Why are you applying to Occidental? What are your intellectual curiosities and why do you think Occidental is the right place for you to pursue them? (200 words maximum length)
Research is vital for me as such I thoroughly researched Occidental College and found out that they offered the Summer Research Program, offering students vast research opportunities including international travel, which solidified my choice in Occidental College. I first came upon Occidental by researching the best Liberal Art Colleges for pre-med students and was thrilled to find out that the laboratories housed on campus not only performed cutting edge research in biology, but also offered ample research opportunities for students. During an frog dissection in my middle school biology class, under the supervision of our instructor Mr. Tan, I became intrigued by the orthopedics which controlled the amphibian. That dissection piqued my interest and became the foundation for my interest in the sciences and what propelled me towards a biology degree. Learning from esteemed professors such as Renee Baran, whose work on developmental biology fascinated me, would be the surrealistic realization of ambitions fostered during that first frog dissection in middle school Biology. It is important for me to select a college that shared my belief on diversity and acceptance, and after much research, I knew Occidental was it.