A Creative Essay
A Tennessee teen is sure that others should break the mould after she was reported to earn a place at Yale University with an unusual essay about ordering pizza.
Carolina Williams announced that she had been accepted to the Ivy League school on Twitter earlier this month and shared a copy of her essay that drew high praise (and laughs) from an admissions officer. “I just want Papa John’s pizzeria to know that I wrote a college essay about how much I love to order their pizza and it got me into Yale,” she wrote in a Tweet. When Carolina shared her story on Twitter, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter offered her gift cards, a pizza party for her dorm, free pizza for a year and an internship.
The 18-year-old, who will be the first in her family to go to college, was tasked with writing about something that she loves to do. Williams said she really loves ordering pizza. “Having these warm cardboard boxes at my front door is second nature to me. When I was a child it made me feel grown up. I will always love ordering pizza because of the way eight slices of something so ordinary are able to evoke feelings of independence, comfort, and joy,” a portion of her essay reads.
“I got the idea all on my own and did not really tell anyone about it,” she said. “When my friends found out about it though, they thought it was very funny.”
Her admissions officer apparently did, too. In a letter shared by the teen, the officer said she “laughed so hard” while reading it. “I want you to know that every part of your application was special for our process and we are pleased to be able to offer you a place at Yale,” the officer’s message reads.
Of course, it wasn’t just Williams’ creative essay that brought her a desirable place among the 2,272 students accepted by Yale this year – making a very small, 6.9% acceptance rate. Her application contained all the right ingredients, including high grades, volunteer work, as well as memberships with the English Honours Society, National Honours Society, Model UN and Youth in Government.
But just as she had many choices on what to write about, she also had choices other than Yale. In the end, she chose Auburn University instead. One big reason, she shared, is that the Alabama school is much closer to home.
“I absolutely love Yale, but I felt so at home at Auburn,” she said. “I love the South and the school atmosphere. I will be a part of the Honours College. I’m so privileged to have been accepted by Yale, though!”
Despite the warm response from the admissions team at Yale, Williams will be attending Auburn University in Alabama in the fall with a $72,000 scholarship over four years. Williams plans to study business and economics.
Luckily for Williams, Auburn has a Papa John’s in their student centre on campus.
How did John Schnatter thank Carolina for her tweet about Papa John’s?
