<p>Good question, the essay is one place, but I believe that one of the greatest places to do this is the interview. What is nice is that Yale tries to interview every single applicant. This is a wonderful time to show the interviewer that you are not just the same old that they see all the other days. </p>
<p>Also for additional info I attached a resume with short blurbs on what I did and that kind of stuff. As far as I can tell there is nothing forbidding that. What I would do is to separate the resume into two major parts. On the first page put the things that you feel are most impressive or most representative of what you care about along with a few bullets (this is not essay time) about what you did, when and what you learned. After that first page then you can start the reverse chronologically (most recent first) listed things you have done. Again that first page of your resume. is a wonderful time to catch the admissions officers’ eyes about your central passion.</p>
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<p>Just a little bit about your essay. Remember that the essay is not really looking for what has happened to you, but instead how that has shaped you. The admissions director for my region gave this anecdote. </p>
<p>“I once read an essay which gave an absolutely riveting account of how the applicant’s grandpa was a self made man who moved over from Ireland and against all hardships achieved the American Dream. My response was ‘SWEET GRANDPA I wish we could get HIM into Yale!’ but all that essay showed me was that they knew how to write well, nothing else”.</p>
<p>What you want to do in your essay is to not only show (not tell) what major event/person/lesson/whatever has happened to you, but in fact to bring those admissions officers into your story. To vividly show them this event as it appeared to you, and to make them understand how this has changed you in such a way that makes you perfect for the school.</p>
<p>Here’s two ways to tell the same story.</p>
<p>My science teacher was an exuberant man who taught a variety of interesting lessons, but the one I will never forget was on nuclear bomb tests. After showing us a short video on the Bikini Island Tests, my teacher turned on his old overhead projector. On the dusty screen a picture of an old sickly man was juxtaposed with a school ID of a fairly young boy with his name covered up. Telling us that the old man had been part of those test, he slowly turned and pointed at the boy. “This boy, at only age 15, already has the same type of cancer that killed his grandfather.”
Mr. Z paused for a few seconds while the class shifted uncomfortably and then he removed the post-it covering the boy’s name. We realized why Mr. Z knew so much of this story. The boy’s last name was Z.
I was struck that this boy, only 15 years old, was suffering because of residual effects from his grandfather’s actions. I was struck that despite all that we know, we still could not predict, nor fully solve this dilemma. Struck that this boy, at such a young age, was battling such a horrible affliction. This boy could die for an event in which he was never involved.
That day I decided to become a doctor.</p>
<pre><code> I once had a science teacher who was teaching chemistry to us. This science teacher was a very interesting and exciting person to learn from. One of his lessons was on nuclear power, and so he introduced the bikini island bomb tests which were nuclear tests on pacific islands designed to test the US’ nuclear capabilities.
He revealed to us that he knew someone who was there. It was actually his father in law. His father in law died of cancer, most likely because of those tests. He told us that his wife had also become sick with cancer and even his son was sick already, at barely age 15.
He suspected that this was due to the tests, which must have somehow altered his father in law’s body in such away that it passed down disease. That was when I realized I wanted to be a Doctor.
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<p>The first time I showed you, the second time I only told you. And I personally think that this makes all the difference. The second time you only learn of what has happened to me. The first time I can try to show you that I care about others, that I have a thirst for knowledge, that I want to heal. Show in your essays, don’t tell, and you will begin to allow the admissions people to see not only your numbers or your writing style, but also your personality and your humanity.</p>
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<p>To TheProtagonist, I absolutely agree that it is not the case that you should choose older teachers irrespective of your connections with teachers. All I am saying is that all things being equal, the more experienced teacher has a greater chance of writing a noteworthy letter (assuming of course that you absolutely stand out to that teacher, which I don’t think is an unfair assumption to make in a forum about applying to Yale).</p>
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<p>And To Mythbuster, I absolutely 100% agree!</p>