Emory University Undergraduate College Application Essays

Bridgeport, Connecticut: A fleet of fifty-two Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority-owned buses spurt to a start while the sun begins to rise. Each bus slowly creeps along one of the nineteen lines spanning across Fairfield County; one of them, Bus...

In Chinese culture, your peers are your jie (sisters) and ge (brothers), and older people your au yi (aunts) and shu shu (uncles). In this way, “family” extends to not just kin, but also friends, companions, and even acquaintances.

Every week when...

Some people aspire to be the man in the grey flannel suit – or dream of going to work in a pinstripes baseball uniform, green hospital scrubs, a yellow firefighter’s coat, a pink tutu, a police officer’s dress blues. But me, I want to wear white –...

I collect rocks.

I promise it isn’t as lame as it sounds.

On a winter afternoon, the wet mulch crunched under my feet as I walked towards the school bus after my third-grade field trip to the Boston Science Museum. My small, calloused hands held...

After five years of cooking, I can confidently say that I am the master of burnt meat. As a middle schooler, I found the siren’s call for cooking when watching the show Chopped. After that first unforgettable attempt into cooking, I took it upon...

Three young children scrambled into the room— Amy, Sam, and Kevin. They were orphans soon to be adopted by families in Europe, so my job was to teach them English. Easy, I thought, all I have to do is make a lesson plan and give them worksheets....

“It’s pink!” I shouted to my lab partners, beckoning them over. “Look, Dr. Gallos, it’s pink!” I gushed to my chemistry teacher. Everyone else who passed by my lab table was greeted with a “Check out this solution, it’s pink!” from me. True...

Bang! I am deafened by the sound of a gunshot, and suddenly I see hundreds of fourth-graders sprinting towards me. I am temporarily mesmerized by the massive blob of energy consisting of tiny legs moving in unison and tight fists swinging with...

Moving homes is never fun, but the first time I stepped into our new neighborhood, my feelings could be best described as disorienting, if you want to be nice. The small, gray houses were a stark contrast to those found in my old suburban...

Few among us can report an encounter with Bigfoot, or really with any cryptid of equal reputation, but I came pretty close. It was a sweltering day in Atlanta, temperature somewhere in the high eighties. The iced tea in my stomach was nearing...

One late night I was alone in the house and struggling, as usual, to fall asleep before my mom came home. The thought that I might be considered a "bad boy" unsettled me. As the 472nd sheep jumped over the fence, I finally heard the front door...

The painting is enormous. Its carved golden frame hangs squarely in the center of a muted red wall in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I lean in and read the information plaque to the right: Breaking Home Ties by Thomas Hovenden. Stepping back, I...

As much as I’m interested in the technical aspects of data science, I’m more intrigued by why a data result. Why New York City has higher covid cases than Atlanta; why Biden defeated Trump. I want to understand how human lives work, through...

I grew up in Canton, where the wealthiest Chinese cities were within hours. For a child and an expatriate, the bustling rich of China struck 10-year-old me. The stories behind Chinese affluence mesmerized me, and they still do.

For high school, I...

U, R, U’, R’, F, R’, F’, R. edges placed. There’s only one more piece, then I’ll finally move on to solvingthe third layer. It’s coming along more quickly than I’d expected, too.

I can vaguely hear the rhythmic click, click, click of magnets, the...