Undergraduate / 'Intellectual Engagement is a beast' - Bowdoin [3]

Bowdoin students and alumni often cite world-class faculty and opportunities for intellectual engagement, the College's commitment to the Common Good, and the special quality of life on the coast of Maine as important aspects of the Bowdoin experience. Reflecting on your own interests and experiences, please comment on one of the following:

1. Intellectual engagement
2. The Common Good
3. Connection to place

Word Limit-250 words

Intellectual engagement is like a beast with a frenzied passion and a loping stride. He's fast and elusive, and I have been chasing him ever since I was old enough to use a screwdriver. When other children played with action figures, I pried motors out of toy cars; when they rolled Monopoly dice, I made little battery powered boats. Seeking something that challenges my mind has led me to perform magic and study advanced physics. Thus Bowdoin, which seems like the beast's watering hole, holds sway in my heart and my mind. The physics nut inside me would love to hear Dr Dale Syphers' ideas on application of physics to everyday life, especially his work on car accidents. I am also fascinated by the 3+2 engineering program that Bowdoin offers, which would provide me the opportunity to both 'think' and 'do'. I plan to wrestle and grapple with the beast for the next four years at Bowdoin.

Undergraduate / I am a cliche [9]

I am a cliché. A walking, talking, eating, breathing, sleeping cliché. I love maths and physics and I am from India. That makes me the cookie cutter Asian. I am scrawny, bespectacled and obsessed with numbers. You see tons of people like me every day. Yet you still bother to read my application, Bravo. Like everyone else, I want to set myself apart from the gray wall of applications. But how will I do it? By writing an essay. An essay that shows you that there are new people, even nerdy Indians, worth meeting. But what shall I write to make you believe in me? I have pondered this question for long. And after a tumultuous battle in my mind, I have reached an answer. I'll let you decide. I am a misshapen blob of clay waiting to be moulded. We are going to embark on a 4 year long session of pottery, me and you. You'll shape me and my ideas and I'll question and debate your decisions at every step. For I am no ordinary clay. I have been shaped and unshaped a lot of times, over the last 16 years turning me into a new blob every day. I retain resistance somewhere yet I flow like water somewhere too. Memories and experiences ingrain themselves into every grain of the clay, into my soul. With every spin of the wheel, with your each touch, I'll change bit by bit. But not always according to you, because I am no ordinary clay. I'll respond back. The clay shall talk to the hand. The pot shall emerge. And that day, then and there I shall say," I am no ordinary pot". Though far and long, we shall wither the journey together. For we are potter and clay, the unbreakable bond.

Undergraduate / Wanna see a trick-commonapp EC essay [3]

"1 2 3 and this card" I flourish out the Ace of Spades. "Wow, how did you do that?" the girl asks me with her mouth agape in surprise. I reply with the familiar "A magician never tells" and start moving towards the next group of people. As I take in their appearances, my mind furiously begins to evaluate them. Which trick to perform on whom? What to do and what to avoid?

As you might have guessed, I am a street magician. I perform tricks for random people in the city and I love every bit of it. The thrill of approaching a stranger, the coolness of being able to one-up them and the sheer fun of the trick draws me towards this 'art'. Its hard work practicing the upper card force or the vanishing coin but the class and style of the end result is worth it. The look on the faces of the audience is worth it. And although it may be a cliché to say that magic taught me hard work, it really honestly did. Where else can you see the result of your late night shuffling pay off in the form of awe and applause? I can't. Not anyplace else.

My mind humming, my evaluation complete, I get to that group and start with the usual "Wanna see a trick?"

Undergraduate / Why Vassar-intellectual freedom [6]

My one-sided love affair with Vassar began when I first read the 'Mads Vassar' blog. Little by little, as the quirky details emerged, I started seeing myself at Vassar. When I read about the dialogue programs like 'Mixing it up' and conversational dinners, I came to realize what my life was missing. I grew up in a school where debating against the established ideas was discouraged and controversial issues were swept under the rug. Prayer was mandatory, but its interpretation, not so much. So the environment of Vassar, where all views and ideas are discussed and respected, appeals to me immensely. Physics is my favourite subject. So I am very fascinated by Dr Debra Elmegreen's research on distant galaxies which gives us a peek at the past of our universe. It would be amazing to listen to her ideas on astronomy. Since its intellectual atmosphere seems tailor made for me, I plan to enjoy studying in Vassar for the next four years.