The most significant influence on me has been my dad. My first memory is from an air show at Oshkosh, watching a Harrier jet take off. It was loud and I was miserable at the time, but looking back on it, what strikes me is the connection that still exists for me between my dad and amazing experiences. As I grew up, my dad was always there for me, but unlike other dads, he never played catch, went camping, or...

To the right crowd, Roman legionaries are always exciting. As President of Junior Classical League, I wanted to rally our troops for the competition and ensure our complete victory. Last year, I spent months researching and building a replica wooden chariot. The wheel and axle mechanism was difficult, and I spent more time than I should have perfecting the gold-leaf standard, but I had a great time and ended up with something straight out of Hollywood. At the state competition,...

I consider myself to be honest, attentive, and driven, and each of these has carried me far. But the personal trait that may not show through in my application, and that I truly value more than all others, is my intense curiosity about the universe. For my entire life, I have always loved to learn about the world around me, and I have always wanted to go deeper into a new concept than most of my peers. My mom tells ...

I have always loved physics, and Caltech is the best place to study that field. These days, much of the most interesting research is being done in astrophysics, and Caltech has several amazing labs and observatories, including the Submillimeter Observatory, which is used to study star formation, among other things. I enjoy astronomy, and would love to get involved in astrophysics. Another area of physics that I have always been interested in is high-energy particle physics. Caltech has a wide...