Amazon.com Review
The essay is the one part of the college application that allows an admissions committee to get a glimpse not only of what you are (grades, scores, club member), but of who you are. "Applicants are constantly advised to 'put their best foot forward,'" says Fred Hargadon, the dean of admissions at Princeton University and a contributor to this book. "But I must confess that I always liked the ones who put both feet forward." That doesn't mean that your essay needs to shock. It means you must put everything you've got into it. It means that "if you think the college might receive even one other essay like yours," according to Brooks School college counselor William K. Poirot, "rewrite it." The bulk of this book, as its title promises, comprises 100 examples of successful college-application essays. There are those who believe that reading essays will make you a better essay writer and those who don't. But reading these essays--and the experts' comments on them--will help you figure out what you want to write and how best to write it. From the essays included here, one surmises that the narrower your focus, the more effective the essay, as long as your narrowness doesn't cross over into insignificance. What matters most is not what you write about (these essays take on late-night TV game shows, self-induced baldness, the picture on a bag of Goldfish crackers, a family drive on the New Jersey Turnpike, and even a seven-inch plastic Godzilla), but what you do with your subject matter. --Jane Steinberg
Product Description
These are the essays that helped their authors gain admission to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley, Colby, and other outstanding schools-followed by invaluable comments by experts in admissions, placement, and college counseling at some of the best learning institutions around the country. This helpful guide includes:
? 100 complete essays with professional commentary
? Examples of essays on common topics (family background, athletics, work experience), as well as the more offbeat
? Essays on the immigrant experience by foreign-born students
? A "What Not to Do" chapter from a top college counselor
? and more
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100 Successful College Application Essays (Second Edition)
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: NAL Trade; 2002-10-01
- Label: NAL Trade
- Studio: NAL Trade
- ISBN: 0451207130
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 9 reviews
- Sales Rank in Books: #231113
Avg. Customer Review:
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very good 2004-11-26
Comment: The essays are seperated into topics (eg. Applying to College, work experience, coming to america), and each include good essays.
The book includes essays of the admittants to top tier colleges (Ivies), and some second tier ones. Interestingly, there are no essays from MIT! (No surprise though, considering the rivalry betwene MIT and Harvard -- the book was organized by Harvard newspaper)
Overall, great book.
7 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK! 2004-04-26
Comment: Before I bought this book I thought my essay was pretty good until I bought this book. Then I knew that I could make my essay even better just by just following the essays in the book. I didn't even think I needed to get a guide book for my essay because I thought it was pretty good already without help from an essay book. But apparently this book worked really good because I did not get deferred from college! I got into my first choice just by using this book and I recommend it to anyone even to those who do not think they need a guide book for their essays because they think their essays are already pretty good like I thought mine was.BUY THIS BOOK!
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: uninventive and most unhelpful 2004-02-10
Comment: There are a few gems here, but for the most part, these essays are the same well-written but dry, uninventive slop every other high school senior dribbles out: how the abroad student haf a Life Changing Experience! how an athlete Crossed the Finish Line! how when pet Fluffly croaked it was a Formative Experience! If you really want insight into how to write a well-crafted, unique essay, with sounds suggestions, seek out the great book by Harry Bauld.
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Varied College Essays 2001-03-28
Comment: I purchased 3 College Essay books (100 Successful College Application Essays, 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, and Essays That Worked), and have the following comments... I believe that the Harvard book has the best suggestions on how to write an essay, along with the best commentary/critique. However, the essays are a bit too polished. I think for 90% of prospective college students, their essays would be more like those in and patterned like those in Essays That Worked. For varied ideas on essays, the 100 Successful book gives some good ideas, but I believe many of the essays to be subpar. I did each book to have some interesting general reading, especially if one likes "short stories"... or if one is interested in 17 & 18 year olds, and what goes thru their minds.
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Reality 2000-06-03
Comment: This book has lots of college essays that could be used for reference when writing an college essay. However, it's too concentrated on Ivy League schools and not other competitive schools. The comments that are suppose to be reviewed by college counselors and admissions officers are poor. Most of them just explains that they are creative. It does not comment much on how the author should redo or learn from their mistakes and do this thing. Not as informative as they claim to be.
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100 Successful College Application Essays (Second Edition)
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