I will highlight the areas which you need to take a second look at.

Anonymous wrote:

Letter of purpose: Dear Sir or Madam My name is **** and I am a 21 year old **** Biology student in the second year. I first took interest in life sciences during a hospital internship when I realized that even the best trained athletes can die of cancer or other diseases and health is mostly a matter of research and development. Therefore, I believe that biochemical knowledge holds the key to many diseases and highly trained specialists play an increasingly important role in the ? community.   Why go on exchange? Like many other students of my generation, I want to have an enjoyable and rewarding experience in a different educational and cultural environment. As a Swiss of Chinese descent I am very interested in the USA, especially how so many different ethnic groups and cultures live together. A former exchange student introduced me to the UCB. I was impressed by his description of American education. Courses and exercises demand a lot of active contributions from the students in form of presentations and discussion groups. But above all I am eager to do an own independent research project under professional supervision. Moreover, I strongly believe that this is a great opportunity for me to improve my English and meet students from different countries. As I have never been to an English speaking country for a longer period of time before, I think that an exchange would benefit me a lot. I am certain that studying and living in a foreign country encourages initiative, independence and responsibility. When I moved to **** to live on my own and began studying at the ****, I was a bit overwhelmed in the beginning but the new challenges in **** motivated me to do my best and I earned a good result in the exams. I think that my motivation and commitment grow along with higher challenges.   This exchange is a unique opportunity for me and I am very interested and motivated in studying for a semester at the UCB. Thank you for taking the time to review my letter and application. Yours Sincerely,   "Studienvorhaben":   I would like to study at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology of the UCB in the fall semester 2007.   It is my goal to obtain a diversified educational background that enriches my overall academic experience. An exchange is therefore an opportunity to acquire new qualifications and skills. I want to gain insight into specialized fields of research and try out interdisciplinary fields of work.                                       I  is my plan to spend most of the time during the exchange on a supervised independent study and research project (MCB 199). This is the main reason for me to go on exchange because I want to put theory into practice as early as possible by being an active contributor to teamwork and research output. My interest lies in biochemical mechanisms in the cell and I will contact the respective departments at the UCB after being accepted for the exchange.   Furthermore, I will take three additional courses. Compared to the **** , the UCB has fewer courses which are therefore more intensive and some courses at the UCB are equivalent to concept courses at the ****. Concept courses are required for the Master Degree at the **** so I will take Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Survey of General Genetics at the UCB which can also be useful for my laboratory work. If possible and by consent of the instructor I would also like to take a graduate course on a specific topic.   (Here is a table with the courses.)   The biotechnology industry is an economic sector at the forefront of globalisation and there is no doubt that international cooperation and collaboration are becoming more and more important in any field of natural sciences. This means that being a biologist will most likely include working abroad for a period of time. As the USA is the world’s largest economy and its universities are well-resourced, I could imagine doing my PhD there.   Generally, I am certain that the experiences of an international exchange will prove very beneficial for my future career.     ********************************   Ok, that's all, thank you in advance!   bye