Essay Test: Why U Penn? And How Does One Demonstrate Concern For Others?

The following essay was submitted to the University of Pennsylvania admission office in response to the application question.: Why Penn?

*****************************************************************

“Never stop learning”, for me, is more than a platitude often misattributed to Steve Jobs by pontificating elders after a few glasses of Scotch. It is the death-knell of complacency and ignorance; the inscription engraved on the tombstones of many failed endeavours. It is a steadfast belief which does not alter when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. O No, it is an ever fix’d mark— no matter how strait the gate, or charged with punishments the scroll. It allowed me to laugh when my ill-conceived attempt to test garlic juice’s anti-inflammatory properties on a pimple went south, or when I spent hours exploring developer libraries to understand how to debug code that needed an extra bracket, or when I botched up the execution of the Caro-Kahn during a chess competition.

Learning is a central part of my life, but my experiments with self-directed learning in the fields of languages and computer programming have prepared me for the academic rigours of a college education. Furthermore, I have always rebelled against the notion of an Iron Curtain between disciplines, and I look to the University of Pennsylvania’s One University Policy to facilitate the formation of varied neural networks through interdisciplinary study, while strengthening existing synaptic connections through a core liberal arts curriculum.

From creating a cipher consisting of hieroglyphs, geometrical shapes, and plain text as an eight year old who wanted to keep her journal entries secret, to undertaking midnight excursions into the rabbit hole christened Google Scholar a decade later— I have always been enchanted by the complex and the inscrutable. For this reason, I naturally gravitated toward both Economics and Neuroscience— two disciplines that explore complex systems, and reify the seeming randomness that governs their operations.

I also find Economics an honest, rather than dismal, science. A question is painstakingly framed. Objectivity reigns supreme. The austere beauty of statistical computation lends credence to, or destroys, any underlying assumptions that may have percolated through the objectivity-filter. Data and language recombine in a truth-mélange; the data talks, while the language provides context. Yet, the assumption of utility maximisation predicated on the concept of rational agents has its limitations (as illustrated by Dan Ariely in Predictably Irrational), and by minoring in Neuroscience, I hope to gain a novel perspective on the anatomy of economic decisions.

Through the Centre for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, in particular through Professor Ordonez’s work on financial crises, I would transition from passively scouring research papers to actively participating in the process of extending the frontiers of human knowledge. I would finally learn how experiments are designed, information is collated, and inferences are drawn from data. When I’m not nose-deep into a book, or swooning over the internship opportunities at the Kislak Centre of Rare Books And Manuscripts, I write. Kelly Writers House would be a valuable resource for me to hone my writing skills, and I can see myself writing about bi erasure on Filament, and how Bugs Bunny introduced me to classical music for God Save The Beat.

As co-founder of Empower (name changed by Parke Muth), an initiative that provides menstrual health products and information in partnership with schools in rural Himachal Pradesh, I have been constantly humbled and made aware of the lucky accident of birth that allows me access to a quality education abroad, and not the women and children I serve— some of whom have reserves of grit and perseverance that far eclipse mine. This fact also hit home when I worked briefly as a Math tutor at the National Association for the Blind. I hope to continue working with vision-impaired children by getting involved with the Penn chapter of Focus First, and promote literacy through participation in the Penn Reading Initiative.

I also like gargoyles.

Penn Gargoyles

***************************************************************
Rate this essay from 1-5 with 5 being the highest. What rating did you give it and why?

The Harvard report released this year, Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern For Others And The Common Good, calls for students to do more meaningful service in order to be offered admission at highly selective schools. Has this student demonstrated concern for others and the common good? Defend your answer.

Where is this student from? What makes you think so? Would she add diversity? Why or why not?

Does this student have a sense of humor? Should humor be a positive factor in evaluating essays? Why or why not?

Here is a link to another Why Penn essay. Which do you think is better and why?

Does this student cite good examples of why she would want to attend Penn? What are they? How well do you think she knows the school?

Does this student have a love of learning? If so, how do you know?

Did you have to look up some of the references in this essay? Is that a good or a bad thing?

Do you think Penn would be a good fit for this student? In addition to essays how should universities determine "fit" in an application?

Is this student smart? Defend your answer.

Would you want this student as your roommate?