Sample Essays: Future Goals
Please select from the following sample
application essays:
Essay 1: Georgetown |
Essay 2: Johns Hopkins
Note: The following essays were not edited by
EssayEdge Editors. They appear as they were initially reviewed by admissions
officers.
Georgetown, School target
When I think of Georgetown University, I think of Washington and
world affairs. I do not know yet exactly what type of professional career
I will pursue after schooling, but I do know that I wish to be
internationally aware and involved, and that Georgetown would provide me
with a solid foundation for that goal.
I am glad I do not know specifically what I want to do later on,
because it should be an adventure choosing which course I will take in
life. Thus, I have time to experiment and learn from a wide variety of
topics. At Georgetown, I am present with the opportunity to take any
classes I want and to be taught by some of the most learned and dynamic
professors in the world. I was once told that in college, I "will take
classes in subjects I had never thought or heard of, " and I am very
excited to do this.
If I were required to pick a major at this instant, I would choose
history. If history were only studying, memorizing and regurgitating
events, facts, and dates, I would be just as uninterested as most people.
However, in studying history, I get a chance to contemplate ideologies and
the nature of human beings. I believe that Georgetown University is the
best place in the world to study history. It is a school located in
Washington, D.C., the capital of the country, of outstanding academic
reputation and recognition; my resources would be absolutely unlimited.
Living in Washington, I would feel the pulse of our world today. The
United States is the world's dominant power and every issue of great
global importance is brought to the country's capital.
I have been told that although Georgetown has approximately 6,000
undergraduates, the students and faculty alike feel as if the school is a
small, interwoven community. I believe that this sense of closeness is a
vital aspect in an outstanding college experience. We learn most from
interactions among other people, and the fact that this reputation of
faculty accessibility and student involvement—both in the immediate
Georgetown community and in Washington, D.C.—exists, is very attractive
to me.
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Johns Hopkins, School target
The college admissions and selection process is a very important
one, perhaps one that will have the greatest impact on one's future. The
college that a person will go to often influences his personality, views,
and career. Therefore, when I hear people say that "it doesn't matter that
much which college you go to. You can get a good education anywhere, if
you are self-motivated," I tend to be rather skeptical. Perhaps, as far as
actual knowledge is concerned, that statement is somewhat valid. Physics
and mathematics are the same, regardless of where they are taught.
Knowledge, however, is only a small piece of the puzzle that is college,
and it is in the rest of that puzzle that colleges differ.
At least as important, or even more important, than knowledge, is
the attitude towards that knowledge. Last year, when my engineering team
was competing in the NEDC Design Challenge, held at Hopkins, after the
competition I and a few friends talked to a professor of civil
engineering. What struck me is the passion with which he talked about his
field of study. At Hopkins, everyone—the students, the faculty, the
administration—displays a certain earnestness about learning. This makes
Hopkins a good match for me, as I, too, am very enthusiastic about the
subjects I study. I love learning, and when those around me do too, it
creates a great atmosphere from which everyone benefits.
My enthusiasm and activeness extend not just to academics, but to
other aspects of life as well. I am very involved in extracurricular
activities, participating in my school's engineering club and math team,
and I love sports, having played on the varsity soccer and tennis teams
for three years. This makes Hopkins, with its great sport traditions and a
multitude of clubs and organizations, a great choice. Further, while in
college I intend to explore new activities. Because of my school's small
size and dual curriculum, there is a relatively narrow spectrum of
activities available for me. Hopkins affords a great opportunity for me to
branch out and participate in organizations to which I previously had no
access.
Another aspect of Hopkins that attracts me greatly is its student
body, diverse and multicultural, but at the same time uniformly strong
academically. Since I myself am a refugee from Russia, where I experienced
social and cultural anti-Semitism, multiculturalism and acceptance of
different groups are very important to me, not to mention that it allows
me to meet people of different backgrounds and learn of their varying
perspectives. And this summer at the U.S.A. Mathematical Talent Search
Young Scholars' Program, I experienced the thrill of working in a group
where everyone is on the same, or higher, intellectual level as I. I think
that, given my academic and cultural background, I would fit in well with
the student life at Hopkins and contribute to it.
Academically, too, I believe I would fit Hopkins well. Though
Hopkins is most known for its medical program, its engineering school is
also one of the best, and that is the general area of study I intend to
pursue. In high school, I've most enjoyed my mathematics and science
courses, particularly physics, and I have participated in the engineering
school, so attending Hopkins' engineering program would be a natural
extension of my high school interests. However, my interests are not
confined solely to the sciences. I enjoy courses from all areas of
curriculum, particularly unorthodox and thought-provoking ones. Therefore,
Hopkins, which according to the viewbook "is geared toward educating
students in the fundamentals of their field of interest while illuminating
wider possibilities through interdisciplinary study" is perfect for
me.
Of course, none of those aspects of Hopkins, neither their great
student body, their world-renowned faculty, their research centers, nor
their clubs and extracurricular opportunities, are worth anything unless
one takes advantage of them. That, however, is exactly what I intend to
do. While many people find the transition to college overwhelming,
therefore not participating in the student life fully the first year, I
hope to plunge immediately into the full array of possibility and make as
much use of them as possible. Though my soccer and tennis skills might
prove insufficient to earn me a place on Hopkins' varsity teams (though I
hope that's not the case,) I nevertheless want to play sports at least on
the club level. Other than that, however, nothing is set in stone except
for one thing—to take as full and broad advantage of what Hopkins has to
offer as possible.
Comments:
Both of these essays do a good job of showing that the writers know
the schools and have some specific reasons for wanting to attend them. The
first focuses more on the academic environment and surrounding city. The
second combines several aspects such as academics, extracurriculars, and a
diverse student body. Both applicants also use the opportunity to show
that they would fit in by highlighting their own interests and activities
(an interest in history in the first and math, tennis, and soccer in the
second).
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Return to: Lesson One: College
Essay Questions
