Connections The other introductions are over. Now she is looking at me for an answer. “Let me guess,” the new girl at our lunch table says, her face lighting up with a knowing smile as she makes the connection. “Music?” “Neuroscience,” I answer automatically. “Really?” she inquires, her eyes flickering over to the large black stripe of duct tape across the middle of my violin case, to my red shirt detailing the foreign titles of “The Divine Comedy” under the...

I first learned about Carleton College when I read Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014. What immediately caught my attention was that the undergraduates of Carleton had recently been awarded the most National Science Foundation fellowships for graduate studies. As I read on, I realized that the descriptions of the students resonated closely with what I wanted from a collegiate social culture. My visit only solidified my intrigue. Though a tad too dreary and rainy for most people to enjoy, my tour...

Prompt: Carleton is powered by wind turbines. What empowers you? (no more than 150 words) Response: Recently, I read a New York Times article titled “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This.” The writer described a date in which she and her partner recreated an experiment studying intimate relationships. They asked each other thirty-six increasingly intimate and revealing questions, and eventually, the writer enjoyed the vulnerability of both her partner and herself because it allowed them to understand each other...