Nowadays, my brother, a current Longhorn, feels like my closest friend and mentor. This prompt wants to see how your external environment as a high school student has shaped you. Use active, rather than passive, sentence construction. Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Apply texas essays topics and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia, apply texas essays topics. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: GRE Online Prep Blog GMAT Online Prep Blog TOEFL Online Prep Blog.
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College Essays, apply texas essays topics. The ApplyTexas college application contains many essay prompts, and each of the most popular colleges in Texas has different requirements for which essays they expect applicants to answer. So how apply texas essays topics you get advice on writing your best ApplyTexas essays, no matter which school you're applying to? Look no further than this article, which completely unpacks all possible ApplyTexas essay prompts. We'll explain what each prompt is looking for and what admissions officers are hoping to learn about you.
In addition, we'll give you our top strategies for ensuring that your essay meets all these expectations, and help you come up apply texas essays topics your best essay topics. The ApplyTexas application is basically the Texas version of the Common Applicationwhich many US colleges use. It's a unified college application process that's accepted by all Texas public universities and many private ones. Note that some schools that accept ApplyTexas also accept the Common App. The ApplyTexas website is a good source for figuring out whether your target college accepts the ApplyTexas application. That said, the best way to confirm exactly what your school expects is to go to its admissions website.
Admissions officers are trying to put together classes full of interesting, vibrant students who have different backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and dreams. One tool colleges use to identify a diverse set of perspectives is the college essay. This is where you describe where you've come from, what you believe in, apply texas essays topics, what you value, and what has shaped you. This is also where you make yourself sound mature and insightful—two key qualities that colleges are looking for in applicants. These are important because colleges want to find young people who will ultimately thrive when faced with the independence of college life.
Filling a freshman class is like dealing with those Every-Flavor jelly beans from Harry Potter : admissions just wants to make sure to avoid the ones that taste like earwax. There are four essay prompts on the ApplyTexas application for freshman admission Topics A, B, C, and D. For topics A, B, and C there are slight variations on the prompt for transfer students, or those looking to be readmitted. While there are no strict word limits, colleges usually suggest keeping the essays somewhere between one and one and a half pages long. All Texas colleges and universities have different application requirements, including which essay or essays they want.
Some schools require essays, some list them as optional, and others use a combination of required and optional essays. Several schools use the essays to determine scholarship awards, honors program eligibility, or admission to specific majors. Dazzled by her options, she was overcome with hopeful optimism. And cuteness. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor apply texas essays topics craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up.
We'll learn apply texas essays topics background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now :. There are three ApplyTexas essay topics that try to get to the heart of what makes you the person you are in three different ways. But since Topics A, B, and C all focus on things that are essential to you as a person, apply texas essays topics can be difficult to come up with a totally unique apply texas essays topics for each—especially since on a first read-through, these prompts can sound really similar.
You can then keep these differences in mind as you try to think apply texas essays topics topics to write about. Here are the most recent prompts for Topics A, B, and C on the ApplyTexas application. Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? Most students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an essential way, apply texas essays topics. Tell us about yourself. You've got a ticket in your hand—where will you go? What will you do? What will happen when you get there? One helpful way to keep these topics separate in your mind is to create a big-picture category for each one: Topic A is outside, Topic B is inside, and Topic C is the future.
In other words, apply texas essays topics, Topic A is asking about the impact of challenges or opportunities on you, and how you handled that impact. On apply texas essays topics other hand, apply texas essays topics, Topic Apply texas essays topics is asking about your inner passions and how these define you. Finally, Topic C wants to know where you're going from here, apply texas essays topics. These very broad categories will help as you brainstorm ideas and life experiences you can use for your essay. Although many of the stories you think of can be shaped to fit each of these prompts, think about what the experience most reveals about you.
Note: if you are a transfer student writing the essay variation for topics A, B, or C keep in mind that these variations still ask you about the outside, inside, or future respectively. That time a spilled crate of stuffed frogs made you want to learn everything there is to know about Apply texas essays topics cooking? Probably Topic C. Now, we'll do a thorough deconstruction of everything you need to know about Topic A, the first ApplyTexas essay prompt. This prompt wants to see how your external environment as a high school student has shaped you.
You can tell from the fact that the prompt uses the phrase "your story" that it wants to know what you believe has had the biggest impact on you. The first part of the prompt is about identifying and describing specific experiences you've had as a high school student. You don't want your essay coming across too vague, so make sure you're focusing on one or two specific experiences. The prompt suggests zeroing in on something "unique," or something that has impacted you in a way it hasn't impacted anyone else. You'll want to choose some aspect of your environment that you can describe vividly and that's really important to you. It doesn't necessarily have to be important in a positive way, but it does need to have had a significant impact on your personal development.
It should also be some aspect of your environment that has been part of your life for a while. You're describing something that's affected you "throughout your high school career," after all. You shouldn't just describe your environment—you also need to discuss how that environment impacted you as a person. How did this particular apply texas essays topics of your environment turn you into the person you are today? It's best if you can think of one or two concrete anecdotes or stories about how your environment as a high school student has shaped you. For example, don't just say that apply texas essays topics family made you a hard-working person— describe in detail how watching your mother come home from a full day of work just to get ready to go to nighttime classes showed you that working toward your goals is worthwhile, even when it's hard.
Being a tomato in a peapod was hard on Frank, who could never really quite understand the peas' obsession with photosynthesis. Readers are looking for two main things. First, they want to see that you can be mature and thoughtful about your surroundings. Apply texas essays topics you curious about the world around you? If you've really observed and engaged with your surroundings, you'll be able to describe the people and places that have impacted you as a high school student in a nuanced, insightful way. Second, they want to see how you stand out from your environment. This can be accomplished in one of two ways: 1 you can emphasize how you are somehow different from your environment and how that impacted you, or 2 you can emphasize how you learned positive qualities from the environment around you.
Basically, how did your environment turn you into a special, interesting person? You'll need to select something particular in your overall surroundings to zero in on. You can take ideas such as your family, home, neighborhood, or community in several directions. For example, your family could describe your immediate family, your extended family, or a found family. Your home could be the specific house or houses you grew up in, but it could also be your hometown, block, apartment building, or even country. Your neighborhood could be your street, subdivision, cul-de-sac; it could be an urban area or the rural countryside.
Your community could be any community you've been part of, from your school community to your church community to your city. Apply texas essays topics you consider what aspect of your environment to choose, think about significant things that happened to you in connection with your environment. Remember, you'll need to get beyond just describing how the setting is important to you to show how it makes you important. You then need to consider what about apply texas essays topics environment turned you into a person who stands out, apply texas essays topics.
Again, this can be about how you overcame some aspect of your environment or how your environment positively fostered qualities or traits in you. You want to make sure you have a clear message that links your environment to one, two, or three special traits you have. Try to think of specific stories and anecdotes related to your interactions with your environment, and apply texas essays topics thoughtfully analyze these to reveal what they show about you. Important adults in your life can help you brainstorm potential ideas. Like a good movie script, a college essay needs characters, some action, and a poignant but ultimately happy ending.
This way you can ensure your essay has the following features:. Did you feel ALL the feelings? Can you even name all of these feelings? Oh, apply texas essays topics, yeah? Then what's the one in the bottom-right called? For example, imagine Karima decides to describe how learning to navigate public transit as a high school freshman made her resourceful and helped her explore the city she grew up in. She also discusses how exploring the city ultimately impacted her, apply texas essays topics. How should she frame her experience? Here are some options:, apply texas essays topics. I was nervous about taking the El by myself for the first time. At the station, there were lots of commuters and adults who seemed impatient but confident.
quality of life essay
After a few months, I conceived the Smart Container idea. It could effortlessly track the quantity of an assigned inventory item rather than manual inputs. It consisted of a concealed circuitry system that stored and recorded pieces of a single time, providing easy accessibility to each product line. I formulated a mathematical approach that displays the number of items in the container at any moment by dividing the total weight of items in the container by the weight of a single known item. Simple arithmetic ensured a structured method of maintaining accurate and acceptable inventory levels. I solved the software problem, but the hardware proved more concerning. I scrambled for a load cell, which converts applied pressure into an electrical signal.
I also found an HX amplifier module that intensifies the signal for output as physical weight. I finally completed the invention and subsequent product testing a mere week before the unveiling at the Project Exposition in April. At the spring showcase concluding the course, my father, course mentor, and I planned the surprise for my mom. I stood in front of the audience while mom sat in the front row. She was utterly oblivious as she encouraged me to uncover my inventory tracking product. When I finally revealed my creation at the product demonstration, she inspected the functionality and design.
I grinned sheepishly, slightly embarrassed by the glowing mom-praise. An established business professional in the audience advised me to file a patent and pitch it to nearby emerging companies. The real test is whether mom would use it. She loves the Smart Container because it saves her tedious Excel inputs and automates her re-ordering invoices from suppliers. I am proud of my technical achievement, but ensuring that my mom and I can spend more quality time together before her only child leaves for college fills me with satisfaction. It turns out that my mom is indeed planning a hostile takeover of my bedroom when I move away next year. Such a broad topic allows you to easily repurpose it for other universities whereas some Common App essay topics may not fit as nicely with Essay A.
Some of the essays exhibited in this post change timeframes or shift the chronology where something in the middle of the essay happens before something introduced in the beginning. This is a great example of how you can effectively share your story in a linear way: A thing happened, B event occurred next, and C presented obstacles. It can be very effective if executed well to move between different times, but sometimes, students err by shifting too quickly between examples and not adequately signaling to their reviewer the timeline of their experiences. Their chosen content and story match their future goals and lays the foundation for their other essays. I finally completed the invention and subsequent product testing…. I hiked up the steep dirt road to a one-room church.
I shouldered a black box containing a Cajon, my box-like percussion instrument. I entered the church first while the rest of my team followed. Stucco walls and nearly two dozen cheerful Hondurans greeted us. None of the locals spoke English, and our classroom Spanish had limited use, so my friend brought out his guitar. Cajons are popular in Cuba and Peru. We played a few songs. Afterward, our translator told me that the pastor wanted to learn how to play. I agreed! We spent the afternoon providing beats for worship music familiar in the United States and Honduras sung in both English and Spanish. Common tunes and the language of music brought us together despite some communication barriers.
I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody. We help our neighbors out. My parents teach me important lessons about connecting with people and serving others. I remember joining them for the annual Thanksgiving meal provided by the local food pantries. We served awesome turkey dinners. My parents also anonymously assist some of my classmates to help pay their private school tuition. Regardless of where I go to college, I will always feel a responsibility to my community. When I was eight, I played in a neighborhood flag football league. During one game, I accidentally head-butted another kid.
I came out unscathed, but he walked away with a giant goose egg on his forehead. I apologized, and he introduced himself as Sean. His mom Kathy Rose raised him without a father. Kathy held the hearts of so many in our community with her compassion and cheerful attitude. Her life and death, in , have irrevocably changed me for the better. My school has less than thirty students per grade. We only have one AP and few dual credit courses, but we emphasize service. I joined for freshman and sophomore year. We played soccer with the kids and had cut-throat duck-duck-goose competitions. I became an expert in the game Ninja thanks to a seven-year-old boy who often cheated. I try to make the most of small-town life and take advantage of the available opportunities. I play varsity baseball, basketball, and golf.
Extracurriculars give me the chance to make friends across the Hill Country and across the state who are some of my closest. Nine other students and I designed a manned-drilling vehicle for a future Mars mission. I quickly connected with my team as I had something in common with everyone. All of us were great at math, but success required diverse ideas. My primary responsibility was staying within our multi-million-dollar simulated budget. We all had a dream and creative ideas, but keeping our vehicle grounded on Earth before sending it to Mars was my unpopular job. We combined our strengths to overcome individual weaknesses. We completed our project on time and under budget. Regardless of what I study or do professionally, I will remain true to my ethics of compromise and making connections like with my Cajon in Honduras or NASA budget-slashing.
Similar to the second essay regarding band and non-conformity, this applicant does an excellent job illustrating an attention-grabbing introduction that provides a foundation throughout the body paragraphs and ties their various themes together nicely in the concluding sentences. Their conclusion also provides new information all the way until the final sentence. So often conclusions are just restatements of the obvious and multiple sentence fluff that surrenders the opportunity to communicate meaningful information to your reviewer. Every single paragraph and sentence needs to contribute to the argument of why you deserve a space at the university. Their high school sends very few students to UT-Austin and has less than 40 students in each class, which they elaborate more in their Leadership short answer.
Diversity means so much more than skin color and socioeconomics. They avoid some of these pitfalls by not embellishing their work. As the Hurricane Harvey example a few essays before, this response is less about service and more about their mission trip experiences as a vehicle for a broader discussion of their biography and interests. Their rural context puts their internship into a brighter light because they had to really work to apply and subsequently explore their goals. Sharing their experiences and observations sets up well their argument that they deserve a space in their first-choice major, Mechanical Engineering. Pick up your copy of my comprehensive UT-Austin admissions guide Your Ticket to the Forty Acres today! I moved my pawn from the seventh to the final row, promoting it to a queen and securing the checkmate.
He had beaten me in our last two encounters. Team chess requires an accumulation of points across many matches, so I planned to play defensively and hold him to a draw. Opening play progressed uneventfully. Fifteen moves in, he played an unusual pawn move blockading my center. He leaned back confidently. Like our earlier encounters, he offered me a tempting yet puzzling trap, but this time rather than tilting emotionally and reacting impulsively, I kept my focus and stayed true to the process. Pushed to the corner, I dug deep and clawed back into the game. The next hour felt like forever.
My lowly pawn marched steadily up the far left-hand a-column. I stared at a potential draw before deploying a novel sequence of moves. The crowd murmured. Our win meant that we represent Kuwait at the prestigious Chess Nationals of Indian Schools in New Delhi. It felt especially meaningful when a much younger player called me her hero. My journey with chess began unexpectedly. I was waiting in the lobby of the Kuwait Chess Federation for my dad to finish his chess game. The towering teenagers in the crowded lobby bantered incomprehensibly. The coach, a chess Grandmaster, came by and trooped all the kids to their chess class. Before I knew it, he roped me in, too. Noting that I was the smallest kid in the group and the only girl, he sat me in the corner of his class, handed me a thick Russian puzzle book, and told me to solve puzzles for the next hour.
I protested, but nobody listened. With nothing better to do, I dived in as I recalled the basics my father had taught me in passing. I found the puzzles fun. Attend chess classes, and I will assess you within the next six months. As a novice free from expectations, my continued practice expanded the boundaries for what I thought possible. Learning each opening sequence or a clever middle-game bishop positioning presented a myriad of new possibilities. I began thinking differently about winning and losing. Disciplined play resulting in a close loss to a highly-rated opponent is sometimes preferable to a flashy one-off win. As I absorb stratagems from my opponents, I also touch the incredible diversity and the underlying humanity behind their distinct backgrounds.
Like learning a second language, chess forces me to dissect my reasoning process. My chess style requires delayed gratification and the gritting through prolonged endgames or grueling swim practices. My favorite piece is the knight because it provides boundless innovation opportunities. Chess makes me a better person and a more thoughtful student away from the board. As I look back at my chess adventure, I see myself as a patiently advancing yet persistent pawn that will metamorphose into a powerful queen when I continue my studies in the United States. Even chess, which to some readers may not be the first thing that comes to mind when recalling what grabs their interest, can be communicated in ways that are dramatic, interesting, and compelling to non-chess players.
Circling back to the middle game and how they arrived at the conclusion is a more effective timeline because this game offers an example of how the applicant perceives themselves as a younger female player relative to older the older boys at competitions. Unlike some essays that take a linear chronology where each event follows predictably from the one before, sharing their most memorable match estblishes the context to revisit how they began the sport. Finally, I appreciate how the applicant shares their views on competition. They see the bigger picture beyond winning and losing.
Chess strategy and some of the pieces also serve as a metaphor for their personality and values. Even if the student has no interest in playing chess at the college level, focusing on a specific activity and developing it fully helps communicate to your reviewers who you are and what you consider important. Everybody knows that the Apollo missions launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Fewer people know where the rocket boosters originated. Rocket City had everything I needed. We lived in the same house for eight years. I excelled in math and had a close-knit group of friends. I participated and medaled in several regional and state-level competitions year after year. As I entered middle school, I had my eyes set on national competitions. To prepare, I attended the summer math camp, Eat Pie.
I began as a student before quickly receiving promotion to intern. I eventually became an Eat Pie instructor, one of my most exciting experiences. Just before 8th grade, my parents announced our move from Alabama to Austin. I loved my life and constantly argued against moving. What seemed at first like a strike-out turned into a grand slam. Instead of fretting, I saw our move as an opportunity. I brought my experiences from Eat Pie and wanted to found my own version of the math camp, Number Ninjas, in Austin. I floated the idea to my friend, Rushil, and convinced my 8th-grade math teacher, Ms.
Jones, to be our adult sponsor. Together, our team hosted our first camp in the summer of with one level and ten students. In our fourth summer, we expanded to three distinct levels - pre-introduction, introduction, and intermediate - and 45 students. Our growth attracted the attention of Eat Pie, who officially sponsored with curriculum support and mentorship. Concerned about the continuation of the camp after we graduate, we created an internship program to train new teachers who can expand the camp and ensure its legacy. This past year, we had ten interns. Hosting a summer camp requires preparing in the early spring while studying for AP exams and fulfilling our extracurricular responsibilities. Our first decisions involve identifying the site, date, and instructors.
For the first two years, we hosted Number Ninjas in the Middle School facility. Our growth, however, caused logistical issues at school, so we found a local church that allowed us to host for a fee. Growth also meant rising costs, so we transitioned from a free volunteering event to a small business. Expenses meant we needed a minimum number of students. We invited elementary school teachers to visit our camp and elicit buy-in. Our primary goal was teaching children challenging math problems, but summer camps also need to be fun. Math can be especially dry to learners with short attention spans.
We developed a scavenger hunt and used the outdoor labyrinth. One of our biggest challenges involved our wide range of students. Some pick up new concepts almost automatically and finish the worksheets before we end the lecture. Others need hands-on attention to grasp the concepts. For the tortoises that want to get things right, I attempt different approaches and provide one-on-one attention. Tortoises eventually get it, and they encourage me to have patience and think quickly on my feet. Founding Number Ninjas and working through logistical and teaching challenges taught me lessons about organization, collaboration, communication, instruction, and budgeting.
Like the essay about helping with the family business, this applicant takes a linear approach to sharing their story. Their essay also complements their resume well. Many students work for tutoring companies and some might tutor privately. There are very few who established a summer program or camp early on and expanded their operations. Dedicating most of their essay to their varied teaching and mentorship commitments also provides an excellent opportunity to discuss bumps and challenges they encountered along the way. Their response is an effective blend of demonstrating their fit for studying business, showcasing their interests, and illustrating their leadership potential. I felt the pressure of competing in my first meet after earning a spot on the Varsity cross country at age fourteen.
Coach Steve approached our team, interrupted roll call, and snapped me out of my worry. August 29th, , was a Monday. Coach pulled me aside. He knew that Thomas and I were best friends since childhood. Once I calmed down, I understood that Thomas collapsed near the track. The trainer attempted CPR before an ambulance rushed him to the hospital. I felt numb, in disbelief, unable to process. I continued to first period as usual. Later that morning, the school counselor pulled me out of class. Gossip had already started. My mom had already been at the hospital with Thomas and his family when she rushed to get me from school. I was quiet. In our living room, my parents broke the news - Thomas was on life support.
Doctors released him free from the tubes and monitors early the next morning. His sudden passing left us with so many unanswered questions. All that I knew was my best friend was gone. His bedroom window faces my house. How could this happen to him, to me? I felt a tremendous void filled almost immediately by loneliness and devastation. Each day was harder than the next. I missed my entire second week of school. I felt a complete loss of control over my life. I started worrying about not living up to my potential. I felt I was letting my coaches, teammates, and teachers down. I try not to be too hard on myself about my freshman year grades. I also realize that life can be too short to worry about grades.
My mom and I have practiced yoga together, and these help me process my trauma and channel my energies in constructive ways. She also shared what happened. He lived with undiagnosed Sickle Cell Disease, causing him to have a Sickle Cell Crisis. His condition led me to take courses in health and anatomy. During my sophomore and junior years, my health, medical terminology, pre-AP pre-calculus, and AP Physics teachers reached out to my parents and me. They write notes and commending me on my natural ability, work ethic, and joy in their classes. I channeled my loss into purposeful activities.
My hobbies involve creating, building, tinkering, and serving others. Last summer, I completed a paid internship with the orthodontist Dr. He invited me to work with him this summer as a full-time employee. It is fulfilling to know that I have a part in these types of positive changes. I miss Thomas every day. Home Products Services Results Blog Testimonials About Contact. Thirteen New Apply Texas Essay A Tell Us Your Story Examples. High School Senior Year Government Leadership Day. Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? Commentary I love this example because they incorporate a storytelling mode throughout while shifting from an anecdote at home about not being able to eat their favorite traditional food to a connection they make during a visit to India.
Commentary I also really like this essay example as a different approach to storytelling. Visiting Vietnamese Extended Family The heat bombarded us as soon as we stepped off the plane. Commentary Thematically, this essay is similar in some ways to the initial example, but there are a few key differences. He looks anxiously down the line, craning his neck to see something or someone just out of view. Off to to encourage Hitler to pursue his passion for painting. Fourth in line was a girl decked out in all black, determination etched into her features. Football nods. Wonder how the AdComms are gonna feel about that. Off to the early fifth-century to help Pelagius argue against St.
The doctrine of original sin says that because Adam and Eve had the apple, every human from then on was infected with their sin. All the indulgences that people paid into the church, our long-standing association of sexuality with guilt and impurity, not to mention most of the pessimistic philosophies surrounding human depravity. Football chuckles. There are still nineteen people ahead of us. You might want to change plans. My brow furrows a bit as I consider his suggestion. He was a big proponent of free will and accountability. He thought we should do good for the sake of good, not for salvation.
He even countered a lot of hang-ups that endure to this day—bedroom stuff, bathroom stuff, all of it. Where Augustine saw sin and depravity, Pelagius saw beauty and Grace. People are too caught up in hating themselves. It hurts when a corporation takes advantage of a mining community because profit is the only legitimate motive in a world that seems like a lost cause. Mine might be a lost cause anyways—that girl was scary. I look up at Football. Why not. Topic D is a situational prompt for students looking to engage with art, design, and image.
Unlike topics A and B, topic D is specifically asking you to tell a story. Regardless of the mode of narrative you employ, your essay should start with a moment of confrontation, observation, and reaction. Whether you engage with a piece of art or a lecture from design class, this step is crucial. It is here that you will demonstrate your ability to sift through your feelings about art, pulling out the concrete variables and specific vocabularies to describe why the art made you feel that way in the first place. The second part of this process should move you beyond the moment of interaction detailed in step one, either to the present or the future. Using the lessons from part one, you should forecast the ways in which your future ambitions will be uniquely impactful.
This can include anything from aperture to allegory. Whether technical or philosophical, your art is largely a product of your inspiration—being able to trace and predict this link demonstrates your maturity as a budding artist or designer. The noise of the room seemed to dim, even as my perception heightened. I was somewhere else. The water lilies had swallowed me whole. They were beautiful, certainly, but also tense. One of the lesser-known iterations, flush with the purples, golds, and oranges of autumn, reminded me of the fluttering dance of falling leaves.
Tethered to the surface of the pond, equally unable to float up or down, the leaves were trapped in a planar prison. The painting was practically bursting with the energy of an infinite autumn, but the water held it all together with its sticky buoyancy. Surface tension is far crueler than gravity, I thought to myself. My throat tightened and I felt paralyzed, peacefully imprisoned along with the lilies and leaves. He was right. As my eyes latched onto those bare fibers I felt a gust of release; I was back in the room. To this day, that remains one of my most intense experiences with art.
Spanning the whole wall, the water lilies are all you can see; they colonize your reality. It was that quality—the quality of transportation out of time and space—that has stayed with me most. VR before VR. It was the power of that experience that prompted me to combine my art with contemporary VR techniques. My first VR project pays homage to the water lilies. Putting on the headset, you find yourself in a blue green film, replete with flowers of every kind. The piece explores movement and energy through anxiety and ensnarement. Entering the reality, one finds oneself on the top of flower-freckled hillside, umbrella in hand despite the blue skies.
It is windy and the grasses sway around you. The viewer is utterly gone, yet utterly present. Want to learn more about how to write the ApplyTexas essays? Check out one of our popular recorded live streams on this topic. Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. Which Colleges Require Which Essays? Also accepts the Coalition Application. Southern Methodist University: Topic A essay required, B optional. Recommended word count of applicants must submit an audition or portfolio.
Also accepts the Common App, Coalition Application, and its own application. Additional short answer for applicants to the College of Engineering. Unspecified word count for both, so we recommend responding within approximately 1. Baylor University, Waco: Choose between Topic A, B or C required. One short answer question optional. Word count between words. Also accepts the Common App and its own application. Texas Christian University: Required essay in response to either any one of the ApplyTexas prompts or one of four potential short-answer prompts. Between words. Only one essay in total! UT Dallas: Any essay topic on the ApplyTexas application optional.
Also accepts the Common App. Essay-Writing Strategies With few parameters aside from the word limit of approximately words and with each school often setting different word counts , the ApplyTexas essay may seem intimidating. Use active, rather than passive, sentence construction. Write with precision. Dissecting the Prompts ApplyTexas features two sets of prompts, one for incoming freshmen both domestic and international and one for transfer, transient, or readmit applications. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? Topic B: Most students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an essential way.
Tell us about yourself. What will you do? What will happen when you get there? What did you do to act upon your new thinking and what have you done to prepare yourself for further study in this area? Still, they may be tricky to write about. Read our article for more information on covering mental illness and disabilities within your application. Getting a bad grade in a class but then working hard to raise it. Death of a pet or family member. Mission trip which made you realize how lucky and privileged you are. As you reflect, you may consider these questions: Which values and skills do you hold closest to your heart?
Hard work? Clear communication? Environmental stewardship? Where did these priorities come from? What are you most grateful for? What are you most proud of? What risks have you taken which have paid off? What do you like to do? When and how did you get into it? How would your family and friends say you have changed for the better over the years, and why? Look back at your list of extracurricular activities. When have you tried something new? Or you could discuss learning about the period, genre, school, or philosophical theory that the original piece of art comes from in order to give yourself a more contextualized understanding.
At the same time, this essay is asking you to show your own creative readiness. Describe not only the work you have produced but also your ability to introduce new elements into that work—in this case, inspired by the piece you described. Inspired by Michaelangelo's supposed advice to just "chip away the marble that isn't the sculpture," I will now write my essay by just not using the words that aren't supposed to be on the page. What are some best practices for teasing out the complexities of art in written form? Here are some helpful tips as you brainstorm and write your essay.
For example, you could write about something you learned on your own from a documentary, museum visit, or art book. If you're writing about a direct experience with art, don't necessarily fixate on a classical piece. Alternatively, you could discuss a little-known public sculpture, a particularly striking building or bridge you saw while traveling, or a gallery exhibition. Whatever you end up writing about, make sure you know some of the identifying details. The make-it-or-break-it moment in this essay will be your ability to explain what affected you in the object you're writing about.
Do you think it or you was in the right place at the right time to be moved by it, or would it have affected you the same way no matter where or when you saw it? Be careful with your explanation since it can easily get so vague as to be meaningless or so obscure and "deep" that you lose your reader. Before you start trying to put it down on paper, try to talk out what you plan to say either with a friend, parent, or teacher. When you think about what you've been making or thinking about making during your high school career, what is the trajectory of your ideas? How has your understanding of the materials you want to work with changed? What about the message you want your works to convey? Or the way you want your works to be seen by others? What is the reason you feel compelled to be creative?
Just as nothing ruins a joke like explaining it, nothing ruins the wordless experience of looking at art as talking it to death does. Still, you need to find a way to use words to give the reader a sense of what the piece that moved you actually looks like —particularly if the reader isn't familiar with the work or the artist that created it. Here is my suggested trick for writing well about art. First, be specific about the object. Second, step away from the concrete and get creative with language by using techniques such as comparative description. Use your imagination to create emotionally resonant similes. Is there a form of movement e. Does it remind you of something from the natural world e.
If the work is figurative, imagine what has been happening just before the moment in time it captures. What happened just after this point? Using these kinds of non-literal descriptors will let your reader understand both the actual physical object and its aesthetic appeal. The Stormtrooper's hypnotic performance was like plunging into a diamond-studded Sarlacc pit to be slowly digested over a thousand years by disco music. For UT, some are required by all applicants, while others are required by those applying to certain majors or departments. UT Austin requires three short answers from all freshman applicants and also offers an optional prompt. Each short answer should be no more than words, or one paragraph.
Short Answer 1: Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major? Short Answer 2: Leadership can be demonstrated in many ways. Optional Short Answer: Please share background on events or special circumstances that may have impacted your high school academic performance, including the possible effects of COVID NOTE: The inclusion of COVID in this optional question applies through Fall , at minimum. If you're applying to art and art history, architecture, nursing, or social work, you'll need to submit the following in addition to your short answers above:. In words or less, please tell us about a meaningful way in which an artwork, or artist, has changed your life.
How has this prompted your ambitions for a life in the arts? What role has creativity played in your education? What are the ways you explore and express your creativity? Discuss the reasons you chose Social Work as your first-choice major and how a Social Work degree from UT will prepare you for the future. Obviously, these short answer prompts are all asking very different things, but they do have some similarities in terms of their overall goals. The first set of prompts basically want to know what you can offer UT Austin and why you'd be a great fit as a student here.
They also want to know why you chose UT Austin and your specific major. In other words, all these prompts essentially work together as a "Why This College? Admissions officers will be looking for evidence that you're genuinely interested in the school, the major you've chosen, and the career you want to pursue. Make sure to identify features of the program that appeal to you. In other words, why UT Austin? What makes you a good fit here? Be as specific as possible in your responses. Since you won't have much room to write a lot, try to focus on a particular anecdote, skill, or goal you have.
Admissions officers also want to see that you have an aptitude for your chosen career path, so if you have any relevant work, research, or volunteer experience, they definitely want to know this! It's OK to take a broad view of what's relevant here. Finally, they're looking for individuals who have clear goals as well as a general idea of what they want to do with their degree. Are you interested in working with a specific population or specialty? What led you to this conclusion? Or maybe instead of writing short answers, you could just send them this selfie. Describe your academic and career goals in the broad field of engineering including computer science, industrial distribution, and engineering technology. What admissions officers want to know here is simply what your biggest engineering ambition is and how you came to have this goal.
Since you don't have a ton of room to write your short answer, you'll want to be as specific as possible. Admissions officers want to see that you have a clear future in mind for what you want to do with your engineering degree. For example, do you plan to go on to a PhD program? Do you have a particular career in mind? In addition, make sure to specify the main inspiration for or motivation behind this goal. For instance, did you have a high school teacher who encouraged you to study engineering? Or perhaps you decided on a whim to take a computer science class, which you ended up loving. Remember that the inspiration for your engineering goals doesn't have to be limited to something school-related.
If you get stuck, think broadly about what initially got you interested in the field. Finally, tell a story with this short answer. Admissions officers want to see the clear connection between what inspired you and why you've decided to pursue engineering as a major and career. Don't just state that something made you interested in engineering and that's it. What specifically motivated you to pursue this field and career path? Don't be afraid to get personal, as this will show the admissions committee that you're truly passionate about the major. The thinking doesn't end here for transfer students. US transfer students and international transfer students must typically submit an additional essay on the following prompt or must submit an essay on one of the topic variations listed above.
This prompt, which targets transfer students, essentially wants to know what hardship, challenge, or social issue has affected you on a personal level or a larger group you're part of and why you think this particular thing is so important to you. Or perhaps you grew up in a wealthy family but have begun to see recently how widespread the issue of homelessness really is and now are making a more conscious effort to find ways to remedy this problem in your own community. The issue you choose doesn't have to relate to a wider social issue; it could be a learning disability you have, for instance, or the fact that you no longer share the same religious beliefs as does your family.
The most important part of this question is the connection between the issue and yourself. In other words, why is this issue so important to you? How has it affected your life, your goals, your experiences, etc.? This essay is a way for admissions officers to get to know you and what matters to you personally on a much deeper level than what some of the other essay topics allow, so don't be afraid to dive into topics that are very emotional, personal, or special to you. Furthermore, be sure to clearly explain why this particular issue—especially if it's a broader social issue that affects many people—is meaningful to you.
Admissions officers want to know about any challenges you've faced and how these have positively contributed to your own growth as a person. The ApplyTexas application contains four essay prompts Topics A, B, C, and D , with different schools requiring different combinations of mandatory and optional essays. One way to keep these three similar-sounding essay topics A, B, and C separate in your mind is to create a big-picture category for each one:. Curious about the other college essay choices out there? If your target college also accepts the Common Application, check out our guide to the Common App essay prompts to see whether they would be a better fit for you. Interested to see how other people tackled this part of the application?
Stuck on what to write about? Read our suggestions for how to come up with great essay ideas. Working on the rest of your college applications? We have great advice on how to find the right college for you , how to write about your extracurricular activities , and how to ask teachers for letters of recommendation. Want to improve your SAT score by points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:. 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. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers. How to Get a Perfect , by a Perfect Scorer. Score on SAT Math. Score on SAT Reading. Score on SAT Writing. Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer. 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. 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? Choose Your Test. SAT Prep ACT Prep. How to Write Perfect ApplyTexas Essays. Posted by Dr. Anna Wulick Jun 6, AM. To help you navigate this long guide, here is an overview of what we'll be talking about: What Are the ApplyTexas Essays? Why Do Colleges Want You to Write Essays? ApplyTexas Essay Requirements There are four essay prompts on the ApplyTexas application for freshman admission Topics A, B, C, and D. Want to build the best possible college application? If applying first-choice, submit responses to the following short answer prompts: Discuss the factors that have influenced your desire to pursue a career in Nursing.
How have your academic and extracurricular activities prepared you to pursue a degree in Nursing? Anna Wulick. About the Author. Student and Parent Forum Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. Search the Blog Search. Series: How to Get on Each SAT Section: Score on SAT Math. Series: How to Get to on Each SAT Section: Score on SAT Math.
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