Prompt: Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your interests, intended major, or field of study.
An unknown series of chemical reactions ends with the emission of electromagnetic radiation and various particles in every direction. A small assortment of the radiation speeds outward, past wondering space debris, toward the brilliantly blue planet earth. After its eight minute voyage, the radiation is again broken up as it encounters a series of convenient safeguards, leaving only a small portion to escape through the folds of the atmosphere. It races through the medium of air and reflects itself off the delicately placed mirror of a small child's light microscope. The light bounces upward and produces a visible projection of a Paramecium, which fills the spectating child with joy.
On my fifth birthday I ...
Corrections and suggestions are greatly appreciated and I will try to return the favor. :)
On my fifth birthday I received many gifts. Although among them was the light microscope and prepared slides from my grandmother, this gift was much more than its physical representation. My grandmother's gift to me was the introduction to the world of science. It was the seed of interest that took root and grew exponentially. It was one of the greatest presents I will ever receive.
As I grew older with this gift , my TV habits slowly began to be consumed by The Discovery Channel, and my readings were overtaken by National Geographic. However, the lack of depth in science topics left me, for the most part, uninterested in school. Although this progressively changed as I grew older, the most notable spark of interest? appeared in my AP Biology class.
The class was in many ways a parallel*I would word it "The class had many parallels* to my Honors Biology class. However, there was one very significant difference between the two. After having many of the students in Honors Biology, my teacher, Mr. Sonnen, allowed a more comfortable atmosphere with open discussions and more hands on and self-directed activities. The finest example of this appeared when my AP Biology class approached its end. We were given the task of breeding fruit flies and statistically calculating their genetic outcomes at the end of the experiment. Now, being a fan of numbers and science, this lab was a slice of heaven*avoid cliche* .
At the labs completion, I had produced well over four-hundred fruit flies, but all of which fell in a nearly perfect nine-three-three-one ratio that I predicted. This experiment was different than all of the others. It took our knowledge and applied it vigorously. Ultimately, the students were in charge of how everything turned out. We were not being told to place X solution in Y container. We were instructed to pick two sets of genetics, predict, and breed. This complete hands-on approach has left me looking back at this experiment as one of the most self-learning experience within my high school life.
The taste of the freedom from this genetics lab has left me eager to again become involved with a project that I can progress through with freedom. Among all of the assorted college programs offered, I have to say that I am the most interested in the opportunity to perform undergraduate research. Cornell University appears to have developed*sounds unconfident* a strong foundation to connect its students with research. The potential to receive research funding as well as collaborative facility support from programs like the Hughes Scholars and the Rawlings Cornell Presidential Research Scholars further draws my attention on the idea of going through with my own research and it is in this way that I hope to connect and contribute to the Cornell community.
Overall, an excellent essay, one of the best I've read today. I'm also applying to Cornell, I'd appreciate it if you had a look
The taste of the freedom from in this genetics lab has left me...
This is great! The first paragraph is so poetic, the only thing you need to worry about is that some readers won't appreciate it because they won't entirely understand it! I think this will be well-received.