[에세이 샘플] 커뮤니티 대학(Community College)에서 UC Berkeley 편입한 학생 에세이

낮은 고교성적, SAT 점수에도 불구하고 커뮤니티 대학에서 열심히 공부한 결과 버클리에 합격하는 영광을 얻었다. 목표 대학 입학에 실패하더라도 계속 노력하면 이런 결과도 나올 수 있다.

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are?

As a non-believer in a devout Buddhist family, I used to question the meaning and rationale behind Dharma, which can be translated into the “natural law” of Buddha. To this day, I find Buddhist teachings and disciplines challenging to understand and abide by; however, I have come to accept and acknowledge that the fundamental philosophy of Buddhism is to respect others regardless of the world they come from.

When I was thirteen, my mother once told me to go to the only church in our village, and learn the piano. I was quite startled as I thought it was quite unnatural of my devout mother to encourage me to go to church. Isn’t this against Dharma? I soon realized that my mother had accepted a courteous offer from a lady at the church, who suggested that anyone could learn the piano at the church, regardless of religious belief. Throughout my lessons, to my surprise, she never mentioned anything about Christianity or even religion. And yet, her loving and quiet actions had taught me something similar that I might have found in Dharma.

During the two years I lived in this small village of Millyang, I learned more than just piano skills. I learned how to respect other people’s beliefs, lifestyles, preferences, and values. There I met people who have never seen skyscrapers or rode on the subway; there I learned how to play with real friends doing real things outside the virtual world of computer games; there I grew a few inches taller while expanding my horizons by thousands of miles. The lessons I learned there have laid my foundation, on which I have continued to grow and develop with new experiences in different cultures. I finally came to believe that the fundamental Dharma of life is harmony within a society.

Now I am in a different society from Millyang, preparing myself to move again to another one. The teachings from Dharma and from the village, especially from my mother and the Christian piano teacher, have given me the ability to look out for harmony, and at the same time to know how to empathize with those who may be in a new environment as I have.

아이한테 최고의 대학을 가라고 몰아부칠 게 아니라 아이에게 최상인 대학을 보내야 한다

최근 "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be (어느 대학을 가느냐가 너의 인생을 결정하지 않는다)"를 펴낸 뉴욕타임즈의 프랭크 브루니의 칼럼.

스탠포드 대학이 있는 팔로알토, 워싱턴 DC 교외, 시카고 교외에는 학업에 시달린 청소년 자살이 심각한 문제. 전 스탠포드 학장 왈,

"요즘 부모는 과보호를 넘어 아이의 인생에 너무 지배적이고 지나치게 간섭을 한다. 오로지 업적 쌓기에만 애를 몰아 실패할 틈을 주지 않는다. 그 결과 애들은 진이 다 빠지고 (정신적으로) 허약해진다."

문제는 이것이 상위 1%의 학생에게서만 나타나는 게 아님. 어차피 최고의 대학을 가는 학생은 피라미드의 꼭대기 1% 이하. 하지만, 그 밑의 수많은 학생도 이런 학업 프레셔에서 벗어나지 못하고 있음. 어차피 아이비나 SKY는 피라미드의 꼭대기에 있는 아이들만 입학하는데 그 밑의 모든 아이들까지 비슷한 강도로 몰아치고 있는 상황.

필자에게 상담 오는 학부모 중에도 이런 경우가 많다. "저희 아이 이번에 AP수업은 몇개 해야할까요?" 아니, 지금 정규과목도 힘들어 하면서 왜 AP에 신경을 써야 하나? 남들이 다 하니까. 또는 "이번 여름방학 때 해외 봉사/인턴쉽/경시대회준비 하는 게 좋을까요?" 에고, 지금 그게 문제가 아니고 학교 과목에서 A나 받도록 노력을 해야하는데. 이것 역시 남들이 하니까 내 자식도 시켜야 한다는 강박관념으로 애들을 이리 몰고 저리 몰고 있다. 그걸 도와주는 비즈니스도 많고.

"'코알라대드(Koala Dad, 아이가 건강하고 행복하게 자라도록 사랑과 보호를 아끼지 않는 아빠)'가 '타이거맘(Tiger Mom, 업적 위주의 아이를 키우기 위해 강하게 키우는 엄마)'보다 더 좋은 부모다."

"애가 최고가 되길 바라지 말고, 애한테 최고인 것을 바래라."

이런 멋진 말은 그냥 미사여구에 불과한 것이 안타깝다.

올해 프린스턴, 콜롬비아, 다트머스, 유펜 합격한 학생의 에세이

에세이 토픽:

Using this theme as a starting point, write about a person, event, or experience that helped you define one of your values or in some way changed how you approach the world. Please do not repeat, in full or in part, the essay you wrote for the Common Application. “Princeton in the Nation’s Service” was the title of a speech given by Woodrow Wilson on the 150th anniversary of the University. It became the unofficial Princeton motto and was expanded for the University’s 250th anniversary to “Princeton in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations.” Woodrow Wilson, Princeton Class of 1879, served on the faculty and was Princeton’s president from 1902–1910.

As Woodrow Wilson noted in Princeton's 150th anniversary address, the university's history is a story that is still being written today through education and political service. I resonate with this on a personal level as my own story to date begins and ends with the act of public service.

There is a Quaker saying that states, "Let your life speak." If my life could speak for itself, it would speak in vehement tones and a passionate voice. It would speak about the story of a girl who was born into a dream, a dream which she took and turned into a reality through the act of service that Woodrow Wilson spoke so fondly of.

On November 15, I was sitting in the Oklahoma State Department of Education awaiting my turn to interview for the United States Senate Youth Program. Four short months later, I found myself sitting in the White House as one of the two selected delegates from Oklahoma, awaiting the arrival of President Obama. There I was, sitting in the historic home of the presidents who had worked to define the American Dream. Interestingly enough, the American Dream is the means by which I have made my own dreams come true. It's the magnetic pull that compels me to pursue public service as a career. It's the testimony that my life speaks of in abundance.

Without a doubt, being raised by immigrant parents taught me about the importance of public service. Both my parents were born into poverty, and were only given the bare necessity to make a living: an education. My grandparents told my parents not to pay them back, but to pay it forward by using their education to change the world for the goodwill of others. That's how my parents' American Dream began, and how it continues to exist through me. Despite having much more than my parents had at my age, my parents continue to instill in me this same mindset. The American Dream is about working hard to ensure not only your own prosperity, but the affluence of society as a whole. They taught me that community service - the act of making the world a better place - is the best way to utilize the skills and education that I've been given. As a result, my life now speaks to the success story of public service and says plenty about the dedicated and compassionate leader I am.

Through the dreams of my parents, I managed to find my own. Because of them, I have learned to approach the world selflessly. Largely due in part to their never-ending support, my early interest in service blossomed into a passion, that has now transformed into a calling - a calling to protect the American Dream, the one that makes individual dreams possible, for everyone. Surely this is the dream that Woodrow Wilson spoke of in Princeton's famed 150th anniversary address.

If my life could speak for itself, it would attest to the durability, longevity and reliability of hard work, the importance of service and how they all add up as a sum of my character. I share Princeton's sentiments, as I too have lived out my life story in this great nation's service, and in the service of all nations. My life has truly been an American Dream, built from the ground up, fortified through aspiration, diligence and toil. Woodrow Wilson believed that the pathway to a better world could only be found through service and I could not agree more; I can only hope that I am already well on my way down that path.

[출처] Here's the college essay from a high-school senior who got into 4 Ivy League schools 

2015 아이비리그 합격률

합격률은 아무 의미가 없다. 너무 신경 쓸 필요 없다. 예를 들어, 코넬이 합격률이 제일 낮으니 들어가기 쉽다라고 생각하는 건 오산이다. 하버드 갈 학생이 하버드와 코넬에 지원했을 때 코넬 될 확률이 더 높은 거다. 코넬에 겨우 지원할 정도의 스펙인 학생은 코넬 합격률이 20% 되어도 힘든 거다. 그러니 여기저기서 합격률로 겁줄 때 너무 신경쓰지 말고 우리 아이 실력이 얼마나 되고 그 실력에 맞는 학교가 어딘지 찾는 것에 신경쓰자.

하버드 대학:        37,307명 지원, 1,990명 합격 (5.33%)

콜롬비아 대학:    36,250명 지원, 2,228명 합격 (6.1%)

예일 대학:            30,237명 지원, 1,963명 합격 (6.49%)

프린스턴 대학:     27,290명 지원, 1,908명 합격 (6.99%)

브라운 대학:         30,397명 지원, 2,580명 합격 (8.49%)

펜실베니아 대학: 37,267명 지원, 3,697명 합격 (9.9%)

다트머스 대학:     20,504명 지원, 2,120명 합격 (10.3%)

코넬 대학:             41,907명 지원, 6,234명 합격 (14,9%)