<p>This is the statement of purpose I sent to UT. I was accepted on 4/15 to COLA as an Econ major from a CC in Connecticut. I didn’t do so good on my essay, but hey I got admitted, so I hope this breaks the ice. Feel free to comment on my essay if you are so inclined. Here it is in full, with some minor redactions.</p>
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<p>“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.”
- Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan</p>
<pre><code>If Oscar Wilde is to be believed, that would make me a pretty experienced person. While I have had just the right amount of luck, wisdom, and guidance in my life to avoid making any mistake that would drastically alter the course of my life, I realize that there is one thing in my life I would call a big mistake – not taking my education seriously.
Being a transplant to this country, I always walked a fine line between knowing that the opportunities and prosperity of the American Dream could be more easily attained here than in my native [country], and doubting whether a first generation American with parents who lacked an education, and economic means could achieve [The Dream]. Since I believed that going to college was an unrealistic pipe dream, I did not work up to my full potential in high school and my grades were atrocious. While most of the students at my high school were preparing for college by taking AP courses and studying for the SAT as early as sophomore year, it was not until April of my senior year that I realized I wanted to go to college.
That month while in a civics class taught by a teacher who I had taken two prior classes with wanted to have a word with me. I was failing his class, and after he had handed back the latest graded assignments he called me out in the hallway. The conversation was one sided and brief, lasting less than 20 seconds, but the teacher told me something I already knew: my writing was really good. He also told me something that I didn’t already know: that I was writing at a “college level” and that I should be thinking about going to college. I was flabbergasted. Here was this teacher who I always had a very congenial relationship with, but nevertheless never managed to get more than a “D” in one of his classes, telling me I should be going to college. I can honestly point to that moment in time as the moment I had my epiphany.
Unfortunately it being the last semester of high school, it was too late for me to change anything. So accepting the reality that the past cannot be changed, I started focusing on the future. I enrolled at the closest community college to my house, and put all of my new found interest into my schoolwork. I was able to make the Dean’s List my very first semester and have been able to maintain a GPA of 3.51. This is something that would have been inconceivable to me or any of my high school teachers, just two years ago. All my teachers that is except [civics teacher’s name], my civics teacher, who through some sort of clairvoyance or natural instinct believed I could excel in college.
Although I have been successful academically, going to a community college has meant that I have had to commute to school. I spend at least one hour and a half driving to and from school, and most semesters I was away from home from seven in the morning till nine o’clock at night. Aside from this being physically exhausting, this also meant that I was not able to join any club at my college since it would have been too impractical to drive forty five minutes from my house to campus to attend a meeting. I am glad however that I got to volunteer on one of my professor’s political campaigns. However since he also lived in a town near the college, it was still a long drive from my house to his and I only managed to volunteer 20 hours of my time. I also want to add that given my past history in high school of not being the best student, I decided it would be best for me to not try and juggle the responsibilities of a part time job and school work. This decision worked out well for me because it allowed me to focus entirely on school, and because through hard work and careful savings I was able to make all the money I made during the summers of 2009 and 2010 last me through the school year.
Although I would strongly advise anyone who is currently in the same place I was in high school to do better in school, I must say that my mistake has made me more experienced. As I reach the end of the road at my community college, I hope that I am able to take my experiences and my still burning desire to learn to the University of Texas at Austin.
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