I'm packed between the sweat of five hundred people whom I do not know, wearing their alcohol breath as perfume. The band is singing my favorite song and my new friends- whose names I probably won't ever know- are swaying and forcing me to sway as well. If I really try and shimmy just a little, I could maybe lift an arm but for fear of accidentally slapping the girl next to me I choose to be still. Although my...

My high schools trained us like soldiers. It trained our malleable 14 year-old minds to convince ourselves that we will become doctors. It offers AP Biology and IB Biology and Human Anatomy and Genetics and HOSA and American Red Cross club and even a class where the students travel to the hospital to shadow the workers. And as a 16-year-old girl who couldn’t even drive after 10 pm, I knew that I was going to be a doctor. So when the...

Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. If you Google Images search “The Justice League” you can’t really see me because I’m behind Wonder Woman and she’s very tall. But nevertheless, I still am a part of their superhero community. I’m not as strong or as fast as any of them, but we all stand behind the same belief: we can change the world. I...

Academically, what draws me to Northwestern University is the Northwestern Undergraduate Premedical Scholars Program because I have an earnest belief that I can save the world and I know that I don’t have to do it by wearing a cape and tights. I am already in the process of getting my phlebotomy certificate, and am constantly at my local hospital, asking the nurses and physicians questions about their careers. Although I can’t use heat vision to do it,...

This essay worked because I was went to the college visit and I used a direct quote from the time. I knew the same woman who spoke to us at the college visit would be the same woman reading my essay so there was that connection. I was just very honest. The social justice theatre troupe taught me to always be honest. Show all of your sides. I'm going to a top rated medical school yet I talked about my...

I would have done a lot more research...

Take advantage of visit days! I committed once I visited Johns Hopkins. If you are ever applying to JHU and you have the opportunity to go to SOHOP, please go! It showcases so many activities, and you're always doing and seeing and you make so many...

Research research research! Know about your school! In my "Why Us" essay, I talked about things that I loved about my school that I had to search for. Your school can tell if you just skimmed the website a little or if you were genuinely interested and...