The Reason I Wish to Attend Bates: College Admission Essay Sample

A few of the reasons I had for choosing Bates include the possibilities associated with the Bates Outing Club, the beautiful campus, and the exemplary environmental awareness of the students and faculty. I can say without a doubt, however, that my biggest reason was its wide-ranging curriculum. I do not know what I want to do with the rest of my life; all I know is that I want to understand as much about the world as possible and then improve it significantly.

My main interests include music, the environment, spirituality, philosophy, social sciences, art, creative writing, shoe shining, lawn care, bird climbing, and mountain watching. My list of secondary interests is twice as long, and unless I can find an occupation that involves everything previously mentioned and leaves significant time for my numerous other hobbies, I’m going to have to do a great deal of deciding between now and college graduation. I refuse to completely give up all of my interests, and I would prefer to discover the pursuit that makes me happiest in a neutral environment. If I decide to stick with bird climbing I would rather it not be because the mountain watching department is below par. When I make a decision, I want to know that I am making it with as much information and as many resources available to me as possible.

I never get tired of learning. I will not be satisfied until I know all there is to know, and I like the idea of Bates offering me such an extensive amount of learning resources. During my visit I was awestruck by the immensity of the library and decided I could see myself spending a lot of time there. My stop at the recital hall left me giddy with the thought that I might play there and hear the instant improvements made to my violin’s sound by such an acoustically perfect venue. After speaking with my tour guide and interviewer I was convinced that Bates had everything necessary, from resources to knowledgeable and exciting professors, to educate me satisfactorily for my future role in shaping the world.

I, like many people, am dissatisfied with the way things are. From the disgustingly imbalanced distribution of wealth to the destruction of beautiful Mother Earth to the horrifying wars that predominate in the evening news, I see a lot that must be done. I plan on doing as much as I can to fix these problems, and I do not want to be limited in my ability to fix things by an education with pressures designed to channel my education artificially. I feel that all I need in order to put my talents into action is continued discussion with fellow thinkers and a varied and profound college education, with focus taking root naturally as a happy consequence of the wide-ranging experience. Based on the fact that Bates will be using grant money to increase the amount of locally grown food in the cafeteria, and also that its students are involved in Lewiston community projects, I believe I may be able to start making a positive impact before I even leave college.

I sincerely hope that the ideas I have expressed are aligned with Bates’s desires for incoming students, and I look forward to making the transition to higher education in preparation for the future.