After days of travel, a group of sailors spot an island on the horizon, but something is wrong: their charts say no island should be there. Coming closer, they realize the island is composed of massive buildings, larger than any they had seen before, shaped in a way that can only be called non-Euclidean, defying convexity and concavity. Exploring the island, the sailors make a horrifying discovery, a monster larger than any animal, human-like but also non-human, its face covered...

Little pigs, french hens, a family of bears. Blind mice, musketeers, the Fates. Parts of an atom, laws of thought, a guideline for composition. Omne trium perfectum? Create your own group of threes, and describe why and how they fit together. A superstitious sports fan, a disillusioned cook, and a Greek king. Omne trium perfectum? Not exactly… It is the 7th inning and my Cleveland Indians have runners on first and second. At home, my brother and I are trying...

In this essay, please reflect on something you would like us to know about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams creatively explains the universe through his satirical musings on what drives existence. In any given chapter, Adams’s universe is steered by a divine creator, hyper-intelligent mice from another dimension, sheer randomness, or, of course, the number forty-two. His warped but ultimately irrefutable logic...

What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified? The best debate round I have ever witnessed is the final of the 2013 National Debate Tournament between Northwestern and Emporia State. While NU did not come out on top, watching this debate sparked my interest in the...

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago. “Can you give me an example of when that actually happened?” an opposing debater asks during cross-examination. “Of course. During the Reagan Administration…” And I go on to explain diversity drop-off during midterm elections. In the same tournament, I would debate topics ranging...

Columbia’s acclaimed focus on interdisciplinary education is what I find most appealing about the university. From my school’s IB Program, I have experience with classes that emphasize crossing intellectual boundaries, and I have loved every second of it. IB even offers a class, Theory of Knowledge, dedicated to analyzing the interaction of different areas of knowledge. I am a passionate student of philosophy, especially postmodernism, but I also love studying economics. An avid history buff with a focus...