Columbia Supplement, Essay Example

Columbia University is an appealing university because it is located in one of the urban center of American politics, as the Department of Political Science was the very first of its kind in the U.S. education system and is one of the most expansive political science departments in the country. The elite professors hired to teach undergraduate students are unparalleled, as every member of the political science faculty has won an award in every subfield within their respective discipline. I look forward to taking classes such as Logic in Collective Choice that will investigate how individual choices conglomerate and translate into collective action using two primary theoretical approaches: social choice theory and game theory. Another fascinating and pertinent course is the one on Freedom and Speech and Press in which the first amendment in the United States is studied in depth with regards to what contingencies results in outlawing seditious and/or extremist speech along with libel, obscenity, and other forms of public doctrine disseminated within the mass media.

In addition to having an elite political science department, Columbia also offers the Parliamentary Debate Society of Columbia University for novices such as myself to compete in parliamentary debate tournaments around America to reach my aspirations as a public administrator vis-à-vis the platform of debate. I steadfastly believe that debate is a crucial skill that individuals can benefit from mastering and utilizing in addition to using debate as a means to a more profound and important end. Debates held by Columbia’s Debate society in the past have focused on critical issues such as AIDS prevention initiatives in addition to universal healthcare and the much criticized Affordable Care Act, both of which are issues are of great interest and importance in my opinion. As such, Columbia provides a valuable platform for me to be able to use my voice to possibly enact possible change at the community level.

 Ultimately, after earning an undergraduate degree in political science, I hope to be given the opportunity to take advantage of the superior human rights education and research masters program that Columbia has to offer. I am currently a fervent human rights proponent who hopes to participate in grassroots movements in local New York communities in order to address pressing issues.