Instead, I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend, my twin sister, and my parents. And honestly, I’m content with that.

• You will always feel behind

One of the hardest parts about life after college is that you will constantly feeling like where you are in life isn’t good enough.

With social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and LinkedIn, it is easy to feel like where you are in life currently is 10 steps back from where everyone else is.

For example, you may feel angered seeing all your sorority sisters getting engaged, but you are still single and continuing to swipe right day in and day out.

Or, you may feel discouraged about the new job that you got at Target as a cashier, but everyone else on your Facebook feed is getting these sophisticated job titles at large cooperations.

It is normal to feel behind in life and honestly, everyone feels that way.

There will always be someone 10 steps ahead of you no matter what. But what is most important is that you find ways to be content about your life currently and take the necessary actions to mold your future into the way you want it to be.

How do you become more satisfied with your life? Here are some quick tips :

• Keep a gratitude journal like the Five-Minute Journal or simply keep a blank journal to jot down 2-5 things you are grateful for every morning.
• Start and end your day by focusing on yourself and your life by staying off social media the first hour you wake up and the hour before you go to bed.
• Reflect on your accomplishments and achievements. Those didn’t happen overnight, you made them happen. So take some time to reflect and write down your accomplishments and achievements. Save this list on your computer or in a journal and read it when you feel down about yourself. You can even use this list to help you create a resume or cover letter.
• Remind yourself that everyone is on their own journey and that there are probably other people in your life that wish they were you.
• Find or start a fulfilling hobby or side-hustle to fill up the time you would be spending on social media. And if you can monetize it or scale it up, even better!

It’s ok to not love your very first or second job after college

Many college graduates or soon-to-be college graduates get caught up trying to find the perfect first job out of college. But the truth is, the chances of you finding the perfect job out of college that you will be with until the day you retire is very slim.

You will most likely switch jobs many times before you find the job you want to stick with for the rest of your life.

Related: Adulting 101: How to Quit Your Job

And that’s ok because working the same job for 40 years would not allow you to grow as much or gain as many skills versus having three or more jobs throughout your lifetime.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , on average, a person will change their job 12 times within a lifetime. With half of those jobs being held between the ages of 18 to 24.

It’s ok to start your first job out of college and quit it within the first year.

Your first job out of college doesn’t have to be a long-term thing. You can pivot as soon as you see the red flags, and trust me, it is more worth it to quit a job to save your sanity and mental health than to struggle day-to-day to get up for a soul-crushing job.

Routines and systems are the keys to success

For you to be successful in your life after college, it is important for you to create sustainable routines and systems for yourself.

Having systems and routines in place such as…

• A morning routine
• An after-work routine
• A night routine
• A system to pay your monthly bills
• A system when you go grocery shopping
• A system to clean your home

Will help you keep your life more organized, productive, and manageable, especially when you are having a busier week.

I remember after graduating from college, I started my first job out of college as a vision therapist and moved into my first apartment with my boyfriend. And I felt completely overwhelmed by EVERYTHING.

Related: How to Use the Pomodoro Method to Boost Your Productivity

I would stay up at night thinking and feeling completely stressed out about how I would get rent paid, the laundry cleaned and put away, and when I would have time to go grocery shopping.

And I was a complete mental wreck the first two to three months of moving out of my parent’s house.

I ended up, over time, creating routines and systems for myself so I now have a plan to do laundry every weekend, to pay my bills on the 15th and 30th of each month, and to go grocery shopping bi-weekly every Saturday after I go for my morning run .

So if you are feeling overwhelmed by all the things you have to do when you start your life after college, start by setting aside just 5-minutes a day to do laundry or clean the dishes.

Then decide on a day when you will pay your bills.

If you are paid bi-weekly, plan to tackle your bills twice a month the day you get paid. And go from there. Soon you’ll be a pro at keeping your life together 99.9% of the time.

Concluding thoughts on life after college

There are a lot of unknowns about life after college. And there’s a lot that people won’t tell you about what it is really like after college.

In this blog post, we discussed 7 things no one tells you about life after college.

• Life gets easier after college
• Money buys you comfort more than happiness
• No one cares about your GPA after college, so don’t stress too much about it
• You will lose touch with your friends from college, but make new ones or get closer to the friends you still have
• It’s ok to not love your first or second job out of college
• Having routines and systems are the key to success

Related posts to life after college

• 20 Things You Should Know How To Do By Your 20s
• Adulting 101: How To Quit Your Job
• How To Stop Spending Money And Start Saving Money
• How To Build An Emergency Fund
• How To Make Friends After You Graduate College

Save this blog post to read or refer back to later by clicking the Pinterest share button below this image.

Thanks for reading about what to expect after you graduate college.

Similar posts.

Check Out These Businesses You Can Start as a Teen

How to Use the Pomodoro Method to Boost Your Productivity

19 Signs It’s Time to Move Out of Your Parent’s House

How Starting a SaaS Business Can Be Your Next Step After College

A Guide for College Graduates Starting a Restaurant

15 Useful Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas For Young Adults (2023)

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Letter of Recommendation

What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

Graduating Seniors Reflect on a College Experience That Began in Isolation

I f you ask the class of 2024, they will tell you: college was nothing like the movies made it out to be. 

It was during some of the hardest days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that they said goodbye to their high school classmates at social-distanced graduations before embarking to college—on Zoom.

Even after they were able to move into dorm rooms and attend classes in lecture halls, many say that the impact of a virtual freshman year still lingered. “There's a pretty stark difference in the graduating class of ‘24 and the classes that were before us and the ones that are after us,” says Dylan Blackett, a neuroscience major at Pomona College. “We’re a little more closed off, a little more insular.”

In their final weeks of college, as pro-Palestinian protests have rocked more than 100 campuses across the country, many are finding their schools at the center of national attention and their college experience disrupted once again as graduation approaches. “Right now, I believe that doing the right thing means covering what's happening,” says Taylor Contarino, a senior at University of Southern California (USC) who has been forgoing the typical graduation celebrations to cover campus protests as a student journalist. “If [the choice is] covering a protest that will go down in history one day or drinking a gin and tonic at the bar— I know which one I’m picking.”

TIME spoke with graduating seniors as they reflected on their unique college experience—and the lessons they hope to carry forward. The following interviews have been lightly edited and condensed.

Fatima Usman is majoring in elementary education at DePaul University. Usman felt that adjusting to campus without events like orientation to ease the transition made the change more of a challenge. 

“I can't help but be a little bit bitter towards the freshmen because I look at them and I see how easy it is for them. But when I came [on campus] in the middle of sophomore year, I had to start fresh. There were no events for us [to transition into college]. It was just alright, let's pretend as if that never happened. I was 20 taking baby steps into this new world.” 

Dylan Blackett is a neuroscience major at Pomona College. Like many people, he was forced to go through the grieving process remotely during the pandemic.

“I had this friend who I met virtually, also a freshman, and we had been lab partners both semesters. At the end of my spring semester, she was in a car accident. I got an email from my school saying that she passed away.

It was honestly so shocking. And it was really weird because, had I ever met this person in real life? No. I knew her through a screen. 

There was so much loss during that time and I think that for so many people including myself, that loss and that grief had to be dealt with alone. “

Isaac Yu is an American Studies major at Yale University. When he took on a leadership position in the student newspaper, he was tasked with keeping old traditions alive without knowing what they were.

“We lost a lot of institutional memory—there's traditions that just don't happen anymore. The group of people that initiated me [into the Yale Daily News ] had not had a regular initiation because of COVID and then the year after that I was the one doing the initiation, but I felt like I was pretending like I knew what was going on. I taught a lot of first-years how to fold a newspaper hat because they did it on Gilmore Girls —no one taught me how to do that.

We realized we were going to have to decide what this tradition looks like for us now. There’s no way to stick to what used to be because we don’t have memories of it.”

Victoria Caputo is a communications studies major at the University of Miami. While she didn’t have the college experience she once built up in her head, the pandemic led her down a new path.

“I'm from a small town where everybody would join a sorority. My plan was to just get my degree and be a teacher. I rushed in the fall of my freshman year at Quinnipiac, and I was initiated into Alpha Chi Omega. Everything was virtual.

Almost all of my classes were online [at Quinnipiac], so I didn't get the campus experience. I decided to transfer after my first year to the University of Miami because some of my friends went to school in Florida and they weren't as strict. They didn’t have my [sorority] chapter here, and I wasn't allowed to re-rush because I was already initiated into another one. It changed my perspective on my education and my extracurriculars a lot. I joined the cheerleading club, the pre-law fraternity. I assisted in implementing the Italian Student Association. I'm a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. I joined the debate team, which I could have never pictured myself on.  Now I'm going to law school. 

A lot of students who were like me in high school never really utilize or take advantage of all the opportunities in college. Although COVID threw off my plan of staying close to home, being in a sorority, I got to experience a new city and meet people from all over the world and join new organizations that I really never would have.”

Alyssa Vazquez studied strategic communications at the University of Houston. As the first in her family to go to college, Vazquez says navigating the transition to college virtually was especially tough.

“Everyone obviously has a certain vision in mind of how college is going to be. I would say I only got like 25% of that vision.

I remember right before I started classes in early August, I was so nervous. I'm a first generation [college] student, so there was no one that I could lean on. Where do I go? How do I access these resources? Who do I talk to? 

It was even worse, I would say, compared to if I was actually going in person. I was just 10 times more stressed out and in a way lonely.” 

Ezra Snell is a sociology major at Jackson State University. Living in a dorm during lockdown was an isolating experience, he says, but it gave him an opportunity to slow down and reflect.

“It almost feels like I had three years of college instead of four. My freshman year was so drastically different, and who I was as a person was so drastically different. I was completely alone. But I never really gave up hope that things could change. I accomplished a lot of things I wanted to do in college later on. A lot of things were delayed but not denied. 

Trying to reinvent yourself as an 18-year-old can come with some dumb decisions. I didn’t have the opportunity to make some of the dumb decisions I would have if we weren't under lockdown. I appreciate that. I was able to establish who I wanted to be.”

Maggie Wong is majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics at Bowdoin College. In fall of 2020, her classroom looked a little different than she expected.

“Most of my first year was remote, except for one class. It was our first-year seminar and I had class on the bleachers of a football field which was quite unique. And then when it got colder, we had class in a locker room. It was newly renovated, but still. 

During my first year, I had not been to any of the classrooms. So when I was a sophomore, I still felt like a first-year. I would use Google Maps every now and then just to make sure I was getting to the right place.”

Reuben Laryea is a neuroscience major at Christopher Newport University. A pre-med student battling pandemic boredom, he joined the frontlines as an EMT before beginning college.

“During [the pandemic], physicians and first responders were at the frontlines. I knew I wanted to be a physician, but I felt really helpless. I decided to get my certification and become an EMT. 

When I moved to college, I joined a different fire station closer to my school, and I just served as much as I possibly could. It was really just trying to give back and be helpful during that whole time.”

Taylor Contarino is a journalism major at the University of Southern California, where, amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, administration recently moved to cancel graduation after students protested the cancellation of Muslim student Asna Tabassum’s valedictorian speech. (The university said it canceled the ceremony due to “substantial risks relating to security and disruption.”) From beginning to end, Contarino says her college experience has been a lesson in looking at the bigger picture.

“I will have another untraditional graduation ceremony. But I think what I have to remember is that there are bigger things going on in the world. On the other side of the world, people are dying. I’m trying to find a way to celebrate, but still be mindful and self-aware. How do I celebrate the biggest thing that's ever happened to me while [it feels like] the world is burning? I don’t know. 

It’s true that [my class] has been through a lot. We’re strong enough to handle it all. And we are strong enough to realize that there are bigger things going on in the world than just what we’re facing right now in our lives.”

More Must-Reads from TIME

• The New Face of Doctor Who
• Putin’s Enemies Are Struggling to Unite
• Women Say They Were Pressured Into Long-Term Birth Control
• Scientists Are Finding Out Just How Toxic Your Stuff Is
• Boredom Makes Us Human
• John Mulaney Has What Late Night Needs
• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Simmone Shah at [email protected]

• Get Alma in Your Inbox

What Does It Feel Like To Be Jewish on Campus Right Now?

Nine jewish students, representing a wide range of perspectives, tell us how they've experienced this moment of campus protests surrounding the israel-hamas war..

For the students witnessing the protests, participating in the protests (or counter-protests), talking about the protests with friends and in classes, feeling fearful of the protests, feeling empowered by the protests, or simply trying to study for finals while all this happens around them, this moment is not just something to study in text books or pontificate about over coffee and the newspaper. This is their lived realities.

As a publication and online community that aims to highlight and amplify a diversity of young Jewish voices, we wanted to hear directly from people who were living on college campuses during this time.

And so, last week we put out a call on our platform asking students: What does it feel like to be Jewish on campus right now? 

And wow, did we get responses! We anticipated receiving a few essays, and thought we might publish a handful of them. Instead, we received nearly 100 essays, and here, we are sharing nine of those with you. These essays are all written by Jewish students attending colleges in the United States. They represent a really wide range of perspectives and experiences. And we hope you’ll read all of them. Our goal is not to speak for every single student, but rather to allow each student featured here to speak for themselves. Perhaps you’ll see something that resonates for you; perhaps you’ll see something that makes you mad. Ideally, you’ll find something that sparks a moment of self-recognition or understanding where you didn’t expect it.

Read on to hear from nine college students about what it feels like to be Jewish on campus in 2024.

“I am looking for a community, but I do not fit anywhere.” — Molly Greenwold from Newton, MA; Barnard College, Class of 2026

“I have fought for both Zionist and anti-Zionist students to feel safe.” — Irene Raich from Fayetteville, Arkansas; Yale University, Class of 2027

“Living in fear on campus has become a daily battle.” — Kalie Fishman from Farmington Hills, MI; University of Michigan School of Social Work, Class of 2024

“I was arrested on the first night of Passover at the encampment on my college campus.” — Kira Carleton from Brooklyn, NY; NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Master’s Student, Class of 2025

“Would people treat me differently if they knew I am Israeli?” — Yasmine Abouzaglo from Dallas, TX; Columbia University, Class of 2027

“I am not a Jew with trembling knees.” — Sophie Friedberg from Los Angeles, CA; University of Wisconsin-Madison, Class of 2024

“For the first time since October 7, I don’t feel so powerless.” — Adrien Braun; Trinity College, Class of 2026

“Maybe if I weren’t grieving the massacre of my community, I would feel differently.” — Devorah Klein from Kansas City, MO; University of Kansas, Class of 2024

“Most of the time, I stay silent.” — Gabriela Marquis from Spokane, WA; Gonzaga University, Class of 2024

We Finally Have Details for ‘Nobody Wants This,’ Adam Brody’s Charming Rabbi Show on Netflix

“this show is based on the only good decision i ever made: falling for a nice jewish boy,” co-creator erin foster said..

For Tallulah Haddon, Filming ‘Tattooist of Auschwitz’ Was Strange and Spiritual

The multidisciplinary artist and actor chatted with hey alma about making queer jewish art, laughter as freedom and cannibalism..

This New Digital Series Is a Love Letter to Mexican-Jewish Culture

In "eitan explores: mexico city," celebrity chef eitan bernath reminds us that jewish food and flavor spans wherever jews are in the world..