Her big brown eyes gazed at me as I entered. I wanted to look around, take it all in, but her gaze was compelling, and I couldn’t look away. Her name was Aya, and she was 11, and her eyes were fixated directly on me. Seeing our interaction, her mom started sharing Aya’s story. While Aya was walking home from school with her best friend, a bomb hit, killing her friend right in front of her. She had not...

The sinister hum of R-16s buzzed in my ears as they barely missed the roof. The crash of sound bombs being dropped onto our house, sharp, piercing booms, came next. I was staring at my parents’ terrified faces, trying to comprehend how my beautiful, culturally-rich hometown, the crossroads of Europe and Asia, was in the midst of chaos. Because of my experiences in Turkey, Social Entrepreneurship is my goal, and the BEO major will help me achieve my aim...

Western philosophy, 18th-century literature and the finer points of swimming breaststroke: no, not a list of rejected Jeopardy! categories but a few interests that whet my palate. Brown’s Open Curriculum provides me with the flexibility to study subjects like Philosophy and Classics that I’m not majoring in but am still passionate about. Brown encourages me to integrate social impact into my education through programs like the BEO Engaged Scholars Program. By taking courses like "Leading Social Ventures" or ...

The city that never sleeps was only my home for two weeks. Born in New York City, I was whisked to Istanbul, Turkey, at 15 days old. As a city that served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman empires, and the home of the Milion, Istanbul has a rich history and people from varying cultures and religions. Think about a city, where, if you wanted to listen to street music, you could listen to jazz, folk songs,...

At 13, I could barely introduce myself without my voice squeaking. From timid and introverted to outspoken and open-minded, the Hill School community has transformed me. In the Hill community, I learned to challenge ideas, be inspired by a cause and strive towards achieving progress in that cause. Throughout my experiences on the Philanthropy Council and the Economics Council, I learned to impact my surroundings and became a genuine leader, even as a young student. Surrounded by peers from diverse backgrounds...

What aspect of the Columbia community, outside of the classroom, would you most want to impact and why? (150 words or less) The Syrian baby’s rib cage was showing, tears flowing from his grandmother’s face, while his mother lay sick on the couch in what was left of their rubbled house. The C-section was done, the seemingly hard part over, but now the real challenge began: finding food. This is my hometown. This is the Istanbul of today. At...

List the titles of the required readings from courses during the school year or summer that you enjoyed most in the past year. (150 words or less) Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, New Ideas from Dead Economists by Todd G. Buchholz, Protagoras by Plato, the Tempest by William Shakespeare, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck Words entered: 39 List the titles of the books you read for pleasure that you enjoyed...

For applicants to Columbia College, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the field or fields of study that you noted in the Member Questions section. If you are currently undecided, please write about any field or fields in which you may have an interest at this time. (300 words or less) The sinister hum of R-16s buzzed in my ears as they barely missed the roof. The crash...

Describe two or three of your current intellectual interests and why they are exciting to you. Why will Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences be the right environment in which to pursue your interests? (Please limit your response to 650 words.) Western philosophy, 18th-century literature and the finer points of swimming breaststroke: no, not a list of rejected Jeopardy! categories but just a few interests that whet my palate. Cornell’s founding mantra “any person, any study” truly appeals to me....

Oh, The Places You'll Go is one of the most popular books by ''Dr. Seuss'' (Theodore Seuss Geisel, Dartmouth Class of 1925). Where do you hope to go? What aspects of Dartmouth's curriculum or community might help you get there? Please respond in 100 words or less. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” The poverty and terror that currently exist in my home country of Turkey have influenced me to focus...

Please choose one of the following prompts: ''It's not easy being green'' was a frequent lament of Kermit the Frog. Discuss. Please respond in 250-300 words. “It is easy being green, having to spend each day the color of the leaves.” This was my mantra as a young girl; I disagreed with Kermit. At 13, I could barely introduce myself without squeaking. From timid and introverted to outspoken and open-minded, the Hill School community has transformed me. When I took my...

In addition to the Common Application's Personal Statement, please choose two (2) of the short answer prompts below. Be thoughtful in your responses, but don’t stress about what the right answer might be -- we just want to get to know you a bit better. Each response should be no more than 150 words. Please describe your ideal college campus/academic environment and what you hope to gain from it. Please provide your response to your first selection here My ideal...

Please provide your response to your second selection here The feeling of being beneficial is what makes me want to learn. This motivation is not just limited to what benefits me, but how my knowledge can affect the lives of others. I am also motivated to learn more as I understand people around me and myself better, as I challenge my actions, and as I figure out why I do the things that I do. This learning could be a...

A Day Without Democracy It was pitch black. I was struggling so badly that I could feel droplets of sweat appearing on my forehead. I had a stick in my hand, and I was trying to navigate my way through a maze. My only hope was following the voice of the blind guide but I seemed to have already lost him. An instant coldness filled my body; fear was paralyzing me. I was starting to understand what it meant to...

The Syrian baby’s rib cage was showing, tears flowing from his grandmother’s face, while his mother lay sick on the couch in what was left of their rubbled house. The C-section was done, the seemingly hard part over, but now the real challenge began: finding food. This is my hometown. This is the Istanbul of today. These are the people I want to help. As someone interested in working with people and aiding humanitarian efforts, understanding geographical politics...

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 word limit) Double the funding! The joy on the woman’s face was palpable when I told her we’d decided to allot twice the funding her organization had requested. The Hill School Philanthropy Council had been arguing for the past two weeks, and I finally convinced everyone that intellectually disabled adults deserved literacy, too. Later, I got a phone call: an anonymous donor was inspired by us...

Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), including any jobs you have held. (About 150 words) Drops of sweat ran down my forehead in the 105? weather; the summer of 2015 was no joke. It was my third tour of the refugee town that day at the Hasan Kalyoncu University Middle East Research Center. After the tour, I’d be interviewing a Syrian family for my Independent Study. Before volunteering at the Center, I�...

In addition to the essay you have written for the Common Application, please write an essay of about 500 words (no more than 650 words and no fewer than 250 words). Using one of the themes below as a starting point, write about a person, event, or experience that helped you define one of your values or in some way changed how you approach the world. Please do not repeat, in full or in part, the essay you wrote for the Common Application. 2. �...

How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible answers involve, but are not limited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, linguistics, and philosophy. –Inspired by Florence Chan, Class of 2015. Banishment. Self-Control. Indulgence. These words come to my mind when I think of an apple (never mind million-dollar company). Adam and Eve took a bite from the apple and were banished. They didn’t follow instructions, and they lost self-control. The distinction between an orange and an apple extends further than...

Nineteen. The University of Chicago was mentioned exactly 19 times in the book New Ideas from Dead Economists. At the time, the only thing I knew about Economics was how supply and demand worked, but I understood the depth of the University of Chicago education while reading this book and studying Milton Friedman the summer before my junior year Economics AP class. The University of Chicago quickly became more than the home of Friedman and his pen, an economic emblem. The...

The sinister hum of R-16s buzzed in my ears as they barely missed the roof. The tremor of sound bombs being dropped onto our house, sharp, piercing booms, came next. I was staring at my parents’ terrified faces, trying to comprehend how my beautiful, culturally-rich hometown, the crossroad of Europe and Asia, was in the midst of chaos. As someone who has been experiencing political uncertainty in my country since the beginning of my high school career, I’ve...

What is something about yourself that is essential to understanding you? Prompt Essay: Since I was 13 years old, I woke up every day dreading bad news. As the terror in Turkey grew worse each year, there were many days where I received an alert from the New York Times describing another bombing of my country. I often panicked for the safety of my parents and friends. This helplessness was the worst thing about going to boarding school. When I was...

Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections. (250 word limit) As someone who is interested in working with people and in humanitarian efforts, the skills of understanding and analyzing those around me and the state of the countries in which I live is very important for me. These are exactly the skills that USC is going to give me when I major in either NGOs and...

I am inspired by the supportive community on Yale’s campus that is fostered by its residential college system and traditions, such as rubbing toes of the statue of a former president. Yale does not limit students to one field of study, but it respects those with multiple interests. I would love to become involved in the Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights. Instead of secluding it as a separate major, this program will let me integrate my interest in...

Short Takes Please respond in no more than 200 characters (approximately 35 words), to each of the following questions: 1.Who or what is a source of inspiration for you? I am inspired by Rawdanur Cuma. She is my friend and a 19 year old Syrian refugee who follows her goals and dreams even though she has lost her home. 2. If you could live for a day as another person, past or present, who would it be? Why? I would be Malala so I...

Please choose two of the following topics and respond to each in 200 words or fewer. 1. What is a community to which you belong? Reflect on the footprint that you have left. (You may define community and footprint in any way you like.) 2. Reflect on a time in the last few years when you felt genuine excitement learning about something. 3. Write about something that you love to do. First Essay Choice: For four year I have belonged to The Hill School...