My high school has its own dragon’s lair, if you subscribe to the notion that knowledge is worth its weight in gold. This lair is the Physics Demo Lab, where instead of piles of gold guarded by dragons, you’ll find near a hundred physics demonstration kits looked after by piglets—not the pink, squealing variety, but us, the members of the Physics Interest Group. It’s natural to feel contentment surrounded by the things you love. I could...

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.) Six years ago, I encountered a hawk and a dove skirmishing in my school newspaper. I didn’t understand then, but in 11th grade I came across the hawk-dove game again in Evolution class, and later alongside a slew of...

“Persevera y triunfaras” Halfway through my Spanish exercises on Duolingo.com, this message popped up, with the translation “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” What? I grappled to connect those three words with that long sentence, to reconcile the latter with Google’s translation of “persevere and triumph”. In my heart, a niggling sense of inadequacy bloomed towards Google’s word-for-word translation, which encapsulated the Spanish proverb’s meaning but somehow neither the eloquence nor the ...

What in particular about Yale has influenced your decision to apply? (Please answer in 100 words or less.) It’s the asterisks on Yale’s admissions website. My high school crest also has an asterisk, representing dynamism—to me Yale's defining quality: from the dynamism of Shopping Period, as new interests crystallize; to the dynamism of the Economics Department, progressive in adopting new paradigms and with such radical thinkers as Dr. Robert Shiller. Yale’s residential colleges are designed such that...

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) In June 2012, I covered the Singapore International Mathematics Challenge as a journalist. For five days, I debated Mastermind and tessellations, and tracked both the excitement buzzing on the excursion buses and the stress building in the classrooms. I then turned to writing of a more literary sort at a residential creative arts camp, where I practiced...

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (250 word limit.) “Persevera y triunfaras” It was an idea that coalesced as I compared Google’s literal translation—“persevere and triumph”—to the idiomatic translation “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Somehow, Google’s word-for-word translation felt inadequate; it encapsulated the Spanish proverb’s meaning but neither the eloquence nor the essence conveyed by the idiomatic...

Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate -- and us -- know you better. (250 word limit.) If you walk in on me talking to myself, know that I’m just thinking aloud, something I don’t normally do with other people around (the aloud part, I mean). If I’m head-banging and making dying-whale noises with my earphones plugged in, know...

What matters to you, and why? (250 word limit.) My writings bear innumerable touches of serendipity: a plot idea conceived in a dream; an unintentional pun; my favorite band’s lyrics, inserted subconsciously. Once, I placed my pencil down halfway through a sketch and accidentally picked up a pen to continue. I thought my drawing was ruined; instead, I discovered a hybrid style that, to this day, remains my favorite technique. Serendipity matters to me, not least because of these moments...

The forest seemed to whisper its secrets to Mr. Subaraj. As we hiked, he knew precisely when the dominant tree species was succeeded by another species (“See, the leaves beneath our feet have changed.”), and he could trace every sound we heard to the exact species of bird, beast, or insect. No movement escaped his eyes: not the iridescent flash of a kingfisher’s wings, nor a tree skink shimmying up a trunk. The skink, impeccably camouflaged, was nigh impossible...

I'm currently on almost 100% financial aid. Especially for international students, research...

What I really like about MIT is the absence of a crazy worship of the sports. Football isn't glorified, and basketball players aren't the most fawned-over assets...

It's a toss-up between my introductory electrical engineering and computer science class (6.01), a radio...

It's a true, unadulterated liberal arts education that I'm getting, despite MIT being a technical college! MIT not...

Go with your gut. I had friends who expressed concern over my choice...