<p>" agree with you wholeheartedly, but what if she can't get accepted as a bio major with an essay touching on religion? She's not a CC superstar, just a normal kid, you know?"</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I highly doubt that what you fear would happen.</p></li>
<li><p>Why would she want to go to a college that had so little regard for something that's so dear to her heart? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The idea is to find a college that fits the student, not have the student contort themselves to fit into a college that would not appreciate who they are.</p>
<ol>
<li>Keep in mind that your D may be rejected regardless of what she writes. If rejected,she'll also never know why. IF accepted, however, and she has written about what means the most to her, at least she'll know that the college accepted the real her -- not the false persona whom the college thought she is.</li>
</ol>
<p>Also wondering whether your D has considered applying to any religion-affiliated colleges. I hear that Earlham has a good bio program. I know students going there who are very happy. I also know there are posters here whose kids are happily headed there.</p>
<p>"Also wondering whether your D has considered applying to any religion-affiliated colleges. I hear that Earlham has a good bio program. I know students going there who are very happy. I also know there are posters here whose kids are happily headed there."</p>
<p>I'm going to have her look into Earlham. Something we haven't considered. She would consider religious schools, but they have to have strong bio departments.</p>
<p>I hope (and pray:)) that most admissions people would not be as prejudiced as as Fisik shows in this statement:</p>
<p>
[quote]
To northstarmom: if I were an admission officer building up a diverse class, I would gladly admit a person with strong religious believes who plans to study philosophy, theology, etc. which would be not only entirely appropriate but desirable. Would I also be trying to find a perspective bio major with a strong religious believes just for the sake of diversity? I doubt it. After all the bio majors can just as happily argue with the philosophy majors, in fact it will make the discussion more interesting and substantial.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And I don't believe they are. My S applied to a very selective school as an astrophysics major. He didn't write his essay about religion, but his ECs list clearly showed strong church/religous commitment. And he was accepted.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, I really don't think the topic will count against her.</p>
<p>The sample essay I read was about someone who wrote about the Jewish tradition of asking questions about religion was something he hoped to bring to his work as a scientist. I can't imagine anyone finding such an essay problematic. I don't know what zoosermom's daughter is thinking about saying, but I'd think a lot would depend on how the essay was written. I'd encourage her to write it and then have some non-religious people give some opinions about how it comes across.</p>
<p>Finally, I don't think it is that common for an applicant to be accepted as a "potential bioldogy major" vs. a potential "philosophy major."</p>
<p>
[quote]
I happened to be born into totally nonreligious society and as a consequence of my upbringing is not religious at all.
[/quote]
So what you mean to say is that because Newton, Kepler or Planck grew up in countries that afforded them the civil and spiritual benefits of religion, they were enriched in having them; then, by the same reasoning, you lack religion because your country either oppressed it or simply never rose to meet it--in much the same way that certain countries lack a tradition of, say, democracy, personal liberty or high-art would tend to produce citizens lacking a sensitivity or appreciation of that which other civilizations highly value.
[quote]
Now try to tell me that I am a lesser human because for me love and empathy exist outside of a religious framework
[/quote]
But do they exist outside of a materialist/mechanical framework?
And if not, let me just add: Wow...how romantic!
If so, I believe you have put far too fine a point on this whole pooh-poohing of religion and faith.</p>
<p>zoosermom - if she'll consider applying to a "religious" institution, have her check out Brandeis! As noted, the Jewish tradition calls for constant questioning. And the kind of dilemma and reconciliation your d has gone through is common among religious Jews who do end up as scientists or physicians, etc. I'm certain that the admissions committee would have no problem with your d's essay as it stands.</p>
<p>Brandeis also has very strong biology departments. And it is very receptive to Christian applicants.</p>
<p>Well, then, how about some of the Jesuit schools? Jesuits also love this kind of debate. I don't know how many there are that are less selective than BC or Georgetown, but I'm sure there must be some.</p>
<p>Seattle university is Jesuit although I don't know about their bio program-
we did look at at though- but D wasn't really interested in attending a school across the street from her high school.
Reed- considers applications carefully, and although they have a reputation for being atheists, I really don't think they would consider that having a belief in God would count against an applicant, but rather to the contrary, and they do have a strong bio dept.</p>
<p>One of my daughters current roommates majored in religion,I would say that most however, probably regard themselves as "spiritual" rather than Christian.</p>
<p>She might also want to look at Pacific Lutheran university, we didn't get a chance to look at it ( it is in Tacoma wa), but it recieved strong recommendations</p>
<p>Fordham is a Jesuit college with somewhat lower stats than Brandeis anyway. I don't know about the bio dept's reputation, but my impression is that it's a pretty solid all round university.</p>
<p>I resurrected this thread because I have a question similiar to the OP's and I didn't think it was necessary to create a new thread. </p>
<p>Anyways, I wrote an essay that I was enthusiastic about, and in it I mentioned my faith and I talked about my sidewalk counseling experiences, but I didn't go into the whole Pro-life v. Pro-choice debate or anything like that. It definitely has a religious tone to it, but it's not overdone IMO and in good taste. However now I'm having reservations because adcoms might think I'm some religious zealot and reject me. Also, I am applying to several religious affiliated schools (Pepperdine, Wake Forest, Rhodes, ND) and to some southern/midwest state schools</p>
<p>Interesting thread. Be true to yourself or jump through hoops to impress the almighty adcoms. </p>
<p>It is pathetic that all these bright, talented, creative kids are packaging themselves in a wrapper that they think an adcom will like. Faith (or lack thereof), nationality, interests, activities...everything is just fodder for the package. Create an image, be who people want you to be. Sounds like a factory to create politicians.</p>
<p>The students who post on this board are amazing. Test scores, ECs, grades, and their ability to express themselves blows me away. These students can do great things whether they go to a school that is ranked 1 or 10 or 50 (or even face the horror of a third or fourth tier school). The self confidence to be true to yourself (and the desire to define yourself by your own value set) is more important in the longrun.</p>
<p>Zoosermom--
The topic of your daughter's essay is very appropriate for an admission essay for several reasons, but the most important is that it shows she is a thinker. Humanity has struggled with the conflict between faith and reason for centuries. Religion as an essay topic becomes problematic (at a nonreligious college) when the applicant shows a blind obedience to his or her faith. If she shows that she has opened her mind to the potential conflicts and is engaged in resolving those conflicts, then that shows her to be a courageous thinker who is willing to tackle ethical and intellectual dilemmas. If she can do that in her essay, then she will give colleges a powerful essay which will not only show who she is as a person, but also as a thinker and potential student.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Now, if she's applying to Notre Dame or Yeshiva, and the religion she's referring to nonevangelistically is Islam, maybe she should think about it more . . . both ways.
[/quote]
This is an incredibly ignorant statement! In no way does Notre Dame discriminate in admissions based on the applicants' religion. If you had a clue, you'd be aware of their Kroc Peace Institute, the Erasmus Institute, and the wide variety of Arab studies offerings and Islamic scholars brought to campus.</p>
<p>There is no conflict between faith & science in the Catholic faith. JPII put it this way:
[quote]
"The scientist's condition as a sentinel in the modern world, as one who is the first to glimpse the enormous complexity together with the marvellous harmony of reality, makes him a privileged witness of the plausibility of religion, a man capable of showing how the admission of transcendence, far from harming the autonomy and the ends of research, rather stimulates it to continually surpass itself in an experience of self-transcendence which reveals the human mystery".
- Pope John Paul II, 7/17/85.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>For my whole life I've heard priests from the pulpit speak of scientific discovery as the unfolding of God's mysteries. Evolution was taught in my Catholic grammar school (in the 60s) as the best theory scientists have yet put forth to explain our world. My parents reinforced that idea at home. Of course, we Catholics believe that God set this complex chain of events in motion.</p>
<p>I have no problem reconciling my Christian faith with science. However, my faith does not include a literal reading of the Bible. I am not Catholic, but I do agree with the Pope who explained that the Bible was not an astronomy text. Nor, to my thinking, is it a geology or palentology text. </p>
<p>You are free to disagree.</p>
<p>Still, I do not see any inherent conflict between faith and science. In fact, I think that if one requires oneself to deny the results of careful, scientific inquiry in the name of one's understanding of faith, one might just be making God smaller than God is.</p>
<p>As to OP's original question: this conflict has coexisted with scientiific inquiry for centuries. It is very much appropriate for a thoughtful essay. Such an essay shows that the writer has undertaken a level of mature self-examination that may not come through in your average admission essay.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In fact, I think that if one requires oneself to deny the results of careful, scientific inquiry in the name of one's understanding of faith, one might just be making God smaller than God is.