Letter to My Future Roommate

College Essay Letters

See example letter to my future roommate, a letter to my siblings, and a letter to my best friend - all written as college essays. Writing "letters" is an effective technique to share your story.

Letter to My Future Roommate

Furman University

Katie from Alabama wrote Letter to My Future Roommate

Dear Future Roommate,

I would first like to tell you how excited I am to meet you and get to know you. I have been looking forward to the college experience for most of my life and you have a lot to do with what makes going away to college so endearing. I love meeting new people and figuring out what they like and dislike. Although we may not know each other now, I am confident that we will become very good friends by the end of the first year. Prior to meeting each other, however, I would like to tell you a few things you can expect when we do.

The most important thing about me is my faith in God. Without my relationship with God I would be an entirely different person in regards to how I carry myself and how I treat others. I feel that my purpose is to seek and save the lost and the journey that I am on in college will lead me to a career that allows me to do so.

This leads me to the second most important aspect of myself, music. Music is my passion and my creative outlet. I love every facet of music, from listening to writing and leading. I am a singer and I lead worship at my 

church for the middle and high school services. The fact that I get to teach students how to worship and what it looks like blows my mind. I am so appreciative for the opportunity to display what it means to love Jesus through music. I will continue to do this throughout college and I hope to be involved in the music department at the school.

Additionally, I would be very interested in majoring in worship leadership if God confirms that to be my calling. I am also very intrigued by teaching high school students in the English department. I love to read and write and could be very happy teaching others.

I hope this letter allowed you to get a better grasp on myself as a person. I cannot wait to meet you and start the college journey together!

Sincerely,

Katie

A Letter to My Siblings

Elle from Minnesota wrote A Letter to My Siblings

Dear Siblings, This year you have seen all the processes I have gone through for college. You saw me writing essays last summer, submitting applications through the fall, and struggling to choose a college through the winter and spring. But there was one thing you didn’t see and that was the financial aid process I went through. You are a junior now, and I promise that one way or another your senior year will be your busiest and most exciting so I want you to be ready. That is why I am sharing the six things I wish I had known at this time last year. Think of it as a financial aid cheat sheet.

If you aren’t registered with a scholarship website, do it NOW. All you do is sign up and answer a few questions so they know what scholarships apply to you, and then they show you your matches. Try using Cappex, Fastweb, and College Prowler if you aren’t sure where to start. Sometimes your parents’ places of work have scholarships available to you, or even stores like Wal-Mart have scholarships available. When you find one you like start the essay as soon as possible. Make sure you don’t procrastinate otherwise many a deadline will pass you by.

On your financial journey, FAFSA is going to be huge for you. It opens in January each year so do yourself a favor and have tax returns and pay stubs ready in advance. Have a parent/guardian or counselor help you fill out the FAFSA. It tells colleges what kind of financial aid would be right for you so make sure to take time and care completing it. To fill out the FAFSA go to fafsa.ed.gov. It is absolutely free to fill it out and submit it. There are some websites like fafsa.com that trick you into using them instead of the real FAFSA. Remember, if it ever asks you to pay for their services it’s not the real thing. I made the mistake of filling out my whole FAFSA at fafsa.com, and then I had to fill it out all over again at the real government website.

Once you are accepted to some colleges, look online to see what kind of other scholarships they offer their students, and apply for them. You can also call or email the financial aid office to talk to someone who has plenty of experience helping students like you pay for college. Sometimes talking to a real person can get you the inside scoop.

Use google to find unexpected scholarships throughout your junior and senior years. I found scholarships just for tall people, girls only, people with certain last names, people who knit, scholarships for blondes, your intended major, your sport, and other odd and overlooked topics. When there is a scholarship that is for a very specific group of people, less people are eligible for it and you have a better chance of getting it.

Utilize your school’s guidance counselors. In most schools it is part of their job to help you unravel the mysteries of college, money included. If you have questions or need help, counselors are seasoned veterans. They have seen it all and they have tons of resources and connections to help you. Some high schools even have college scholarships that are open only to current students, or other financial aid that you might not know about.

As far as student loans go, they can be a double-edged sword. On one hand loans can pay for a good chunk of college each year, but on the other hand debt can be tricky. As part of a financial aid package schools can award subsidized and unsubsidized loans. With subsidized loans, the government pays the interest while you are in school, but with unsubsidized loans the interest accumulates while you are in school. It is important to be aware of those differences. Debt can be a scary thing especially when you are faced with more than you can handle, but some don’t require you to start paying them off until six months to a year after you graduate. Don’t rule them out completely but make sure you do extensive research on loans before you get one.

When it comes to financial aid, here are some words to live by:
-You have resources, so use them!
-Don’t procrastinate
-Ask for help
-Do your research
-Use your time wisely
-Never tell yourself you can’t apply for a scholarship because you think you won’t get it. You definitely won’t get it if you don’t apply.

You don’t have to be a straight A student to get a scholarship.

If you handle your financial aid in a timely manner and use all the tools available to you, your experience will hopefully be simpler than mine was. I want you to have the least amount of stress possible when it comes to financial aid. Hopefully this will make your journey a little easier! You saw me do it all this year and I made it through. Now it’s your turn.

Good luck!

Love,

Your Big Sister

A Letter To My Best Friend

Personal essay letter written by Samarie from Ohio.

Dear Best Friend, Remember when you were in school, and they would teach you no drinking and driving? Remember how they would show you those videos of young teens getting killed in a car crash? Remember how you never really paid attention? I remember that. I remember looking at the videos and not really paying attention to them. I just thought that things like that only happened in the movies or miles away from me. It’s the worst feeling in the world when a tragedy hits close to home.

Dear Neil,

I called your phone at least thirty times if not more. But, for some reason, you wouldn’t answer. I was texting you. But, for some reason, I never got a response. Everyone was telling me that you were gone but I kept saying to myself that it wasn’t true. I had just talked to you the day before. Your birthday was the next day. We planned to hang out and eat strawberry cake together. I thought it was a joke. But, it wasn’t. My best friend was gone. My other half was gone. Just like that. For the longest I was depressed. For the longest I didn’t know what to do. I would be in school, and in the middle of class, I would start crying. People would ask me what was wrong and I couldn’t tell them…I was broken.

I just wanted to let you know that I miss you. I miss your laugh, our laughs together. I miss hanging out with you every weekend having fun. I miss everything. Because of you, I took an oath to never drink and drive. You showed me that life was short and that I should never take it for granted. I can’t wait to see you again in heaven. I love you.

Love,
Your Best Friend

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