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,
If you saw my current room right now, you might ask what color the wall is. My dorm room walls are adorned with things ranging from the typical high school photo collage, to napkins I found at the dining hall with scribbles of an inspirational quote, to a sMRI scan of my brain. To be honest, these three things do give a good insight into me; I treasure my high school friendships, love spontaneous art, and am fascinated by the human brain. However, there is no way you could get a clear picture of my personality by just examining the decorations on my wall. You can, instead, learn that I feel the space you occupy should resonant with your personality. If someone else could come into my room, and call it their own, I would feel cheated. Individuality is essential and to me, I find expressing it outwardly can make me feel more at home. I look forward to sharing a room with you and hope to learn about you beyond just wall decorations.
Why Stanford?
I visited Stanford this past winter and was lucky enough to be shown around one of the Cellular and Molecular Physiology labs. Seeing students working in a lab gave me insight into where I could be in a couple years. When introduced to the students, I learned more than just about their research interests; one was recently married, one just returned from a vacation in Peru, and one was an avid biker. This information, while probably less significant to the research, helped me to see that relationships beyond science are fostered at Stanford. The family atmosphere of this lab really appealed to me, showing that Stanford didn't just prepare one for a career, but provided an environment for developing personal relationships as well.
(i will elaborate more on the opportunities of stanford, is this a good beginning?)
with things (It's always better to use a noun more specific than things. ... with artifacts ranging from the typical high school photo collage, to napkins I found at the dining hall with scribbles of an inspirational quote, to a sMRI scan of my brain. To be honest, these three things items do give a good insight into me; I treasure my high school friendships, love spontaneous art, and am fascinated by the human brain.----Wow, this is a well-structured sentence.
This first essay is great! I do always recommend, though, that you should be so excited about your career interests that you cannot stop talking about them... so I suggest talking some more about your goals and plans.
... more than just about their research interests; one was had been recently married, one had just returned from a vacation in Peru, and one was an avid biker.
(i will elaborate more on the opportunities of stanford, is this a good beginning?)----Telling them what they already know about the opportunities is not the point. The point is to show that YOU have done a hell of a lot of reading about your interests and that your interests are so developed that you know exactly what you want in a school. Put the pressure on them by showing that you really have put a lot of thought into YOUR specific interests...
:-)
