Undergraduate / 'Core Curriculum', my dream; Columbia Sup/ Appealing about Columbia [3]

Please tell us what you find most appealing about Columbia and why.

Biology and Physics have always been my main interests in school. However, after attending a tour of Columbia University, I learned about the 'Core Curriculum'. This was a dream come true, as it can allow me to focus on my intended major, while also learning about the liberal arts that also fascinate me. I love philosophy, literature, history, and government in addition to my love of the sciences and the Core Curriculum can enable me to have the unique intellectual college experience that I could only have at Columbia. In addition to this, the Core Curriculum also places a strong emphasis on the classical works of literature that have been analyzed, read, and re-read many times over during that past millennium. This is something that has always interested me and I would love to be a part of a strong tradition that has been informing students since Columbia was created about 250 years ago. To be able to attend a university that is in the heart of New York City, has amazing course options, and some of the greatest professors in the world, is an amazing once in a lifetime experience that I hope I will get the chance to enjoy. I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with Columbia and that it is my absolute first choice university.

I rushed this one and I kinda don't like it but meh.

Undergraduate / Books, gateways through which I escape the reality that binds me; NYU Sup/Intrigues? [14]

What intrigues you? Tell us about one work of art, scientific achievement, piece of literature,
method of communication or place in the world and explain its significance to you.

Books have always been gateways through which I escape the reality that binds me. I have stared at stars only visible from galaxies light-years away, their luminescence as clear to me as our Sun is in the morning. The deafening roar of World War II has rung through my ears, sickening me with the cries of the fallen, including those of my family. Reading can take me anywhere, anytime, yet the greatest novel I have ever read is set in late 19th century Salinas Valley, California, a desolate plot of land that barely qualified as a farm.

At first glance, John Steinbeck's East of Eden uses a forgettable and plain setting to emphasize the importance of the plot, a modern day parallel to the biblical Cain and Abel story. Although, the central motif in the story is the perpetual conflict between good and evil, he purposefully uses the Salinas Valley to demonstrate how universal and timeless his point is. I still marvel at how masterfully Steinbeck wove together a story packed with symbolism, metaphors, moral ambiguity and multi-dimensional characters. From the deliciously evil antagonist Cathy Ames, to the conflicted Caleb Trask, and the wise Lee, he creates a story full of memorable and thought out characters. He sums it all up with the word: Timshel, a Hebrew word meaning 'thou mayest', allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions about what is morally correct, both in the book and in real life. I marvel at this novel because it shows that it doesn't take an inter-galactic setting to make a novel, it's the deep plot that matters.

I have 1557 characters, BUT 1500 is the limit. Help?