Challenge and Complexity: College Admission Essay Sample

At Vanderbilt, I want to let my entrepreneurial thoughts run free. I have developed a successful business that provides a service to the community, and I love the challenges that entrepreneurship presents. I also find questions of efficiency, decision-making, and strategy fascinating. I plan on being an active participant and leader in the Forum for Entrepreneurship Education. If business becomes a passion, I will apply for the ENGAGE Scholars Program to further pursue entrepreneurship at the Owen Graduate School of Management.

Deep thinking will also be part of my Vanderbilt journey, as I appreciate the difficult and perplexing problems of philosophy. Some of my favorite books include Carl Sagan's "The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence," Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit," and Gore Vidal's "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace." There is something very comforting in the intellectual freedom of about delving into a question to which there is no right or wrong answer. Perhaps my love of questions will manifest into an academic passion and vocation; it may also lead me to minor in philosophy.

My final area of interest is public policy, particularly conflict resolution, because it combines politics with philosophy and economics. My favorite day in Macroeconomics this year was when we discussed the ramifications of the inherent inequality of Democratic capitalism and the impact of globalization. It excites me to think that these ideas are shaping the world. Similarly, it was both disheartening and eye-opening to learn about all the factors, besides propaganda and racism, that contributed to the Holocaust. The political actions taken in the wake of World War I seemed almost to foreshadow World War II, and even current events. I will undoubtedly take courses in the Public Policy Studies Interdisciplinary Program, possibly pursuing the major.

Business, philosophy, and public policy are academic interests now and will play an integral part in my academic journey at Vanderbilt, but it would be naive to assume now that one of these will be my academic passion and possibly vocation. If there is a thread between these topics of interest, it is one of complexity. I know that Vanderbilt will provide me with the opportunity to find challenges that I can wrap my arms around and wrestle with for a lifetime.