What If? I walked out of Hickory Run Service station and smelled horse poop. I crinkled my nose in disgust from the pungent smell. It was a clear morning, just like the kind that arrives after a storm. The drenched lot was filled with puddles scattered about the parked cars. My mom and I were on our way to visit colleges. As I dodged a rather vile looking puddle, the smell of horse excrement led me to reminisce back to...

There is a Quaker saying: ''Let your life speak.'' Describe the environment in which you were raised--your family, home, neighborhood, or community--and how it influenced the person you are today. I grew up in Maryland where I spent my free time exploring with neighborhood friends (all boys much to my dismay at the time). Living alongside a river, I was lucky to go sailing, waterskiing, and tubing. After attending a small private school, I switched to a larger middle...

For the second short response, we asked you to consider the world around you. Now, consider the world within. Taste in music, food, and clothing can make a statement while politics, sports, religion, and ethnicity are often defining attributes. Are you a vegetarian? A poet? Do you prefer YouTube or test tubes, Mac or PC? Are you the drummer in an all-girl rock band? Do you tinker? Use the richness of your identity to frame your personal outlook. I am...

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa told The New York Times, "The only way of not generating conflict is to do nothing, and I wasn't elected to do nothing." What issue quickens your pulse and inspires you to join the fray? In eleventh grade I did my final paper on how fast food, especially McDonald’s, has impacted our society. Personally, I have decided to never eat at McDonald’s again. When I was younger, I remember begging my mom to take...

I was deferred after I applied early decision to Tufts. I wrote a letter that night explaining why I wanted to go to Tufts so badly. It was candid and heartfelt, and I think that letter was one of the main reasons I was eventually accepted....

Sit down and write down some adjectives unique to yourself. Are you honest, humble, persistent, shy, outgoing, etc.? Now look at the school you are applying to-...

VISIT. It is the only way you will know if you will like the school. Also it shows initiative and the school recognizes that when they are reviewing your application....