5 George Washington University Essay Examples by Accepted Students
George Washington University is a private research university best known for its programs in international affairs, government, public policy, and journalism. Situated in the heart of Washington D.C., GW students have an incredible opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the nation’s capital. Because of it’s great location and academics, GW has become increasingly competitive so you’ll need a strong essays to stand out. In this post, we will share five essays real students have submitted to GW, as well as explain what each essay did well and were they could be improved. (Names and identifying information have been changed, but all other details are preserved). Read our George Washington University essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. Prompt: Journalism and Mass Communication major: Write a profile of yourself in news or news feature style, as if you had interviewed yourself (500 words). Mira Patel sat at her desk, her finger tapping on the side of a water glass as she welcomed me into the Zoom meeting. “It’s been a busy few months, but I’m excited to talk about it,” she said, heaving a nervous but excited breath. Patel, age 17, has been serving as the Co-Editor-In-Chief of [name removed] High School’s student-run newspaper, the View, for the past year. She, along with her two fellow Co-Editor-In-Chiefs, have re-evaluated the newspaper to fit a socially-distant setting. Despite the stress of finding a way to amplify the voices of [high school]’s student body in 2020, Patel’s tone sparks as she discusses the team’s progress thus far. “There’ve been a lot of bumps in the road. [High School] initially cut our Journalism class this year due to budget concerns so we had to find a way to connect those that were interested in forming a club,” she added, her intonation highlighting her enthusiasm. “But we did it, and our first issue will be out in time for the Holidays!” Patel detailed the intricate planning that went behind the issue, as she helped garner interest and developed a platform for the student body to share their voices digitally. 2020, in her words, has been a year “paramount for developing young voices” in the wake of the pandemic, monumental social justice movements, and the direct impact of wildfires exacerbated by climate change in her home state Oregon. When asked how she initially developed a passion for communication and media, Patel pondered and continued to recount the experience that sparked her “infatuation” with forms of media. “In the summer before my sophomore year, I was selected for an internship at AASPIRE, the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education,” she said. Her experience consisted not only of technical strides in data analysis and visualization but also in developing creative solutions to communicate with her diverse team at the Regional Research Institute for Human Services at Portland State University. She described how many in her department, including her mentor, had disabilities like autism and ADHD. As she realized that these differences were not a hindrance but rather an opportunity to empathize and expand her viewpoint, she recognized how crucial communication was in developing perspectives. “It took off after AASPIRE,” Patel stated regarding her interest in media. As a young Indian-American activist, she actively sought opportunities in media, finding a “home for [her] voice” at [name removed] community radio, a grassroots radio initiative in Portland. “[Community radio] gives leverage to the voices of the marginalized—we focus on building communal mobilization around social issues through communication.” Patel specializes in social media strategy and outreach at [community radio], an experience which she states strengthened her leadership and interest in media and policy by providing opportunities to network with “skilled communicators and changemakers”. As a driven young communicator and changemaker, Patel uses her platform at The View and [community radio] to leverage the stories that often go unheard. “That’s what motivates me for the future,” Patel states.
For a journalism prompt, the key to this essay is the structure and writing style, and this essay did a fantastic job mimicking the style of a journalistic expose. Phrases like “Patel, age 17,” “she added, her intonation highlighting her enthusiasm,” and “in her words” make the essay feel like an authentic interview. Writing in third-person might feel unnatural, but in this case it works perfectly in creating the desired feel. This student also took advantage of the open-ended prompt to truly showcase multiple aspects of her personality. We learn about her work at the newspaper her research internship at AASPRIE , and the community radio she was a part of. Although focusing on multiple extracurriculars in one essay can sometimes become too general and overcrowded, this one is successful because of the common theme of media and communication the student incorporated in each paragraph. The transitions in this essay are particularly strong because they focus on her interest in media. For example, “When asked how she initially developed a passion for communication and media, Patel pondered and continued to recount the experience that sparked her “infatuation” with forms of media” bridges the gap between the paper and her experiences at AASPRIE. Similarly, the transition between AASPIRE and the radio is communicated nicely with these sentences: “‘It took off after AASPIRE,’ Patel stated regarding her interest in media. As a young Indian-American activist, she actively sought opportunities in media.“ This essay is already fairly strong, however one way to make it even better would be to include more descriptions of the student as she’s being interviewed. The essay starts off with imagery like “her finger tapping on the side of a water glass” to communicate possible anxiety before the interview and it describes her intonation and expressive voice to help place the reader in the moment. As the essay goes on though, these descriptions get lost. It would be nice to see this student continue describing her physical and vocal features throughout the essay so the reader can feel like they are there witnessing the interview. Details like “her eyes lit up at the memory” or “her face broke out into a toothy grin when asked about her experience” would have made the essay even more engaging if they were weaved through the piece. Prompt: Write a letter to the author of a book you loved (300 words). Dear Ms. Picoult, I placed a hold on Small Great Things two months before I received it— it was 2016, the book had just come out, and I was in eighth-grade, enveloped in my adamant reading phase. This was my time of self-discovery, when I took heed to expand my knowledge through books. Your book was prime in my development. Small Great Things was the first book that I read of yours; the storytelling structure thus caught me by surprise, pulling me through the internal dialogue and context of each character. An empathetic tribute to race in present-day America, you tackled complex multiple racial perspectives of primary characters through an overarching storyline. Small Great Things is groundbreaking in this regard— you wrote on a foundation of empathy, putting each reader through the story of each character. I glimpsed the agony Ruth felt as she navigated a racism-based lawsuit; I witnessed Turk’s frustration as a childhood experience metamorphosed into white supremacist belief; I saw transitions Kennedy underwent as she recognized the width of structural racism. As you put me in the shoes of each character, I understood how these experiences manifested their perspective in the overriding plot. Your intelligent story structure let me notice how each character, no matter how they present, has haphazard ideological wavelengths that curate their viewpoint. Small Great Things is a piece of art—as an eighth-grader, it stimulated my mind intellectually and beckoned me to apply this empathetic mindset to my daily endeavors. I began to delve into stories of all forms, curating my passion for media and drawing me to participate in research and communication internships, ranging from. Thank you for developing my soul multidimensionally and for helping me understand that every person has a story worth telling. Sincerely, Anika
This is a beautifully written essay that is quite successful for multiple reasons. First, the student didn’t pick a mainstream author like Shakespeare or Colleen Hoover. They chose someone the reader might not necessarily know, but that author has a deep significance to them. Because this student picked their author intentionally, half the work was done for them: the essay comes across as genuine and their enthusiasm for the book jumps off the page. Another positive aspect is how this student explains the general gist of the book they found so influential. Yes, it doesn’t totally make sense to tell an author the plot of their story, but if you are picking a less well-known book, the admissions officers need to get a feel for what the novel is about. The line, “An empathetic tribute to race in present-day America, you tackled complex multiple racial perspectives of primary characters through an overarching storyline,” is a succinct summary that helps the reader of the essay immediately gain an appreciation for the book. However, the student doesn’t just stop at the one-liner summary. They give tangible examples from the book to exemplify the topics this book exposed them to and the impact that has had on them. This is both a great way to demonstrate how the author moved you (if you actually wrote a letter to the author) and your intellectual maturity to grasp the significance of smaller details. The conclusion is also well done because it expands beyond the book to the student. Including details about their passion for media and their internships in the communication field once again demonstrates this student’s connection to the book, but goes further to show how they have internalized story telling and it has become a part of their personality. On the whole, this essay does a great job covering both the author and the student. That being said, there’s one small error that takes away from the essay. In the last paragraph, there is an incomplete sentence: “drawing me to participate in research and communication internships, ranging from.” For such a well-written and well-communicated essay, this mistake is hard to ignore and looks a little sloppy. This could have easily been avoided if the student had other people read over their essay before submitting. Whether that’s a friend, parent, teacher, or college advisor, getting an extra pair of eyes to catch little slip ups like this one is super important. Alternatively, this student could have just cut out “ranging from” as it wasn’t really necessary to tell us the exact internships after already mentioning the communication field. Either way, proofreading can never hurt! Prompt: As you think about your four-year experience at The George Washington University, how do you see the University Honors Program shaping your time with us and what most excites you about joining the UHP? (300 words). The George Washington University Honors Program is a community filled with talented individuals, each working to succeed individually and collectively. With a smaller crop of diverse students, the camaraderie embodied in the UHP excites me; I value peers who are driven and empathetic. The UHP seeks to attract “intellectual omnivores”, a label I strongly identify with. I find myself fascinated by nuances in nearly every subject I have explored—the UHP’s strong liberal foundation will satiate my multidisciplinary interests. I am intrigued by the social structures that govern belief systems, the policy that allows society to function, and the environmental processes that let life thrive. Thus, I have developed a primary passion for media studies and environmental policy; I hope to grow and narrow my foundational interests into a comprehensive educational experience. UHP’s emphasis on intellectual and academic stimulation suits my interest in discussion-based, tactical, and experiential learning. The top-tier faculty and research opportunities at the UHP will help me grow my practical knowledge. With research grants such as SURE open to honors students, I will hone my interdisciplinary skills into a tangible, impactful experience. I plan on taking advantage of the myriad of opportunities the UHP offers. The research skills I have cultivated through my internships, alongside my skills in leadership, teamwork, and strategic communication will help make the best of my UHP experience. The UHP will satisfy my curiosity by helping me explore the multiple fields in which I am interested. It will develop my primary interest in media and policy while growing my networks socially and academically. These cultivated skills and global perspectives will let me leverage professional opportunities in media positions in change-making environments, from digital-media companies to NGOs. The UHP will challenge me personally and academically, helping me grow as a learner, innovator, and changemaker.
This is a nicely written essay with a good structure. Every paragraph is focused and it is easy to follow along and pick up key ideas. The student also has a good grasp of their diction, making the essay sound professional, but not out of place in a high schooler’s vocabulary. We are given a nice background to why the student has chosen their area of study: “I am intrigued by the social structures that govern belief systems, the policy that allows society to function, and the environmental processes that let life thrive.” The student also clearly demonstrates what they will get out of this program: “These cultivated skills and global perspectives will let me leverage professional opportunities in media positions in change-making environments, from digital-media companies to NGOs.“ The biggest problem with this essay is the lack of specificity. Although the student nicely explains their interests and how they want to grow, you could pretty much replace UHP with any other honors program and the essay would still work. In order for this essay to demonstrate to admissions officers that this student actually wants to attend GW, they need to include specific details like classes, clubs, or professors and research opportunities that are unique to the UHP. Rather than telling us “UHP’s emphasis on intellectual and academic stimulation suits my interest in discussion-based, tactical, and experiential learning,” they should describe their excitement at taking a class that takes students to Capitol Hill to get hands-on experience with environmental policy. Applying this strategy to every sentence—replacing broad generalized statements with specific UHP offerings—would make this essay much stronger. Prompt: At the George Washington University, our students frequently interact with policymakers and world leaders. These experiences and those of our alumni can shape the future of global affairs. If you had the power to change the course of history in your community or the world, what would you do and why? (250 words). As I stood in a crowd of echoing voices at the Oregon Youth Climate strike, I observed. Our collective grounded me; our young perspectives were crucial as those affected generationally by the impending climate crisis. In my community, I would change the course of history in the realm of intersectional environmentalism—I would integrate my experience in sustainability and communication to help inform diverse subsets of individuals. Surpassing communication across boundaries would build a coalition of informed and empathetic environmental communicators. I have been fortunate to integrate climate-consciousness in my lifestyle from a young age. When purchasing food and clothing, documentaries I was raised on such as “Food Inc.” and “The True Cost” informed my choices; when the 2020 west-coast wildfires left the atmosphere smoky outside my home, I acknowledged the expansive history behind these increasingly frequent ecological crises. As I grew to see that resources needed to implement sustainable lifestyles and make environmental connections are inaccessible to many, I placed importance on intersectional environmentalism. With a communication movement in this field, we would inform those with a lack of accessibility of equitable ways to integrate sustainability into their routines, while advocating for their rights as those disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. We would learn from those with novel cultural experiences, such as indigenous techniques of prescribed burns for wildfire mitigation. With this movement, sustainability would be both an individual and communal effort, informing representative policy while pervading implementable sustainable lifestyle changes, together leading to an equitable climate justice initiative.
This essay has a unique take on this version of the common “global issues” prompt, which works quite well because of how well it relates to this student and their interests. Rather than focusing on a historical moment, they chose to take a future-looking approach and explain how they plan to change the course of history moving forward. Demonstrating your ability to look to the future is an important skill in college essays, as it shows you are thinking about making positive change. The student also does a good job of connecting the topic to them with concrete examples. Sharing the specific documentaries that influenced them when “purchasing food and clothing” and the “smokey atmosphere outside [their] home” as a personal connection to the wildfires are great ways to demonstrate how environmentalism is at the forefront of this student’s mind. By including these small details the student humanizes themself and legitimizes their interest. In general, this essay is very focused and cohesive. It serves as a good example of how you should dive deeply into one specific topic you are passionate about—environmental inter sectionalism in this case—and fully expand on that interest, rather than trying to tackle too much at once. Anyone walking away from this essay can say with confidence what this student’s niche is, a goal you should always try to hit for each essay. One thing this essay struggles with is the tone and diction. The use of overly-formal words makes the essay feel rigid and pedantic rather than natural and casual. Take the first paragraph for example: “As I stood in a crowd of echoing voices at the Oregon Youth Climate strike, I observed. Our collective grounded me; our young perspectives were crucial as those affected generationally by the impending climate crisis.“ With the convoluted sentences structure and phrases like “Our collective grounded me“, the simple message of the paragraph gets lost in a web of words. This could instead be far more straightforward, demonstrate the student’s authentic voice, and include more active imagery in an introduction like this: “The echo of thousands of voices demanding climate justice rippled through the air. ‘No more fossil fuels!’ ‘We deserve a future!’ ‘Climate justice for all!’ The cacophony of chants blended into a beautiful chorus of young voices fighting for our future. I watched on in awe, amazed at the possibilities collective action could bring.“ Prompt: The George Washington University encourages students to think critically and to challenge the status quo. Thus, civil discourse is a key characteristic of our community. Describe a time when you engaged others in meaningful dialogue around an issue that was important to you. Did this exchange create change, new perspectives, or deeper relationships? (500 words) This past summer, I engaged in contentious yet civil discussions in Brown Pre-College’s “Contemporary Moral Issues” course, where I learned about five salient topics and exchanged insight with peers. We discussed vegetarianism on the first day, specifically the ethics of killing animals for food. While I had not previously held a strong standpoint on whether this practice is morally permissible, our lecture and small group discussion centered on Tyler Doggett’s argument outlined in “Moral Vegetarianism” elicited a further understanding of the topic, and encouraged me to more deeply introspect. I quickly gained an eager curiosity; as someone who consumes meat, am I truly equipped to share from experience? I felt like animal slaughter for food is unethical, but does my position, as an omnivore, enable me to justifiably contribute in conversations? During a conversation with a peer, my beliefs were challenged, yet strengthened. This student believed that killing pigs for food is morally permissible, and they contested one of Doggett’s claims, that “humans are smarter than pigs,” to support their argument. I struggled to resonate with their rationale, as my perspective on such ethics, and the context of my understanding, differed greatly from the experiences that informed my peer’s belief. This specific notion of permissibility felt too disparate from my general ethical comprehension, and with a more explicit understanding of the opposing argument, I discerned that my perspective on this issue would not waver. Although I did not agree with this student’s argument, I listened actively and expressed how I appreciated their perspective; the student demonstrated what “the other side” of this argument looks like, and helped inform my comprehensive understanding of vegetarian ethics. I acknowledged, nonverbally, that this student and I did not share backgrounds, and their perspective was shaped from unique lived experiences just as mine had been. We continued with healthy conversation, exchanging our viewpoints with an eagerness to learn, and concluded on a symbiotic footing.
Some prompts are open-ended, while others ask you to be more specific. This prompt falls into the latter category, by asking students to write on the specific topic of civic discourse — defined as meaningful dialogue around an issue that creates change, new perspectives, or deeper relationships. This student does a great job of staying on topic and discussing only civic discourse. They do not get distracted by community service, leadership experience, or anything that falls outside of the prompt. They are focused. Additionally, they answer the question. While you should fill up your word count with personal details, insights into your mind, and a description of your values, when a prompt is highly specific like this, it’s important that the reader can easily identify your answer. For this kind of prompt, we recommend students use the “one-sentence test.” After reading your essay, could an admissions officer summarize your answer to one of their colleagues in just one sentence? Let’s try it out. Prompt: What were the effects of the student’s experience with civic discourse? One sentence: Civic discourse did not change their perspective, but helped reinforce the strength of their beliefs. This student passed the one-sentence test! The goal of your college essays is to humanize yourself to admissions officers. While this student does a good job of describing their experience discussing a contentious topic with a peer, that description stays relatively surface-level, and as a result they miss an opportunity to tell readers about their background, personality, values, and the way they see the world. Yes, the prompt asks what experiences you have with civic discourse, but if you read between the lines, what admissions officers really want to know is why you value civic discourse. Instead of leading with a factual sentence — “I engaged in contentious yet civil discussions in Brown Pre-College’s ‘Contemporary Moral Issues’ course, where I learned about five salient topics and exchanged insight with peers” — this student should have started with a story about why they were drawn to taking this course on moral issues in the first place. Similarly, the student writes “our lecture and small group discussion centered on Tyler Doggett’s argument outlined in ‘Moral Vegetarianism’ elicited a further understanding of the topic, and encouraged me to more deeply introspect” — which is a ‘what’ sentence. In other words, the student is just telling us what happened, and while that is important, what matters even more is answering why reading arguments, having conversations, and practicing introspection are important to them. The student does try to give us a window into their mind when they list questions this experience prompted them to wonder — “am I truly equipped to share from experience? I felt like animal slaughter for food is unethical, but does my position, as an omnivore, enable me to justifiably contribute in conversations?” — but ultimately fall short of their goal as they fail to actually reflect on these questions, and that reflection is what would give us true insight into their psychology. Simply put, these are obvious questions that anyone would wonder about — what will set you apart is your answers to them. So, to summarize, we need to learn more about the student. As an added bonus, if the student were to incorporate deeper personal reflections, that would not only teach us more about them, but also take better advantage of the space given to them. 500 words is on the long side for a supplement, but this student is only using 319 of them — almost 40% of the words are going unused! Remember, while you don’t have to hit the word limit on the dot (your exact word count depends more on particular phrasings than actual content), you should be within 20ish words of it at most. College essays are already restrictive by their nature, so you don’t want to voluntarily restrict yourself even further by not using as much of the space given to you as you can. Also on a structural level, the writing is a bit wordy and repetitive at times, particularly in the last paragraph. Last paragraphs are dangerous because students tend to summarize. In a longer academic essay, that’s a reasonable strategy, but in a college essay with limited space, you want to keep your readers engaged with new details through the very end; ideally, they’ll even be left wanting more. Some fluffy sentences/lines elsewhere in this essay include: Make sure each sentence adds something unique to your essay. These lines aren’t exactly bad, but they aren’t giving us any new insight into who this student is, as all three of them are basically saying the same thing: this student encountered a peer who held different beliefs from them. That event is even less exciting since, given the prompt, it goes without saying that this student didn’t agree with their peer. If you notice that two or more of your sentences say the same thing, pick the one that makes the point most effectively, and use the words you’ve saved to sprinkle in more details about your personality at other points in your essay. Do you want feedback on your George Washington University essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool, where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!
What’s Covered
Essay Example #1 – Journalism
What the Essay Did Well
What Could Be Improved
Essay Example #2 – Letter to the Author
What the Essay Did Well
What Could Be Improved
Essay Example #3 – Honors at GW
What the Essay Did Well
What Could Be Improved
Essay Example #4 – Changing the World
What the Essay Did Well
What Could Be Improved
Essay Example #5 – Civil Discourse
What the Essay Did Well
What Could Be Improved
Where to Get Your George Washington University Essays Edited
