I am, first and foremost, a scientist. I treat my existence like a massive experiment, constantly questioning why things are—or simply are not. To me, anything that has not been proven is a theory. Secondly, I am an optimist of sorts; the glass is completely full, because air has mass, and so takes up the other half that the water does not. By those two ideals, I can believe that there is a God, if only because there is...

For Yale's "Why Us?" Question After visiting Yale this summer, I fell in love with the more whimsical side of the towering Ivy League behemoth. I learned about class shopping, the time when every class is open to the insatiably curious, like me. I discovered the residential colleges, with their unique oddities and quirks (I’d love to be a Piersonite), and I finally understood that feeling people get when they find the “right” college. I would absolutely love to...

The difficulties of skipping a year and learning how to interact with your classmates A long wooden table stretched before me, with faceless adults and jumbled words at one end and me at the other. Sheets of paper and assorted pencils surrounded me as far as my seven year-old arms could reach, all with scrawled answers to math problems and fill-in-the-blank questions, with word definitions and passages to test my reading level. Only years later would I understand the meaning...

Yale's student environment is very supportive. My College Dean, professors, classmates and friends...

Honestly, I wish I had more faith in myself as a student. Yale was my top choice, and I am so lucky to have gotten in, but...

I did not use a personal admissions counselor. While I'm sure that they're very helpful,...

I plan on applying to medical school after a year or two of outside work and experience. Most people take a year...

My "why us?" essay for Yale was about the fun traditions of each residential college and the silly side of Yale. Typically, a ...