本书由哈佛大学的日报——《哈佛克里姆森》——工作人员编辑整理并添加点评出版，集合了50位成功考取哈佛大学的美国中学生的精彩申请文书，这些文书被全美视为哈佛录取学生的经典范文。每篇文书后面附有专家点评，精确到位地将文书评判标准和写作雷区一一讲解。

Acknowledgments

Fifteen Steps to Success--That May or May Not Prove to Be Surefire

Memorable Moments

"The Handyman's Special" by Timothy Josiah Morris Pertz

 "Schofield-Bodt Reigns for a Year" by Daniel Schofield-Bodt

"To Freeze a Moment" by Katya Rosenblatt

"Banana" by Nathan W. Hill

"A Night Unforgotten" by Frederick Antwi

"A Lesson About Life" by Aaron Miller

"Running Thoughts" by Nikhil Kacker

"Playing the Giramel' s Behind" by Eliot I. Hodges

"Truly Alive" by James Collins

"Checkmate" by Robert M. Stolper

Influences

"Dandelion Dreams" by Emmeline Chuang

"Lyuov and Viktoria" by Viktoria Slavina

"A Great Influence" by Michelangelo V. D' Agostino

"Michael and Me" by Brian R. McElroy

 "A Mixture" by Anjanette Marie Chan Tack

 "Tears and Fears" by Meaghan Beattie

 "Two Good Friends" by Paul S. Gutman

 "The Beast" by Daniel Myung

 "Between a Rock and Home Plate" by Mark K. Arimoto

 "Learning to Fly" by In6s Pacheco

 "My Mother's Books" by Pat Blanchfield

Points of View

 "On Diplomacy in Bright Nike Running Tights" by

  Christopher M. Kirchhoff

 "The Magic of Magic"by Harrison R. Greenbaum

 "The End Is Where We Start From" by Evan Henry Jacobs

 "Introducing Clark Kent and Willy Wonka" by Daniel G. Habib

 "Vietnamese Soup" by Michaela N. de Lacaze

 "History as Calculus" by Jesse Field

 "Thoughts Behind a Steam-Coated Door" by Neha Mahajan

 "Intervmw with Myself" by Wesley 0liver

 "A Gratefui Glance into Trash" by David Soloveichik

 "Catharsis in Uncluttering" by Katherine Chan

Songs of Experience

 "Should I Jump?" by Timothy F. Sohn

 "Grandma's Living Room" by Rosa Norton

 "A Mountain School Perspective," anonymous

 "One Hundred Pairs of Eyes" by Patricia M. Glynn

 "The Lost Game" by Stephanie A. Stuart

 "Warm Hearts grid a Cold Gun" by James A. Colbert

 "In the Waiting Room" by Carlin E. Wing

 "My Responsibility" by David J. Bright

 "Lessons" by G. Tyler 0'Bnen

 "E Pluribus Unum" by Corey Rennell

Molding Identity

 "Religion Reconsidered" by Alexis Maule

 "A Periodical Affair" by Karen Feng

 "The Art 0f Penning" by Lan Zhou

 "Myung!" by Myung ! H. Joh

 "A Railroad of Memories" by Masha Godina

 "Mo#Saic" by Laure E. De Vulpillibres

 "Myself" by Jamie Smith

 "WhO Am I?" by Michael Cho

 "My Name" by Uyen-Khanh Quang-Dang