1.) What in particular about Yale has influenced your decision to apply? (Please answer in 100 words or less.)
Yale's a little bit quirky, exceptionally ambitious, and has a dash of brilliance, wit, and passion for the world. Just like me. Yale also values creative teaching. So do I. When I was walking down Hillhouse Avenue in October, I saw a professor swinging a bucket full of water vivaciously around his head, (hopefully) demonstrating centripetal motion. Seeing a professor take the time to creatively demonstrate an academic concept for his students reminded me of why I love learning. If that class in any way represents Yale's identity, then how could I think of going anywhere else?
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2.) Please respond in 150 characters (roughly 25 words) or fewer to each of the questions below:
a. You have been granted a free weekend next month. How will you spend it?
After I shadowed five doctors, donated to charity, and traveled the world, I would invite my friends over to watch Breaking Bad and eat Pinkberry.
b. What is something about which you have changed your mind in the last three years?
I have changed my mind about wearing sunscreen. The closest thing to tanning for me is a third degree burn. Pale can be pretty, too.
c. What is the best piece of advice you have received while in high school?
Last week when my computer crashed, erasing my hard drive (and my college essays), I remembered my mom's advice: "Don't sweat the small stuff".
d. What do you wish you were better at being or doing?
I wish I were a morning person. Showing up to school looking like an extra from The Walking Dead is only ok at an all girls school.
e. What is a learning experience, in or out of the classroom, that has had a significant impact on you?
Going to the beaches of Normandy and seeing pits in the ground from D-Day was incredibly powerful. I have been a WWII fanatic ever since.
3.) If any of your education prior to secondary school has taken place outside of the country where you currently reside, please list the dates of attendance, institution, country and language of instruction.
(01/05/2004-02/01/2006) Marymount International School - Paris, France. Classes taught in French and English
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1E). In this essay, please reflect on something you would like us to know about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application, or on something about which you would like to say more. You may write about anything-from personal experiences or interests to intellectual pursuits. (Please answer in 500 words or less.)
Sitting across from Eighteen, admiring her dark, shiny, perfectly flat ironed hair, I found it hard to believe that she was once a boy named Aaron. There to drop off a donation to the Ali Forney Center for LGBT youth, I listened to her tales of being kicked out of her home for being transgender. From the age of fourteen until eighteen she'd lived in shelters, strangers' homes, and on the street, prostituting herself to stay alive. She calls herself "Eighteen" because that is when she found the Center and reclaimed her life. I also spoke to Angel, who had been strangled by her minister father for being a lesbian. When she escaped her home and came to New York, she stayed in adult shelters - never feeling safe. Eventually she found a home at the Ali Forney Center and is now going to school.
It's incredible to know that a bunch of Catholic school girls wearing blue jeans were able to bring such needed help to these marginalized teens. You'd be surprised by what some girls will do to get out of wearing our plaid uniform skirt. As president of the student government, I've raised around $25,000 dollars by orchestrating "Denim Days." With a minimum donation of $5 (most give more), you can wear blue jeans with your polo for a whole day. We've donated money to breast cancer research, incarcerated mothers, and even the children of Zimbabwe (the nuns at our school act as the mules to sneak the money into the country).
Open-minded and inclusive, my school contradicts the stereotypical notions of Catholic institutions. Last year, my Catholic, head-of-the-religious-department minister officiated at the wedding of my lesbian French teacher. Every year we have an ally week, where we address the biases that may ostracize some of our classmates who have different sexual identities.
When I proposed the idea for a gay-straight alliance club called "PRISM," there was no hesitation in approving it. As part of the club we are required to read the news every day and keep a keen eye on the status of the gay community. When we heard that Hurricane Sandy had destroyed one of our local shelters for LGBTQ youth called the Ali Forney Center, we didn't hesitate to take action - sending love and relief their way.
It wasn't until I met Eighteen, Angel, and the other teens I was directly affecting, that I realized the importance of affinity groups. I saw in their eyes an appreciation of my understanding and genuine concern. I learned that establishing an emotional fellowship is just as important as providing financial assistance.
PRISM opened my eyes to the simple need for compassion and consideration in life. I have grown not only as a world citizen, but also as someone who realizes that change won't happen without actively connecting with those you are serving. Whether a Catholic or an atheist (like me!), or whether gay or straight, this call to action exists equally for everyone.
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2E). If you selected one of the engineering majors, please write a brief essay telling us what has led you to an interest in this field of study, what experiences (if any) you have had in engineering, and what it is about Yale's engineering program that appeals to you.
Engineering is fascinating to me because it is a physical form of science - you take what you know from text books and apply it to real life. It's the perfect use of my scientific brain and artistic talents. In all of my experiences in the medical field, internships and pre-medical programs, I have found myself drawn to the tools and machines that doctors use to heal people. A surgeon only has his hands to work with, but an engineer can enhance his healing ability ten-fold. Microscopic scissors, cameras that travel through veins, doplers, angiograms - all the work of biomedical engineers.
I spent one year training for the Science Research Mentoring Program at the American Museum of Natural History. I am currently paired with a scientist in the evolutionary primatology department and have been working on a project in physical anthropology. Studying the differences between males and females, and entire species within the primate order, I began analyzing trochlear angles (the angle between the upper and lower arm). Using geometric morphometrics and 3D models of bones, I am collecting data about, essentially, elbows. Biomedical engineers looking for better ways to design prosthetics are doing work that parallels my research.
From vaccines, to nano-robots, to 3D printing organs, it all seemed like the science-fiction behind healthcare. It wasn't until I used the Da Vinci, a robotic "virtual" surgical system for minimally invasive procedures, that I was able to experience biomedical engineering's real-life application. I'd recently participated in practice drills with the regular laparoscopic tools in the medical simulation center at the Hospital of the UPenn, and was shocked at how restrictive they were. There was no radial motion, it was hard to see, and I couldn't feel what was going on. Successfully moving blocks from peg to peg seemed like a victory. The difference I experienced doing the same exercise while using the Da Vinci was monumental.
I would love to expand on the work I've done by becoming an Engineering Major at Yale University. There are many intriguing areas of study in your program that I would like to explore. I am particularly interested in the Niklason labs, which study vascular generation and are developing strategies to culture cardiac muscle and lung tissue. I would love one day to be able to engineer new arteries with stem cells from bone marrow.
Yale has a small engineering department, and individual attention from professors is inspiring and helpful to students. They can advise about research opportunities, and help students utilize the resources at the Yale School of Medicine.
Engineering at Yale is special because it creates graduates who are well rounded and involved in a broad array of educational interests. My passions revolve around math and science, but my identity spans far beyond those areas. At Yale, I can take classes in subjects that bring me joy; art, literature, linguistics, and anthropology. Engineers shouldn't be limited to their majors. They should be humanitarians and understand who they are helping.
I agree with everyone else "donated to charity" sounds awkward.
"Yale's a little bit quirky, exceptionally ambitious, and has a dash of brilliance, wit, and passion for the world. Just like me." To me, this sounded a bit cocky. From what I read, I do not doubt that you are all of those things, but I don't know how admissions officers at Yale would feel about that. But feel free to ignore me.
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading everything you wrote and best of luck! You have a good sense of humor in the short questions and the LGBT essay was interesting
