Undergraduate / 'fascination with how we heal' - Northwestern Supplement [3]

What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified?

Since 6th grade I have been developing a healthy fascination with how we heal. I discovered that I was naturally skilled at patching injuries up whenever someone fell on the concrete and scraped themselves. The nickname "Dr. Burke" soon developed with the faculty, because the patients often asked for my presence before the teachers. By the time I first looked at Northwestern University, this early interest in science had transformed into an enthrallment with lab studies and how they applied to the human body. My middle school teachers had noticed my potential promise in a medical career, and now years later I want to pursue that destiny at Northwestern. I feel that my interest in chemistry and my studies in ethical diversity options can simultaneously flourish under the academic setting of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. This college provides the ideal pre-professional environment for me to transition into, and I can already tell I will have the resources and faculty I need to pursue my medical career after Northwestern. The chemistry options are phenomenal, even if I were to only pursue a minor, and I feel prepared to take anything from "General Inorganic Chemistry" to the lab focused "Introductory Instrumental Analysis". Because I am currently enrolled in a both Physics and Advanced Chemistry, I feel persuaded to enroll in both interesting but challenging classes that can fulfill my need for lab based studies in a way that Sociology or Anthropology cannot. However, that will not dissuade me from utilizing the unique Northwestern option of combining interests in "dual majors". Without a doubt, opportunities presented by the Sociology department will help me pursue my interests in science, taking courses like: "Social Inequality: Race, Class, and Power" could tie in to a possible career in public health. Conceptually, with the "Rule of Three" I could simultaneously pursue my love for chemistry, while exploring my interest in diversity issues, the whole time using extracurricular to find other passions and build my confidence as a student. Northwestern offers the opportunity to merge academic interests and superb extracurricular activities in a way that resembles the student-lead "interest groups" at my high school, The Northwest School. I will miss that aspect of NWS, where I could use my scholastic experience in other aspects of my community, and along with other students participate in discussion and activity in and out of the school community in a variety of topics. The math requirements of statistics will undoubtedly be useful when research based mathematics are needed to pursue my lab studies. All the potential combinations are endless and I look forward to the unique opportunity to fill my schedule with classes that interest me from a range of academic areas. I know that when the time comes to apply to medical school, Northwestern will exemplify my qualifications as a driven and well-rounded student, with plenty of educational diversity outside of the classroom.