My older brother has always been an influential figure for me, although his role has changed over the years. As a kid in elementary school, I idolized my brother. I wanted to be just like him growing up: play the same video games, tell the same jokes, study the same subjects, have the same success in school – I even hung around his friends when they came over. The books I would read, more often than not, came off my brotherâ€...

Columbia University is a place of familiarity for me. Having lived in both New York City and its suburbs, Columbia has been a sort of landmark for me in the city, since my very first Easter spent hunting eggs on the Barnard campus. Since then, I have also got a good sense of the academics at Columbia, mainly through the two semesters of the Science Honors Program that I participated in. I took Nanotechnology and Energy Use in a Modern...

I chose to apply to very selective colleges when I was a senior in high school, and this makes the question of what sets me apart very difficult. For these top tier schools, it requires more than just grades, extracurriculars and good essays. I think specifically it is very important to show a distinct focus in the school, as well as in some specific field or subject. For me, I have always been very interested in math and science and I worked to make this a central theme in my application. Many of my essays included statements of my interest...