How to Write the Northwestern Admissions Essays WITH Sample ADMITTED Essay (CA) Sarah ONeill Coatesville Supreme Editing

 Northwestern University Excerpt

Sarah ONeill Supreme Editing

According to Northwestern admissions (via the website):

WATCH: How to Write an Effective College Essay

WATCH: New Supplemental Essay Questions

University Mission: Guiding Principles: We…transform society, grow leaders, champion access, diversity and belonging, encourage debate, embrace breadth and depth, pursue excellence across all disciplines, strengthen our community, and care about one another. 

In IvyMind history, the types of students admitted consisted of students who could make direct connections with the offerings to their specific passions which were more than one!  Students demonstrated why Northwestern would be a good fit for them and vice versa. Students often thought “outside of the box” and gave intriguing answers. 

Supplemental Essay Example:

Prompt: Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?

On the rock, I’d paint the word “helppy,” meaning help and happy. I materialized it at nine years old, curled up in my puppy’s cage telling him all that was difficult for me to see in the world. Someday, I knew, I could and would help to make a difference, becoming the happiest I’ve ever been. Naturally, I stepped up as a residential leader in my junior year.

Once, I found a proctee lying in bed during study hall, repeatedly insisting that she just felt tired. However, I noticed that her cheeks were unusually amber, and took her temperature to reveal a high fever. I walked her to the health center through a dimly lit campus, incredibly relieved at having caught her sickness in time.

Another night, I heard someone’s muffled sobs in the bathroom. Careful not to disturb her, I set a reminder to check up on her the next day—I then learned of a roommate argument about incompatible sleep habits. Promptly, my co-proctors and I facilitated the creation of a roommate contract and open dialogue. The tension transformed into lighthearted laughter.

With these rewarding experiences, I’ll show my Wildcat spirit by sharing the profound, cause-and-effect relationship of “helppy.” 

SAMPLE Common App Essay ADMITTED to Northwestern

7,000 Miles

At my school’s student drop-off circle, I slung my backpack over my back and hugged my mother. Tears streamed down my face. I knew I wouldn’t see her that night when I got home. In fact, I wouldn’t see her for many nights. 

While my classmates’ moms were the ones driving them to school every day and showing up to every event, my mom was 7,000 miles away. She’s away for two months at a time and comes to visit for two weeks. I remind myself of why she does it. She moved when I was in eighth grade to take care of my ailing grandfather. It’s “filial piety”, one of Confucius’s cardinal relationships in Chinese culture, which says that children must take care of their elders. At the time, I resented it.  

I missed my mother’s homemade Lo Mein as she leaned over the stove to make food for us. I missed her hugs and our talks. It felt unfair that she wasn’t there with me. I was embarrassed to let others know about my family’s situation. When I had to ask my friend to forward me a school email that was for parents because mom wasn’t around and dad was too busy, my resentment peaked. I called her and begged her to come home. “I’m sorry…I can’t, honey”, I heard her voice crack…so did mine. I soon cancelled my summer plans to fly to China to be with her. As I woke up before dawn the next morning to her delicious foods that permeated her small apartment, I realized that she always had to wake up early. After breakfast, she took me to see my grandfather who rose unsteadily to his feet and used the only arm he could move to hug me. Deep in his eyes, I began to see it for what it really was. It was only my mother – no one else – who held my grandfather’s hand during painful treatment, only she who made him smile, only she who was his lifeline. 

         Coming home, I stopped bemoaning her absence and instead celebrated what she was silently teaching me: life comes with responsibilities and sacrifices. The mundane things that I used to do perfunctorily changed. I used to hang my head at basketball practice whenever the coach demanded tiring drills. However, after seeing the sacrifices my mother had made with her head held high, it was my turn to push myself. I began to appreciate the sound of the coach’s whistle. In school, I selected more challenging courses each year. I owed it to myself. Little behaviors like helping my dad clean the house or doing family’s laundry were no longer seen as burdens but as my responsibilities. I still miss my mom, but I am learning independence. 

I emulated my mother’s work by volunteering at a local school every weekend teaching basketball to young children. I gladly missed Sunday football games on tv, but I was fulfilled when I saw the parents’ smiles as the kids proudly showed off their new skills. Sometimes they behaved rambunctiously, but I welcomed these challenges because I saw how my mother embraced her sacrifices without complaint.

                The bond I made with the kids showed me that my sacrifices, no matter how small, had an impact, just like how the 7,000 miles between my mom and grandfather didn’t lessen the impact she had on him. Each Sunday, when I pass a basketball to one of them by lobbing it in the air with care, I think about how my mom steadily holds my grandfather up to walk. For the nearly four years that my mother has been gone, a truth has unraveled: despite 7,000 miles of separation, filial piety is much bigger than taking care of one’s parents; it is the acceptance of responsibility and giving our love to others in any capacity that we can give it. 

Sarah ONeill Supreme Editing, Coatesville, PA