TOP LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES Yale NUS College

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1 TOP LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES Yale NUS College Quick Take Questions: Please answer the Quick Takes in 30 words or fewer. Quick Take 1: What would you do with a free afternoon tomorrow? Quick Take 2: If I could do something with no risk of failing, I would Quick Take 3: My friends would be surprised if they knew that I Quick Take 4: If you could do high school again, what's one thing you'd do differently? Quick Take 5: If you were choosing students to form a Yale-NUS class, what question would you ask here that we have not? 1. What in particular about Yale-NUS college has influenced your decision to apply? (250 words or less) 2. Please choose one of the following essay questions and upload your response (500 words or less): (Limit: pdf file under 500 KB) a. Please describe an interesting interaction you've had with someone different than yourself. Who was the person and what was the nature of the interaction? b. Describe a moment in your life when feelings, ideas, things, or people came together with such power that your perspective on an issue of importance to you was fundamentally altered. c. If you could change one thing about your community, what would it be and why? d. Define your own question and answer it. Amherst College In addition to the essay you are writing as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a supplementary writing sample from all applicants. To satisfy Amherst s supplementary writing requirement, you may choose either Option A or Option B. Option A: Please respond to one of the following quotations in an essay of not more than 300 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay. 1. Rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. In the natural sciences, I would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. Rigor is, of course, very important. But the most important value is insight insight into the workings of the world. It may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments. -Kannan Jagannathan, Professor of Physics, Amherst College 2. Literature is the best way to overcome death. My father, as I said, is an actor. He s the happiest man on earth when he s performing, but when the show is over, he s sad and

2 troubled. I wish he could live in the eternal present, because in the theater everything remains in memories and photographs. Literature, on the other hand, allows you to live in the present and to remain in the pantheon of the future. Literature is a way to say, I was here, this is what I thought, this is what I perceived. This is my signature, this is my name. - Ilán Stavans, Professor of Spanish, Amherst College. From The Writer in Exile: an interview with Ilán Stavans by Saideh Pakravan for the Fall 1993 issue of The Literary Review. 3. It seems to me incumbent upon this and other schools graduates to recognize their responsibility to the public interest...unless the graduates of this college are willing to put back into our society those talents, the broad sympathy, the understanding, the compassion... then obviously the presuppositions upon which our democracy are based are bound to be fallible. -John F. Kennedy, at the ground breaking for the Amherst College Frost Library, October 26, Stereotyped beliefs have the power to become self-fulfilling prophesies for behavior. - Elizabeth Aries, Professor of Psychology, Amherst College. From her book Men and Women in Interaction, Reconsidering the Difference. 5. Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted. -Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, the first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals Option B: Please submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. Optional Research Questions: If you have engaged in significant research in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities that was undertaken independently of your high school curriculum, please provide a brief description of the research project (50-75 words). Where, when and under whose mentorship did you conduct this research? (Provide mentor s name, title and institutional affiliation.) If your research has been submitted to any national competition (e.g., Siemens, Intel) and/or accepted for professional publication, please provide additional details. Bowdoin College In an effort to understand your interests and aspirations for college, we ask you to select one of the three topics below and provide a response of up to 250 words. Bowdoin students and alumni often cite world-class faculty and opportunities for intellectual engagement, the College's commitment to the Common Good, and the special quality of life on the coast of Maine as important aspects of the Bowdoin experience. Reflecting on your own interests and experiences, please comment on one of the following: 1. Intellectual engagement 2. The Common Good 3. Connection to place

3 Your application will not be considered complete without this essay. Carleton College 1. Why are you interested in Carleton College? 2. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see the word "Knowledge?" 3. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see the word "Play?" 4. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see the word "Future?" Harvey Mudd College 1. What influenced you to apply to Harvey Mudd College? What about the HMC curriculum and community appeals to you? Please limit your response to 500 words. 2. Please select one of the three prompts to answer. Please limit your response to 500 words. A. "Scientific research is a human endeavor. The choices of topics that we research are based on our biases, our beliefs, and what we bring: our cultures and our families. The kinds of problems that people put their talents to solving depends on their values.\" - Dr. Clifton Poodry - How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve? B. In a world where technology continually adapts and progresses, Harvey Mudd College expects that our students will be aware of the impact of their work on society. How would you use new advances to improve your life and/or the lives of those around you? Describe your idea and its potential impact. Feel free to be as creative or as practical as you like. C. What is one thing we won't know about you after reading your application that you haven't already reported in the Common Application Additional Information section? Optional: You may include examples of mathematical or scientific endeavors or research abstracts if relevant. Please limit your submission to two pages. Middlebury College 1. Please feel free to briefly share with us anything you would like us to know that is not otherwise covered in the Common Application (250 word max) 2. You may use this section to upload additional material for our review. Arts supplements may only be uploaded via SlideRoom. Pomona College 1. Please respond to one of the following two prompts: Option 1: What has sparked your curiosity in the last year? How did you respond? Option 2: Pomona s Critical Inquiry course is required of all first-year students, and is designed to be highly interdisciplinary and engaging. Recent class titles include: \"Molecules of the Mind\", \"The Economics of Sin\", and \"Punk: Poets, Politics and Provocation\". Imagine you were hired to design and teach a Critical Inquiry course. Describe the title of the class, its contents, and why you chose it.

4 2. If there is a broader context in which we should consider your performance and involvements, or if there are any factors that may affect your adjustment to college life, please provide that information below. 3. If you would like to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application, please provide that information below. Swarthmore College 1. Please write about why you are interested in applying to and attending Swarthmore. (500 word limit) 2. Swarthmore's residential liberal arts community is shaped by its intellectually and culturally vibrant members, who come together to learn and grow through their shared and unique experiences. Briefly discuss how your academic and life experiences would inform, affect, and strengthen our community of thinkers. (500 word limit) 3. If you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application, please do so here. (250 word limit) Vassar College 1. Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below. Limit 350 words 2. How did you learn about Vassar and what aspect of our college do you find appealing? Limit 350 words 3. Your Space is your opportunity to allow the Committee on Admission to learn something about you that you have not addressed in another section of the application. Your Space is entirely optional. If you choose to include a Your Space submission, be sure it is labeled with your name, high school, and date of birth. Due to the volume of submissions, we will be unable to return your work. Please do not send anything that is irreplaceable. 4. If you wish to provide details of circumstances not reflected in the application, please enter or upload a file here. Similarly, if you wish to upload your resume, include it here. Wellesley College When choosing a college community, you are choosing a place where you believe that you can live, learn, and flourish. Generations of inspiring women have thrived in the Wellesley community, and we want to know what aspects of this community inspire you to consider Wellesley. We know that there are more than 100 reasons to choose Wellesley, but the ''Wellesley 100'' is a good place to start. Visit and let us know, in two well-developed paragraphs, which two items most attract, inspire, or energize you and why. (p.s. ''Why'' matters to us.) (500kb limit) Wesleyan University Optional Writing Supplement: Please select one from the following questions and respond in 250 words or less.

5 1. Wesleyan students are interesting and interested, known for their intellectual curiosity, conversations and collaborations. Please tell us about an interesting conversation or collaboration in which you ve recently taken part. 2. Wesleyan President Michael Roth believes a liberal arts education is a pragmatic choice in these times. In what way do you see a liberal arts education having practical value? 3. What recent news story local or global has resonated with you personally? Share the story and tell us why it had that impact on you. Old Questions: 1. For all applicants to Wesleyan University (question is optional, but recommended): Wesleyan values engagement and community. Please elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences which is important to you and demonstrates these qualities. (250 words maximum) 2. For applicants to the Wesleyan Freeman Asian Scholarship Program: Please tell us how you would use your Wesleyan education to make a contribution to your home country. (400 words max.) Williams College At Williams we believe that bringing together students and professors in small groups produces extraordinary academic outcomes. Our distinctive Oxford-style tutorial classes in which two students are guided by a professor in deep exploration of a single topic are a prime example. Each week the students take turns developing independent work an essay, a problem set, a piece of art and critiquing their partner s work. Focused on close reading, writing, and oral defense of ideas, more than 70 tutorials a year are offered across the curriculum, with titles like Biomedical Ethics, Women in National Politics, and Extraterrestrial Life in the Galaxy: a Sure Thing or a Snowball s Chance? Imagine yourself in a tutorial at Williams. Of anyone in the world, whom would you choose to be the other student in the class, and why? (Please limit your response to 300 words.)