Chemistry major/LSA curriculum ; Unique qualities @UMichigan

Any suggestions would be helpful!

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)

"Now, repeat after me! Leo the Lion goes Grrrrrr." The majority of chemistry students merely rolled their eyes at Mrs. Barrett's corny reference. Going about in her energetic and merry manner, she tried to teach each student, including myself, the basic concept of half reactions. While she continued to fill our minds with more cute analogies and other students turned their attention to doodling, I continued to be fascinated by learning more and more about Chemistry.

Ever since Mrs. Barrett, dressed as Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus, walked into my sophomore year chemistry class, I have been in love with chemistry. With her, I delved into a new world filled with strange words and confusing topics like chemical reactions, stoichiometry, nuclear decay, and kinetics. Chemistry teaches me not only general facts and concepts but also gives me a deeper understanding of the world I live in. Cooking is chemistry. Everything I touch or taste or smell is a chemical. Chemistry isn't secret knowledge, useless to anyone but a scientist. It's a useful explanation of everyday occurrences, and I want to learn more about it.

The diverse number of programs and research opportunities at Michigan's College of Literature, Science and Arts, would allow me to explore my interest in chemistry and other disciplines as I complete my pre-medicine requirements. Chemistry would provide me with the knowledge to help me in medical school and beyond. The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program would allow me to gain valuable research experience while working in a lab or hospital setting, working directly with patients. A past program, in which students characterized the role of the viral Tax protein in causing leukemia and lymphomas in humans, would certainly be beneficial in helping me achieve my final goal of becoming an Oncologist.

The LSA curriculum would allow me to learn a new language, take an internship, travel the world, and study more of the subjects that I am interested in. There are countless opportunities available that, when combined with my class work, would make me the type of thoughtful person poised to succeed in whatever career I end up in. The ample opportunities, like SERVE and the Ginsburg Center, would allow me to continue my passion for community service in College. The University of Michigan offers me abundant opportunities to further my interests and provides a suitable atmosphere for me to utilize my potential to the fullest. With that said, I look forward to the day that I will be honored to call myself a Wolverine.

You can just say you like chemistry in one sentence, instead of telling them a story that doesn't really have a deep meaning.

Unnecessary


I'm pretty sure 99.9999% of the applicants write that same statement with respect to their nature. Be an iconoclast!


a past program? So it doesn't exist anymore?


Change. Not suitable. More like exceptional. You're implicitly disparaging them.

You need a LOT more work on this essay. A lot of generic facts. Go on their chemistry page and find out your interests under their offered concentrations. Find something unique that not many people would put on their essay. Then, with their programs, you can connect it to yourself. Like the SERVE opportunity; it describes your inclination to give back to the community.