An Informed Background: College Admission Essay Sample

While many other candidates applying to the University of California perform volunteer work, I feel my volunteerism in economically deprived neighborhoods as a devout Catholic provides me with insight on life that is only available through firsthand experience of poverty and knowledge of Church doctrine. This perspective, in conjunction with my knowledge on emerging fields of science, creates a unique mindset that is devoted to religion, the poor, and the health sciences.

Working in destitute inner cities, I was exposed to extremely heartbreaking suffering associated with the inevitable progression of chronic diseases: sight-robbing glaucoma, heart disease, diabetes, degenerative joint diseases, and cancer in which conventional medicine is limited. However, while attending prestigious conferences for Future Medical Leaders in Boston, I was exposed to the cutting-edge technology of future revolutionary therapies like Immunotherapy, Targeted Pharmaceutical Drugs and Gene Splicing of diseased DNA. I thought of the future prospects of these treatments permanently easing the suffering of patients I interacted with. These new medical techniques will solve many congenital and chronic issues that afflict humanity but they must be approached in a manner that does not violate the sacrosanct principle of life that the Catholic faith, numerous movements, individuals and other religions have defended throughout time.

This cognizance of boundaries despite the prospect of playing God becoming a reality to mankind is what differentiates me from the rest of the applicants. I know that a literal interpretation of Catholic doctrines is detrimental to scientific advancement and therefore one must remain open-minded to the dynamic frontiers of science. I also know that in my academic and medical volunteerism experiences, the treatments of chronic medical ailments plaguing mankind will ultimately be found in Immunotherapy and CRISPR genomic editing laboratories.

Thus, acknowledging that there is a limit to both science and religion as a Catholic and scientist, my understanding manifests itself in firm tutelage in both fields which is a unique aspect of my educational background and overall mindset.