Where do you actually find good essay examples? Not the generic ones

[ThomasGrew]

Okay, serious question. Every time I Google “college essay examples” I get the same five websites with the same five essays: “The Basketball Player Who Learned Perseverance,” “The Immigrant Grandmother Who Taught Me Hard Work,” “The Volunteer Trip That Changed Everything.”

Where are you finding authentic examples?

I’ve dug through university admission blogs and actual student repositories, and here’s what’s actually legit:

• Emory’s admission blog – They publish full essays from enrolled students with ADMISSION STAFF COMMENTARY explaining why they worked. Not just the essay—the feedback .
• Weber State University – Professor-published student samples with honest disclaimers like “these are not perfect, but they advance an interesting thesis” .
• Tuition Rewards scholarship library – Real winning scholarship essays with breakdowns of the “Challenge, Leadership, Community, Future” framework .

My ask: Drop your hidden gem sources for essay examples. Not the first page of Google. The real stuff.

Also—does anyone have access to failing essays? I learn more from what bombs than what wins.

 

[SarahJones]

The problem with "good" essays is they're often so polished they're intimidating. Students come in like "I can't write like THIS" and I'm like... neither can the person who wrote it?? That essay went through like 8 drafts??

Anyway, here's my contribution: The Harvard Writing Center has sample papers in different disciplines (history, psychology, etc.) with professor annotations. They're not trying to be "perfect essays," they're trying to show discipline-specific conventions.

Also, seconding the library database idea. Ours has something called "ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global" and while dissertations are obviously longer, you can see how real people structure arguments at a high level. Steal their transitions. Borrow their logic. Citation is free baby!