Learn by Example: Intellectual Curiosity
When you are applying to college, a baseline assumption is that you are continuing your education in order to learn from the professors and academic resources available at the schools you are applying to. Therefore, one way to impress admissions officers is to show them how you can contribute to the academic community in college.
This allows the admissions officer to easily visualize how you will fit in at the school. Some applicants have a strong and immediate passion for an area of study, while others find themselves slowly growing an appreciation for a subject over time.
The one trait the students in this section share is a strong commitment to learning and education. You will read about students exploring their intellectual capacity: a girl learns to appreciate ancient languages, a boy uses his own experience to teach younger children how to be effective public speakers, and an aspiring doctor performs brain surgery on a rat. Tell admissions about how you’ve gone above and beyond in your academic explorations—and also show them you have the passion to continue this journey when you come to college.
“Ut Italiam laeti Latiumque petamus”
“Beth, would you mind reading the next few lines and translating them for us?”
I first performed brain surgery before I learned how to drive. I vividly remember guiding a slender, metal scalpel and the thin trail of red that followed.
When I broke the news to my volunteer team, we were in a church basement, cleaning up after the final event of the summer. I tried to downplay it.
I was in 9th grade the first time I stumbled upon a copy of Newsweek.
0x=0. This expression of mathematical mockery tells me that I know nothing; ambiguity pervades my world.
I’m better at writing other people’s stories than I am at writing my own.
Languages have played a central role in my life.
The summer after my freshman year, I found myself in an old class- room holding a blue dry-erase marker, realizing what should have been obvious: I had no idea how to be a teacher.
Canvass the people who know me—friends, family, teammates—and I’m certain they would all agree on one description of me. I’m a good student. I’d offer that label up myself.
Topher began working at Stanford University’s Career Planning & Placement Center in 1998. His career spans 30 years. At Santa Clara University, he managed Bay Area, Los Angeles and Texas territories where he recruited, evaluated, and admitted athletes, freshman, and transfer applicants. At Ohlone College in Fremont, he served as Interim Director of Admission and Records. Since 2011, he has worked in test prep and college consulting, providing guidance to families preparing their children for college.
Topher sees applicants as they are, then inspires and motivates them to step up and into their potential. His clients have enjoyed extraordinary success at institutions ranging from selective Ivies to renowned public universities.