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Breaking news, this teen’s comic essay about costco got her into five ivy league schools.

No need to be an all-American athlete and lead in the high school musical who’s able to recite Chaucer in perfect Middle English to get into an Ivy League school — just head to Costco!

A Delaware teen got into five Ivies — Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth and Cornell — after penning an essay about her admiration for America’s largest members-only wholesale club.

Brittany Stinson’s 655-word ode to Costco was a response to a Common Application admissions essay question that asked applicants to share something that was so important that their lives would feel “incomplete without it.”

“I had always gone to Costco growing up — it was a constant part of my childhood,” the 17-year-old told NBC News. “I looked forward to trips on the weekends and I had always treated it as Disneyland of sorts. I was always curious about the place.”

“The same attitude carried over to everything I tried in life,” she added.

Stinson opened the essay, which she released in full to Business Insider , with her earliest memories of going grocery shopping with her mother.

“Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrialized freezers, to explore every crevice,” she wrote. “I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples.”

‘If there exists a thirty-three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will?’  - Brittany Stinson

As she got older, she began thinking more metaphysically about the weekly trips.

“I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirty-three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will?” she asked.

Stinson said she often found herself lost in thought about the bulk sizes Costco offered its customers — crediting the nationwide chain with kickstarting her “unfettered curiosity” in life.

“Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more well-mannered than its uncultured counterpart?”

The variety of options on the shelves also enhanced her exploratory skills.

“Just as I sampled buffalo chicken 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,” she wrote.

“With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world,” she continued. “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.”

The straight-A student from Wilmington found out last week that she got into the Ivies — along with a sixth top-tier school, Stanford — that have acceptance rates ranging from Stanford’s 4.69 percent to Cornell’s 13.96 percent.

“Incredibly difficult decisions soon to come,” she wrote on her Facebook page last Thursday.

How Brittany Stinson Wrote Her Costco Essay

by j9robinson | May 12, 2016

A Q&A With The Author of the Viral Costco Essay

Last month, Brittany Stinson learned she got into five Ivy League colleges, as well as Stanford and many other top schools.

When a newspaper reporter asked her to share her college application essay, Brittany didn’t think twice.

Within hours, her essay went viral.

More than 1.6 million people, and counting, have now read the “Costco essay.”

Brittany, who has decided to attend Stanford, was as shocked as anyone by the media frenzy .

The Media Backlash to Brittany’s Costco Essay

Besides the predictable backlash from Internet trolls and haters, the assumption that this Costco essay earned Brittany all these stellar acceptances disturbed her the most.

“…the thing that really got to me was that people thought my essay was the only reason I got into my dream schools. ‘Costco Essay Gets Local Girl Into 5 Ivy League Schools,’ read headlines, ‘Love for Costco Got a High School Senior Into 5 Ivy League Schools,’ ‘High School Senior Reveals the Secret That Got Her Into Nearly Every Ivy League School.’ I mean, screw four years of hard work and straight As, it was totally just the essay, right?” (From her piece about handling the publicity storm in Cosmopolitan magazine. )

Of course the Costco essay played a role in her admissions coup—though it’s impossible to know how much it counted. And Brittany says she put a lot of effort into finding a unique topic and crafting a readable piece that revealed her personality and character.

She even credited reading this blog to find tips and inspiration on how to write a narrative style essay. ( And you can, too! )

In the following Q&A about her Costco essay, Brittany took the time to share details, advice and tips about how she brainstormed and wrote her Costco essay. How generous is that?

A Question and Answer Interview About the Costco Essay

When and how did you start working on your essays?

I started in mid­-August before my senior year. I opened up a blank Google doc and just typed whatever was on my mind. This ranged from random sentences to essay topics and character traits. It helped me get the bad ideas out of my head, put some good ideas on paper and start to think about an organizational model.

Do you remember how you felt about these essays when you first started your application process?

I felt pretty intimidated , for the schools I was trying to get into, I knew that I had to knock it out of the park with my essay if I had any hope of securing admission. I was terrified of cliches and avoided them like the plague (the irony!).

What was the hardest part of writing your essay?

It was probably reining in my topic and saving my focus for just a few things. There’s a lot I wanted to convey about myself and I tried my best to do it in 650 words.

Can you tell us your writing process? Did you start brainstorming? Do you use an outline? How many drafts, etc.

After I got my random thoughts down, I made outlines for two different essay topics. This one and one about my experiences in dance class. I worked on both at about the same pace, got halfway through the dance essay, decided it wasn’t going anywhere, and decided to scrap it. I figured that this topic was more creative and probably would’ve made for a more memorable essay . It just felt natural to continue with the Costco topic.

Did you consider yourself a strong writer ?

Yes, I’ve taken a liking to writing and have always taken the most advanced writing courses available to me.  I’ve had many demanding yet supportive teachers along the way.

How did you come up with the idea of Costco as a topic?

There’s an ongoing joke between me and my friends that I practically live at Costco. I’m there with my parents nearly every weekend because it’s just as close to our house as a regular supermarket. I once read a quote that said something along these lines, “If your friend finds your essay on the ground and it has no name on it, they should be able to tell that it’s yours just by reading it.” I used this to guide my topic selection and writing style.

Had you ever written this style of essay before, where you write about yourself?

No, I’m not used to writing about myself, this was actually a big concern for me when I started thinking about writing college essays. I was afraid of coming off as too self-­involved.

Did you have anyone help you with your essay ? 

No, I never really went to anyone for advice until it was pretty much finished. I consulted my mom on my topic in the beginning stages of my essay but she didn’t really know what direction I was trying to go in, so I figured it would be best to get input after I tied up loose ends and brought all of my ideas together. My English teacher saw the final product and gave it her stamp of approval, which was a huge relief because I wanted to be reassured that I wasn’t crazy for writing about such a unique topic.

Do you have any idea how important your essay was in getting admitted to any or all of the school you get accepted to? (Did you get any feedback?)

I’m not sure, but I do know that since so many applicants are qualified and have similar GPAs, SAT scores and extracurriculars, the essay is an important opportunity to differentiate yourself.

What advice do you have for students working on their essays, or the whole admissions process itself?

It’s so easy to get discouraged by admissions statistics. I recommend starting applications early to take pressure off and allow time for deep reflection. Some short supplements took me days to write because I was so careful about word choice and intent.

How are you going to decide which of these outstanding schools you are going to attend?

I’m so late on this. Sorry! So I’ve already decided at this point and have chosen Stanford. All of the schools are academic powerhouses, so there’s no difference there. I wanted Stanford because of it’s innovative spirit whereas a lot of the other schools I got into are rooted in tradition. Stanford is more known for STEM, but many of its humanities departments are some of the best in the world. They have appealing interdisciplinary programs and majors. This was so attractive to me because I want to pursue neuroscience, but at the same time, I appreciate the humanities and couldn’t imagine an education without them.

If you could give any advice to college­-bound freshmen about their essays, what would it be?

Think about a few of your defining qualities and figure out what makes you tick. Don’t try to be someone else, because it will show. If you convey your true self, the people reading it will connect with your authenticity.

THANKS BRITTANY!! And best of luck at Stanford!

A spelling mistake! Brittany has a spelling mistake among her responses! That’s–I hate this word–awesome!

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What It's Like to Have Your College Essay Go Insanely Viral

According to internet commenters, my essay was narcissistic, brilliant, stupid, and even racist.

At exactly 5 p.m. on March 31, 2016, I sat with six browser tabs open: Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Stanford and Yale. Four years of maintaining a 4.0 GPA, worrying about standardized tests and spending my summers in research labs were over, and now, in one minute, I'd be in or I'd be out. Acceptance rates to those schools are below 10 percent. I knew nothing was guaranteed. But as I refreshed each tab, each one came up: Accepted. 

I did what any teen would do: I logged on to Twitter and obnoxiously plastered my acceptances all over my timeline. Within minutes, a reporter from   saw my tweets and asked if she could interview me for an article about students who got into multiple Ivy league schools. I sent her my Common Application essay to publish along with the article — a tale about how my childhood adventures in Costco cultivated my curiosity in life. This is a graph of Google searches for the term "costco essay":

That huge spike in April? That's my college essay going viral .

As soon as that spike happened, I got more unsolicited feedback on my writing from strangers than I could process. My essay was apparently narcissistic, brilliant, stupid, and even racist. Someone compared me to Jean­-Paul Sartre. Someone accused me of "exotifying a churro," whatever that means. My @ mentions exploded. I had to convince my mom not to respond to haters online. I actually thought,  I bet this is what Kylie Jenner feels like , at least three times. 

Internet commenters made a lot of assumptions about me: that I was rich, that my parents went to Stanford or Ivies, that I didn't even pen the essay (all untrue). But the thing that really got to me was that people thought my essay was the only reason I got into my dream schools. "Costco Essay Gets Local Girl Into 5 Ivy League Schools," read headlines, "Love for Costco Got a High School Senior Into 5 Ivy League Schools," "High School Senior Reveals the Secret That Got Her Into Nearly Every Ivy League School." I mean, screw four years of hard work and straight As, it was totally just the essay, right?

I thought that the hype would blow over by the end of the weekend, that I could clock in my fifteen minutes of fame and go on with my life, but I was so wrong.

On Monday morning, classmates greeted me with, "Oh my god, it's the Costco girl!" and my AP Bio teacher displayed the Business Insider article, now clocking in at about 1.6 million views, on his projector. I'm an introvert, and even though my acceptance adrenaline had me posting all over Twitter, I'd always kept my Ivy aspirations pretty low-key. Only my parents knew the full list of schools that I had applied to — even my close friends probably knew of two of my reach schools — and when people had asked where I was headed, I'd always mumbled a few safety schools and maybe one of my reaches. I desperately tried to put the Ivies out of my mind from December (when I applied) until decision day. I didn't want to be heartbroken and embarrassed if I didn't get in. So when news broke out, people had no clue I'd been reaching that high for acceptance letters. I was valedictorian of my class, but most of the hard work I put in was behind the scenes. I didn't go to some fancy boarding school where everyone has legacy and Ivy acceptance is a given. At my public high school, most people go to a nearby state school. 

When the interview requests started rolling in from ABC, NBC, the 6 o'clock news, and  Seventeen magazine, it started to feel like too much. I quickly learned to set embarrassing profile pictures to private mode on Facebook, after an awkward picture of me in eighth grade circulated in one of the articles. My friend, who goes to school in California, sent me a picture of her in­-class assignment, she had to rhetorically analyze my essay . I made an awkward appearance on my town's radio station, but hey, I got free concert tickets out of it so I can't complain. The local newspaper showed up to my English class while I was giving a presentation on Islam — and you don't know how difficult it is to talk about the ritual slaughtering method for Halal meat while your picture is being taken until you've been there. 

I appreciated all the attention and recognition for my accomplishments, but simply getting into those schools was a reward within itself. Trying to manage the sudden attention was exhausting and time consuming — especially while I was trying to figure out where the hell I'd be spending my next four years, plan final college visits, and study for AP exams. I just didn't really have the energy to keep up with everything. I felt like shutting off the internet. I hated social media. After a week of receiving congratulatory messages from people all over the world, teachers, and peers, my ego was adequately inflated and I was happy to become an insignificant blip again. 

School is different now. I can't do anything wrong without getting called out.  The "Ivy League scholar" used the wrong hypothesis test on the AP statistics assignment . Ouch. Honestly, I'm just thankful that I didn't become a meme in the process. I'm overwhelmed and flattered by all of the internet love and random compliments — and that there was way more positive than negative response. As for the hate, most of the comments were laughable and outright wrong. I comfort myself with the knowledge that it's easy to spew hate behind the protection of a retina display.

Even though it was a hassle, I'm still glad my essay went viral. I've definitely gained an interesting dinner table story! But it was messages like the one below that make me realize that my essay put smiles on many faces. 

I like to think there are 10 laughing grandmas for every internet troll out there and because of that, I will never regret sharing my essay. 

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Student Accepted To 5 Ivies With Costco Essay

This teen got into 5 ivy league schools with a college essay about costco.

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.

More from US News

• The Inventory

A high schooler was accepted to five Ivy League colleges with an essay about Costco

It took just a few short hours on Apr. 1 for Concord High School senior Brittany Stinson to go viral. Not because she staged an epic prank—though more than a few skeptics assumed that her sudden notoriety was an April Fool’s Day fakeout—but for her very real, decidedly eccentric college applications essay that helped garner her admission to five Ivy League colleges and Stanford University.

The essay isn’t your typical exercise in academic humblebragging or lofty save-the-world aspiration: It’s a nostalgic, free-form musing on the  joys of shopping at Costco with her mom . And while it shows a young essayist’s tendency to overwrite (the Achilles heel of some of us older wordsmiths as well), it also provides insight into a mind that takes creative risks and thinks with expansive originality.

Coming as it does in the thick of a heated debate over  “holistic” evaluation standards  at elite colleges—admissions practices that extend beyond comparing grades and scores to include assessments of character and the impact of background and cultural identity on a student’s academic journey—Stinson’s essay has generated a whirling array of reactions. After being posted on Business Insider last week, her essay was read over a million times and shared many thousands more on social media.

Many have found it charming and compelling, while others have attacked it as an example of the antics holistic admissions practices encourage among applicants hoping to stand out. The truth is, these two opinions aren’t mutually exclusive. Stinson’s SAT scores were in the high 90-something percentile (she wouldn’t say exactly her score) and she’s on track to graduate as her class’s valedictorian. Meanwhile, she participated in highly competitive STEM programs, loaded up on AP classes, was a competitive cross-country runner, and an active participant in her local community.

“I’d definitely fit in with the nerds, although the kids at our school would probably categorize us as the overachievers, instead,” Stinson says. “I’d like to study neuroscience in college. I volunteered in a research lab working on a genetics project at the University of Delaware. This was one of my favorite extracurriculars. I’m definitely pursuing research in college.”

All of these factors mark her as a strong candidate for an elite university. Of course, tens of thousands of other applicants had similarly outstanding academic and extracurricular profiles this year. Stinson’s essay, however, must have suggested to schools that she would bring with her a unique and interesting point of view.

Stinson acknowledges that her status as the daughter of a Brazilian immigrant mother who identifies as black, and a white US-born father, likely gave her admissions case a boost.

“I did declare my race and ethnicity on my applications. I think my background likely made my application stand out and impacted it positively,” she says, noting that she is also a proponent of affirmative action policies. “Many who criticize affirmative action think that nearly all minority admitted students are somehow less qualified, undeserving, or that ‘they took a spot’ from a more deserving non-minority student. I think that affirmative action makes a well-qualified minority student stand out, but it will never cause an unqualified student to be admitted. Non-minorities are still benefiting from a system built in their favor.”

At the same time, as clearly evidenced by Stinson, striving for diversity isn’t just about redress for past and present inequities. It’s also about bringing together a group of people with different ways of looking at the world—people who will spend four or more years side by side, learning from and being shaped by fresh and unique perspectives.

”College is a place where we learn just as much outside the classroom as we do inside,” says Stinson. “By being exposed to people of different races, socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and religions, we can learn from their experiences. Diversity enriches an education.”

While surprised that her essay has received so much attention, Stinson said she thinks it may have resonated because of the universality of its thesis.

“I’ve seen negative comments online from people who weren’t familiar with the literary devices I was trying to use. I’ve seen people say that it’s ‘ridiculous’ that my essay involved Costco, but I don’t think they’ve even scratched the surface,” she says. “They think that in order for an essay to have depth, it needs to involve tragedy, inspiration, or overcoming adversity. I don’t know if many applicants usually explore the mundane in their essays—that seems to have taken a lot of people by surprise. I thought that this essay was a genuine representation of myself: I’m a sarcastic, dorky weirdo with a passion for science and I tried to demonstrate that I’m the kind of person who finds meaning in seemingly ordinary things.”

Which might well be the perfect summary of the college experience: It’s a chapter in life during which young people go off to find meaning in seemingly ordinary things—most particularly, in other people.

For universities, this means recruiting student bodies that represent the best and brightest of a world of worlds: Diversity of heritage and faith, of nationality and culture, of class and familial background, and yes, of race and ethnicity.

Evaluating students by scores and grades alone can’t deliver on that promise. Only by understanding the person behind the scholarly achievements, and the context in which they were earned, can universities build a student body that reflects the kaleidoscopic array of ideas, traditions, and perspectives of our increasingly global society. Which means that those who  attack holistic admissions  fail to recognize that diversity isn’t an irrelevant factor in the making of an elite college education—it is, as Stinson points out, the very thing that makes these schools worth attending.

Here is Stinson’s essay, republished below with her permission:

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 cinnamon-­sugar 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 industrial­ sized 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 dollar-­fifty 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 weight­-loss 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 thirty-­three 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-inch 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 likable–and tender. I adopted my exploratory skills, fine-tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalo­-chicken 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, cross­-country 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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[Updated] A Teen Got Into 5 Ivy League Schools With This College Essay About Costco

" If there exists a 33 ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will."

High school senior Brittany Stinson wrote about her passion in her college essay, and it got her into five Ivy League schools.

Her passion just happens to be wholesale warehouse Costco. 

The prompt instructed applicants to write about "a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it." So, Brittany wrote about trips to Costco with her family, and now her essay is going viral.

"Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life ... 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," she writes in the essay , reprinted with her permission on Business Insider . " 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."

Brittany, who in addition to being a great writer is also a straight-A student, told NBC News she doesn't know yet which school she'll attend but that she wants to be a doctor. Brittany was accepted to Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Cornell — as well as Stanford.

"I had always gone to Costco while growing up. It was a constant part of my childhood. I Iooked forward to trips on the weekends, and I had always treated it as a Disneyland of sorts," she told the outlet. "I was always curious about the place. The same attitude carried over to everything I tried in life." 

We'll leave you with this deep nugget from the essay: 

" If there exists a thirty­three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will."

Update 4:25 p.m.:  A Costco spokesperson tells Seventeen.com: "We are flattered that Brittany would choose Costco as the backdrop for her entrance essay and wish her the very best as she considers these exceptional universities."

Kate Storey is the author of White House by the Sea: A Century of the Kennedys at Hyannis Port and the senior features editor at Rolling Stone . She was previously a staff writer at Esquire , where she covered culture and politics, and has written long-form profiles and narrative features for Vanity Fair , Marie Claire , Town & Country , and other publications. 

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A Teen Got Into 5 Ivy League Schools With This College Essay About Costco

From Seventeen

High school senior Brittany Stinson wrote about her passion in her college essay, and it got her into five Ivy League schools.

Her passion just happens to be wholesale warehouse Costco.

The prompt instructed applicants to write about "a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it." So, Brittany wrote about trips to Costco with her family, and now her essay is going viral.

"Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life ... 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," she writes in the essay , reprinted with her permission on Business Insider . " 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."

Brittany, who in addition to being a great writer is also a straight-A student, told NBC News she doesn't know yet which school she'll attend but that she wants to be a doctor. Brittany was accepted to Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Cornell - as well as Stanford.

"I had always gone to Costco while growing up. It was a constant part of my childhood. I Iooked forward to trips on the weekends, and I had always treated it as a Disneyland of sorts," she told the outlet. "I was always curious about the place. The same attitude carried over to everything I tried in life."

We'll leave you with this deep nugget from the essay:

" If there exists a thirty­three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will."

Update 4:25 p.m.: A Costco spokesperson tells Seventeen.com: "We are flattered that Brittany would choose Costco as the backdrop for her entrance essay and wish her the very best as she considers these exceptional universities."

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What Makes the Costco Essay So Popular (Not Just Hype)

“If there exists a thirty­-three ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will?”  Do you remember this? Well, yes, this is one of the best lines from the Costco essay from the 2016 Common App essay.

This essay helps Brittany Stinson get acceptance letters from 5 IVY league schools. But did this essay genuinely deserve the hype, or is it just an average?

Let’s discuss:

• What is the essay about?
• What makes it popular?
• How to write one like this?
• Finally, why is this not ideal for everyone?

Table of Contents

Remember that Costco Essay Girl? A Brief History

So, it’s true that all of you remember the girl who wrote a  college application essay  on Costco. In the essay, Brittany Stinson shares his personal experience of wandering through Costco with his mother.

The essay went viral in 2016 after she was accepted to five IVY league schools and Stanford. The topic’s uniqueness helps her stand out from others in the competition.

Furthermore, she brainstormed, made outlines, and worked on multiple topics at once that shows her unique perspective and intellectual curiosity.

What Makes the Costco Essay Popular According to Admission Officers

Many college admission officers share their thoughts on essay about Costco on forums like Quora and Reddit. Below are some traits that make the essay popular according to them.

Engaging Essay:

Brittany started with an  essay hook  that leaves the reader confused and curious. That was a great way to capture the reader’s attention. Moving further, she continues the Costco essay with slight ambiguity to ensure the reader is not lost.

As reading the next couple of lines, her story slowly comes to the focus. The whole paragraph connects well with the reader as it reminds them of their childhood days when they ran around the shops to buy little things.

Get Your Custom Essay Written with 50% Discount Act Now!

Precise Word Choice:

The next thing that stands out in the essay on Costco is the smartly chosen words. She elegantly uses sophisticated and unique words like “jettisoned,” “crevice,” “scoured,” “whisked,” and “notorious” within different  types of sentences  in her essay.

The word choice sounds genuine and fits the writing context exactly. In short, she played with the admission officer’s emotion because most officers are attracted to unique and rare word choices that are uncommon in every essay.

Use excellent imagery:

“Show, don’t tell”  is the philosophy almost every student knows, but very few can pull this off in their writing. Brittany uses excellent imagery that helps the admission officers to visualize the story.

Everything leaves a visionary impression on the reader, from that three-pound tub of sour cream to the shopping cart as it slams with the 54-inch plasma screen TV.

The Bright Side:

Do you think that was just a story, or is there more to it? Well,  Brittany Stinson  doesn’t only tell his personal story in a college essay about Costco but persuades the admission officer about what he will bring to the institution.

Her story depicts her intense desire to know, explore things out of the box, and bring a cart to the campus full of exciting experiences.

How to Write Your Own Costco College Essay

To write a winning Costco essay like the famous one that went viral, focus on these things mentioned below.

• Don’t just describe a visit to a place like Costco; instead, focus on adding your personal experience that resonates with you.
• Choose unique and sophisticated words to engage the admission officer with your story. The word collection must be uncommon and best fit the context.
• Create a mixed combo of multiple experiences and try to fit them into your single story.
• For example, if you are writing about a tour experience, don’t limit yourself to only joyful experiences; add hurdles, fun activities, bonding with others, and some thrilling incidents.
• Set the writing tone in a way that helps the AOs to visualize the whole story instead of just reading.

Here’s Why Costco Essay Isn’t Every Student Role Model

Potential for cliché.

First of all, the essay about Costco has gained a lot of popularity, making it very familiar to the admission officer. They may be sick with the shopping story and want something new from the applicants.

Don’t Bound to only Storytelling

Secondly, these officers are not only bound to storytelling. They even appreciate the more complex and in-depth research essays like  community service essays , which involve a formal tone and are also beneficial for society.

Don’t Fit Every Student’s Writing Style

Every student has their own writing abilities and skills. Don’t try to write like a Costco essay when you know that your writing style doesn’t fit such a situation.

Stay on Top of the Admission List With Expert Help

Whether writing a Costco personal statement essay or a community service essay for college admission, personal experience is the key to success. However, if you fear getting rejected by admission officers, get  personal statement writing help  from our expert and stay on top of the admission list.

Secure Your Custom Essay Writing Solution

The Costco essay not only shows how Brittany has performed in the common app essay but also what he achieved. It also shows the students how to tackle the common app essay and how to grab the admission officer’s attention. However, it is still not recommended for everyone to write a Costco college essay, as this may not fit everyone’s shoes.

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