Science, Philosophy and Policy. If anyone were to look over my activities and interests and the things I've worked on, they'd likely characterize my life so far as one thing: unfocused. And it probably is, objectively speaking, in terms of practicality, or pursuing a specific, well defined career track, or having a biography-ready story, nicely packaged and blatantly coherent. Psychologists might call it some form of attention deficit disorder, my counselor, academic distraction, and my parents, a wandering mind. The...

Looking back, I think that I've spent more time than I would've liked to doing "what needs to be done". I've also found "what needs to be done"- the process of grooming for college - a bit strange, because of the mentality it reflects: people start planning their lives from an early age and use every opportunity to gain advantages. Although this system has its benefits, it's made college one step in an orchestrated process - the concept of...

I'd say that the most important thing about an application to admissions officers is whether or not your profile provides a "coherent and interesting" story. This means two things:...