Undergraduate / Composting/Weirdness/Running ~ Stanford Supplement Combo Pack [3]

Please look over my Stanford supplement! Be harsh as you deem necessary, but don't forget to give constructive criticism.
Thank you in advance for the feedback!

Candidates respond to all three essay topics using at least 250 words, but not exceeding the space provided (up to 2000 characters).
1. Stanford students possess intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development.

At my high school, it is my job to ensure that the compost and recycling get sorted out and taken to their dumpsters; I do this because I care about and want to preserve my environment. However, some of my fellow high school students do not feel the same way. Despite my attempts to demonstrate how simple sorting and properly disposing of waste is, some students dump their bags of mixed compostables, recyclables, and garbage into whichever bin they please. They seem to value leaving the cafeteria quickly over maintaining the health of their environment.

This difference between my concern and others' disregard for environmental issues was at first shocking to me. Coming from a largely homogenous middle-class community, I didn't expect people who were otherwise so similar to think so differently about such a pressing problem. I now understand that not everybody is going to care about the same issues to the same extent as I do, so if I want to see something done I have to do it myself. This realization led to my idea to start a business that contracts composting service to municipalities for less than the cost of garbage collection service. The company would work with cities to make it easy for residents to compost while educating them about what and why to compost so they could help the company produce in-demand natural fertilizer. I have done research into this idea, learning about practices of existing firms, potential markets for both waste collection and fertilizer, and industry trends and talking with representatives from Waste Management and the City of [my city]. From this process, I have found that such a firm could succeed. The market for composting services in America is even unsaturated enough that with effective management, strong government partnerships, and proper education of residents, my company could thrive. I hope that with this business I can change the way people treat their environment. Someone has to.

2. Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate-and us-know you better.

Dear Roommate,
This is a warning. You better be prepared for me and all my weirdness.
Almost everything I say is laced with horrible, horrible puns and jokes that don't really make sense. I mean that if you say that the chocolate cake you're eating is rich, I'll ask you how much money it made last year. I can cut off the flow of what I call humor if I want to, but usually I don't. I'll make an exception for you if you need it though.

I like to learn about recent developments and historical trends in technology, economics, and politics (you'll often find my head buried in Discover Magazine, one of my three atlases, or a newspaper), and I love to talk about them. Let me tell you, we are going to have some fun discussions about how ion space engine technology can be commercially developed, what the U.S. government can do to cut its burgeoning pile of debt, and what we think is going to happen to Tesla Motors. This might seem a little bit heavy to just talk about, but trust me, it gets interesting. I actually hope we disagree a little too; that way we get to have debates, which are awesome, and we can learn a lot from each others' viewpoints.

I'm not just into the social sciences; I'm a fantasy, science fiction, and dystopia nerd too. Want to know the entire history of Essos and Westeros (from A Song of Ice and Fire, the series of A Game of Thrones), Arda (the world Tolkien created), or the First Galactic Empire (according to Isaac Asimov)? Need a new book with a disturbing view of the future? I've got you covered. And don't worry; I can turn down the nerd dial if you want me to.

Running is pretty much my life; I literally live, breath, and eat it. I walk around in short shorts a lot, whether I am about to go on a run or am just coming back from one, so prepare your eyes. There's going to be quite a few running terms flying around too, so you might want to read up on your vocabulary.

You better be ready for an interesting year. You've been warned.
Sincerely,
[my name]

3. What matters to you, and why?

I have two families: the one I was born with and the one I run with. Though the former means the world to me, the latter, my high school cross country team, means almost as much. Like my birth family, my running family sees each other every day. We do have our occasional arguments and disagreements, but in the end we all love each other like brothers.

I started down the path to becoming a part of this running family when I first attended practice in the summer before my freshman year. I was just a small, frightened kid, but I was welcome there. I quickly befriended runners of all grades; I didn't know it then, but I was beginning to forge ties of camaraderie that would last for years. As a freshman, I never would have thought that I would end up as a team captain, much less the head captain. But, due to an ability to lead, hard work, and dedication to the team, I earned a captainship as a sophomore and the head captainship as a senior. As I progressed through high school I also found myself becoming better friends with my teammates. The longer we ran together, the more we got along and the more we felt like a cohesive unit, like a true family.

I miss my fellow runners - Alex, Victor, Blair, Ryan, and Jesse among others - who have graduated and left the team. I know there soon will be a day when I must leave as well, but I'll never forget the times I've laughed, cried, and run so hard I've nearly died with my team, with my brothers, with my family.

Undergraduate / Social Science Nerdiness ~ Why Northwestern? Essay [6]

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?

Environmental issues have always drawn my interest, but it was only after I started composting at my high school that I figured out what I could do to solve them. My experience in the composting program gave me an idea for a business. I now plan to start a firm that contracts composting and recycling service to municipalities, producing in-demand natural fertilizer while hindering climate change and cutting costs for cash-strapped governments. In order to make this start-up succeed, I will need to know more than how to conduct business; I will need to know about the complex political, environmental, and economic climate of America and the international community. An education from Northwestern, particularly in the small classes of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, would provide me with the background in business, economics, and environmental studies that I will need to achieve my goal.

Beyond working toward a major in Economics and double minor in Business Institutions and Environmental Policy and Culture at Weinberg, I will prepare for my future career by completing certificate programs in Entrepreneurship from the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in Managerial Analytics from the Kellogg School of Management, or in Leadership from the Center for Leadership. The Certificate in Entrepreneurship would give me a foundation in the skills I need get my business off the ground while the Certificates in Managerial Analytics and Leadership would leave me with a high aptitude for making business decisions. The InNUvate club will also help me become a better entrepreneur by supporting me as I develop and refine my business plan and share ideas with other future and current environmental technology entrepreneurs. I plan to participate in the university's new composting program to gain insight into how a start-up composting operation functions that can be applied later in my professional life. To compliment my coursework and extracurricular involvement, I aim to head my own research project on the need and potential market for the expanding composting and recycling services industry as well.

As a social science nerd, I devour any information on human cultures, demographic distributions, and past events that I can find. Though I plan to use my college education to prepare for a career in business, it will not feel complete unless I get to pursue my passion for combining the study of anthropology, geography, and history. As I have never had the opportunity to formally study linguistics or the spread and evolution of language as an indicator of human migration (though I have done some informal independent research into the latter), I want to enroll in a few electives related to those subjects as well. Fortunately for me, Weinberg offers a wide variety of social science courses that I can take as an aside to my focus on business, economics, and environmental studies. I could also conduct additional research into social science-based topics. Outside of Weinberg, I would enjoy taking film production classes at the School of Communication to continue my education in the art of filmmaking. It is this possibility of deeply engaging in both my career-related and other scholarly interests that attracts me to the Weinberg Colleges of Arts and Sciences and to Northwestern University as a whole.

Any feedback (especially constructive criticism) would be very helpful. Thank you in advance!

Undergraduate / Elon Musk is a boss! ~ Claremont McKenna College Essay [3]

Leadership is a constant theme and emphasis at CMC. If you could invite anyone to speak at the Athenaeum, who would you choose and why? There is no minimum or maximum length requirement, but we recommend that you write more than a sentence and less than a page.

Not many people can say they were the inspiration for the recent film depiction of Ironman's Tony Stark. But Elon Musk can. Like Stark, Musk is the head of his own tech-company empire and is doing his part to save the world. However, he does this not by battling villains with a metal suit but by creating businesses that combat global warming, lift humans into space, and revolutionize the way people exchange money. Musk is the entrepreneur behind four companies - PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and SolarCity - that employ technology to solve many of the world's pressing problems. Musk's success where it is hard to succeed - especially in the environmental technology industry - should in my opinion earn him a chance to speak at the Athenaeum.

I aspire to be like Elon Musk. I want to make a positive impact on the world by starting a business that deals with the largest economic, social, and environmental problem, in both Musk's and my opinions, that the world faces: climate change. Though I do not yet know which specific problem I want to address - a lack of recycling and composting services, the burning of fossil fuels, or another issue - I plan to start my own environmental technology company someday. Musk's success gives me hope that I can succeed in that endeavor, whether I do it by providing composting services, generating electricity from nuclear waste, or doing something else. Environmental technology businesses are often unsuccessful, but Musk has shown me that they don't have to be. His environmentally-friendly companies SolarCity and Tesla Motors, though currently in the red, are undergoing quick expansion and are forecast to soon become profitable. Musk's pioneering of new fields of business with PayPal and SpaceX demonstrates the kind of risk-taking that I admire and will need to use in the future, too. Musk, with his innovative business ideas, has taught me that no matter what kind of business I start, I will need an imaginative concept to thrive.

While I have learned much from Musk's actions, I want to hear him speak about how he made his businesses succeed so I can try to emulate that success. Musk, as the CTO of some of his companies, could give me insight into the importance of and strategies for improving the technology behind the company. I also want to learn about how he manages his start-ups; knowledge of how he divides his time between overseeing technology development, managing his employees, attempting to attract investors, and working to expand his customer base will prove valuable when I need to do just that. I would like to hear his explanations for why he chose to create the specific businesses he did, and why he decided to helm multiple businesses at the same time, too. It would mean so much to me if I got to ask him a question about my aspirations as well. If he affirmed that I'm on the right track, it would make all the work that I have done seem more worthwhile. The countless hours I have spent preparing for what I've wanted to do for so long: composting, reading about and discussing current events and economic trends, and learning about how to run a business and how to build up to an IPO, would all have more meaning because of one short conversation with a man I have looked up to for years.

Elon Musk already makes me believe that I, with the right preparation, can create a venture that makes a profound, lasting impact on the world. Hearing him speak about his experiences and listening to his advice would give me stronger faith in myself that I can make my future start-up flourish. I hope that he can speak at the Athenaeum to inspire more Claremont McKenna students to become entrepreneurs, to solve problems they care about through their own enterprises, to do what they can to save the world. We need more people like that. We need more Elon Musks.

What do you think? Please be as harsh as you need to be, I want this essay to be super polished.
Also, do you think I use "success," "successful," and "succeed" too much? Any suggestions for viable alternatives?

Undergraduate / Business and Social Sciences ~ University of Washington Honors Program Essay [3]

Give me feedback please! Be as harsh as you deem necessary.

Respond to the short essay prompt using no more than 400 words.
Why do you want to incorporate our interdisciplinary liberal arts curriculum into your undergraduate experience? We are interested in learning about what motivates you and what unique contributions you might make to our community.

Seeing three long blades circle around perpendicular to the ground lit my desire to start my own business. It made me realize that I, like the owner of the wind farm to which that turbine belonged, could run my own environmental technology company. I had been interested in environmental issues for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until then that I knew what I could do to solve them. In order to run a successful start-up technology company, I will need an education that will not just teach me about how to conduct business, but that will teach me about the complex social, environmental, and economic systems and problems of the world and its people. I will have to understand these issues to properly develop, market, and sell my product, whatever it may be. Additionally, to comprehend and contribute to the technology at the center of my business I will need to be knowledgeable in a range of science-related subjects that go beyond what is taught in the basic college curriculum. To improve the world's environmental state through the power of capitalism I will need an education from the UW Honors Program.

Being a social science nerd, I ravenously devour any information on demographic distributions, commercial trends, and past events that I can get my hands on. Though I plan to use my college education to prepare for a career in business, I would not be happy with it unless I get to pursue my passion for combining the study of history, geography, and economics. If I got to take UW Honors courses where I could examine these subjects in context of one another, I would be ecstatic. As I have never had the opportunity to formally study linguistics and the spread and evolution of language as an indicator of human migration (though I have done some independent research), I would love to enroll in an Honors course related to that subject as well. The enthusiasm I have for filmmaking would drive me to take courses that incorporate film with the humanities or social sciences, too. My affinity for social sciences would provide the UW and its Honors Program with my distinctive views on issues, which I have arrived at through synthesis of existing information; my interest in film would provide the university and program with a student who can communicate ideas through a unique medium.

(399 words)

Undergraduate / 'the heap of garbage' - University of Washington Essay ~ Cultural Difference [4]

Please give me some feedback! Be as critical as you want, just make sure you give me advice on what I can do to improve the essay.

Describe an experience of cultural difference, positive or negative, you have had or observed. What did you learn from it? (250-500 words)
You may define culture broadly. For example, it may include ethnicity, customs, values, and ideas, all of which contribute to experiences that students can share with others in college. As you reply to this question, reflect on what you have learned -- about yourself and society -- from an experience of cultural difference.

My bare hands dug through the heap of garbage, through ketchup-stained paper trays, assorted plastics, and empty milk cartons, removing things that did not belong. Out went the paper trays, headed to the compost pile. Milk cartons and hard plastic containers flew through the air, destined for the recycling. During my school lunches, the garbage bin always ends up more than half-full with compost and recycling and the compost bins usually get a dash of garbage. It is my job to sort through those bins and take the recycling and compost out to the dumpsters. I do this because I care about the environment; I want to keep waste out of landfills and in turn keep greenhouse gasses out of the air (compostable materials release methane when decaying in a landfill) while helping to provide my community with compost-derived fertilizer and material to create recycled products. However, not all the students at my high school feel the same way. Instead of carefully sorting their waste, some students dump all of it into either the trash or the compost bin. Despite my best attempts at demonstrating how easy properly disposing of waste is and explaining the benefits of doing so, many still seem to value leaving the cafeteria quickly more than preserving the environmental health of the world they live in.

This difference in values, between my concern and others' disregard for environmental issues, was at first quite shocking to me. Coming from a largely homogeneous white, middle-class community, I didn't expect people who are otherwise so similar to think so differently about such a pressing issue. I came to learn that for any issue there will be always be some people who are apathetic to your cause, but you just have to work around them. Not everybody is going to care about the same issues as I do to the extent I do, so if I want something to get done, I have to do it myself. I want to see a reduction in the amount of pollution the world produces and a cleaner, healthier Earth, so I compost and recycle. My experience with composting and recycling has helped influence me into wanting to start my own environmental technology business. I don't yet know if that business will provide composting services, clean energy, or something else, but I do know that it, and I, will make a difference in the world. Someone has to.

(404 words)

Undergraduate / 'Earth Service Corps' - Common App ~ Activity Essay [2]

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).

I got involved in the composting program in my high school during my sophomore year when I discovered that a significant amount of compostable food and paper waste was ending up in the garbage. The thought of all that material - which could be put to good use as fertilizer - being left to rot without purpose in a landfill irked me. I decided to do something about it, taking time out of my lunch break to collect uneaten food and paper waste from students who had finished their lunches and to pull compost from garbage bins. Since then I have come to do so during most of my lunches. Over the past year I've taken a leadership role in Earth Service Corps, the club that oversees the composting program; I'm now personally responsible for making sure the compost gets taken out. Dealing with nasty food scraps and uncooperative students can be tough sometimes, but the knowledge that you're keeping waste out of landfills, helping out the environment in some small way, can be quite rewarding.

Undergraduate / 'the Entrepreneur Club' - USC Supplement ~ Academic Interest [3]

In approximately one paragraph (1000 characters or less), please address the following prompt:
Describe your academic interests and how you plan to pursue them at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections.

Seeing a wind turbine up close lit my desire to start my own environmental technology business. It made me realize that I, like the owner of the wind farm to which it belonged, could run a company that could stem the effects of climate change. While pursuing a Marshall School of Business BS BA, I would take upper-division electives at the Lloyd Grief Center and join the Entrepreneur Club to prepare to be a successful business owner. To gain experience with tech start-ups, I plan to get an internship or two through the Center for Technology Commercialization. Driven by my interest in environmental issues, I will get involved in various sustainability programs too. Marshall being a four-year school leaves enough room in my schedule so I can pursue my passions for film production - by taking part in Annenberg's TV News and Cinematic Arts' classes and student projects, and for history and geography - by taking Dornsife classes. Combined, these factors make USC my top choice for college.

Undergraduate / 'I have two families' - Michigan Supplement #1 ~ Community [2]

Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (Approximately 250 words)

I have two families: the one I was born with and the one I run with. Though the former means the world to me, the latter, my high school cross country team, means almost as much. Like my birth family, my running family sees each other every day. We do have our occasional arguments and disagreements, but in the end we all love each other like brothers.

I started down the path to becoming a part of this running family when I attended practice over the summer before freshman year. I was just a small, frightened kid, but I was welcome there. I quickly befriended runners of all grades; I didn't know it then, but I was beginning to forge ties of camaraderie that would last for years. By sophomore year my strong work ethic and dedication to the team had earned me a position on varsity and a captainship. Two more years of hard work and leadership got me to the position of head captain. As I progressed through high school I also found myself becoming better friends with my varsity teammates. The longer we ran together, the more we got along and felt like a cohesive unit, like a true family.

I miss my fellow runners who have graduated and left the team. Alex, Victor, Blair, Ryan, Jesse, I wish they were all still around. I know there soon will be a day when I must leave as well, but I'll never forget the times I've laughed, cried, and run so hard I've nearly died with my team, with my brothers, with my family.

Undergraduate / 'An environmental technology company' - Michigan ~ Ross School of Business [2]

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? (500 words maximum)

The essay should clearly explain your interest in the Ross School of Business. Feel free to include additional interests -- as applicable. Avoid describing the University of Michigan, the Ross BBA Program, or our rankings and class statistics. Rather, highlight what's important about and to you. Focus on your unique interests and goals and explain how the Ross BBA supports them.

Three immense white blades slowly circled around and around, perpendicular to the ground, at the top of a white stalk that seemed to stretch to the heavens. I stared, intrigued, from behind a car window as my dad and I passed by the behemoth and its brothers and sisters. It was then, on a car ride past a central Washington wind farm more than four years ago, that I decided I wanted to start a renewable energy business. I was previously aware of the perils climate change posed but had no idea what I could do to counter them. Those wind turbines made me realize that I could stem the effects of climate change by providing an alternative to energy sources that pollute. Since then, I have only grown more enthusiastic about founding an environmental technology company, though I have broadened my parameters for what my business could do. Whether my business will contract recycling services to cities previously without, produce clean energy, or provide some other good or service, I don't yet know. I do know, however, that with an education from the Ross School of Business, I will make my company succeed.

The Ross School of Business provides its students with a hands-on, application-based business education. That is ideal for a future entrepreneur like me because if I am to run a business I am going to need experience, not vague theoretical knowledge, to tackle obstacles I face. I want to attend Ross not only because of the exceptional general business education I would receive, but also because of how closely many aspects of the school fit with my desired career path. The Global Enterprise and Sustainable Development course run in conjunction with the Erb Institute and various other sustainability-related courses offered at the University of Michigan, for instance, are quite pertinent. These courses would offer me insight into how the environmentally-friendly goods and services industries are run and how environmentally conscious businesses are operated. Having previous knowledge of the market and business practices of the type of business I want to run could prove quite valuable when I actually am working in that industry. Ross' entrepreneurial electives such as New Product and Innovation Management and Entrepreneurial Management would provide me with valuable information on how to capitalize on technological advancement and manage a company where that is the focus - essentially what I want to do for a career. Entrepreneurial clubs and events at Ross, like the Entrepreneur & Venture Club and Entrepalooza, would be quite helpful in honing the skills and connections I need to fund, market, and operate a start-up as well.

I may not start my own business before or right after I graduate, but the Ross School of Business and its related institutes and activities will train me so that whenever I do, I will be ready. With an education from Ross I will be able to make a difference, to do my best to help save the world.