Undergraduate / Is my personal statement "personal" enough? Does it tell the readers who I am? (Common App prompt 2) [3]

"Just find yourself a good wife"

I'm not a good cook. In fact, I'm not even a bad one - I am completely terrible. My limited culinary skill set includes successfully "cooking" instant ramen, and making delicious peanut butter sandwiches, but when it comes to actual cooking, I could probably burn water. When my very first homemade meal, which would hopefully be a delicious mutton soup turned out to be more like a mix of spam and cold water, my brother teasingly offered me a piece of advice: "Just find yourself a good wife.".

There are three huge problems.
I'm not very dexterous. It's not uncommon for my mother to be yelling at the top of her lungs because I dropped an expensive teacup or pushed over her favorite vase. One time when I was 10, our family was shopping at the local supermarket. I was responsible for the shopping cart, but I somehow managed to completely tip it over, and next thing I know, a jar of pickles was shattered on the floor, potatoes were flying everywhere, a few apples were rolling around, and my parents were absolutely furious. When it comes to cooking, it's no different. I have accidentally put thrice the amount of salt I should, dropped dumplings into the water while steaming them, and burned my hands on the oil.

I let my mind wander too much. Surfing the internet, listening to music, and simply daydreaming is fun, but it's not fun when your feet are suddenly wet, because the water you left running in the bathtub overflowed. It's definitely not fun when you have to soak water with a towel and dispose it into the toilet bowl over and over again for the next hour. When it comes to the kitchen, my absent mind is especially dangerous. My mom apparently believes burning food is the eighth deadly sin, since she lets all hell break loose whenever I burn food, which is basically every few days.

I have absolutely no talent when it comes to cooking. Some people need no recipe and barely any ingredients to work miracles in the kitchen, but I need a recipe, my mother, and loads of ingredients just to craft something barely edible. I need a recipe to consult at all times to prevent anything going wrong, my mom nearby just in case something goes wrong, and backup ingredients for when something inevitably goes wrong.

Despite all this, I have no reason to say I can never be good at cooking. I might not be naturally dexterous, but I have learned to solve the Rubik's cube in under 20 seconds consistently, and reached 97 WPM on a keyboard, so I just need to practice. If I just stay in the kitchen while cooking, I can't possibly forget about the food and let it burn. Finally, I might not be very intuitive when it comes to cooking, but if I can recite who the NBA MVP of the Season was for the last 23 seasons, I can memorize a few delicious recipes.

Most importantly, however, I have the drive. My brother was only joking when he told me I needed a wife who can cook well, but my pride doesn't take that well. That wasn't the first time either - thanks to my brother's taunting and flaunting, I have become a better chess player than him, beaten him at a 3-point shootout, and taken extra math classes just to catch up to him. Our brotherhood is a strange thing, as it is obviously built upon antagonism, but still makes me a better person in the end. In short, if I have to be the next Jamie Oliver just to prove my brother wrong, I'll try without hesitation.

Undergraduate / Sitting on the backseat of the car - Harvard Supplement. [3]

Topic of your choice, no specific word limit.

"Who am I?" i HAVE THE ANSWER

By the virtue of being a teacher's child, for the last 11 years, every morning of the school year, I have gone to school in the back seat of my father's car. The monotonous sound of the car, the comfortable leather seat, and the smooth jazz my dad loves listening to all get me into a lazy, half-sleepy state, which enables me to think about the past days or the days to follow, with no outside distraction.

In 3rd grade on such a morning, I was thinking about Runescape, a popular online game. How do I make gold quickly? What stats should I upgrade to level-up quickly? How do I play without dad noticing? These were the questions I asked myself. I also thought about Dragon Ball Z. I wondered what would happen in the next episode. Will Gohan really beat Cell? In 3rd grade, I was a gamer and an anime fan.

In 5th grade on such a morning, I was thinking about a hack I made for Club Penguin. I used Visual Basic 2008 to make an extremely basic trainer, which enabled me all the awesome privileges of a member account, such as dressing your penguin, but the improvements were only visible to me. How do I get others to see my awesome penguin? In 5th grade, I became a programmer.

In 7th grade on such a morning, I was thinking about AC Milan's champions league loss to Manchester United. If they weren't going to win, why did I stay up all night rooting for them? But in the end, if I can't support them at their worst, I shouldn't support them at their best. Also, 7th grade was when we first had Russian classes, and the teacher was my mother. Oh boy. How do I get over the embarrassment? In 7th grade, I became a football fan and a teacher's child.

In 9th grade on such a morning, I was a champion. Fighting through regional and city qualifiers, I had barely won the gold medal at the 2014 Mongolian National English Language Olympiad, beating students who literally were U.S citizens. My proudest achievement yet. Additionally, I had earned a discount for a summer program at Harvard. I was getting jitters at the simple prospect of setting foot on the Harvard campus. In 9th grade, I was a champion.

In 11th grade on such a morning, I was thinking about robots. That summer, I had built my first robot at Stanford University, and absolutely fell in love with creating and inventing. I wanted to grab a few tools, rent a garage and just get to work. I hadn't slept the night before, watching "Fight Club" and "Pulp Fiction" all night long. At that time, it was a personal goal of mine to exhaust the IMDB Top 250 movies list. In 11th grade, I became an inventor and a movie geek.

In 12th grade on such a morning, as I was sitting comfortably in that same position, listening to Daft Punk's "Fragments of Time", I asked myself "Who am I?". Now I realize that question has a simple answer: I am a gamer, a programmer, a football fan, a teacher's child, a champion, an inventor, and a movie geek.

Does the Harvard supplemental essay need to be more Harvard-specific than this? Also, is a better fit for the personal essay than the essay I submitted before?

Undergraduate / Tetris blocks - relax sometimes to keep your mind ready. U Penn supplemental essay - engineering. [5]

How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying. (400-650 words)

tetris blocks

In middle school, I loved playing Tetris, but I've never been good at it. Every time I started a new game, the blocks would pile up to the top of the screen in what seemed like no time at all. It frustrated me to no end, but I wasn't going to back down. I was a novice at programming then, but Tetris consumed my life. I grabbed a Java book, and started making a Tetris AI from scratch. Although the project took ten long months, and thousands of lines of code, I was entirely satisfied when I ran the finished program, and the simulation lasted for an entire 2 hours before it was game over. I had solved what seemed like a huge problem to me at that time.

Another problem that constantly annoys me is how my glasses get all foggy whenever walk into a building in winter time. No matter how happy I am, something as minor as condensation on my glasses is enough to tip me off. The first few times this happened, I thought of a theoretical solution - installing a mini air circulation system on the frame, but soon scrapped it, realizing a chemical that somehow separates water condensation and the lenses would be less intrusive, and way better looking.

Just like these examples, my mind is constantly overflowing with creative and complex approaches to everyday problems. Finding the most efficient solution to a problem is the fundamental idea of engineering, but I hadn't truly found a solution to a serious issue before participating in the TIA(Technology in Action) Camp 2015, held at Stanford University, CA. I combined my theoretical knowledge of physics, and computer programming experience to create a robot that roams around, detecting and disposing of trash. It used ultrasonic imaging to stop at a fixed distance from a piece of trash, picked it up using a two-joint arm, and dropped it into its back cabinet, which doubles as a trash can. This was an intersection of mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering, and the process of designing, constructing, and programming the robot was one of the most gratifying experiences I have ever had. Test running the robot successfully for the first time was like seeing your baby walk(I imagine it's the same kind of feeling).

Being a part of TIA 2015 resonated in me a strong desire to invent and create. After college, I will pursue a career in engineering, and eventually found a startup company based on an innovative idea. Even though being a student at a prestigious university such as U Penn is more than enough to jumpstart that career, I am certain U Penn is also a personal fit for me. The incredibly flexible curriculum allows me time to learn about myself, and recognize which field of engineering I am most effective, and comfortable with immersing myself in, since I don't have to settle on a specific engineering major before sophomore year. Even after choosing a major, I can still indulge myself in the form of interesting departmental engineering programs such as CIS 160, or even complete a minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship (EENT), which will help me acquire the business and leadership skills necessary for a business venture.

Last but not least, I know that life at U Penn suits me greatly. This summer, I had the pleasure of attending the Mongolian Young Scholars Program (MYSP), where I took an astronomy course from a Mongolian student at U Penn. She told us all about her school, but I was pleasantly surprised when she said that "U Penn students know when to work hard, and when to have fun.". At that moment, I knew that the University of Pennsylvania is the right choice for me, because I believe that you just need to relax sometimes to keep your mind ready for the next day of lectures and assignments.

Undergraduate / Overcoming obstacles like Allan Iverson. Personal Statement - Person of influence - NBA Star [2]

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (250-650 words)

Allan Iverson - my role model

When I was five years old, I wanted cornrows. At that time, Allen Iverson was the most popular star in the NBA, and I almost religiously idolized him.

My two brothers are eight and six years older than me, which means that when I was supposed to be watching superhero cartoons, my brothers hijacked the remote control effortlessly, and switched on the Sports channel. At first I resisted, but eventually I realized that resistance was futile against people twice your size. I had to settle for watching the daily "Top 10 Plays of the NBA". At first, I wanted only to find out whether Spiderman finally beat the villain or not, but strangely enough, I kept finding my heart pounding in excitement whenever someone rattled the ball into the basket. Weird thing is, the number one play was almost always that of one man: Allen Iverson.

Even from a television screen, it was obvious that his body was leagues smaller than those of the other 9 players on the court. Whenever one of his plays inevitably made its way into the Top 10, he looked just like a kid among adults, but somehow, he managed to leave them behind his trail and get to the basket before they even knew it. The way he gracefully dribbled the ball was enthralling, even to the eyes of a five-year-old. At this point, I didn't even care about Spiderman and his friends - I wanted to see more of Iverson and his opponents. For the next ten years, he remained my role model and idol.

Last year, on the day his jersey was retired, I was watching a tribute video of Allen Iverson. On one of the highlights, he dribbled past 2 big defenders with ease, through to an open lane to the hoop. Just as he effortlessly put the ball in the basket, I realized that I had been in a similar situation before - when I was fighting over the remote control, when I was trying to get extra dessert, and when I needed my brother's laptop for an assignment, it was always a small me against two big guys. Of course, I don't hate my brothers for giving me a hard time sometimes - after all, that's the typical show of brotherly love. Sometimes, however, it's incredibly annoying when they practically abuse their powers as the "older brother". If Allen Iverson could consistently overcome bigger opponents, why can't I have my way against my brothers, or surmount any tough obstacle?

Iverson's influence on me isn't limited to the trivialities of my family life either. He once said: "I don't wanna be Jordan, I don't wanna be Magic, I don't wanna be Bird or Isiah. When my career's over, I want to look in the mirror and say I did it my way.". He never copied anyone, but still managed to be the best. Although it seems unlikely that I will become a Hall of Fame basketball player, I want to do whatever I do just like he played basketball. I want to innovate and create, but most importantly, do it my way. Currently, I am interested in robotics, computer programming, and mechanical engineering to name a few fields, but whichever it is that I eventually build my career upon, at the end of it, I want to look back and see a road full of my own failures and successes.

The way Allen Iverson bewildered opponents twice his size on the way to the hoop motivated me to never shun away from a challenge, and his headstrong, independent spirit has inspired me to always fight for myself, and stay true to who I am.