Application for Admission to Neurobiology Major (2013-2014)

Return to 318 Hitchcock Hall. DEADLINE FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 2013

Important! Read Carefully: Students selected must start the major sequence Winter Quarter 2013, and complete
all Nbio courses by the end of the 2014-2015 academic year. Advance admission for subsequent years in NOT
available. Only in exceptional circumstances may admission by delayed.

Fill out the form below, both front and back, using only the space provided. PLEASE TYPE or PRINT.
Attach an unofficial copy of your transcript.

Name: Mitchell Krawczyk

Student number: _______

Phone: ____________

UW Email: mckraw@uw.edu

Current Major: None

Total Credits: 115.0

Grades:

Interested in the Computational Neuroscience Training Program

Cumulative GPA: 4.0

Please indicate here: No

Biology 180: 4.0

Biology 200: 4.0

Biology 220: In progress

What are your career plans? Indicate Medical School, Dental School, Graduate School, (field), or other.
I would like to continue my studies in graduate school. Although I do not have a specific career in
mind, I expect to end up conducting research. My priorities focus on studying subjects that interest me more
than pursuing a particular kind of job. It is entirely possible that I learn about other career paths as I continue
my studies that I may find preferable to research. Ideally, I would like to explore the interdisciplinary aspects
of neurobiology in my career. I enjoy subjects related to how humans function such as linguistics and
psychology as well, and I would like to use neurobiology as a lens with which to study other fields to learn more
about what ultimately governs human behavior. My work will hopefully inform my understanding of myself
and those around me, providing practical knowledge that I can not only use in my life, but in the pursuit of
improving the lives of others. I believe it is likely that this desire to make these discoveries about human
behavior will lead me to a life of scientific research. However, I would consider a career dedicated to
disseminating or utilizing neurobiological knowledge as opposed to directly involving myself in research. My
only other major career goal is to make a living wage, which seems reasonably likely for those with the kind of
scientific expertise I am hoping to acquire through my education.

Why are you interested in this major?

Academically, my interests have always leaned toward the sciences. I prefer working toward a specific
goal, and I enjoy learning more about the specific mechanisms that shape how our world functions. Sciences
may be complicated, but there are underlying principles at work that we can, at least partly, understand
through systematic study. Personally, I am highly interested by how humans in particular work. More than
anything else it seems, our lives are shaped by our own actions and the actions of the people around us. Those
actions begin as thoughts in the human brain. To my mind, neurobiology is a good combination of a scientific
discipline based in concrete facts as well as an exploration of the principles that shape human thought and
behavior which in turn shape the world and how we perceive it. I also like this major because neurobiology is
a field that is studied at the graduate level. I like the idea that I will leave college (i.e. graduate school) with a
fairly high degree of expertise in my chosen field, rather than competing with thousands of other recent
graduates that share the same bachelor degree. Majoring in neurobiology seems to offer me the greatest
chance of graduating with expertise in a field that I will then be able to pursue in a lasting career.

Optional. Any other relevant information about yourself that you would like us to consider .
I currently work as a volunteer in Dr. Ellen Coveys bat lab. Her work primarily focuses on studying
hearing centers, such as the inferior colliculus. As a member of this lab, I am already learning the practical
applications of neurobiological study and the realities of neurobiological research. I am currently learning to
perform research techniques such as electrophysiology and histology. My experiences in this environment have
promoted my interest in neurobiology by providing me with an idea of the career I could expect to pursue with a
neurobiology degree.
I am also a member of the Interdisciplinary Honors program, which is symbolic of the dedication to
interdisciplinary study that I mentioned in response to the first question.

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