Unlocking the Memory Bank The hospital was desolate. One room, blank walls, three beds, a dense patch of sterile medical equipment hung pragmatically above each bed, but what was more noticeable was the lack of visitors, even more so for the elderly. As I walked down a maze of blank corridors, my thoughts grew more and more somber. It sickened me that this was how we treat the ill. The place was already lifeless before death, like we forgot that...

I have volunteered to play piano for the past two summers at Lurie Children’s Hospital, playing a mix of children's songs and soothing classical music. Previously piano was just a hobby that taught me to be diligent, but now it’s a way for me to reach out to my community. Not only have I been able to contribute to society through my passion, interacting with the pediatric patients has helped me grow more compassionate towards those around me....

I’m applying to the prestigious Wiess School of Natural Sciences because I’m interested in studying biochemistry. Wiess will equip me with the foundational knowledge I need to succeed in any healthcare occupations I pursue. It fascinates me to no end how everything on Earth can be broken down to biology and chemistry, because that means everything can be analyzed and understood if you just keep looking at it from different perspectives. We are molecules, chemical processes, a carbon...

I first learned about Rice's world class biochemistry program from my close family friend who had a wonderful experience at Rice. She praised its top-notch instructors who are not only great professors, but also accessible. This creates a wonderful opportunity for me to get involved in undergraduate research in at institutes like Rice 360°and possibly even expand my education to areas of study outside of my major. Being at a top-ranking school not only means that I will receive a...

Asian students are a model minority stereotyped as hardworking students who only study, in an endless bid for personal gain. Although I am of Chinese descent, and I am hardworking, I am certainly not in it to win it all for myself. I realize as a middle-class American, I’m better off economically than 99.5% of people on the planet. That is sheer luck! I am grateful for all of it, and I am looking to use my skills and honed...

I highly recommend volunteering or getting work experience. A lot of my college essays were based on experiences I had while volunteering because it opened my eyes to the world outside of school and...

If I could change anything about my application process, I would change the part where I listened to what schools all my friends were applying to. While at first it seemed like a good idea to learn about new schools I haven't heard...

I applied to 9 schools in total. 4 of them were in California because my parents were moving there after my senior year of high school so tuition would've been cheaper. All 4 of those schools were UC schools. I picked those schools because I knew that they had good programs for science, which is the field that I'm interested in. Aside from that I also applied to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Minnesota and the University of Pittsburgh as my safety schools. UIUC was on my list because...

Okay, here's a secret. I never visited my school, Rice University, before I applied Early Decision and got accepted. I know, I'm crazy. I'll tell you why though. I visited almost all the other schools I applied to, all the UC schools in California and schools in my state like UIUC, Northwestern, etc. During those visits, I found myself being able to picture myself at almost any of the schools. Knowing myself, I'm a pretty flexible, adaptable person so I knew I would be okay almost anywhere I went. So now my only problem was picking the best school. I...

First, I highly recommend choosing teachers that know you the best. Choose a teacher in the class where you really stood out as a student who loves to learn, participated in class. A teacher that you are able to talk to, maybe about the subject or maybe about life in general. If the teacher knows more about you, your love for that certain subject or things about your life then they can include that in their letter of recommendation and make you stand out from a generic application. If you don't have any teachers that you feel like know you...

Right now, I plan on going to medical school after undergraduate school because I really want to become a pediatrician. I love helping people and kids especially because their smiles are so rewarding. This was a major factor in...

If I could change anything about my application process, I would get more people to read my essay. It's good to have both a combination of friends and parents read it because they all know you to some extent,...