NOTE: Sorry for all of the background. There are questions at the end. Any advice you can give is extremely useful and important to me.
As you may know UW has 3 different essay prompts (I will refer to this list later)
A. Personal Essay (basically anything you want)
B. Community Essay
C. Extra area if hoping to be placed in a specific major, or have a professional goal
I will be answering all three. I am figuring out what goes in each of them.
I am trying to do my best to get freshmen admitted to UW Computer Science. I think I have around the right stats (Calc BC, 5 years math, 5-year sci, 33 ACT, 3.95 GPA, 11 AP’s, I might even send my Math II score if its good*) however as I understand it it is STILL quite difficult to get automatically admitted.
All inquiry has been rather vague. Apparently the admissions committee just “knows” when a person is right for the program (I completely understand this it just doesn’t help with info). The only tidbits I have noticed is.
- Must be communicators/team workers
- Demonstrated passion in the field
- Well rounded
- Would be competitive applying to other CS departments of the same caliber
- Washington state resident (I am) [NOTE: This is not required but they said this was MOST of the students]
My goal in getting in as a freshmen is I want to explore as much of Computer Science as possible because it absolutely FASCINATES me. I want to hopefully get some Cyber Security, Graphics, and AI in before I graduate. This is a bit difficult to do if you start a year late. Hopefully between freshmen admissions, and my AP credits I will be able to better achieve this goal.
Right now I am strategizing for the essays and deciding what I want them to cover. By the time admissions people are done reading my application I hope they know. (I will refer to this later)
- My version of “video games” during free time is programming, and learning how to code. I am self-taught. When not at school or with friends I am coding.
- I have published apps, and made other projects. Therefore I am a tinkerer and perhaps a bit innovative.
- I work well in teams, and am comfortable both leading and contributing to them. I have some specific examples (have created/lead/composed music for some groups) but I am not sure if they will fit.
- I am a human being and have emotion
- I am EXCITED to study with all kinds of students. To finally be in classes where everyone is passionate about the subject, and we can discuss geeky stuff in between classes.
- I visited the school and it felt homey to me. Whiteboards on the walls, friendly students, people knowing each other’s name etc.
- I am well rounded.
- I am creative. Although I probably shouldn’t go into specifics I love thinking about new ways to store data (pseudo non-binary), ways to make traffic/roads more efficient etc.
- I am looking for a meaningful job where my work has meaning. I don’t care what the salary is. That does not however mean I am not ambitious.
- I have developed the tools, work ethic, and discipline to take on rigorous classes.
- I love math.
- I am interested in co-op programs, internships.
Now it is just a matter of putting all of these things in the essay slots.
Referring back to the list at the top essay B lends itself to 4, 5 as I can cover things like that towards the end of the essay.
essay C I feel can take care of 2,6,8,9,10 (this might be risky),12
This leaves 1,3,7,11 to be hit on by the personal essay. I would probably also like to hit on 1 and 2 some more.
The decision I am making now is do I stick with my current “flagship” essay or mix it up for this application
I currently have an essay about my other main hobby “composing”. It covers music significance in my life, has a bit of an emotional appeal, accentuates my artistic side, shows good writing. That being said it does NOT cover anything about programming or my passion for it.
Other essay topic ideas are:
I. A more general life/purpose statement. A more traditional “personal statement” with a hint of “a day in the life”. Could cover everything just not as eloquently.
II. I have another topic that is not inappropriate or anything I am just not ready to share with family. It was a huge struggle for me and it caused me to hate myself and quickly sink into depression. Coincidentally to get my mind off of that problem I focused on schoolwork, composing, painting, and programming. A lot of the reasons I am successful now are because of that experience. It could easily cover almost everything else as well. The big problem with writing this is it could come off as overall sad. And I wouldn’t be able to have my parents do corrections on it.
Please let me know what you think. Do you think the list of “things I hope they know” is a good one? Could #5 go in the diversity prompt without being off topic? Could/should the examples from #8 go anywhere. Should I stick with my music essay or switch to one that better covers the holes of my application? Should I use the “additional info” section? It does say “if you need to further explain or clarify answers you have given elsewhere in this application, or if you wish to share information that may assist the Admissions Office”.
*Yes I realize they do not require the SAT II. HOWEVER, a lot of their responses have been wishy washy. If I get a great score, I will be sending it. Sure it might be a waste of money but it is worth a shot. That would prove that I am competitive for other schools.