Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

High School: Private school, 84 students in graduating class

Ethnicity: Hispanic

Gender: Male

GPA: 4.51 out of 4.0 (weighted)

SAT: Reading 800, Math 740, Writing 770

ACT: n/a

SAT Subject Tests Taken: Mathematics Level 2, Spanish

Extracurriculars: Mock Trial captain, Student Council president, varsity soccer

Awards: Salutatorian, Journal Cup, Yale Book Award, Student Athlete Award

Major: Economics

Free example college statement

“Right here,” says my dad, motioning to a large booth on the right. It’s a cold winter morning and we have not eaten yet, but before picking up the menu and even considering food, we both instinctively reach for the white containers at the end of the table holding the sugar packets. He takes eleven blue packets of Equal and I take eleven yellow packets of Splenda. Don’t worry; it’s not for our coffee.

We lay out the packets of sugar across the table in 4-4-2 formations and begin our postgame discussion tradition. He walks me through his observations as he slides the fictional players across the table: the gaps between the midfield and the forward which did not allow us to move the ball out, the positioning of the outside midfielder which developed the first goal, our defensive coordination as the ball was switched across the field, everything.

Countless sugar packets have swept across our tables over the past ten years. However, out of the hundreds of times we have sat down to reflect on the day’s events, there is one reoccurring message that has truly stuck in my mind.

“You play well when you hustle.”

In the context of soccer, hustle is what dictates my level of satisfaction following a game or practice. I do not dwell over a poor touch, a bad pass or a missed shot because these are instantaneous mistakes. There is little I can change in the moment. However, I am always accountable for my work ethic; this is within my control. And it is only on the nights when I walk off the field with sore legs, lightheaded and a dry throat that I feel satisfied with my performance.

Over time this idea has become one of my life mantras because I apply it to everything I do. In Mock Trial, hustle means reading the case over and over until I can recall the nuances of different case laws and quote them during an objection without second guessing myself. It means knowing the affidavit of my witnesses better than any other person in the courtroom so when I stand up for cross examination I can catch even the slightest deviation in a witness’ answer and use his words against him. I cannot feel content with my performance unless I reach this level understanding.

Hustle is essential to me because regardless of the result, it brings out the very best I have to offer. There are no regrets when I hustle.

REVIEW

Matias delves right into the action in this essay. Instead of picking up the menu and flipping through the pancakes and coffees at the restaurant, he and his father begin to arrange sweetener packets. Right away, he has grabbed the audience’s attention.

The action begins; he describes how his father moves the sugar packets to model a soccer game. The heart of his essay is the “hustle,” which he doesn’t mention until about halfway through—Matias could have strengthened his essay by introducing this concept earlier in his essay. But when it finally appears in the body of his essay, there is an instant transformation. Instead of using one sport, one activity, or one event to depict himself, Matias chose to use a concept that he deems essential to his being. What makes him special? Soccer? Maybe. Mock trial? Perhaps. But even more than both of the above, his hustle is what sets him apart from others. Instead of using the lens of his extracurriculars to view himself, Matias uses his character to shed light on his passions and hobbies.

He could certainly have afforded to expand on the topic of this hustle: there seems to be a bit of a rush in the pace when he is explaining what “hustle” means in the context of soccer and mock trial. Overall, this essay is short and sweet; it is succinct and successfully paints a picture of the author—this is crucial.

From 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, 5th Edition edited by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson. Copyright (c) 2017 by the authors and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.