Last year, I got an opportunity to dress like a turtle and walk alongside the sea-walk in Bandra, Mumbai. This was no fancy dress competition. Instead, it was a pledge to create a difference. As the famous Mahatma Gandhi once said, “be the change you want to see in the world”. This was our collective effort, as Greenpeace volunteers to spread awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley turtles, whose nesting habitat was threated by the construction of the Tata Dharma...

The summer of 2012 left an indelible mark on me as I took part in the Leadership in the Business World (LBW) course at the Wharton School. It allowed me work amidst a fascinating, international cohort, which resulted in the establishment of a charity called “World Youth Initiative”. This initiative, a direct consequence of my studies in the course, confirmed my view of Wharton being an incubator of incredible potential. I have conducted an extended essay on the influence of exchange...

Benjamin Franklin once said that life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. I believe that he properly understood how static and rigid man was in accepting change. Living in a constantly adapting environment, time plays a crucial role in endorsing the three roles that Franklin prescribes man to play. I personally interpret myself as being movable, unlike my rigid past self and yet distant from the innovator that I hope to be. I...

LONG ESSAY – SO WHERE IS WALDO, REALLY? Last week I opened the 3 feet by 1-foot wooden cupboard, as I do every day, only to find Waldo sitting there with a smug smile on his face. He seemed absolutely satisfied with the devastation that he had caused in that single compartment, opposite the desk on which my books and laptop sat. That one cupboard held so many things that were either utterly significant or completely unimportant to me. Nonetheless, undoubtedly I...

Question 1: How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago. In the IB program, I was obligated to study an unfamiliar subject called Theory of Knowledge (TOK). This subject seemed elusive to my young mind at first; however, over the last year I have grown to love it. I see the enjoyment...

I used a private counsellor very early on in the application process. I enlisted the help of Viral Doshi Associates (based in Mumbai, India) during the first few months of junior year in high school....

I was pretty much left to my own devices with regards to where I wanted to apply. Given my interests in business studies and economics, I enlisted the help of school and private counsellors to come up with a "best fit...

There are a bunch of summer programs and opportunities that you can take part in over your break. I know many friends that interned in a firm in an industry of interest to them. However, I personally...