I’m a sophomore in high school and also interested in CS. Recently, I’ve been trying to do a lot of programming and working on mini, high-impact projects to build up my portfolio. I love it, but I’m not sure how many projects would look on my application, as opposed to many internships. I already partake in one internship at the Human Brain and Behavior Lab and it’s super cool cause STEM is a huge interest of mine, but I think more would take up too much time. How effective do you think it is having a resume with many internships, etc. over many projects?
@ethancollege2020 Congratulations on so many acceptances. I looked at your stats and while a lot of folks might find them extraordinary, I’m more perplexed than ever after reviewing them as to why I got rejected from every single Ivy League school with much better stats than yours. I’m guessing it’s the holistic admission application that is to blame. I think its a EUPHEMISM for keeping deserving Asian males from middle-class families out. And if you are wondering what major I applied to - Computer Science in the school of engineering. Here are my stats:
Unweighted GPA 4.0 Weighted GPA 4.95
SAT/SATII 1590/ 800 Physics, 800 Math2, Chem 800
Total APs 22 with a score of 5 on all of them
Academic Extra-Curricular: AIME qualifier multiple times, USACO Platinum, In the top 10 in Several international Math tournaments, President of the Math Circle in my school, Original research in Computer Vision(Patent Pending), Selected at a highly competitive Physics summer program in 10th grade. National Merit Scholar 2020, member of the National Honor Society.
Nonacademic extra-curricular: Qualified for the Fencing Junior Olympics 3 years in a row, Competitive swimmer with decent swim times in several categories, First-degree black-belt in Taekwondo, Reef Aquarist, Lead guitarist in my school’s Rock and Roll band, Level 8 ABRSM in classical guitar, Won several regional Debate tournaments in Lincoln Douglas style debate.
Congratulations Ethan! Wherever you decide to attend I am sure you have a bright future ahead of you.
In hindsight, would you have applied to fewer schools. Can you talk a little about how you crafted your list. And how did you find time for all of the essays. Did your guidance counselor discourage such a long list?
@lindsayest This is a great question, thanks lindsayest. I definitely concentrated more on projects when I applied for competitions/awards, but used internships as a way to learn about future careers in tech. I think maybe starting off with freelance projects could be a great way to become more qualified for internships as well. Congratulations on your successes though, it sounds like you have a lot of really great experience in STEM.
@Mom24boys Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate your message. I think in hindsight applying to fewer schools would have been a smart move. I did not factor in school fit as much as I should have, but I think campus visits were one aspect that I should have utilized better. My list was crafted mainly based on the strength of the schools in my majors. As far as essays go, time management was a struggle. I ended up using breaks (4 day weekends, Thanksgiving, winter, etc.) to write the bulk of the essays.
@superdomestique Hi superdomestique, there were two boxes it gave me for ethnicity. On the first, I checked white, and then for the second, I specified that this heritage was European.
@gui1108 Thanks for your question gui1108, I do not know much about pre-medical tracks for international students. Sorry I can’t be of more help, but I wish you the best of luck!
Hi, I’m curious about how you were able to find and get your Edtech internship. Most of the ones I’ve found on google all require 2-3 years of work experience and/or a bachelors degree, and I haven’t been able to find any that don’t have similar requirements. Would appreciate if you could let me know the process you went through to get the internship or PM me the name of the company you interned with if you’re comfortable sharing!
Hey Ethan, you mentioned that you chose the theme of “engineering for humanity” for your essays; did you explicitly mention that anywhere else in your application (intended major)?
@stanfordwinner Hi thanks for your question stanfordwinner, it’s honestly so hard to tell what goes on in the admissions office, but I think one way in which my application may have stood out is that I tried to develop a theme across my extracurriculars.
@dropper This is a great question, thanks dropper. I ran into a similar problem in my internship search with so many companies looking more for college students with experience. I ended up applying for a position at a start-up, which had more flexible hiring requirements. I would recommend going that route if you’re interested in start-up culture. I wish you good luck finding a position, that sounds super exciting.
@ItalianGIRL2018 Hey ItalianGIRL2018, I ended up applying for and receiving the Boettcher scholarship, which I was really thankful for. After discussing different options with my family, we decided to turn it down, but it was definitely one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I’d definitely recommend applying for it if you or somebody you know is in that position. The foundation is super generous and has a really incredible mission.
@bobrowmugsoup Hey thanks for your question bobrownmugsoup, I mentioned that theme a couple of times in my essays which were about identity or future career goals. There were also a couple of chances to include them in my “why college” supplements.
Can you describe your internship experience? I am doing an internship at a pretty big company this summer. I’m extremely nervous as I haven’t done anything of the sort prior to me getting the offer. How do I break out of this shell?