Advice from Atul Jose - Leading MBA and Master's Admissions Consultant

The opening line is 

"I hid my family name for two years. "

A lot of candidates at Stanford are coming from wealthy families and many of you might also relate to this essay even if you are not coming from a wealthy family. 

The core of the narrative is the applicant's journey of finding her voice, initial aversion to the idea of business as a force of good, to finally, after serving UNHCR - the UN's agency that assists refugees, realizing that businesses play a crucial role in rebuilding communities affected by wars. 

The opening line is,  "When my teacher asked where I lived, I used to say near "x" – a cover not to let them know that I lived in a slum." 

The essay obviously immediately takes the reader to the insecurities of a low-income applicant. Stanford has the BOLD fellowship to fund low-income students and student groups exclusively to support candidates who are first-generation college attendees.

The essay is for those who have risen through the economic hurdle to take the family out of intergenerational poverty. 

The opening line is,  "I began my daily trivia talk on the mechanics of the engine, then switched to horsepower, and with dread, I asked, "Shall I take the car for a spin." "

This is a reflection of the applicant as a 7-year-old seeking permission from his father, an automobile engineer, to take the car for a spin.

The opening line is,  "My mother worked three jobs to support my Father's ambition of building a technology product from our garage."

The opening line is 

"When a nation is impoverished, the route to relief is an endless maze with frequent sorrow and desperation. "

The opening line is a downbeat theme. I get this question a lot - "should I start an essay with an extremely discouraging or sad line?" It doesn't matter how you start the essay. But the essay should end on an inspiring note if you are covering themes of poverty, addiction or inequality.

The essay is about  Zimbabwe's hyperinflation. 

The opening line is 

Repeat after me, "I am nobody without education."

When you start with an attention-grabbing line as an opener, you must come from a background where such lines mean something to you. Don't use shocking lines just to get attention. For the Uruguayan applicant, education was the single biggest determinant in getting out of poverty. This line is not a rhetorical line but a mantra his mother, who was working three jobs, forced the applicant to chant to escape the temptation to join a gang. 

The opening line is 

"Born into a hamlet in India, I was inoculated with a conservative culture that valued tradition over discovery..."

The opening line is 

"When my friend put his arms around his father, I would glance at mine. There was an expression of disgust on his face that only family insiders could recognize. "

The opening line is 

"In a world where violence and corruption are normal, it is easy to get cynical about the future. When the world becomes a large pool of cynics, they are blinded by the opportunities that lay ahead. "