This essay got a high-school senior into Harvard, Yale, MIT, and other top schools Harvard University freshman Brenden Rodriquez is immersed in the strenuous course load required of his mechanical engineering major. But before he was accepted to the prestigious Ivy League school, he had to first navigate the tricky aspect of writing a stellar admissions essay. His hard work certainly paid off. In addition to Harvard, he gained acceptances at Yale, MIT, Columbia and the Univers..