Congratulations! The May 1 deposit date for high school students who applied to college this year has come and gone, and if you wrote an application essay, you might have already tucked it in a folder on your computer and forgotten about it.
But did you write about your job or something a family member does for work? How about social class or what it means — or would mean — to have way more or less than you need? Does your family avoid talking about money, or are you afraid to bring it up anywhere but an essay like this one?
Part of my agenda as a columnist is to get people to talk more about money — and maybe even write down the things that they can’t say out loud. So each year, I gather as many college application essays on the topic as I can, and then we publish several of them in The New York Times. Last year’s collection included stories about work-worn hands, maps, minimalism, driving and, believe it or not, flatware.
Nearly anything goes, as long as it has something to do with money in some way, shape or form. But there are a few rules.
1) You need to have sent the essay to at least one college as an application for undergraduate admission. It’s fine if you sent the essay to a college that did not admit you or one where you got in but are not going to enroll.
2) You must have applied during the 2022-23 school year. It’s fine if you’re taking time away from the classroom before matriculating, but if you’re already in college, we can’t publish your essay.
3) We won’t publish the name of your college, but we do need to know what it is — as well as your high school’s name — so that we can check to make sure that you and the essay are real.
4) We cannot publish anonymous essays or use pseudonyms.
Please submit the essay using the form below by Friday, July 7. If you want to share more than one, please submit them separately. We plan to publish selected essays in late summer or early fall, and we will pay writers our normal freelance rate.
Reading these essays is one of the best parts of my job. Thanks in advance for sharing your work.
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