Monday, March 23, 2020

4 Steps to a Winning Admission Essay

A college admissions essay is perhaps one of the most important documents a person will ever write. Believe it. Admissions committees (typically made up of the very professors with whom you want to work) will absolutely read your submission—and then happily use your words for or against you in the selection process. Any university professor will tell you that a search committee relies on the admissions essay for the insights it provides in helping to measure the â€Å"fit† of an applicant to a particular program. A smart search committee member evaluates the attributes of both candidate and school to estimate whether or not an applicant will succeed at the institution. So with that in mind, how do you develop just the right tone and message for the essay? Consider what follows as a guide toward putting your best essay forward. Your academic success might depend on it. Do Your Homework Feed into the ego of the admissions committee members by noting their accomplishments, which obviously shape the reasons you want/need to study at that particular place. Make it clear that â€Å"thanks to Dr. Y’s recent published study on X,† there is no better place on the planet for you to come do your work and subsequently make your own brilliant contributions to the field—all filtered through their genius, of course. Are you getting me here? Don’t pander, and don’t wallow. But by all means, speak directly to and about the target school, acknowledging that behind every desirable academic program are instructors, researchers, and administrators making it shine. Get Personal Think of the admissions essay as a portrait of you (minus the fake smile and perfect hair) that reveals something about your personal truth. Heavy, I know, but a candidate must relate particulars about just why they want to attend a designated school—and you can do so by setting up some amount of a personal history. Are you the first of your family to go to college or pursue a graduate degree? Maybe your childhood was fraught with varying levels of pain related to financial realities, health problems, or other â€Å"issues† you’ve managed to overcome? Say so. Build your case—but don’t go crazy on this front. No need to pull the sympathy card, but if there lurks in your past a legitimate â€Å"shadow† which somehow fueled your desire to get into this school, then tell that story. Build Up Your Story Now, don’t simply accumulate a list of bullet points; instead, write prose that sequences from one idea to the next via logical transitions and vivid, descriptive wording. Try to offer the admissions committee readers a narrative flow, so that they come away with a sense of where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you plan to go. In other words, structure the essay on a sort of past-present-future platform, and always anchor your â€Å"plot† in how this school—how this program—is the only logical jumping-off point for your next phase. Pay Attention to Details Have two or three people (who have a grasp of the language) read your essay before you submit! It’s imperative to get feedback on content, readability, and even â€Å"mechanics† (errors in punctuation are more distracting than you might think). It’s critical that you pad the writing-editing-revising-submitting sequence with the time necessary to do all of the above. As you craft the essay, always remember that a school cares about who it accepts; after all, a student’s academic trajectory should result in his or her entry into the professional arena, where that now former student will make a distinguished mark in the field. That mark will soon enough reflect positively back onto the school, the program, and yes—on the professors themselves, which bring us full circle: know your audience. There it is. The road to a truly outstanding admission essay is not that long. The truth is, it does require diligence, creativity and perseverance. However, destination is worth it.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Can DNA compose essays

Can DNA compose essays DNA which is also known as the genetic fingerprint is present in many biological substances such as blood, semen, skin cells, bone, and saliva. Because people leave DNA on many items such as cigarette butts, facial tissues, and eyeglasses investigators gather the DNA and use it for evidence in criminal investigations. DNA has been able to identify perpetrators years after they have committed the crime. One such example of this was when detectives in Baltimore County, Maryland, reopened a case and pursued leads in a sexual-assault homicide case that had remained unsolved for 19 years. In an effort to identify DNA evidence from the victim, officers requested the microscopic slides, made during the autopsy, from the chief medical examiner's office. When the DNA came to the laboratory the staff extracted sufficient DNA from the slides to produce a satisfactory DNA profile to assist in solving the case. Although DNA evidence obtained many years ago can contain forensically valuable DNA material there are some enviromental factors that exisit at a crime scene that can affect DNA and render it useless. Examples of these enviromental factors include heat, sunlight, moisture, bacteria, and mold. Also if DNA is not properly obtained and secured the DNA evedience has a good chace that it would degrade. Also when identifying, obtaining, and handling DNA evidence the officers must make sure that they do nothing to contaminate the material. Contamination can occur when the evidence comes in contact with anothers bodly fluids by actions such as sneezing, coughing, or touching. So detectives who obtain DNA must be very careful otherwise if they mistreat it DNA could very easly be rendered useless. ...