What would be a good topic for an editorial college admission essay?

What is the best outstanding college admission essay that you have read written by a high school student?

• As a student, teacher, professor, college admission board member or whoever (X) - What is the best and outstanding college admission essay that you have read or you are aware of.

• Answer:

  This is a vey tough question to answer for several reasons. I have read at least 50,000 admission essays and so my file of great ones (and terrible ones) is deep. I do have one personal favorite but I do not post it anywhere as it will then be used as a template for others to copy its form. What I can do is to give you the essay that is looked upon as the greatest ever, although there is a bit of background to what it is and isn't. I have posted it on my blog and then wrote 'the rest of the story' on it the following day: http://onlyconnectparke.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-most-famous-admission-essay-ever.html http://onlyconnectparke.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-most-famous-admission-essay-ever.html Gregory Peck as Ahab What follows is the most famous admission essay ever. It is old but it is still used in many classrooms and workshops. *********************************************************************** Space Group award winning train station design I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Army ant biting finger Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge. Rothko Chapel I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400. George Sisler My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. Ernest Hemingway and Antonio Ordóñez in Madrid I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis. But I have not yet gone to college. ******************************************************************************* 1. What makes this a great essay? 2. Are personal statements supposed to true, and if so, how does this essay fare? 3. What character traits can you generalize about the writer of this essay based on his words? 4. Would you categorize this essay as a sure bet, a risk, or something in-between?