Common App Prompt #3: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? “You’re really good at seeing.” This compliment from my art instructor made me excessively smug – even the great artist Leonardo da Vinci didn’t know how to see. His art instructor once placed an egg in front of him and ordered him to draw it, a simple task for the talented boy. Or,...

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. My sister, Kelly, is fourteen years younger than me, and I imagined her growth to be a replay of mine, so naturally, I paid close attention. I observed as she learned to track things with her eyes, as she took her first steps, as she began to understand language – which, to a foreign language enthusiast such as myself, was particularly...

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. Hello, future roommate! I’ll begin telling you about myself by answering the easiest question: my favorite color’s blue – royal blue, to be exact – and you won’t forget it. My backpack is blue, my wallet is blue, my room is blue, and more than two thirds of...

What matters to you, and why? “Excuse me, have you ever heard of Falun Gong?” I’ve asked this question thousands of times, standing at a busy street corner, or behind a booth at a local fair, or inside a park with hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners meditating nearby. The answer is often “no, I haven’t,” and this is my cue to start the explanation I know so well. “Well, Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that originated in...