Application Essay Excerpts

In Art class one afternoon, while my classmates distract themselves from the still life in front of us to discuss their favorite part of high school, I try to focus on tearing newspaper for my still life collage, but I cannot ignore them any longer. Someone rambles on about how much she loved freshman year, and someone else claims that sophomore year was the best. Facetiously, I mutter, "Well, junior year was definitely my favorite."..

Inspired to pursue cancer research at a young age by my father’s courageous battle to cancer, I quickly developed a passion for science. From watching my mother and sister pursue careers in science and medicine, I have been exposed to the world of science early. From listening to practice lectures and presentations, I knew the components and concentrations of blood by the age of 12 and could quickly explain blood groups when I was 13...

On May 23rd, 1998, I lost my playmate, friend, and supporter. My father, who had been battling cancer all of my life, passed away. He was always strong in front of me – determined to leave me with positive memories of him...

An African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child”;for me it took several continents. I grew up in a small village in West Africa near Elmina, Cape Coast. Everyone knew everyone, and everyone shared everything...

I breezed through my first two years of high school math. I did my homework quickly, never studied for tests, and understood the concepts perfectly. My junior year, I took AP Calculus BC, which was really Calculus AB and BC combined into one course. For the first time, I struggled to understand...

I have always loved foreign languages and mathematics. For me, they are inextricably linked. I decipher grammatical structures in the same way I decipher equation - they both have a proper syntax. In order to speak French or Spanish fluently, I must think in French or Spanish...

I can be very whiny sometimes. In a fit of frustration one Monday morning, I slammed my college guide down on the table and turned to my friend. "I don't know where I want to go to collllllllege," I moaned plaintively. She looked at me with her wise eyes and asked calmly, "Have you thought about Brown?"..

"The main cause of enlightenment is bodhichitta, and the root of bodhicitta is compassion."-Geshe Kelsang Gyatso One night last July, a crisp breeze fluttered through the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico...

I have never considered myself to be the average American girl. I had lived on three continents by the time my baby teeth had fallen out and visited fourteen countries by the time I had braces. My peripatetic childhood not only taught me to how to adapt, but also how to feel at home in Asian, American, and Australian cultures, and no doubt explains my decision to attend the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy’s Chinese School...

I was thrilled when my school announced an educational trip to Cadiz, Spain for June of my sophomore year; subsequently, it looked like the trip would be canceled due to lack of student interest and high costs of travel. I decided to found the Spanish Club so that the trip could take place...