Everyone knows the eight Ivy League universities are extremely hard to get into. The most selective of the bunch, Harvard, admitted only 2,037 of the just over 39,041 people who applied to go there this fall (or 5.2 percent), while the "easiest" Ivy League school to get into (read: still not easy), Cornell, admitted 6,277 of the just under 45,000 who applied (or 13.96 percent).
Still, every year, there's some high achieving high school senior who gets into all eight of the Ivy League schools and ends up on the news (the last two were both from Long Island), although beyond their grades and awards, we rarely hear much more about how they did it, until now.
Business Insider talked to high school senior Brittany Stinson, who was recently accepted into most of the Ivy League, including Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth and Cornell (as well as extremely selective non-Ivy, Stanford). She shared her common application admissions essay with the website, and it was all about Costco. Yes, Costco, the bulk goods grocery chain where you can pick up a 12-pack of toothpaste, a gallon drum of peanut butter and a free sample of everything from pizza bagels to pizza rolls in one trip.
Here are a few samples:
Managing to break free from my mother's grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother's eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamonsugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrialsized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco.
I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirtythree ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will? I experienced a harsh physics lesson while observing a shopper who had no evident familiarity of inertia's workings. With a cart filled to overflowing, she made her way towards the sloped exit, continuing to push and push while steadily losing control until the cart escaped her and went crashing into a concrete column, 52" plasma screen TV and all. Purchasing the yuletide hickory smoked ham inevitably led to a conversation between my father and me about Andrew Jackson's controversiality. There was no questioning Old Hickory's dedication; he was steadfast in his beliefs and pursuits -- qualities I am compelled to admire, yet his morals were crooked. We both found the ham to be more likeable--and tender.
I hope admissions officers are prepared to be flooding with a deluge of essays about grocery stores next fall. You can check out the entire essay at Business Insider.
