Hometown: Queens, NY

Year: First-Year

College: Davenport

Major: Undecided

Extracurriculars: No Closed Doors; Groove

Common app essay examples

Profile

In high school, Cosette Davis was, she says, “that kid who did everything.” At a small high school in Queens, New York, she was involved in almost all of the school’s extracurricular offerings—from dance groups to marine biology research.

The summer before her first year, Cosette shadowed nurses at her local hospital’s emergency room, where she developed a passion for biology and medicine. After arriving at Yale believing she would be a doctor, she loaded her schedule with introductory science courses. But something just did not feel right about the premed track and, in a twist of fate, Cosette ended up even less sure about what she wanted to do with her life after her first semester at Yale. For now, she is capitalizing on the resources Yale has to offer by exploring new fields, such as architecture, design, and neuroscience.

Outside of her classes, Cosette works as a case manager for No Closed Doors, a student organization that helps low-income New Haven residents apply for jobs and housing. While she loves Yale, she says she enjoys stepping out of the “Yale bubble” and engaging with New Haven residents.

Cosette also participates in Groove, a lyrical, contemporary and jazz dance group, where she choreographs performances alongside friends from her residential college.

Cosette asserts that she chose Yale because it “felt like home,” arguing that among the schools she visited, Yale’s student body felt the most welcoming and supportive. And, according to Cosette, her experience at Yale confirmed her instincts: On one of her first nights living at Yale, she spent a night talking to a suitemate about all their hopes and apprehensions about college. Bonding with her suitemate during their first week at Yale over their mutual excitement and nervousness surrounding the future marked the moment that Cosette realized she had found a new home.

Cosette’s essays include her Common App personal statement.

ESSAY 1 (COMMON APP)

Personal Statement

Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma—anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

My friends may call me old-fashioned for reading a print version of The Wave, but I crave my weekly reminder of why I love where I live. When I flip through the newspaper’s pages,  I see flamboyant costume-wearers and police officers smiling together against the verdant backdrop of the annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. I read about the progress being made in the rebuilding of houses, parks, and the boardwalk destroyed by Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. The Wave’s myriad photos and stories effortlessly portray the unparalleled vibrancy, togetherness, and resilience of Rockaway Beach and its residents that  I cherish.

The Wave also reminds me of the improvements needed in Rockaway. As I glanced over the advertising page one day in my sophomore year, a little gray box containing the word “research” caught my eye. The Rockaway Waterfront Alliance was piloting a new internship for high school students called Environmentor, named for its focus on environmental science. Despite my preference for biomedicine, I wanted to keep an open mind. I decided to apply and was paired with a mentor who was a Ph.D. student at Brooklyn College. After finishing my first task—wading into Jamaica Bay in muddy thigh-high boots to grab slimy seaweed samples—I wondered if the program was really my ideal fit. The putrid-smelling, mosquito-infested bay was my least favorite aspect of Rockaway, and studying seaweed seemed irrelevant to daily life.

In my research, I soon uncovered a problem in Rockaway more serious than the odor of its bay: eutrophication. Eutrophication is the excessive loading of nutrients into waterways, especially through human products like chemical fertilizers and sewage. Nutrients fuel the overgrowth of algae. Algal blooms reduce the value of the bay as a tourist attraction, devastate fishing industries, and threaten public health. I was astonished to learn that the people of Rockaway, who usually exhibit great pride and concern for their community, were oblivious to the dangers of eutrophication.

Following a summer of analyzing the complex interactions within the bay ecosystem, I realized the most effective approach to decreasing the damage done to the natural world is prevention. I then pledged to foster awareness of Rockaway’s environmental issues. When I finished my project, I entered as many science competitions as I possibly could to communicate my findings to a wider audience of scientific professionals. I even labored to get my work published in various peer-reviewed journals and shared those publications with friends and neighbors, urging them to spread the information.

While completing and spreading my research was a challenging undertaking, it brought great rewards. The countless hours I spent in the lab helped me become more resourceful and independent in overcoming obstacles, while the exacting judges and editors of symposiums and journals pushed me to build my confidence and increase my impact within scientific forums.  In college, I intend to continue working with individuals who share my passion for finding innovative solutions to pressing scientific problems, as I find the greatest fulfillment in making the quality of human lives better.

Today, it would be typical to see me on the new boardwalk striking up a random conversation with a stranger about nitrogen loading. I love where I live, even after discovering the grave condition of its waterways, and could not imagine living anywhere else. By shedding light on the consequences of my community’s actions, I hope to encourage change and ensure my town’s treasures can be enjoyed for generations to come. I know Rockaway’s residents share my vision and that they will one day come together to preserve our peninsular paradise on the outskirts of New York City.

From 50 Yale Admission Success Stories: And the Essay That Made Them Happen, edited by the Yale Daily News Staff. Copyright © 2020 by the authors
and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.