Short Questions Admission Essay Examples

Personal Statement

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
When I was a child, I was young, aggressive and rebellious; thinking back on it, it was likely a product of my parentage, which was never the most loving and accommodating of relationships. I did not work very hard in school in my younger days, missing the change to get enrolled in a prestigious high school by doing poorly in my third grade of junior high; thanks to my parent’s good graces, I was able to get enrolled in another school. Just like everyone at that age, I thought I was the most intelligent person in the school from my first year there; I thought I knew everything.
Once I graduated, however, everything changed. Suddenly, my intelligence and quick wit was not sufficient to get me into the prestigious university I wanted so badly to attend. Frustrated and possessing a desire to see more of the world, I gave up my studies, took some money from my parents, and moved to Beijing to love alone for a while and find myself. However, because I only had a high school certificate, I couldn’t find a decent job; instead, I made a small business for myself selling playtime cards for World of Warcraft – an online roleplaying game that is extremely popular in China. Thanks to some savvy investing and opportunistic salesmanship, I managed to earn about 40,000 yuan in a single month. I considered this quite the success, and actually boasted with my father about my natural business acumen; he soon gave me some business opportunities in sales as a result of this. I thought I could keep up this level of success with my current education level forever.
However, a turning point came when I had a customer from Shanghai visit me to talk business. He trusted me quite a bit, and was impressed by my eloquence in talking about foreign investment projects. At one point, though, he asked me about the financial data the company had on these projects, and what the details were on the project. I suddenly realized that, despite being able to talk about these things, I didn’t understand any of it. I didn’t know how data was collected and calculated, or what offshore tax revenue models and growth rate models were. I ended up losing the customer, and I was crestfallen.
After telling all of this to my boss, he said that I should go back to school, to which I agreed. However, because of the problems inherent to enrolling in a domestic university because of the mistakes I made in my youth, I decided it would be a greater opportunity to study abroad. A month after I had this conversation with my boss, I visited Los Angeles with him to see whether or not America would be a good fit. I fell in love with the culture here, as well as the sunny climate and amazing atmosphere. After that visit, I knew for sure that I wanted to move to America and go to USC for college.
No longer do I take the world around me for granted, nor do I presume that I am the smartest man in the room. As soon as real life kicked me in the pants and showed me that I know far less than I once thought, I took that as a cue to rectify my mistakes and work hard to achieve success on my own terms. More than anything, I am striving to take the mistakes of the past and turn them into opportunities for the future, which is the primary reason I am applying to USC.
One of my favorite traditional Chinese sayings is, “It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books.” While I have not read ten thousand books, I firmly believe that traveling ten thousand miles will help me learn so much more than I could have ever imagined.

1. USC students are known to be involved. Briefly describe a non-academic pursuit (such as service to community or family, a club or sport, or work, etc.,) that best illustrates who you are, and why it is important to you. (250 word limit)
As someone who spent too much of his life not doing anything and skipping too many steps in life, finding a non-academic pursuit is admittedly lower on my list than others. However, I am firmly committed to the simple and dedicated task of finishing my higher education career, as I unfortunately skipped it in order to break out on my own. First and foremost, this is my major life priority, which leaves little room for much else. I want to proceed with my work, which may well give me an ultimate purpose in life.
In my youth, I was known to play quite a bit of World of Warcraft, which requires a great deal of skill, negotiation, patience and dedication. It is a great deal of fun to play these kinds of games, and they can often reflect positive values in those who play them well. WoW often has a stigma for being played by people without social skills, but I found myself forging friendships with many of the other players I met in the game; in many ways, we behaved like colleagues in a business while also having fun and letting off steam together in the game. While I am focusing more on my studies and directing my energies to my education, I do believe that some of the essential traits that made playing that game so much fun can translate to my future career as a student at USC.
2. Describe your academic interests and how you plan to pursue them at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections (250 word limit).
At USC, I plan to major in accounting and economics as my first and second choices, respectively. Based on my previous work experience, and my desire to make my mark in the world of business, I believe that these are fundamental and vital fields of study. I have worked many times in sales and accounting, as well as various other aspects of my father’s business, and so I already have a working knowledge of how businesses can be run. However, I want to pair that with theory, education and a more pronounced skillset, which is why accounting and economics are both major priorities for me.
Attending USC gives me the unique opportunity to find a leading position in a constantly changing global marketplace. While studying abroad also has the ability to be very fun and enlightening for me as a person, I also believe it is the key to experiencing success in an international sense as a businessman. Because the world is so much smaller than it ever has been, it is really necessary to have experience with international business – immersing yourself in foreign cultures, societies and languages to get to know a whole new world of potential colleagues and clients. Due to this ability to learn so much about myself and the world around me, I think USC is the best choice for me.