Undergraduate / I have gained many experiences that have influenced me and my intellectual development; Stanford [6]

Any suggestions or helpful critiques are extremely appreciated!

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (250 word limit)

While in my life, I have gained many experiences that have influenced me and my intellectual development, my visits to Japan definitely had the strongest effects. Throughout my life, I have been lucky enough to live a fairly easy-going life. Because of this, I did not have to experience certain struggles that the impoverished or even just the less-fortunate at my own school were forced to deal with. Travelling to Japan opened my eyes to so much more than I had ever expected; travelling through the cities allowed me to see how fortunate I really am and understand the conditions in which some people have to live in different countries. Additionally, these trips exposed me to completely different perspectives on the world that I had never been introduced to at home, involving the environment, workers, and even basic architecture. Although in the US I can read about the other side of the world through online articles and newspapers, seeing truly is believing. I could never fully wrap my head around the way a country so different from my own could operate until I was able to visit historical sites and interact with Japanese citizens, finally giving me a much globally-knowledgeable perspective on life.

203/250 words.

Undergraduate / 'the day my Border Collie got spayed' - Cornell Arts and Sciences- Undergraduate Essay [NEW]

I haven't figured out what to do for my introduction yet, but here is what I have so far. Any helpful suggestions or critiques are greatly appreciated!

Describe two or three of your current intellectual interests and why they are exciting to you. Why will Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences be the right environment in which to pursue your interests? (Please limit your response to 650 words.)

I will never forget the day my Border Collie got spayed- I actually remember it positively, unlike my dog. Walking into the veterinarian's office, I was strangely excited as my dog trembled in the corner; yes, my dog was going to undergo surgery, but the mechanics of the medical procedure and treatment instantly intrigued me. While the procedure seemed completely ordinary, to me, it was a once in a lifetime experience- being able to first-hand observe animal patients and have a helping hand in their rehabilitation. I followed the doctor's care recommendations to a T, and although I was still a child, I felt like I was able to truly make someone's life better. This experience was the first taste I got of medical treatment in animals, and it has continued to encourage me to investigate further and further into animal medicine.

In high school, while different subjects were all taught separately, I have always seemed to blend them together, specifically science and mathematics. I tend to have a math-minded brain- facts and clear answers were gold to me; because of this, science, which is filled with explainable occurrences and processes, fit in perfectly with my factual focus. As I have grown up, I continue to incorporate the two subjects together, trying to apply advanced mathematics, like calculus, into environmental and biological science material. Additionally, both of these subjects allow me to put my curious, and sometimes stubborn, sense of investigation to good use; even after a teacher demonstrated a certain approach to a topic or problem, I had to find my own path to the answer or process to fully grasp the concept. Cornell's interdisciplinary courses like Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences would be perfect for me, as I could finally take a course meant for blending the two subjects and strengthen my background knowledge for a career in medicine.

Overall, Cornell would be an extraordinary fit for my college education; I would be able to take animal science and medical classes that would both prepare me for veterinary school and allow me to delve deeper into my interest in medicine. No other college can compare to Cornell's vast offering of both strong interdisciplinary courses and pre-medical classes, which gives me the opportunity to explore unique interdisciplinary research opportunities in medicine and science and gives me the freedom to double-major in both Biological Sciences and Mathematics. With the low student:faculty ratio at Cornell, I would be able to develop personal relationships with faculty, while the immense size of the student body would allow me to create long-lasting bonds among diverse peers that I would not have been exposed to on a smaller campus.

447/650 words

Undergraduate / Brown University Undergrad. Short Essays [2]

Any helpful tips or critiques are greatly appreciated, as I'm submitting my application tonight! thanks :)

Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated earlier in this application? If you are "undecided" or not sure which Brown concentrations match your interests, consider describing more generally the academic topics or modes of thought that engage you currently. (150 word limit)

Mathematics and biology have always been the subjects I enjoyed the most and still continue to study, even when I am not in school. Practically all my life, I have questioned new topics until I fully understood them, and math and science both allow me to develop my investigative persona. Whether it be in calculus examples or biology labs, my curious approach to new material allows me to develop new perspectives on the subject and apply the topic to completely different matters in the future. Additionally, an interdisciplinary major in mathematics and science would strengthen my future performance as a doctor, as I would have a more knowledgeable background in more than one sole topic. Helping my community through medicine has been a life-long dream for me and this major would enhance my performance in medical school and allow me to approach medicine from new perspectives. (146 words)

Why Brown? (100 word limit)

Freedom. If I were admitted, Brown would provide me the perfect amount of educational freedom in my college experience. Its unique open curriculum would allow me to branch out from my normal math/science and open me up to new subjects that I never was able to take previously due to core requirements, like interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics and Humanities courses. Additionally, Brown's extensive study abroad programs (especially in Spanish-speaking countries) would give me the choice to broaden my education, including perspectives from a completely different part of the world and allow me to become a stronger, individual leader of my community. (100 words)

Tell us where you have lived - and for how long - since you were born; whether you've always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places. (100 word limit)

All my life, I have lived in Hillsborough. While I have traveled to several other states and countries, I always come back to the same home. After visiting other communities, I finally began to appreciate my hometown. Sure, it is not the City of Light, but I have friends I have known for a decade, I have safety, and I have a true sense of community. As a child, I loved the idea of living in a large city, but there is something comforting in knowing my neighbors, in having block parties, that I will never want to give up. (100 words)

We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes, origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. (100 word limit)

I live in the tiny town of Hillsborough. No one knows where it is unless they have lived here at some point. Despite my occasional longing to live in a bustling metropolitan city, my little suburbia provided me something that I could not have gotten anywhere else: relationships. Dozens of my friends and I all have all gone to school together, and not just high school- many of us have known each other since elementary school. Because of this small town, I have gotten to maintain life-long friendships with people that I would have grown apart from in larger cities. (100 words)