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'I thought I was going to be a cowgirl' UT Austin Undeclared Transfer Essay



prncsslxn 1 / 3  
Jan 27, 2014   #1
If you were to ask me what I wanted to grow up to be ten years ago, you would have heard a different answer each time you asked. But as the years passed, the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" became "what is it you are majoring in?" The variety answers I could come up with as a child soon reduced to one: "I don't really know... I'm uh, undeclared." This question of what it was that I would decide to do for the rest of my life soon became the question that haunted me day and night.

I have always been told to dream, explore, and discover: three simple words that can encompass a whole world of meaning. As a dreamer I've wanted to become many different things growing up; a doctor, veterinarian, filmmaker, animator, teacher, accountant, engineer, sociologist, and in kindergarten, I thought I was going to be a cowgirl. When I first began college I realized that it was time to take my boundless number of dreams, and to begin exploring in order to narrow down my choices to just one. It was time to stop living in a dream and take a step into reality.

My first semester in college was more than an eye opener. I decided to attend the University of Texas at Arlington for my first year of college in order to commute and save money. I enrolled in a course called "Majors Exploration" and this one class taught me more about myself in one semester that I have in my entire high school career. I discovered that I had a love for solving problems, taking challenges and had creativity at my fingertips. But at the end, this was still one problem I could not solve, as I did not have a clear-cut view of the direction I was going to take with my career. Something didn't feel right. I felt like I couldn't completely engulf myself into discovering who I was an individual at UTA. As a curious explorer, my thirst for knowledge and experience grew the more I researched for a certain career and even several universities.

One night, I woke up unable to sleep and restless, so I took the time to continue my research. I searched up "what should I major in quiz" and I took every single quiz on the first two pages of hits on Google. To my surprise, I stumbled upon the discovery that most of my results came out under the major of computer science. The idea of computer science highly intrigued me and as I looked into it more and more, I discovered that the University of Texas was one of the top computer science colleges in the nation. At the moment, I knew I had to give it shot.

UT stood out to me as a school where I can see myself discovering who I am as an individual in a home away from home, explore the various subjects and potential career paths through the courses offered, and finally settling down to decide who I am going to be as an individual. I want the chance to contribute my efforts and talents to the top university in Texas, and for once, this is one thing I feel absolutely certain about.

abacada 3 / 11  
Jan 28, 2014   #2
Great essay but if I were you I wouldn't write it as an answer to the statement of purpose prompt. This will make you look shallow in front of the admission committee. Your insecurities about your name isn't an extenuating circumstance. It will just show that you haven't yet reached a level of maturity where you can get over these insecurities. I hope I am not too harsh.
OP prncsslxn 1 / 3  
Jan 28, 2014   #3
No! It's exactly what i needed to hear. Thank you!
OP prncsslxn 1 / 3  
Jan 28, 2014   #4
How do you think I should go about answering the prompt instead without sounding like I want pity? I don't necessarily have any extenuating circumstances or experience. I feel like all I have right now is my GPA, and I'm not too sure what I should write about or state.
abacada 3 / 11  
Jan 28, 2014   #5
My suggestion is that you should not focus on your name insecurities but instead focus on your uncertainty in choosing a major.

You can write a lot more about these two sentences. Right now these are statements that people just skim over. Write about how you've experimented with or thought about the careers you've listed and how you plan to make your parents proud by pursuing something you like at UT Austin. I'm not an award winning essay writer so take these suggestions with a grain of salt. By the way I just read another UT Austin transfer essay on the forum . You should read it as well to get some ideas. Hope this helps.
texasbreed13 3 / 13  
Jan 28, 2014   #6
Hey I am also applying to UT and this essay gave me trouble too. I think what you've got here is good and like its been said above you could elaborate on somethings and make it more personal. As a personal statement I've taken it that they won't to know something more meaningful about you, that speaks to your character, personality and what you'll add to the school. Anyways, best of luck to you!
abacada 3 / 11  
Jan 31, 2014   #7
When I first began college I realized that it was time to take my boundless number of dreams, and to begin exploring in order to narrow down my choices to just one.

When I first began college I realized that it was time to begin exploring in order to narrow down my choices of career to just a few. Saying you wanted to limit your career to just one sounds impractical.

My first semester in college was more than an eye opener. I decided to attend the University of Texas at Arlington for my first year of college in order to commute and save money.

I think these three sentences don't add anything to your essay. Just add "In my first year of college..." to the next sentence.

But at the end, this was still one problem I could not solve, as I did not have a clear-cut view of the direction I was going to take with my career. Something didn't feel right. I felt like I couldn't completely engulf myself into discovering who I was an individual at UTA. As a curious explorer, my thirst for knowledge and experience grew the more I researched for a certain career and even several universities.

You can compress these sentences into just one like "After the "Majors Exploration" course I still felt that I could not find a career that would express my full individuality so I kept on exploring."

I like that you mentioned your search on Google. Hope you get admitted.
OP prncsslxn 1 / 3  
Jan 31, 2014   #8
Thank you so much!
Also, I have to write an essay on an "Issue of Importance." I've narrowed the choices down to Model Minority (especially about being asian), bullying, divorce, or how society lacks passion and ambition (going to school to become doctors, lawyers etc bc society defines that as success vs pursuing passion.) I don't know if those topics would necessarily be "good enough" for admissions.


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