<p>Hey everyone, Im planning on transferring out of USC, and I could use some help in my common app transfer essay, Id really appreciate any comments, thanks!</p>
<p>I just got into the middle of the best chapter (Genius and Insanity: Creativity and Brain Disease) of The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius, and as soon as the adrenaline increased through my veins, my naniji (grandmother) came to a halt in front of the Fremont Neurology Clinic, where I had been shadowing Dr. Khalsa over the summer. My interest in the application of neuroscience and cognition to the health sciences only increased with each book Dr. Khalsa assigned to keep me occupied and from tearing apart his brain searching for answers. Each day in his clinic brought a few answers, and only more questions. This was nearly 4 years ago. I recalled this memory a short while ago as I was doing a problem set involving the distribution of a nerve growth factor from an implant through the blood brain barrier in order to determine the time necessary to invoke a therapeutic level of the NGF powder. This was biomedical engineering, as least that is how the professor displayed the subject to us. As 40 freshman sat in his intro to BME lecture the professor offered us the blue pill, as a clever metaphor to the matrix, symbolized as taking a chance to do something great, and immerse ourselves in a subject with the possibility to truly realizing the potential of biomedical engineering. I, like many other freshman, had high expectations for this major. After my first lecture, thoughts of the development of devices such as pacemakers, insulin pumps, neural prosthesis, and deep brain stimulation flooded my mind. I expected to be able to create devices to help sustain the body as the groundwork for this major. I expected to be able to combine my interest in the neurosciences and cognitive behavior with the application of engineering practices to help understand and fix the brain and body. I was sadly mistaken as my experiences with senior students, teaching assistants, and professors told me that I had perhaps chosen the wrong path, a major that didnt wholeheartedly embrace my passion. As I perused the strict course schedule set in stone for this major, I realized the degree of programming, as well as electrical and mechanical engineering made biomedical the adjective of my major. BME is a lot more engineering based with more emphasis on simulations rather than actual device design or tissue engineering. Unfortunately, I realized this is not what I had truly wanted to pursue in my four years of college. I have been steadfast in my passion of neuro/cognitive sciences, as I have even begun research with a graduate student regarding post-mating behavior of fruit flies in a specific geographical cline. My interests are not restricted to neuroscience but expand to linguistics, cognition, psychology, artificial intelligence, and behavioral studies, a major that many universities offer as cognitive science. USC unfortunately does not offer a major that combines my interdisciplinary interests. I realize that while the University of Southern California is a wonderful institution where I have made many great friendships, I believe that it is not where my heart lies. USC has been great but I feel that due to its lack of the major I want to study, coupled with my hesitancy whether the student body is a perfect fit for me, makes me feel as though I might be thrive at another institution.
I believe that studying at a university so close to home, I have not gained the independence my peers have that left home to study in different states and cities. Admittedly, I chose USC because it was close to home, and I knew I wouldnt be homesick by staying so close to my large and extended family in southern California. Instead of pushing myself to strive for excellence and stepping out of my comfort zone, I settled to stay near home, and I feel that Im paying for the decision. While it is daunting to leave an institution that has become so close to me (literally as my permanent residence lies in the hills of Los Angeles), I feel it is time to move on to study a subject that I am truly passionate about, and also leave the city I have grown so fond of to truly attain my ideal college experience. I feel that by transferring, I will be able to study what I truly have wanted to study, I will be able to get more involved with research that comes with the territory of cognitive science, and I will undoubtedly push myself to be outgoing and thrive in a new and exciting environment, by finally stepping out of my comfort zone.</p>