tamu engineering honors essay

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• Ryan Murphy
• Oct 11, 2018

How to Write Texas A&M (TAMU) Honors Essays

Texas A&M University, or TAMU, has a separate honors program application for college admissions. For the application, you have to answer a few short honors essay prompts. Today I will provide you some strategies and outlines for writing the best TAMU honors essays.

Prompt #1 :

Thousands of non-honors graduates of Texas A&M are well prepared for and obtain their first choice medical school, law school, graduate school, or employment after they graduate each year. If you were guaranteed the admission or job of your choice without being in the University Honors Program, why would the Honors Program be an essential experience for you? (250 words max.)

What is the the general strategy?

You want to show admissions officers that you have a reason for participating in the University Honors Program (a reason that goes beyond simple prestige).

In other words, they want to know that you have done your homework and know what kinds of opportunities TAMU honors offers students. Then they want to know that you can see yourself using these resources to their full potential.

After all, if they are claiming that regular students have great success, why would they waste a space on someone who doesn’t really know how they’d benefit from the University Honors Program?

You need to identify 1-2 KEY components of the honors program. Maybe there is more access to research. Maybe there are better relationships with professors. Maybe you have to complete a senior thesis. Whatever the case may be, focus only on a couple elements, so you can speak to those program offerings in detail.

What should your outline look like?

Paragraph 1 (50 words): Introduce why you think honors studies are generally important and identify the 1-2 key components of the TAMU honors program. Ex: You could say how you’ve taken honors classes in high school and how this rigorous environment has led to your best thinking. You think that TAMU honors represents the best environment because of its professor-mentored independent projects and access to high-end research materials.

Paragraph 2 (90 words): Describe Key Component #1 and how you would benefit from it. Ex: You talk about the importance of professor-mentored independent projects. You specify what your honors program offers and how this independence will be pivotal for creating cutting-edge technology for medical sciences.

Paragraph 3 (90 words): Describe Key Component #2 and how you would benefit from it. Ex: You talk about the resources that are more readily available to students and how these resources will be essential to applying lessons from the classroom.

Paragraph 4 (20 words): Conclude by restating your thesis and try to include a meaningful image or phrase that calls back the beginning of the essay or some thematic element. Ex: You reiterate the value of independence and research materials, and you call back the notion of pushing yourself as the best way to be successful and engaged.

Note: You may not have enough space to discuss two key components. In that case, simply combine Paragraphs 2 and 3 into a longer 180-word paragraph. My advice is to go deeper on fewer points, so that you can come across more realistically and meaningfully as a person behind the essay.

Prompt #2 :

What force of nature are you and why? To respond to this prompt, you may define “force of nature” as whatever that means to you from a cultural or disciplinary perspective. (250 words max.)

What is the general strategy?

Honors programs are known for their creative thinkers, regardless of discipline. This second question (and any like it) wants to see more of your personality, and more importantly, get admissions officers to understand your thinking. Honors students are typically people who think outside of the box, who conduct groundbreaking research, who found new and exciting businesses, who value both science and humanities, etc. You need to show that you are imaginative as well as mature, creative as well as thoughtful.

What do these traits mean for your essay? Well, there are a couple different approaches. For one, you want to think about what a “force of nature” is generally. Often we consider a force of nature something that breaks through all barriers, that doesn’t listen to directions. It can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It could be someone who gets work done but who also doesn’t care what others want. Obviously you will want to present yourself in the best way, so be mindful that your “force of nature” is one that is constructive and ultimately helpful.

Notice how the prompt also gives you two suggestions on how you could define “force of nature.” There is the “cultural” perspective and the “disciplinary” perspective. So, is a “force of nature” something related to your upbringing, or could it be something related to a field of study, such as researching medicine or creating works of art? And of course there is the literal meaning of “nature.” Could you be an agent of the natural world, out to do its bidding?

Let's think about a “force of nature” as a cultural trait. Maybe as part of your upbringing, your family taught you to be independent and verify the truth for yourself.

Now let's think about a “force of nature” as a term in your science field. Perhaps you can use one of the literal forces, such as gravity, as a way to define yourself. Perhaps people gravitate to you, and you connect others in meaningful ways.

Basically, there is no “wrong” answer to this question, but you should consider how your answer will reveal who you are and what you consider important. You have to make a choice on how you represent yourself.

My recommendation is that you choose something creative and fun, especially since the previous question will cover more “serious” topics. Remember that you want to be able to use each new essay as a way to showcase something different about your personality and background.

Paragraph 1 (50 words): Introduce how you define “force of nature,” providing a thesis that explains what kind of force of nature you are and why you are this particular force of nature. Ex: You define “force of nature” as it relates to your chosen field of study, physics, as one that is gravitational. You say that you are a gravitational force because you bind people to a single core mission.

Paragraph 2 (90 words): Provide the context, or definition, of “force of nature” and how you got to this definition. Then state that you see yourself as this force of nature. Ex: First you explain how, even though it is an essential, regular part of everyday life, gravity has always fascinated you. As a prospective physics major, you see its influence and have even studied it in high school through research and personal projects. With this background, you see yourself as a similar “force of nature.”

Paragraph 3 (90 words): Transition from the type of force of nature you are and say why you think you are this force of nature. Draw on past experiences to do so. Ex: You provide support to back up why you are a gravitational force of nature. You talk about experiences (focus on one good one) that illustrate how you draw people to a single goal.

Paragraph 4 (20 words): Restate the kind of force of nature you are and why, and end on an interesting image or phrase. Ex: You say again what force of nature you are and why. Then you end on an image about keeping Earth grounded (or something like that).

Okay! You should be all set to write TAMU honors essays that make an impression on the admissions officers. Of course, you want to make sure that you have a quality ApplyTexas A essay as well.

Planning to apply to Texas A&M honors and need more personalized feedback on your honors essays? Need help with other essays in your college applications? Get the best advice on how to revise and sharpen your unique image!

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Applying to Texas A&M’s Engineering Honors Program

• Sasha Chada
• May 9, 2022

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Engineering is incredibly popular for students (we have a whole guide on it), and for good reason. Everything around you was designed and built by engineers, and they literally reshape the world we live in. Of course, a lot of work is required to become an engineer, beginning with a college education.

In this article, we’ll examine one such engineering program, engineering honors at Texas A&M. We’ll look at what the program is, how you can apply, and what the benefits are. We’ll also give a case study of a past Ivy Scholars student who applied to the program.

About the Program

The Craig and Galen Brown Engineering Honors Program seeks to offer a “small school” feel with all of the resources of Texas A&M’s program. The course sizes are smaller, and students get additional opportunities to interact with faculty, both in and out of their coursework. 

Every major the A&M offers in engineering has an honors counterpart. Each major follows its own track , to ensure that you graduate on time. While not all of the courses you take will be honors level, the majority of them will be. 

The other benefits of the honors program come from specialized advising and related opportunities. This gives you increased chances to learn and network with professionals, and to gain additional opportunities in your field. Further, there are increased undergraduate research opportunities for honors students. 

Finally, there is an honors-program specific career fair, which can help you land a job right out of undergrad. While networking is less important in engineering compared to some other fields, recruitment at colleges is still a key part of the job hunt process, and recruiters know that honors students have received more preparation and research experience. 

While you can get a great engineering education at A&M regardless, we recommend the honors program for advanced students who want to push themselves more, or for students looking for a backup option when applying to higher tier engineering programs. 

How to Apply

Admissions to the program are competitive, with around 10% of each class admitted. The applications are reviewed holistically; there is no single GPA or test score which will guarantee you admission. Overall, admissions officers are looking for how well you will fit with the program, and how you will benefit from it. 

You may apply to the honors program as a freshman if you have an intended major in engineering or are admitted to the engineering college. You may apply as a current A&M student if your GPA is above 3.5. Incoming transfer students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher may register for honors classes and may apply for the program after a semester at A&M. 

The application to the program is separate from your application to A&M as a whole. You may apply online . The application requires the following materials: 

• A high school transcript. Current A&M students (or transfer students) also require a college transcript.
• One letter of reference. 
• An essay describing your interest in the engineering honors program and your general career goals. 

Incoming freshmen and transfer students must submit their applications by May 1st. For a spot in the honors dorm , you must complete your application by March 1st. Current students may submit their application at any time during the school year, but must submit at least two weeks before the start of the semester to be eligible for priority course registration. 

Once accepted, you may begin participating in honors activities immediately. You need to be an honors student to register for honors-level courses. 

Your application is reviewed based on your academic and extracurricular achievements, your fit for the program, and your passion for engineering. While high academic performance alone will not get you in, it is required for acceptance.

For the case study, we’ll discuss who the student was, what they had done with their activities, and finally go through their application essay. We hope this will give you a sense of what a competitive candidate for this program looks like, and how you can prepare to do the same. 

Student B had an unweighted GPA of 3.9 and graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. They had a cumulative ACT score of 31. This academic excellence was enough to qualify them for the program, but it was with their activities that Student B was able to properly differentiate themselves. 

First was their coding knowledge; 2 years each of C++ and Python, and 1 year of experience with Linux. Not all engineers are computer engineers, but they all work with software to some extent, and being able to manipulate code is a useful skill for any engineer. 

They were further able to apply their coding knowledge through an internship with Code Park Houston. During the course of which they worked to teach coding to others, as well as help research and build out the program’s curriculum and web presence. Thus the student showed an ability to apply their knowledge. 

Student B showed further proficiency with coding through their participation in a cybersecurity camp at UT Austin, along with taking part in the science olympiad. These activities continue the themes seen elsewhere and demonstrate an even deeper commitment to engineering.

Finally, Student B was a co-captain on their soccer team. While this does not directly relate to engineering, it allows them to demonstrate leadership, a key quality this program is looking for. Not every activity you participate in needs to be completely tied to engineering, but the majority of your extracurriculars should be. Your goal is to create a story about who you are and what you’ve done, and for that to clearly demonstrate why you’ll be a great engineer. 

Wandering through the dense jungles of the Malaysian peninsula as a second grader I was awestruck by the vibrant colors: vast green leaves, yellow moss creeping up the trees, and massive red petals from the giant rafflesia flowers that secreted a putrid smell. Birds squawked and monkeys howled within the deep greenery, while insects scurried over the foliage strewn ground beneath my feet.

This experience showed me that nature is necessary for life to flourish. However, the delicate balance is now in danger. By 2050, researchers project millions of animal species will face extinction and many million more humans will be displaced from their homes due to climate change, careless fossil fuel prioritization, forestry, and land degradation.

With these dangers in mind, I want to use my mathematical and analytical knowledge to be an environmental engineer. The best engineers are focused on preventing problems so well that nobody may ever know those problems were possible in the first place.

This was most apparent when I met Mr. Pankaj Rai, a senior engineer at Bechtel. Over the course of our engagement, he helped me understand his job at the intersection of mechanical and environmental engineering.

Mr. Rai’s job was designing something that everybody I know uses, but nobody thinks about: underground gasoline tanks. Balancing between safety and flexibility is tricky because focusing on one quality too much will make the other untenable. Trying to make a system foolproof, he taught me, will also make it less accessible to the technicians that need to work on it. However, the risk of containment failure increases for every convenience and feature added to a tank. 

While before, the tasks of engineering seemed arcane, talking with him showed me how ubiquitous this global issue is. Engineering a tank that is a little more reliable could save hundreds of lives; making the tank a little more flexible for technicians could save millions of dollars.

Mr. Rai helped me see that engineering is the application of optimization questions I’ve tackled in statistics and math classes for the past two years. The size and scale of these engineering problems excite me.

As a concerned global citizen and a future student of civil and environmental engineering, I appreciate the meticulous forethought required to cultivate new solutions to crises that threaten some of the world’s oldest and most beautiful landscapes.

Essay Analysis

The purpose of this essay is to explain and explore student B’s interest in and passion for engineering, and why they want to study the specific branch of the field that they do. This specificity is key; engineering is a broad discipline, and interest in one facet doesn’t necessarily translate to another. 

The essay begins in the middle of the action, setting a scene for the reader. This is a good way to begin, as it draws the reader into the essay, and invests them in the action. It also helps to set this essay apart, as beginning in a jungle is outside the norm for engineering essays, which more often begin with screens or numbers.

Here, the jungle is appropriate, because student B is specifically interested in environmental engineering. While this requires the same skill in math and science as any other discipline, it also requires an appreciation for the natural world.

This concern then forms the basis for why they want to study environmental engineering. They are passionate about math and science, and they want to use their skills in these fields to better the world as a whole. This is a noble goal, and while your own reasoning does not need to be so grand, having a higher purpose in what you do is often a good approach. Honors programs want to admit students who will go on to change the world, so expressing a desire to do so is a good way to start.

Student B next explains why engineering is their chosen path, based on their interaction with another engineer. This allowed them to see the possibilities in the field, and further solidified their desire to pursue engineering.

Your own reasons for being an engineer can and will vary, but you should elucidate them clearly in your own essay. Explain your reasoning for being an engineer, and what you want to do with the career. You should provide concrete examples from your own experiences, the more specific the better. 

You can speak concretely about the specific benefits of the honors program, though this essay does not. That can be a good way to explain how the environment created by the program will benefit you, and why you are a strong applicant. 

Final Thoughts

Engineering is a very popular and rewarding field, in which many students want to get involved. Honors engineering allows you additional networking opportunities, smaller class sizes, and greater opportunities to conduct research and meet industry professionals. While attending an honors program is not necessary to become a great engineer, many students are interested in the additional opportunities such programs afford.

We hope that this guide has introduced you to the possibilities offered by A&M’s engineering honors program, and how you can go about applying to it. College applications are always stressful, and honors applications are even more so. If you want to hear how we can help you with your applications, schedule a free consultation today. We have a depth of experience helping students apply to colleges, and are always happy to hear from you.

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General Requirements

Texas A&M University students must earn at least 18 hours of honors credits (undergraduate honors courses with HNR prefix or graduate courses) in courses from any engineering or science department.

The hours must consist of the following:*

• At least 12 hours must be engineering credit.
• No more than 6 hours of graduate courses
• Between 4-6 hours of research (ENGR 491H) **
• ENGR 181H - 1 credit hour EH seminar course

Graduation requirements:

• Earn a GPA of 3.25 or higher in honors courses
• Receive no honor code violations

*Some departments have have slightly different research requirements - view department specific requirements on their webpages

** Students can use no more than 6 hours of research toward the total 18 hours. 

Departmental Requirements

Each department may have requirements that students will have to meet in place of or in addition to the general requirements listed above.

To view each of the department requirements please visit the  Program Description page and click on the departments acronyms in the sidebar and then click the Requirements link.

Ways to Earn Honors Credit

Honors courses.

Non-Research Honors Courses in the College of Engineering

Students can often find honors sections for engineering courses offered by their department.

If there is no existing honors section of a regular course offered by the college of engineering, students can ask the professor teaching the course if they would be interested in teaching the course as a stacked honors course. If they agree, the department’s advising office would set up an honors section that is stacked with the regular version of the course, which students need to enroll in on or before the 12 th day of class . The professor will modify the course so that students could receive honors credit by modifying the assignments, scheduling separate discussions, etc.

Research Honors Courses in the College of Engineering

Students receive honors credits when enrolled in undergraduate honors courses designated by honors section numbers of 2XX.

• Honors Undergraduate Research (291/491)
• Directed/Independent Study (285/485)
• Internship (284/484)

Applications for honors credit for such courses may vary by department. Reach out to your professor and academic advisor well before the semester begins to ensure you can properly enroll in these courses . Honors credit will be applied to the student's transcript after final grades have posted.

Honors Course Contracts

For courses outside of the College of Engineering (e.g., College of Science courses), students can earn honors credits for non-honors courses by working with the instructor to determine some alternate or additional assignments/activities to those listed by the instructor in the course syllabus; these activities should allow the student to emulate the experience of an honors course and should augment the course activities, not simply add to them.

Contract proposals should be developed by the student in consultation with the instructor, and must be approved by the following:

• Course instructor
• University Honors Program

Applications for honors course contracts are due by the 12th class day of the semester. Honors credit is given at the end of the semester after the student has satisfactorily completed the activities described in the honors course contract application.

For non-departmental engineering courses (e.g., those with an ENGR course code such as ENGR 111/112, ENGR 181, etc.) and major-specific courses, request for an honors section through the department advising office.

Graduate Courses

Any graduate course taken at Texas A&M University for undergraduate credit (i.e., applied to an undergraduate degree) will be considered as honors credit for honors students.

A maximum of 6 hours of graduate coursework can be counted toward the Engineering Honors distinction requirements, if taken for undergraduate credit. Graduate courses being reserved for graduate credit cannot be counted.

Students should contact their track coordinator for questions regarding taking graduate courses for honors credit.

Fast Track: Students participating in the fast track graduate program can receive honors credit for fast track courses they take, as those graduate courses replace courses required for their undergraduate degree. Contact your department’s advising office if you have questions regarding the Fast Track program.

*Note* AP credits do not count toward honors credit hours. Only courses taken at Texas A&M are counted.

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How to Write the Texas A&M University Essays 2023-2024

Texas A&M University has three required essay prompts on its application. You are asked to write about your personal story, a life event that has prepared you for success in college, and a person who has profoundly impacted your life. There is also an optional essay prompt about any additional challenges or opportunities you have had to overcome. There is another prompt specifically for applicants to the College of Engineering.

Texas A&M receives tens of thousands of applications from students with a strong academic record, so the essays are your opportunity to paint a unique picture of yourself that separates you from the crowd.

Read these Texas A&M essay examples , from a real accepted student, to inspire your writing.

Texas A&M Essay Prompts

All applicants.

Prompt 1: Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? (750 words)

Prompt 2: Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college. (250 words)

Prompt 3: Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why. (250 words)

Prompt 4 (optional): If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities (including COVID related experiences) that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about , please note them in the space below. (250 words)

College of Engineering Applicants

Prompt: Describe your academic and career goals in the broad field of engineering (including computer science, industrial distribution, and engineering technology). What and/or who has influenced you either inside or outside the classroom that contributed to these goals? It is important to spend time addressing this question as it will be considered as part of engineering review process.  (500 words)

All Applicants, Prompt 1

Tell us your story. what unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today (750 words).

Notice that you are encouraged to speak about an opportunity or a challenge—this is a classic example of the “Overcoming Challenges” essay . When faced with this prompt, many students believe that they must talk about a tragedy in order to grab the attention of admissions officers, but this isn’t true. An essay can easily be thoughtful, insightful, and an engaging read without utilizing this specific emotional appeal.

Still, stories about difficult circumstances are often memorable. They are most effective when focused primarily on the student’s journey of working through the challenge instead of the challenge itself. 

You’re trying to stand out, so beware of overused tropes like the following:

• Mental illness: It takes enormous strength to heal from and learn to manage a mental illness. Still, they may be tricky to write about. Read our article for more information on covering mental illness and disabilities within your application .
• Getting a bad grade in a class but then working hard to raise it.
• Sports stories such as winning/losing the “big game” or getting injured.
• Death of a pet or family member.
• Mission trip which made you realize how lucky and privileged you are.

Side note: Sometimes students face challenges that are outside of their control and which have negatively impacted their academic and/or extracurricular performance. If this has been your experience, and you don’t want to explain them within this essay response, you may ask one of your recommenders to do so through their letter of recommendation, or explain it in the shorter prompt #4.

Now, there’s no such thing as a “bad” or “good” essay topic; students have gotten into top schools with essays about Costco, pizza deliveries, and sparkling water. It often matters less so what you write about than how you write about it! 

These common essay topics are only doable when well-written, specific, and featuring a fresh take. The story of how fixing your calculus grade taught you the value of hard work is not nearly as interesting as that of a student who is diagnosed with dyscalculia—a disability which creates a difficulty in understanding and working with math and numbers—and then opens up a dyscalculia awareness club with plans to become a special education teacher.

The latter story would demonstrate the student’s ability to turn preconceived weaknesses into strengths, and admissions officers will quickly see that though he may initially struggle with long division, this student is nonetheless a creative problem-solver.

Please be aware that although it is possible to make a “common” topic interesting , it is easier to write about a situation that is unique to begin with. Also, don’t feel pressured to write about a challenge, especially if the situation has happened so recently that you haven’t fully finished processing or growing from it.

With all of this in mind, let’s get into brainstorming! Many people begin their ideation process through writing long lists or even talking into their phones in an untethered stream-of-consciousness. Do whatever it takes to get your creative juices flowing! 

As you reflect, you may consider these questions:

• Which values and skills do you hold closest to your heart? Honesty? Hard work? Clear communication? Diversity? Environmental stewardship? Activism? Where did these priorities come from?
• What are you most grateful for? What are you most proud of? What risks have you taken which have paid off?
• What do you like to do? When and how did you get into it?
• How would your family and friends say you have changed for the better over the years, and why?
• Look back at your list of extracurricular activities. Which ones were challenging and/or special opportunities? When have you tried something new?

Practice self-compassion while considering topics, and know that none are too big or too small. You can write about anything from taking a summer math class (even though you’re more of an English person) to being a camp counselor to giving your first speech in front of a crowd.

Overall, the admissions officers are looking for growth. They want to see the circumstances you turned into opportunities for improvement. You may even reflect upon a situation that initially seemed like an unpleasant challenge but later revealed itself as a hidden opportunity. For example, you may have reluctantly let your friend drag you to a business club meeting before discovering a passion for economics and rising as a club leader.

Ideally, your story will be unique and offer a fresh perspective. Be specific about the challenge or opportunity you were presented with, and think about how it changed you for the better. 

Remember, they are literally asking for you to “tell [them] your story,” so consider using a narrative format, especially if storytelling is a talent of yours. 

Here’s a general outline: 

• If you choose to go with a traditional storytelling format, we recommend beginning with a vivid anecdote featuring rich imagery to draw the reader in or an unexpected premise which makes one have to read on in order to fully understand. 
• From there, you may dive into who you were at the time, how you felt and how you acted, before moving towards your turning point—the challenge or opportunity—from which you decided to grow. 
• Explain how, exactly, the turning point influenced you. Ask yourself: How did it make you feel? Excited and ready for more, or initially anxious? How did it impact you? Perhaps you learned something new about yourself, or maybe now you’re kinder, more confident, or a harder worker. 
• To mix it up a bit, you could even play with sequencing, perhaps starting with a moment of success before reflecting on all of the growth you had to complete to get to that point.

Finally, you are human, so you don’t have to portray yourself as perfect in the end. You are using this essay to talk about what may be one of your greatest strengths or sources of pride, but make sure to stay balanced with a humble tone.

All Applicants, Prompt 2

Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college. (250 words).

This prompt is similar to the first in that it is asking about a life event, but there are two things to note. Firstly, the word limit is quite small, so there is less room for a vivid, image-laden introduction. Secondly, the prompt does not specify challenge or opportunity, so you have more creative freedom in your answer.

Before you begin writing, you should think about the different paths you can take when answering this question:

• Is there a unique event (that you didn’t write about in the first prompt) that has made a substantial impact on how you study, take exams, learn in general, or see a certain aspect of the world (that might have inspired your desired major, if you have one)?
• Besides any unique events, what other occurrences have prepared you for any aspect of college life? The aspects can be academic, interpersonal, career-oriented, social, etc.
• Which of these events are positive and which are negative?
• Based on whether you answered the previous prompt with a challenge or an opportunity, do you want to double down on positive/negative or do you want to have one of each?

One effective way to address this prompt is to think of what you want to major in. If there is a life event that drew you to a specific field, you can discuss how you have looked into this field already and how you are equipped to take classes in it. If you haven’t decided on a major, you can think of skills you have picked up that aren’t necessarily academic but can translate well into being a student.

Examples of some events that helped prepare you for college success include:

• How experiencing a long drought inspired you to study agriculture to explore more sustainable farming practices.
• How deciding to teach yourself ukulele for 3 years straight improved your learning strategies, taught you self-discipline and time management, and encouraged you to be open to new ideas.
• How an internship at a publishing company improved your reading and writing skills, taught you to work collaboratively, and gave you experience working within deadlines. (This can segue into you wanting to study publishing/English, or it can just be used as an example of skill-honing even if you don’t want to study that!)

You have ample opportunity to talk about intriguing and unusual experiences, but as with the first prompt, you should avoid cliché topics unless you are able to add depth to them. For example, you would not want to write about how losing a school baseball game taught you to accept failure.

However, you might be able to spin that kind of story into something more interesting by talking about how you lost that game because you stayed up the night before studying for a physics exam, which ended up revealing to you how much you love physics more than baseball. You could then move into a discussion about how that turning point taught you how to manage time better, how to set priorities better, and what you wanted to pursue in college. Again, be mindful that the word limit is small so you must be succinct.

These supplemental essays are supposed to give an impression of who you are as a person. Don’t be afraid to go outside the boundaries of common, everyday life events if there is something really distinct that you experienced. The questions are intentionally vague to give students elbow room to write something unique if they want to.

All Applicants, Prompt 3

Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why. (250 words).

This is a common prompt in essays and interviews , and it can be difficult overwhelming to decide on a role model. Many students default to a parent/sibling for this question, and though that’s a valid choice, it’s extremely common. You can write a good essay with this choice, but it’s harder to stand out. 

If you do decide on a family member, be sure to provide granular detail about how this person impacted your life. While anyone can write about their family members, only you can tell the specific stories of how your family member impacted you. Admissions officers don’t want to hear how caring your mom is; they want to know about the time she gave the scarf off her neck to someone who said they were cold. 

Some other potential people to write about include a teacher or close friend. Some people have teachers who completely changed their outlook on a subject or on learning as a whole. If this describes a teacher you once had, you might be interested in this choice. Be sure to provide detailed examples about the teacher’s personality and/or pedagogy.

Don’t just say, “Mrs. Johnson made me like math.” Describe how she did it and why you like math now. Some people have friends who have completely changed (or even saved) their lives. Often, our closest friends are people we grew up with and know intimately. This deep knowledge of a person and his impact on your life can give you a lot of details to write about.

You might have a community leader (pastor, coach, shopkeeper) who taught you to think beyond your immediate circle and begin to engage with the wider community. This kind of person is another great example of someone outside your nuclear family who influenced your life for the better.

Though there is a plethora of people you can write about, there are a few that you should do your best to avoid , even if they truly have impacted your life:

• Cliché famous historical figures – Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr. are all very important figures with highly potent influence all the way to the present day. Unfortunately, they are also written about far too much. 
• Polarizing political figures – It’s hard to keep bias out of the admissions process, so you risk putting off whoever is reading your essay. It’s also not likely that politicians impact your life more than your immediate circle.

As with the previous prompt, be mindful of the lower word limit. You can definitely share 1-3 anecdotes, but you only have 250 words, and you want to spend some of that on reflection.

All Applicants, Prompt 4 (optional)

If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities (including covid related experiences) that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about , please note them in the space below. (250 words).

This prompt is optional, and while we typically recommend that you respond to optional prompts, this one is asking about additional info not reflected in your application—so you should only write a response if you truly have something to add. 

Notice that this is very similar to the first prompt, but it’s more focused on hardships and challenges. Unlike the first prompt, this would be a fine space to address any issues in a straightforward manner—you don’t have to worry about coming up with an original topic. Some potential things you can address include divorce, tragedy, financial hardships, family responsibilities, learning disabilities, etc. 

The specification of “COVID related experiences” also allows you to discuss any particular issues you faced due to the pandemic. Since everyone has been going through the pandemic, we only recommend discussing COVID if you had a particularly disruptive experience.

Finally, don’t forget that this prompt also allows you to elaborate on any positive opportunities that shaped your high school career. If you have a unique extracurricular that you haven’t written about yet (beyond the Common App Activities section), you can write about it here. You could also talk about your experience at a leadership program or a mentor you had.

Basically, anything goes, as long as it impacted you significantly, and isn’t addressed properly in the rest of your application.

College of Engineering Applicants Prompt

Describe your academic and career goals in the broad field of engineering (including computer science, industrial distribution and engineering technology). what and/or who has influenced you either inside or outside the classroom that contributed to these goals it is important to spend time addressing this question as it will be considered as part of engineering review process. (500 words).

This prompt is your opportunity to show Texas A&M you are a good fit for both the university and its programs. You are asked to cover a lot of ground here, so it is important to be specific throughout your essay. Use precise wording and double-check that each word, phrase, and detail has a place in your piece.

Let’s start by breaking down the academic and career goal components of this prompt. If you don’t have a clear plan for your future, don’t worry; most high schoolers don’t! Also, you aren’t tied down to whichever path you decide to write about, so feel free to get specific.

If it helps, think of the research you will perform for this prompt as an exercise in thinking about your future. Follow your natural curiosity while reading about the academics within the College of Engineering and the careers graduated Aggies often pursue. Hone in on the programs and opportunities which appeal to you most, many of which are featured on Texas A&M’s website .

Academic goals aren’t limited to getting good grades in school. These accomplishments may take many forms, including the following:

• Research opportunities! These are readily available to undergraduates, especially through the competitive Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Texas A&M offers potential research goals through independent research-based courses, employment, summer programs, special honors and awards, and more. Check out current research programs and see which professors and projects you resonate with most. 
• Graduating with a specific major(s)/minor(s)
• Continuing to a graduate school or program
• Receiving specific academic honors or scholarships 
• Entering the Honors Program, which will create special opportunities that are in line with your academic and personal priorities.

A solid engineering degree such as the one you will receive at Texas A&M will likely open up to a fascinating and challenging career within any of a multitude of given specialties. The engineering umbrella is broad, but you have to pick one to focus on for this prompt when describing your career interests. What’s your dream engineering job, or your target field? What type of engineering most interests you and why?

When discussing your aspirations both within your career and academic world, directly connect them to opportunities offered by Texas A&M to demonstrate that you’re a strong fit. Don’t just say that you would like to perform research; say that as a prospective aerospace engineering major and computer science minor, you hope to join Professor Jacques Richard in his aero-propulsion studies under the Aero-U program.

Now that we’ve covered which goals you would like to pursue, let’s get into explaining why these goals matter to you. Instead of focusing on relatively superficial aspects of your aspirations, like prestige and pay, think about what makes it interesting, worthwhile, or personally fulfilling. This may be linked to your description of the “whats or whos” which have influenced you to pursue these goals. 

Finding a “who” to write about is relatively straightforward, as many of us can point to the people in our lives who have pushed us in the right direction. Think back on your family members, friends, mentors, and teachers who believed in your ability to succeed academically or in the general world of engineering. This could be anyone, but most importantly, this person somehow pushed you to work harder or simply led by example.

For example, having a mechanic as a father may have sparked your fascination with deconstructing and reconstructing mechanical systems for maximum efficiency, leading you to a path in manufacturing and mechanical engineering. 

The “what,” our second potential motivator, is much more open-ended. Yours may be an event, background, special interest, closely-held value, childhood fascination turned adult aspiration, or even an innate personality trait. 

For example, your childhood fascinations with puzzles and remote-controlled robots, followed by your later software position with your high school’s Robotics Team, may all be indicative of your inclination towards problem-solving, which influenced your decision to major in Computer Science.

As you’re tying all the aforementioned aspects of your response together, make sure to maintain cohesive links between all of them. Your academic and career goals should be aligned with your professed personal qualities as well as the influences you claim the people and things in your life have had on you. Through writing clearly and concisely, you’ll paint a compelling portrait of your character as someone with direction, drive, and a future as a fantastic asset to Texas A&M’s vibrant community.

Where to Get Your Texas A&M University Essays Edited

Want feedback on your Texas A&M University essays to improve your chances at admission? When you’ve proofread your essay a dozen times, it can be hard to even spot where there’s room for improvement. That’s why we’ve created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also sharpen your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays!

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, CollegeVine advisors have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Engineering Honors admissions decision

Does anyone know how long the Engineering Honors review takes? I heard that it is rolling admission, but do not know the timeline it takes for them to make a decision.

@Noviite , when did you apply? Have you heard back yet? My son has done everything but the essay. He is burned out on writing essays and is low-key procrastinating!

@chillycow , my son applied on 11/1, have not heard anything yet.

@Noviite or anyone else who has submitted an honors application: My son hit “mark complete” on his end and sent requests for 2 letters of recommendations. Now he is ready to hit submit but the submit button is kinda greyed out now so he can’t hit submit. Does this mean he has to wait and watch for his recommenders to send their letters and then hit submit?

@ChillyCow My son was able to hit that submit button once they marked his letters as being received. He received an email when they received his letters.

@pbleigh , thanks so much for the info! That helps a lot. Has your son heard back yet about getting an acceptance or any indications about when those might be forthcoming?

@ChillyCow No he hasn’t heard yet. For my older son, it took about 2-3 weeks if I remember correctly. He is a senior now so that stretches my memory a bit.

Is there a critical timeline to apply for Engineering Honors? My son was accepted to General Engineering on 11/12 but is very busy with other applications, school, etc. He is an out of state National Merit semifinalist.

Can he wait until January? Does Engineering Honors have a capped number of members?

@JimQPublic , can your son work on it during Christmas break? FYI, he needs one (or two if desired) letters of recommendation that the recommender has to upload before he can submit his application. That process caused a several day delay in my son being able to hit submit officially. Maybe your son can get the application started enough to send out those letter requests over Thanksgiving? I can’t imagine an oos nmsf being denied acceptance into honors. However, my daughter is nmf engineering honors and she said she knows some honors students who aren’t really qualified and some who are qualified who didn’t get honors. I do believe if he receives the Brown scholarship for National merits, then he automatically qualifies for engineering honors. In the past, Mr. Brown fields interviews mostly in December and January. Not sure how it will work this year with covid.

@ChillyCow thanks.

We will ask him to get the recommendations submitted at least. He has 3 teachers and the counselor who have already prepared recommendations. The counselor and one teacher submitted through the Coalition App but we aren’t sure if TAMU downloaded them.

@JimQPublic , yeah, he could totally have them reuse their letters since it is a different process from admissions. The application didn’t take too long except they did want all those individual test scores from each section which took a while for my son to input and then of course, the dreaded essay. Good luck!

Anyone has any update in engineering honors?

I’ve seen several people, on the main Class of 2025 thread, say their students have received Engineering Honors acceptances. They say to check the portal where you applied for honors, and the offer is there; student has to ‘accept’ the offer (they changed the process some this year).

Hello- I complete my application for engineering honors on 2/23 and have not heard back yet, despite the fact that a lot of people got decisions around 4 or 5 days ago. Should I be worried yet or not?

@master98751 no idea when you might get a decision, but you did apply pretty late. One thing about A&M, EVERYTHING is competitive, everyone is smart, and it’s always wise to sign up/resister as soon as things open up. Fish Camp, Impact, NSC, sports pass, dorms, even admission, on & on…you always want to jump on things. Hopefully they will let you know, one way or the other.

Including entry to your specific engineering major after enrolling as a first year general engineering student, if you do not attain the auto-admit college GPA (currently 3.5).

@ucbalumnus oh yes! That’s a given!

My son got into Eng Honors last weekend but applied to honors back in October.

Former Sen. Rob Portman Calls On Voters To Bridge Political Divide

Former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman told an audience gathered on the Texas A&M University campus this week that voters hold the key to bringing America together.

Portman, who served as a U.S. senator from Ohio from 2011-2023, spoke on bipartisanship Wednesday as part of the 2024 ConocoPhilips White House Lecture series . The series is hosted by the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy in the Bush School of Government and Public Service .

Recent studies have shown a widening political divide among Americans, including Pew Research Center polling that found “the gap between the ideological right and left is wider in the U.S. than in other countries on many issues.”

Portman, who had a 30-year career in public service, encouraged voters to be engaged in the democratic process, especially primaries, to support and elect more candidates willing to work with others. He cited a statistic that “eight percent of voters in America are electing over 80% of members of Congress.” Portman then explored ranked choice voting, a practice in Maine and Alaska in which voters choose their candidates in order of preference by marking candidates as their first, second and third. The votes are tabulated in rounds until one candidate receives a majority. Portman said citizens should have more options in the democratic process.

“A recent poll asked people if they support members of Congress who get things done or Congress members who stick to their principles,” Portman said. “I thought, ‘Oh, principles are going to win.’ No, 74% of voters said they wanted someone who’s going to get stuff done.”

Dr. Raymond Robertson, director of the Mosbacher Institute, interviewed Portman onstage before a full auditorium in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. The audience included Texas A&M President Gen. (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, former White House Chief of Staff Jean Becker, former Assistant for Legislative Affairs Fred McClure and more.

Portman pulled from his history of legislative bipartisanship. He has had over 220 of his bills signed into law, twice earning him high rankings in the Bipartisan Index. When asked about the national debt, Portman offered a bipartisan solution to help solve the debt crisis that, according to Portman, has the country paying more for debt interest than for the entire U.S. military. Portman proposed a bipartisan fiscal commission to be created by and composed of key members of Congress with statutory authorization to vote on debt issues while educating citizens.

“Congress can choose to vote no, but it would put the American people in a position of understanding what the problem is better,” Portman said. “It may take years to do it, but it would get us charted on the right track. When asked what’s the biggest danger facing our country from a national security perspective, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said years ago that it was the debt.”

Robertson asked Portman to what he attributes his successful legislative record. Portman referenced a personal mission to get as much done as he could to help the people he represented. Earlier in the discussion, Portman spoke about his upbringing in Ohio, including his mother’s injury and inability to find health care while his father started a lift truck distribution business. He referenced their struggles and successes as guiding him toward law and public service.

“Early on, I was focused on, how do you help other people achieve their American dream,” Portman said. “What I told my staff is that we’re only on this great, green Earth for a short period of time. We’re certainly in the Senate and House for a shorter period. Make the most of it.”

Portman was appointed by former President George W. Bush to serve as the 14th U.S. trade representative from 2005 to 2006 and 35th director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2006 to 2007. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s 2nd District from 1993 to 2005. Most recently, Portman established the Portman Center for Policy Solutions at the University of Cincinnati and is the Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the Practice of Public Policy with the American Enterprise Institute.

“I hope students in The Bush School will focus on how to find common ground across the aisle to address policy challenges,” Portman said. “To have the ability to serve your fellow American is the greatest honor of all.”

The ConocoPhillips White House Lecture Series brings to public attention the various White House and executive branch offices that provide policy, administrative and overall support to the president of the United States. Past lecturers have included former Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary for Transportation Ray LaHood and Ambassador Carla Hills, among many others.

“Senator Portman, with his bipartisan approach to public service, is a wonderful example of the values of The Bush School,” said John Sherman, dean of The Bush School. “We are honored to have him continue The Bush School tradition of initiating conversations with national leaders on issues that are of national importance.”

The Bush School of Government and Public Service houses many programs, centers and institutes that inspire excellence in the noble calling of public service, making it into a leading international affairs, political science and public affairs institution. The lecture series is organized by The Mosbacher Institute, founded in October 2009 upon the request of former President George H.W. Bush to honor Robert A. Mosbacher Sr., who served as secretary of commerce from 1989 to 1992. The mission of the Mosbacher Institute is to address the most pressing economic challenges confronting the United States and world economies by conducting policy-relevant research, providing education, and engaging stakeholders in the areas of trade, economics and public policy.

“The Bush School is carrying on George H.W. Bush’s legacy in the sense that these students I’ve met are imbued with his spirit of public service,” Portman said. “The record of The Bush School is phenomenal. I don’t think there’s another school in the country that places the same percentage of its students in public service. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. We need good people in public service and doing it for the right reasons.”

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Ocherki Istorii Kirovskoy Oblasti [Essays on the History of Kirov Oblast. Language: Russia]

Kirovskoye otdeleniye volgo-vyatskogo knizhnogo izdatel'stva.

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Very good copy in the original title-blocked cloth backed-boards. Spine bands and panel edges slightly dulled and dust-toned as with age. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 454 pages; Physical desc.: 452 p. 21 cm. Subject: Essays -- Kirov -- Oblast. Language: Russian. 1 Kg. Seller Inventory # 216441

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Title: Ocherki Istorii Kirovskoy Oblasti [Essays on...

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Publication Date: 1972

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Ocherki Istorii Kirovskoy Oblasti Essays on the History of Kirov Oblast Language Russia by Kirovskoye Otdeleniye Volgo Vyatskogo Knizhnogo Izdatel'stva ( 2 results)

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Ocherki Istorii Kirovskoy Oblasti [Essays on the History of Kirov Oblast. Language: Russia]

Kirovskoye Otdeleniye volgo-vyatskogo knizhnogo izdatel'stva

Published by Kirovskoye Otdeleniye volgo-vyatskogo knizhnogo izdatel'stva, 1972

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First Edition. Very good copy in the original title-blocked cloth backed-boards. Spine bands and panel edges slightly dulled and dust-toned as with age. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 454 pages; Physical desc.: 452 p. 21 cm. Subject: Essays -- Kirov -- Oblast. Language: Russian. 1 Kg.

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Revolutionary

Kirov was a participant in the 1905 Russian Revolution and was arrested, joining with the Bolsheviks soon after his release from prison. In 1906, he was arrested once again, but this time jailed for over three years, charged with printing illegal literature. Soon after his release, Kirov again took part in revolutionary activity, and was once again arrested for printing illegal literature. After a year in custody, Kirov moved to the Caucasus, where he stayed until the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II after the February Revolution in March 1917.

By this time, Kirov had shortened his last name from Kostrikov to Kirov, a practice common among Russian revolutionaries of the time. Kirov began using the pen name "Kir," first publishing under the pseudonym "Kirov" on April 26, 1912. One account states that he chose the name "Kir," the Russian version of Cyrus (from the Greek Kūros), after a Christian martyr in third-century Egypt from an Orthodox calendar of saints' days, and Russifying it by adding an "-ov" suffix. A different version is that Kirov based it on the name of the Persian king Cyrus the Great . [4]

Kirov became commander of the Bolshevik military administration in Astrakhan, and fought for the Red Army in the Russian Civil War until 1920. He developed an strong image. "During the Civil War, he was one of the swashbuckling commissars in the North Caucasus beside Ordzhonikidze and Mikoyan . In Astrakhan he enforced Bolshevik power in March 1919 with liberal bloodletting. More than 4,000 were killed. When a bourgeois was caught hiding his own furniture, Kirov ordered him shot." [5]

In 1921, Kirov became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, the Bolshevik party organization in Azerbaijan . Kirov was a loyal supporter of Joseph Stalin , the successor of Vladimir Lenin . In 1926 he was rewarded with command of the Leningrad party organization. Kirov was a close personal friend of Stalin, and a strong supporter of industrialization and forced collectivization . At the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1930, Kirov expressed his support for the Party line: "The General Party line is to conduct the course of our country industrialization. Based on the industrialization, we conduct transformation of our agriculture . Namely, we centralize and collectivize." [6]

In 1934, at the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Kirov delivered the speech called "The Speech of Comrade Stalin Is the Program of Our Party," which refers to Stalin's speech delivered earlier at the Congress. Kirov praised Stalin for everything he had done since the death of Lenin. Moreover, Kirov personally named and ridiculed Nikolai Bukharin , Alexei Rykov and Mikhail Tomsky—the so-called "right opposition" and former party allies of Stalin.

After Kirov's assassination, he acquired a reputation for having repeatedly stood up to Stalin in private and for becoming so popular that he was a threat to Stalin's supremacy. He did display some independence from Stalin. [7] Allegedly, in 1932, Stalin wanted to have Martemyan Ryutin executed for writing an attack on his leadership, but Kirov and Sergo Ordzhonikidze talked him out of it. [8] Alexander Orlov, who defected to the west, listed a series of incidents in which Kirov allegedly clashed with Stalin, likely based on stories from fellow NKVD officers. [9] Kirov's reputed rivalry is a major theme of the historical novel, Children of the Arbat , by Anatoli Rybakov:

In his hunger for popularity, Kirov opted for the simple style. He lived on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt in a large house, inhabited by all sorts of people, he walked to work, wandered on his own around the streets of the city, took his children for rides in his car and played hide-and-seek with them in the yard ... as if to emphasize that Stalin lived in the Kremlin, with guards, didn't wander the streets or play hide-and-seek with his children, thus underlining the idea that Stalin was afraid of the people, whereas Kirov was not. [10]

At the end of the Communist Party's Seventeenth Congress, in February 1934, a scandal is reputed to have occurred when Kirov topped the poll in elections to the Central Committee. Stalin acolyte, Lazar Kaganovich , ordered a number of ballots destroyed so that Stalin and Kirov could share top billing. [11] Historian Amy Knight suggests that while Kirov "might have toed the line as others did, on the other hand he might have acted as a rallying point for those who wanted to oppose his [Stalin’s] dictatorship." Further, Knight suggests that Kirov would not have been a willing accomplice when the full force of Stalin's terror was unleashed in Leningrad. [12]

Knight's contention is supported by the fact that while most of the elite tried to anticipate what Stalin desired and to act accordingly, Kirov did not always do what Stalin wanted. In 1934, Stalin wanted Kirov to come to Moscow permanently. Other members of the Politburo would have complied, but Kirov had no desire to leave Leningrad and Stalin accepted it. Again, when Stalin wanted Medved moved from the Leningrad NKVD to Minsk, Kirov refused to agree and, rarely for Stalin, he had to accept defeat. [7] While some admired Kirov's willingness to stand up to Stalin, not everyone viewed him favorably. The Croatian communist Ante Ciliga, who was in Russia in the 1920s, and backed Leon Trotsky against Stalin, did not share the admiration for Kirov:

Kirov, by his manners and methods, reminded me of the cultured high officials of the Austrian administration.... In the office of Kirov, governor of Leningrad in 1929, one felt that the revolution had already been tamed and canalized.... Kirov was hated, with a hatred that was as fierce as it was impotent. [13]

Assassination

On the afternoon of Saturday, December 1, 1934, Kirov's assassin, Leonid Nikolayev, arrived at the Smolny Institute offices and made his way to the third floor unimpeded, waiting in a hallway until Kirov and Borisov stepped into the corridor. Borisov appeared to have stayed some 20 to 40 paces behind Kirov, with some sources alleging Borisov parted company with Kirov in order to prepare his lunch. [15] Kirov turned a corner and passed Nikolayev, who then drew his revolver and shot Kirov in the back of the neck. [15]

Nikolayev was well known to the NKVD, which had arrested him for various petty offenses in the previous years. Various accounts of his life agree that he was an expelled Party member and a failed junior functionary, with a murderous grudge and an indifference to his own survival. Nikolayev was unemployed, with a wife and child, and in financial difficulties. According to Orlov, Nikolayev had allegedly told a friend he wanted to kill the head of the party control commission that had expelled him. Nikolayev's friend reported this to the NKVD. [16] Zaporozhets then allegedly enlisted Nikolayev's "friend" to contact him, giving him money and a loaded 7.62 mm Nagant M1895 revolver. [16]

Nikolayev's first attempt at killing Kirov failed. On October 15, 1934, Nikolayev packed his Nagant revolver in a briefcase and entered the Smolny Institute where Kirov worked. Although Nikolayev was initially passed by the main security desk at Smolny, he was arrested after an alert guard asked to examine his briefcase. [16] According to dissident Alexander Gregory Barmine, a few hours later, Nikolayev's briefcase and loaded revolver were returned to him, and he was told to leave the building. Though Nikolayev had clearly broken Soviet laws, the security police inexplicably released him from custody and permitted him to retain his loaded pistol. [17]

According to Barmine's account, with Stalin's approval, the NKVD had previously withdrawn all but four police bodyguards assigned to Kirov. These four guards accompanied Kirov each day to his offices at the Smolny Institute, and then left. On December 1, 1934, the usual guard post at the entrance to Kirov's offices was supposedly left unmanned, even though the building housed the chief offices of the Leningrad party apparatus and was the seat of the local government. [16] [18] According to some reports, only a single friend, Commissar Borisov, an unarmed bodyguard of Kirov's, remained. [18] [15] Given the circumstances of Kirov's death, Barmine stated that "the negligence of the NKVD in protecting such a high party official was without precedent in the Soviet Union." [17]

Kirov was cremated and his ashes interred in the Kremlin Wall necropolis in a state funeral, with Stalin and other prominent members of the CPSU personally carrying his coffin .

After Kirov's death, Stalin called for swift punishment of the traitors and those found negligent in Kirov's death. Nikolayev was tried alone and in secret by Vasili Ulrikh, Chairman of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR. He was sentenced to death by shooting on December 29 1934; the sentence was carried out that very night. The Soviet government, led by Stalin, stated that their investigation proved that the assassin was acting on behalf of a secret Zinovievist group. [19] The hapless Commissar Borisov died the day after Kirov's assassination, allegedly falling from a moving truck while riding with a group of NKVD agents. According to Orlov, Borisov's wife was committed to an insane asylum, while Nikolayev's mysterious "friend" and alleged provocateur, who had supplied him with the revolver and money, was later shot on Stalin's personal orders. [16]

Several NKVD officers from the Leningrad branch were convicted of negligence for not adequately protecting Kirov, and sentenced to prison terms of up to ten years. According to Barmine, none of the NKVD officers were executed in the aftermath, and none actually served time in prison. Instead, they were transferred to executive posts in Stalin's Gulag labor camps for a period of time—in effect, a simple demotion. [17] According to Nikita Khrushchev , the same NKVD officers were later shot in 1937. [20] Lajos Magyar, a Hungarian communist and refugee from the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, was falsely accused of complicity in Kirov's assassination. Magyar was convicted as a "Zinovievite-Terrorist" and sent to a Gulag, where he died in 1940.

According to Soviet dissident Alexander Gregory Barmine, a Communist Party communiqué initially reported that Nikolayev had confessed his guilt, not only as an assassin, but as an assassin in the pay of a " fascist power," having received money from an unidentified "foreign consul" in Leningrad. [21] The same author claims 104 defendants who were already in prison at the time of Kirov's assassination, and who had no demonstrable connection to Nikolayev, were found guilty of complicity in the "fascist plot" against Kirov, and summarily executed. [21] However, a few days later, during a subsequent Communist Party meeting of the Moscow District, the Party secretary announced in a speech that Nikolayev had been personally interrogated by Stalin the day after the assassination, which was unheard of for a party leader of Stalin's stature. [22]

Comrade Stalin personally directed the investigation of Kirov's assassination. He questioned Nikolayev at length. The leaders of the Opposition placed the gun in Nikolayev's hand! [22]

Other speakers duly rose to condemn the Opposition: "The Central Committee must be pitiless—the Party must be purged... the record of every member must be scrutinized...." No one at the meeting mentioned the initial theory that fascist agents had been responsible for the assassination. [22] Barmine asserts Stalin used the Kirov assassination to eliminate the remainder of the Opposition leadership, accusing Grigory Zinoviev , Lev Kamenev , Abram Prigozhin, and others who had stood with Kirov in opposing Stalin (or who had simply failed to acquiesce to Stalin's views), of being "morally responsible" for Kirov's murder, and therefore guilty of complicity in it. [21] Barmine also claimed that Stalin arranged the murder with the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, who armed Nikolayev and sent him to assassinate Kirov. [23]

Responsibility

Kirov's assassination became a major event in the history of the Soviet Union because it was used by Stalin as justification for his "reign of terror," known as the Great Purge . [24] At the time of Kirov's murder, Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, was out of the country. His daughter Tanya implied that Litvinov realized this event might be an excuse for Stalin to unleash a reign of terror. [25] This view was confirmed by Anastas Mikoyan's son, who stated that the murder of Kirov had certain similarities to the burning of the Reichstag in Nazi Germany in 1933. [26] The physical removal of Kirov meant elimination of a future potential rival for Stalin, but the principal objective, as with the fire at the Reichstag, was to manufacture an excuse for repression and control. [27]

There are numerous theories about who actually arranged it. According to Alexander Orlov, an anti-Soviet defector to the United States , Stalin ordered Yagoda to arrange the assassination of Kirov. Orlov said that Yagoda ordered Medved's deputy, Vania Zaporozhets, to undertake the job. Zaporozhets returned to Leningrad in search of an assassin. In reviewing the files he found the name of Leonid Nikolayev. [16] According to another Soviet defector, Grigori Tokaev, a real oppositionist underground group assassinated Kirov. [28] Author and Menshevik scholar Boris Nikolaevsky argued: "One thing is certain: the only man who profited by the Kirov assassination was Stalin." [29]

Nikita Khrushchev, in his controversial Secret Speech in 1956, said that the murder of Kirov was organized by NKVD agents. [30] Khrushchev claimed that the NKVD agents tasked with protecting Kirov were eventually shot in 1937, and assumed that this was to "cover the traces of the organizers of Kirov's killing." [30] Khrushchev's and Gorbachev's governments claimed that Nikolayev was acting alone. [19] Stalin's complicity has been rejected by historians of the " revisionist school " of Soviet studies, as well as by Soviet and some Russian historians. [31]

Historians Alla Kirilina and Oleg Khlevniuk, based on extensive research of the Soviet archives, assert that the conventional narratives of Stalin's complicity in Kirov's assassination is almost entirely a myth. [32] Historian Matt Lenoe finds their case convincing, arguing that ordering a hit on Kirov did not make political sense for Stalin, nor did it fit with the modus operandi of Soviet politics in the mid-1930s. [32]

According to Lenoe, "if we follow accepted rules of historical evidence–privileging, for example, archival documentation over third-hand transmitted by word of mouth– then almost all of the conventional narrative disappears." He notes that most of the evidence for Stalin's complicity derives from his own show trials, rumors reported by Soviet defectors and Khrushchev-era investigations which aimed to absolve the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of responsibility for the Great Purges by blaming Stalin alone. [32]

Pospelov Commission investigation

In December 1955, after Khrushchev assumed control of the Party, the Presidium of the Central Committee entrusted Pyotr Pospelov, Secretary of the Central Committee, to form a commission to investigate the repression of the 1930s. This was the same Pospelov who had drafted the famous "Secret Speech" for Khrushchev at the 20th Congress. Khrushchev stated:

It must be asserted that to this day the circumstances surrounding Kirov's murder hide many things which are inexplicable and mysterious and demand a most careful examination. There are reasons for the suspicion that the killer of Kirov, Nikolayev, was assisted by someone from among the people whose duty it was protect the person of Kirov. A month and a half before the killing, Nikolayev was arrested on the grounds of suspicious behavior, but he was released and not even searched. It is an unusually suspicious circumstance that when the Chekist [secret police] [Borisov] assigned to protect Kirov was being brought for an interrogation, on 2 December 1934, he was killed in a car "accident" in which no other occupants of the car were harmed. After the murder of Kirov, top functionaries of the Leningrad NKVD were relieved of their duties and were given very light sentences, but in 1937 they were shot. We can assume that they were shot in order to cover the traces of the organizers of Kirov's killing. [20]

Pospelov subsequently spoke to Dr. Kirchakov and nurse Trunina, former members of the party, who had been mentioned in a letter by another member of the commission, Olga Shatunovskaya, as having knowledge of the Kirov murder. Kirchakov confirmed that he did talk to Shatunovskaya and Trunina about some of the unexplained aspects of the Kirov murder case and agreed to provide the commission with a written deposition. He stressed that his statement was based on the testimony of one Comrade Yan Olsky, a former NKVD officer who was demoted after Kirov's murder and transferred to the People's Supply System.

In his deposition, Kirchakov wrote that he had discussed the Kirov's murder and the role of Fyodor Medved with Olsky. Olsky was of the firm opinion that Medved, Kirov's friend and NKVD security chief of the Leningrad branch, was innocent of the murder. Olsky also told Kirchakov that Medved had been barred from the NKVD Kirov assassination investigation. Instead, the investigation was carried out by a senior NKVD chief, Yakov Agranov, and later by another NKVD bureau officer whose name he did not remember.

The other NKVD official may have been Yefim Georgievich Yevdokimov (1891–1939), a Stalin crony, mass-killing specialist, and architect of the Shakhty purge trials, who continued to lead a secret police team within the NKVD even after technically retiring from the OGPU in 1931. During one of the committee sessions, Olsky said he was present when Stalin asked Leonid Nikolayev why Comrade Kirov had been killed. To this Nikolayev replied that he carried out the instruction of the " Chekists " (meaning the NKVD) and pointed towards the group of "Chekists" (NKVD officers) standing in the room. Medved was not among them.

Khrushchev's report, On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences , was later read at closed-door Party meetings. Afterwards, new material was received by the Pospelov Committee, including the assertion by Kirov's chauffeur, Kuzin, that Commissar Borisov, Kirov's friend and bodyguard, who was responsible for Kirov's round-the-clock security at the Smolny Institute, was intentionally killed, and that his death in a road accident was not an accident at all. [33]

Politburo Commission headed by A. Yakovlev

The last attempt in the Soviet Union to review the Kirov murder case was the Politburo Commission headed by Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev which was established in the Gorbachev period in 1989, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The investigating team included personnel from the USSR Procurator's Office, the Military Procuracy, the KGB , and various archival administrations. After two years of investigations, the working team of the Yakovlev Commission concluded that: in this affair no materials objectively support Stalin's participation or NKVD participation in the organization and carrying out of Kirov's murder. [34]

Personal life

Kirov was married to Maria Lvovna Markus (1885–1945) from 1911, although they never formally registered their relations. Their daughter, Yevgenia Kostrikova (1921–1975) was a famous tank company commander and World War II veteran.

Kirov's assassination remains controversial and unsolved, with varying theories regarding the circumstances of his death. [31] Whoever was responsible, it was used by Stalin as the pretext for the Great Purges . Bukharin and Rykov were tried in the show trial called The Trial of the Twenty-One accused of Kirov's death, while Tomsky committed suicide expecting his arrest by the NKVD. Bukharin and Rykov were executed. Tomsky was tried and convicted posthumously in 1938. All three were rehabilitated during the Gorbachev era.

Many cities, streets and factories were named or renamed after Kirov in his honor, including the cities of Kirov (formerly Vyatka) and Kirov Oblast, Kirovsk (Murmansk Oblast), Kirov (Kaluga Oblast), Kirovohrad (formerly Zinovyevsk, now Kropyvnytskyi [35] {{#invoke:lang/utilities|in_lang|template=in lang}} Verkhovna Rada renamed Kirovograd , Ukrayinska Pravda (July 14, 2016)</ref>) and Kirovohrad Oblast (Ukrainian SSR; now Ukraine ), Kirovabad (Azerbaijani SSR; now Ganja, Azerbaijan ), Kirovakan (Armenian SSR; now Vanadzor, Armenia ), the Kirovskaya station of the Moscow Metro (now Chistye Prudy station), the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky Ballet), the massive Kirov Plant in Saint Petersburg, Kirov Square in Yekaterinburg, the Kirov Islands in the Kara Sea, and various small settlements.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, many of the locations and buildings named after Kirov have been renamed, especially outside of Russia . In order to comply with Ukrainian decommunization laws, Kirovohrad was renamed Kropyvnytskyi by the Ukrainian parliament on July 14, 2016. [35] Ukraine's Kirovohrad Oblast was not retitled because it is mentioned by name in the Constitution of Ukraine, and any alteration would require a constitutional amendment. [36]

The S. M. Kirov Forestry Academy in Leningrad was named after him, but renamed the Saint Petersburg State Forest Technical University. [37] For many years, a huge granite and bronze statue of Kirov dominated the city of Baku , the capital of Azerbaijan, erected on a hill in 1939. The statue was dismantled in January 1992, shortly after Azerbaijan gained its independence. [38]

The Kirov Prize, a speedskating match in the city of Kirov, was named for him. The Kirov Prize is the oldest annual organized race in speedskating, apart from the World Speed Skating Championships and the European Speed Skating Championships.

The English communist poet John Cornford wrote an eponymous poem in his honor. [39]

The Soviet Navy cruiser Kirov was named after him, and by extension the Kirov -class cruiser . [40] The Kirov name was again used for the battlecruiser Kirov and the Kirov -class battlecruiser .

The Khai-3 tailless airplane was also named after him.

Honors and awards

• Order of Lenin
• Order of the Red Banner
• Moscow trials
• Great Purges
• ↑ Old Bolshevik was a term used for those early members of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party.
• ↑ Matthew E. Lenoe, The Kirov Murder and Soviet History (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0300112368 ), 128–132.
• ↑ Georges Haupt and Jean-Jacques Marie, Makers of the Russian Revolution, Biographies of Bolshevik Leaders (London, UK: George Allen & Unwin, ISBN 0049470213 ), 142. Haupt and Marie's volume includes a translation of an autobiographical entry written by Kirov for a Soviet encyclopedia in c1925.
• ↑ Lenoe, 186.
• ↑ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (New York, NY: Random House, 2005, ISBN 1400076781 ), 112.
• ↑ Sergei Kirov, Selected articles and speeches 1918–1934 (Moscow, RU: OGIZ (The State political literature publisher), 1944), 106–117, 269–289.
• ↑ 7.0 7.1 John Holroyd-Doveton, Maxim Litvinov: A Biography (Garden City, NY: Woodland Publications, 2013, ISBN 978-0957296107 ), 406.
• ↑ Montefiore, 95.
• ↑ Alexander Orlov, A Secret History of Stalin's Crimes (London, UK: Jarrolds, 1954).
• ↑ Anatoli Rybakov, Children of the Arbat trans. Harold Shukman, (London, UK: Hutchinson, 1988, ISBN 0091737427 ), 218.
• ↑ Roy Medvedev, Let History Judge, The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism (Nottingham, UK: Spokesman, 1976), 156.
• ↑ Amy Knight, Who Killed Kirov? The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery (New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 1999, ISBN 978-0809064045 ), 268.
• ↑ Ante Ciliga, The Russian Enigma (London, UK: Ink Links, 1979, ISBN 090613322X ), 74, 120.
• ↑ Amy Knight, "Who Killed Kirov? The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery," New York Times . Retrieved December 26, 2022.
• ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Knight, 190.
• ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Orlov, Alexander, The Secret History of Stalin's Crimes (New York, NY: Random House, 1953).
• ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Barmine , 252.
• ↑ 18.0 18.1 Barmine , 247–252.
• ↑ 19.0 19.1 Grover Furr, "Yezhov vs. Stalin: The Causes of the Mass Repressions of 1937–1938 in the USSR," Journal of Labor and Society 20(3) (December 11, 2017): 325–347. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ 20.0 20.1 Nikita S. Khrushchev, On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences (London, UK: 1989), 21.
• ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Barmine, 248
• ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Barmine, 249.
• ↑ Barmine, 55
• ↑ Holroyd-Doveton, 407.
• ↑ Conversation between John Holroyd-Doveton and Tanya, daughter of former Soviet Foreign Secretary Maxim Litvinov
• ↑ The fire at the Reichstag was organized by the Nazis as a pretext for the mass persecution of the Communists and Social Democrats in Germany.
• ↑ Stepan Anastasovich Mikoyan, Stepan Anastasovich Mikoyan: An Autobiography (Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999, ISBN 978-1853109164 ), 194.
• ↑ John Archibald Getty, Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered, 1933-1938 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0521335706 ), 93. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ Boris Nikolaevsky, The Kirov Assassination: The New Leader 1941
• ↑ 30.0 30.1 Nikita Khrushchev, "Speech to 20th Congress of the C.P.S.U.," Marxists.org , February 24-25, 1956. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ 31.0 31.1 Nancy Popson, "Who Killed Kirov? The Crime of the Century," Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars . Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Matt Lenoe, "Did Stalin Kill Kirov and Does It Matter?" The Journal of Modern History 74(2) (May 1, 2002): 352–380. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ P. N. Pospelov, Materials on the Question of the Murder of S. M. Kirov trans. Ranjana Saxena, 1955, reprinted in Svobodnaia mysl 8 (1992). Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ Alexander Yakovlev, "O dekabr'skoi tragedii 1934," Pravda , (January 28, 1991), 3, cited in J. Archibald Getty "The Politics of Repression Revisited," in Stalinist Terror New Perspectives eds, J. Arch Getty and Roberta T. Manning (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521446709 ), 46.
• ↑ 35.0 35.1 Vitaly Shevchenko, Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols," BBC News , April 14, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ Ukraine , The World Factbook . Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ "St. Petersburg State Forest Technical University," April 20, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ "Best View of the Bay – What Happened to Kirov's Statue?" Azerbaijan International , 9(2) (Summer 2001): 40-42.
• ↑ "Sergei Mironovitch Kirov Poem by Rupert John Cornford," Poem Hunter , May 10, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• ↑ Vladimir Yakubov, and Richard Worth, "The Soviet Light Cruisers of the Kirov Class," in Warship 2009 ed. John Jordan, (London, UK: Conway, 2009, ISBN 978-1844860890 ), 82-95.

References ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Barmine, Alexander. One Who Survived . New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1945.
• Ciliga, Ante. The Russian Enigma . London, UK: Ink Links, 1979. ISBN 090613322X
• Furr, Grover. "Yezhov vs. Stalin: The Causes of the Mass Repressions of 1937–1938 in the USSR," Journal of Labor and Society 20(3) (December 11, 2017): 325–347. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• Getty, John Archibald. Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered, 1933-1938 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0521335706
• Haupt, Georges, and Jean-Jacques Marie. Makers of the Russian Revolution, Biographies of Bolshevik Leaders . London, UK: George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0049470213
• Holroyd-Doveton, John, Maxim Litvinov: A Biography . Garden City, NY: Woodland Publications, 2013, ISBN 978-0957296107 .
• Khrushchev, Nikita S. On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences . London, UK: 1989.
• Knight, Amy. Who Killed Kirov? The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery . New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 1999. ISBN 978-0809064045
• Kirov, Sergei. Selected articles and speeches 1918–1934 . Moscow, RU: OGIZ (The State political literature publisher), 1944.
• Lenoe, Matthew E. "Did Stalin Kill Kirov and Does It Matter?" The Journal of Modern History 74(2) (May 1, 2002): 352–380. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• Lenoe, Matthew E. The Kirov Murder and Soviet History . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0300112368
• Medvedev, Roy. Let History Judge, The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism . Nottingham, UK: Spokesman, 1976.
• Mikoyan, Stepan Anastasovich. Stepan Anastasovich Mikoyan: An Autobiography . Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. ISBN 978-1853109164
• Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar . New York, NY: Random House, 2005. ISBN 1400076781
• Orlov, Alexander. A Secret History of Stalin's Crimes . London, UK: Jarrolds, 1954.
• Popson, Nancy. "Who Killed Kirov? The Crime of the Century," Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars . Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• Pospelov, P. N. Materials on the Question of the Murder of S. M. Kirov translated by Ranjana Saxena, 1955, reprinted in Svobodnaia mysl 8 (1992). Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• Rybakov, Anatoli. Children of the Arbat , translated by Harold Shukman. London, UK: Hutchinson, 1988. ISBN 0091737427
• Shevchenko, Vitaly. Goodbye, Lenin: Ukraine moves to ban communist symbols," BBC News , April 14, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
• Yakovlev, Alexander. "O dekabr'skoi tragedii 1934," Pravda , (January 28, 1991), 3, cited in J. Archibald Getty "The Politics of Repression Revisited," in Stalinist Terror New Perspectives edited by J. Arch Getty and Roberta T. Manning. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521446709
• Yakubov, Vladimir, and Richard Worth. "The Soviet Light Cruisers of the Kirov Class," in Warship 2009 edited by John Jordan. London, UK: Conway, 2009. ISBN 978-1844860890

Further reading

• Biggart, John. "The Astrakhan Rebellion: An Episode in the Career of Sergey Mironovich Kirov," [Slavonic and East European Review 54(2) (April 1976), pp. 231–247.
• Conquest, Robert. Stalin and the Kirov Murder . New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 0195055799

External links

All links retrieved January 26, 2023.

• Kirov Biography
• Leon Trotsky: On the Kirov Assassination
• "What Happened to Kirov's Statue in Baku?" Azerbaijan International, Vol. 9.2 (Summer 2001)

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