hi, I am applying to NCSSM and one of the essays prompts they gave me was “What STEM-related topic are you most excited about? Why does this topic interest you and how have you taken the initiative to learn more about this topic?” I wrote a few responses to it but I’m not sure which one I should use if I should use either of them, for the first one I said " **In the most recent years I have joined Science Olympiad, completed Health Science I Honors, Forensic Science Honors, Chemistry Honors and Biology Honors to name just a few high school courses, and have read several books outside of school curriculum. One book in particular that we recently read as a family was Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. Many discussions circling human psychology and sociology were triggered as a result. One interesting part of the book that solidified my once wobbly interest in psychology was his explanation of our irrational fears. We evolved in such a manner, allowing for worldwide impact at a rate that was too rapid for other species and for our own human psyche. We became the preeminent species in many ways, but our primal “lizard” brains have been unable to adjust to this level of prominence. As a result, the psychological impact has been one of fear, fear that is not rational or necessary. Fear of threats that no-longer exist, fear that cripples us to the point that it results in aggression, makes us sick, requires us to seek therapy, drugs, and alcohol." and for the second one, I said “I have always questioned the things in life around me, like most children. What made me different was I didn’t stop at questions, I took it one step further, answers. Using the resources around me I would conduct experiments of my own, eventually starting a science fair at my school. After realizing my infatuation with science I wondered where to take it. I signed up for every science-related class and camp they offered, expanding my toolbox to the best of my ability. I would stay after school and during lunch to learn more from my teachers than the curriculum offered. Using the resources around me I contacted multiple doctors in the medical research field, learning what their jobs pertain to, and the schooling it takes to achieve their jobs. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have been unable to continue attending the science-related camps I was planning to attend, instead I have been using Coursera courses to expand my knowledge without putting those at risk around me.” neither of these are finished but which one do you think is heading in the right direction?
First, it’s best if you take any questions to the admissions email. I’m not sure if any of us here are admissions experts who can tell you how to answer, and you are your own person who should decide how you answer a question. They are open-ended to provoke more deep thinking on the students’ part, the AOs want to see your personality shine.
Second, it’s best to avoid putting your essay out on the internet for plagiarism reasons =)