College_Application_Essay_Examples_from_2022 - Sample College Essay - Prompt and Essay Examples

Sep 22, 2026

A collection of college essay examples featuring Harvard College Honor Code and personal reflection prompts. One essay centers on integrity and moral decision-making when faced with an event tied to female genital mutilation, detailing internal conflict, information gathering, consultation with others, and ultimately choosing not to attend. Another example focuses on creative passion through a digital photo essay, showing how late-night work and a mother’s reaction reveal lasting motivation and purpose.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time9 min

AccessFree to download

Sample College Essay

Prompt: Harvard College Honor code

Essay response and moral decision-making

College Essay Example #4

Prompt: Your “thing”

Essay response and creative motivation

[bemoacademicconsulting.com](bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/sample-college-essays)[/blog/sample-college-essays](bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/sample-college-essays) [Sample College Essay](Sample College Essay) ( [Harvard](Harvard)) [:](:) Prompt: The Harvard College Honor code declares that we "hold honesty as the foundation of our community." As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.(650 words) "Isit in a hot SUV winding it’s way over a bumpy African road, a scarf protecting my nose and mouth as dust streams in through the window. Returning from a teaching session with the Maasai women, the other students' excited chatter dances around me as they discuss our invitation to the Maasai coming of age ceremony. The ceremony centres on the circumcision of pubescent males and females; often performed with a sharp rock and no anesthetic. It is a rite of passage for the Maasai. My stomach is a tight knot, picturing the children we met today and imagining the painful procedure they will soon undergo. The other students, excited about the feast and intricate costumes, hope that accepting the invitation will strengthen our bond with the community. I, however, am weighed down by a profound sense of unease when it comes to the main attraction, the circumcisions. Further, the leader of the organization is absent; should she not be consulted? Do I go along with the group, and participate in something that I am morally opposed to? Or do something about it? For me, the strength of a person’s character is defined by their ability to act on their values and stand up for what they believe in. Having strong moral values only becomes a powerful agent of change when one is willing to follow through on them with action. Situations, such as this one, where I feel a sinking sensation deep in my gut, help to cue me to conflicts with my own values, prompting me to gather more information, thus taking the first step towards informed action. In this situation, the knots in my stomach came from being asked to participate in the celebration offemale genital mutilation; a practice which is decidedly against my personal values of reducing human suffering and promoting women’s rights. My visceral reaction came specifically from the idea of watching while doing nothing to intervene. Further, I worried that, as students, our group would be woefully ill-equipped to navigate the nuances of the situation, potentially resulting in harm to our relationship with the community. Plus, due to our association with a medical organization, our presence could be mis-interpreted as an endorsement of the safety of these procedures. With the potential to do harm and without an actionable plan in place for stopping genital mutilation, I concluded that I could not, in good conscience, attend the ceremony. Though I had decided that I could not go, I still felt concerned about the potential impact of the group's attendance, and wanted to gain more insight into the situation before deciding on a course of action. I shared my concerns with my partner and another student. My partner agreed with me, and we decided to consult his physician father. We quickly learned that Canadian physicians are not legally permitted to condone female genital mutilation, meaning that our attending the ceremony could have legal ramifications for our physicianrun organization. With this information in hand, I knew I had to contact the organization lead about the excursion. She forbid our group from attending, requesting that I inform the other students, who were obviously disappointed that I had 'gotten the trip cancelled'. Though I believe my course of action was the right one and I would not change the outcome, looking back, IwishI had voiced my concerns earlier; it may have made the end result easier for the other students to swallo

FAQs

What does the Harvard prompt ask applicants to reflect on?

It asks applicants to reflect on a time when they or someone they observed had to choose whether to act with integrity and honesty.

How does the first essay handle a moral conflict involving a community event?

The writer describes discomfort, gathers more information, consults a physician, learns about legal constraints, and concludes the group should not attend.

What does the “thing” prompt in College Essay Example #4 focus on?

It asks what energizes or deeply engages the applicant—what passion or obsession makes them lose track of time.

Sep 22, 2026

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