Thoughts buzz around my head constantly imploring me to ask “who am I”. Who am I to be denied the ability to speak my thoughts instead of having them congest into madness? I am the stutterer, the mumbler, the fidgeter who dare not look up. Yet I am also the embodiment of defiance itself and also nothing at all. My identity is provisional since contentment is nothing if not the dynamism to improve one’s lot in life. I sought...

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (100 to 250 words) I never thought I would experience racism. I lined up for my graduation robes, the perfect dress for a senior picture. They smelled of pale gold, reflected all my hard work, and looked...blue. “ Are you an honors student ?”I heard the dressing room lady ask everyone else before handing them a robe, either blue or gold. I...

Roommate, obligate me to understand you and require of me the same. Here’s to serenity: Seek tranquility in late-night digressions. Only upon catching a glimpse of novelty in the mundane can we seek to know anything. By this I mean do not search with seriousness or a stoic grunt of banality what you could reap better through frivolous exploration. I like to ask weird questions and beg you indulge me. My purpose: to seek reassurance that through the helter-skelter...

What matters to you, and why? (100 to 250 words) My mind served as my prison. My inability to empathize served as warden. Sports stunned me--mostly because I could not understand what was going on. I get passed the ball, and then what? I explored a solitary oak, trying to find secrets among the whorls in the bark; I picked at bark, wondering why I didn’t have friends. I didn’t quite understand that all I did during recess was pick...

Swarthmore exudes a sense of community compelling nothing but forthright admiration from me. I seek to interrogate my surroundings, to understand my place in the world as well as to make meaning out of the abstractions obscuring my path to improving it. As someone who believes in the power of communication--such as through Socratic seminars--as a way of knowing, Swarthmore’s unique emphasis on collaborative learning draws me in. The Anthropology department and the Interpretation Theory program offer a toolkit...

My father divorced my mother when I was only six, then flew out of my life back into the laps of the Mexican upper class. I resented my mother. She drove Dad away; took me away from a man whom I swore I would be just like someday. He was my “papito dios.” She was the enemy. My mom told me Dad was a deeply intellectual man. I took the hard classes in hopes of discovering the strands holding society...

Set yourself apart in your common application essay and the supplements. Emphasize the intricacies of your story that make it your story--that set you apart from the dozens of other kids with similar but not quite the same and not nearly as sincere essays. For example, most of the debate essays I found while drafting mine focused on hard work, self-improvement, winning, and overcoming shyness to gain a genuine confidence. I set myself apart by deconstructing the debate persona as being slightly phony and emphasized the ideological shift that only occurs once you recognize how debaters shouldn't be put into...

Do not choose schools because of prestige. I would advise to sit down with a college counselor and really map out your long-term goals and what you are intending to study. Also consider your intended extracurricular activities in college, location ( flying can get costly), weather,...

Choose recommenders who know you well or that you can feasibly see knowing you well by the time they have to write the letter. Seeking out recommenders does not end when you place the request for a recommendation. Follow up with your recommenders. Make a brag sheet of things that you would like in the letter--especially things that might not be obvious to your recommenders but that you think...