Here Are Some Of The Application Essays That Got Students Into Columbia This Year

Want to know what it takes to get into Columbia University, which had a 6.9% acceptance rate this year?

We just got a clue thanks to Peter Jacobs at IvyGate, who discovered an online folder where students who were accepted into Columbia's class of 2017 are sharing their Common App essays.

Columbia is one of hundreds of colleges that accept the Common App, a standardized undergraduate college application. One of the most daunting parts of the application is the essay, where applicants are asked to write up to 650 words about nearly any subject under the sun.

Unfortunately, the Google Drive folder was deleted shortly after we discovered it. But we picked out a few noteworthy opening paragraphs, below, and you can read more about what was in the essays over at IvyGate.

The 'life as a movie':

The dramatic opening:

The hipster paradox:

The extended resume:

The romance novel: