Admission Essays :
Adam Bayne Hopkins – Dallas – Texas
“I’d like to be the absolute best in one range of study,” says Adam. And
he identifies that area as physics. At Greenhill School, he was awarded
the Bausch and Lomb Fellowship for being the best science student in
his school and the Physics/Pre-Calculus Student Award. Adam was also
captain of the varsity soccer team and participated in weights, boxing
and lacrosse. In this essay, he answers Princeton’s Hodge-Podge question,
providing brief but insightful answers about what he likes outside
of physics as well.
Hodge-Podge - Princeton University
Favorite book: King Rat (James Clavell)
Favorite recording: Sunburn (Fuel)
Favorite movie: Cruel Intentions
Favorite TV program: Star Trek, The Next Generation
Favorite source of news: New York Times, Dallas Morning News
Favorite way to relax: Play soccer/juggle soccer ball, play the piano
Favorite time of the year: Winter
Favorite food: Cheese fries
Favorite place to get away from it all: My car
Two adjectives your friends would use to describe you : Intense, devoted
A pet peeve of yours: Sometimes people just don’t stop talking
The best advice you’ve ever received : “Always do your best and work your
hardest.” (My dad)
Why This Essay Succeeded
As you can tell, this was a short answer question, which allowed Adam
to be creative by using a list instead of an essay. (Adam did write a more
traditional essay for the longer questions that Princeton asked.) This
is an excellent example of how the quality of thinking, rather than the
writing, is what makes an essay successful. Each of Adam’s answers appears
both genuine and descriptive of who he is. For example, Adam’s
responses suggest that he is a science fiction fan who is intense but has room for creative outlets. He has selected favorite things that really
show different sides of his personality, making him an interesting person
to the admission officers. Like many of the essays in this book, it took
Adam a lot longer to conceive this essay than to actually write it.
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