These experiments have led me to discover that my passion lies in working to understand what leads people to function best and realize their full potential. I want to unlock the secrets behind their motivations, discover how people learn, and figure out how to elicit reactions. I want to find solutions to problems and behaviors, and learn how to use that information to make life better. I am interested in research, in analyzing data to find better solutions, and in...

My high school is considered to be very academically rigorous; we are only given the option to take the highest level available of any required core class. As a result, I have taken only AP history courses, although history is not a strong subject of mine. While I believe I might have experienced a higher level of academic success if I had the ability to take geography, world history, and US history as non-AP courses, the ongoing challenge has put...

When I first created a list of prospective colleges, I was drawn to small, liberal arts, undergraduate-only schools. I have come to appreciate and flourish at my high school, a small, academically rigorous college-preparatory campus that models the discussion-based classes of a liberal arts college, and I would love to continue my education in a similar environment. I am also passionate about research, and a low student-to-faculty ratio at an undergraduate campus allows more opportunities to participate in research than...

I attend a high school with a strong college-bound culture where students prepare for higher education. I spend most of my time outside of school taking classes and performing at HITS Theatre, a school that trains students for careers in the performing arts. Both places demand a large commitment of time and energy, and I am willing to devote the majority of my free time to classes and performances at HITS even though I do not intend to pursue a...

My three primary academic interests are psychology, statistics, and anatomy. I was initially drawn to the cognitive behavioral aspects of psychology, and the research done in the field to understand human behavior. My AP Statistics class opened my eyes to the discipline of research and reporting psychological results, and demonstrated that conducting experiments was a realistic dream. Meanwhile, anatomy and physiology revealed my aptitude for solving puzzles through my fascination in studying how the body functions as a unit. I...

History has never been my favorite subject, and the graduation requirements at my school fueled the three-year bitter battle between me and AP courses that I only recently won. The nature of AP courses leaves little room for extensive discussion and analysis of overarching themes, but focuses instead on memorization of names and dates from a textbook.The sheer volume of information presented in history classes is intimidating, and I have long struggled to find the best way to approach...