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Abigail Mack's essay on hating the letter 'S' has earned her a seat at the Harvard University. The teenager, in a video, talked about how this single letter has haunted her. She revealed that she started hating the letter after losing a parent to cancer.

The clip has been reposted on all social media platforms.

She says, "I hate the letter 's'. Of the 164,777 words with 's' I only grapple with one. To condemn an entire letter because of its use 0.0006 per cent of the time sounds statistically absurd, but that one case changed 100 per cent of my life.

I used to have two parents, but now I have one, and the 's' in 'parents' isn't going anywhere. 'S' follows me. I can't get through a day without being reminded that while my friends went out to dinner with their parents, I ate with my parent.

As I write this essay, there is a blue line under the word 'parent' telling me to check my grammar; even Grammarly assumes that I should have parents, but cancer doesn't listen to edit suggestions. I won't claim that my situation is as unique as one in 164,777, but it is still an exception to the rule - an outlier. The world isn't meant for this special case."

The student says that she spent time distracting herself from the letter, and the absence of her mother that it represents.

She, eventually, learned to stop running away from the letter 's'.

She is now pursuing a 'double s' - passion.

She said: "'S' got me moving, but it hasn't kept me going. I don't seek out sadness, so 's' must stay on the sidelines, and until I am completely ready, motivation is more than enough for me."

Abigail's essay has touched the hearts of millions.

One user said: "So this is what a great writer looks like." another wrote: "Well at least now Ik how high the bar is. A third user added: "I never knew that the opening line of an essay could be this beautiful." Yet another commented, "You are an amazing writer. Harvard is lucky to have you! Hope you have the time of your life!"

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18-year-old's heartbreaking essay on hating letter 'S' after losing a parent gets a Harvard University seat

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Abigail Mack's essay on hating the letter 'S' has earned her a seat at the Harvard University. The teenager, in a video, talked about how this single letter has haunted her. She revealed that she started hating the letter after losing a parent to cancer.

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High-school senior Brittany Stinson learned Thursday she was accepted into five Ivy League schools - Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Cornell.

She also got into Stanford, which has an acceptance rate of 4.69% - a lower rate than any of the Ivy League schools.

"I'm sort of still in shock. I don't think I've processed everything yet," she excitedly told Business Insider.

The Ivy League is notoriously hard to get into, as the hundreds of thousands of other applicants to the eight elite schools are well aware.

The schools Stinson was accepted into have acceptance rates ranging from 13.96% to 4.69%.

Stinson graciously shared her Common Application admissions essay with Business Insider, which we've reprinted verbatim below.
Prompt 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. 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. Notorious for its oversized portions and dollarfifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I've developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weightloss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more wellmannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity. While enjoying an obligatory hot dog, I did not find myself thinking about the 'all beef' goodness that Costco boasted. I instead considered finitudes and infinitudes, unimagined uses for tubs of sour cream, the projectile motion of said tub when launched from an eighty foot shelf or maybe when pushed from a speedy cart by a scrawny seventeen year old. 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 adopted my exploratory skills, fine tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalochicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart-one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious. I sampled calculus, crosscountry running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world. Whether it be through attempting aerial yoga, learning how to chart blackbody radiation using astronomical software, or dancing in front of hundreds of people, I am compelled to try any activity that interests me in the slightest. My intense desire to know, to explore beyond the bounds of rational thought; this is what defines me. Costco fuels my insatiability and cultivates curiosity within me at a cellular level. Encoded to immerse myself in the unknown, I find it difficult to complacently accept the "what"; I want to hunt for the "whys" and dissect the "hows". In essence, I subsist on discovery.

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This essay got a high-school senior into 5 Ivy League schools and Stanford

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High-school senior Brittany Stinson got accepted into Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Stanford.

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14 College Essay Examples From Top-25 Universities (2024–2025) — Shemmassian Academic Consulting

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College essay examples from students accepted to Harvard University, Stanford University, and other elite schools

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27 Outstanding College Essay Examples From Top Universities 2024

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Check out these outstanding college essay examples. Learn how to write your personal statement and supplemental essays for college applications.