Undergraduate / "sport of cricket" - Michigan Essay Diversity [2]

Share an experience through which you have gained respect for intellectual, social, or cultural differences. Comment on how your personal experiences and achievements would contribute to the diversity of the University of Michigan. (250 words)

Since I was young, I have been playing the internationally acclaimed sport of cricket, which, in a way, resembles the bat and ball game of baseball. 2 years ago, I was selected to be on the mid-west team for an Under-15 national tournament. When I arrived in California, I met my team, and saw such a diverse group of people. I met people who just moved from India, Pakistan, Australia and England, and even some Americans from all over the Midwest. Not only was my team so diverse in culture, but as we practiced, and played our matches, I began to see how each of our players contributed a unique ability and by focusing on a common goal to win, we were able to get 1st place in the tournament. This event really showed me how variety is crucial to success.

On a personal note, I am a diverse person myself. Although I was born here, and have inherited a lot American culture, I also come home to a steadfast Indian background, and frequently go to my home country to visit relatives. When making important life decisions, I am able to consult values from both my cultural backgrounds, which gives me a huge advantage. I am also diverse in my activities. I actively play many sports, including tennis, football and basketball, I am active in extracurricular academics, including math team, and Business professionals of America, and I love having a good time socializing with friends. I hope to bring my diverse background to Michigan. I want to standout of the 40,000 students with my unique personality, multiple interests and curiosity, yet I want to interact with everyone to help form this ever-growing salad bowl that has been formed at University of Michigan.

Undergraduate / Common App - Topic of Choice (aimed at Caltech) [3]

Hey everyone
I recently wrote this essay for the common app (primarily aimed for caltech early action) and it's not one of the given topics, it's just a random topic that i was thinking of. I did not spend too much time on editing the grammar and structure as a quickly wrote these ideas. If possible, i would like criticism on my ideas and content, because frankly i feel this could be a slightly controversial topic. I just want to know if this would be a good topic for an admission counsler to read about. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated and thank you for any comments thanks!

Common App Essay

What is the point of College? Many people describe it as the intermediate step between high school and a job. I agree on some level, but for that group that classifies it as this, it is crucial to then ask: what is the point of job? People from that category, will probably give a uniform answer: to make money. I realize this may be redundant, but it is still crucial to ask once more: what's the point of money? At this point, those people would probably hesitate at answering the question. In my opinion, this is a huge problem with society: we stop at the concept of money and never go on to think further.

However, I hold quite a unique view on the matter. Most kids in my school that are in the top ranks believe that they want to get into a "good" school and get a "good" job, no matter what kind of job it is, and whether they enjoy it or not. It frustrates me when I see someone who's clearly gifted at math or something else, becomes a doctor because they were either forced by there parents or because they want to make a lot of money. I have heard of countless cases of people who I knew who switched out of the medical field in college after 4 or so years did not enjoy it. I possessed a very similar situation to those people, but I want to make the right decision before I go to college.

I currently am and was always was in love with Math, Physics and Computer Science subjects; however, my mother as a pediatrician, did not force me, but urged me to go into medicine. As a result, throughout high school I have partaken in many activities that were medicine-related. I volunteered at the hospital, I worked at her clinic, I went to a "mini-medical" school and I went to a summer program at Upenn for biomedical engineering. From the combination of these experiences, I have recently come to the conclusion that I would not enjoy having a career in medicine. I have realized that I will not fall for the same mistake as all my other peers, and I will continue what I enjoy doing throughout college. The only reason my mother wanted me to be a doctor, was for the job security and money aspect. However I asked myself the same question that appeared at the beginning of this essay: what is the point of money? Most people think that money is a measure of happiness, but after countless experiences throughout high school and much thought on the idea, money is not the measure of happiness. Happiness is not material wealth, it is the pleasure you get out of living and doing the things that you enjoy doing.

Now when I applied this thought to my current position: would I be happy becoming a doctor? I looked back and thought of all the past experiences that I had with medicine, and then weighing it with the thought of continuing study in Physics and Computer Science, and I realized that the latter of the two will award me much more happiness as I am so passionate about learning more and extending my knowledge in those fields. I have realized that the point of getting into college, is not a path to a high-paying job, but passageway to broaden my scope and knowledge of subjects that I enjoy learning about and a path to apply this knowledge in something that the whole world will benefit from.