<p>My response was not to challenge the wisdom of a service project in Senegal but to raise questions that an adcom reading your essays may have. The more common route is for students to apply to college their senior year and defer their acceptance to take a gap year. Your reasons are valid. Your essay should convey your heart felt reasons for taking a gap year before you apply for admission. </p>
<p>Living overseas is a great opportunity to look at American culture from a foreign perspective. For example, even the police do not carry guns in England or Japan. Imagine trying to explain to a Brit or a Japanese friend the Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman trial. </p>
<p>By 2020, the University plans to reduce CO2 emissions to 1990 levels, or 95,000 metric tons per year. If the university took no action to reduce emissions, the university would produce 176,000 metric tons of CO2 by 2020 driven by its expanding operations. The university has installed a 5.4-megawatt solar collector field on 27 acres near the campus. The system, comprising 16,500 photovoltaic panels, is expected to be one of the largest single installations at a U.S. college or university. The collector field should generate 8 million kilowatt-hours per year See: [Home</a> « Princeton University Office of Sustainability](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/sustainability/]Home”>Office of Sustainability) </p>
<p>Professor of Ecology Stephen Pacala’s concept of a stabilization wedges is the organizing principle in the PBS Nova video on how we can stop global warming. [NOVA</a> | Power Surge](<a href=“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/power-surge.html]NOVA”>Power Surge | NOVA | PBS)
Princeton University scientists are leaders in the study of global warming. Recent research has showed the need to improve the climate models. [Princeton</a> University - Link between warming and past droughts questioned](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S35/72/30Q24/]Princeton”>Link between warming and past droughts questioned)
For students interested in climate change research an advocacy group for informing the public about climate change research is located in Princeton N.J. [Climate</a> Change | Climate Central](<a href=“http://www.climatecentral.org/]Climate”>http://www.climatecentral.org/) </p>
<p>Student service projects are coordinated through the Pace Center. [Home</a> | Pace](<a href=“http://pace.princeton.edu/]Home”>http://pace.princeton.edu/) </p>
<p>In public service the House of Representatives, has had a Princeton alumnus every year since it first met in 1789. Princeton has produced a higher number of U.S. Senators, Governors and U.S. Representatives per capita than any other school in the country. </p>
<p>Applying SCEA is a good idea for students that have decided that Princeton is their first choice, recruited athletes, legacies, and students that submit the Optional Arts Form. When do you plan to go to Senegal? If you arrive in Senegal in October and submit your application in November you will not have a substantial foreign experience. If you write about your internship in Senegal you should show that experience is a continuation of your Washington forestry internship. Become familiar with the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and how attending Princeton would enable you to continue your environmental interests. [Andlinger</a> Center for Energy and the Environment](<a href=“http://acee.princeton.edu/]Andlinger”>http://acee.princeton.edu/) </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>