<p>Hey guys,
***warning this is a little long and i know people don't want to hear others go on, but :\ couldn't think of any way to get everything out succinctly </p>
<p>my name is duylam and i'm a rising sophmore at babson college. i really love babson (and boston) and it has given me a great first year. i've done amazing things (in my opinion) and i wouldn't change my first year. </p>
<p>however, from my first year, my fire for engineering has been rekindled; i was in an university sponsored engineering program in my junior & senior years of high school. my fire got rekindled mainly because there is an engineering school right by babson, and the fact that i've met some really cool MIT students and professors. i also learned that business isn't outright what i love - it's the fact that business is part of bringing products/services to market. i wasn't aware of my blindness as a senior. what i truly love is creating. i believe that's why i love business and engineering. </p>
<p>i love engineering and i love business. babson is freaking expensive. i pay 15k a year (including loans) and relative to cost and financial aid w/e it's okay. relative to my mom's income and the money i have, however, that's money that's not paying rent and that's a butt load of money. so i applied to UVA my freshman year, planning to double major in engineering and commerce or at least minor in commerce. i got in and with all they aid they gave me i have some left over that i can save. so major woot. good school and great aid.</p>
<p>pretty much set to go to UVA right? not really. i had/am having a hard time just choosing between Babson and UVA b/c of the whole startup/entrepreneurial scene in Boston. I did amazing things at Babson, such as creating an inexpensive bilibed (photo luminescent therapy unit) for infants with jaundice in 3rd world countries with the Babson MBA team. i think UVA has some cool projects like that but i'm not too sure. the choice is hard, but i'm pretty solid on UVA b/c i want to pursue engineering (maybe be a mechie).</p>
<p>this has been going on for the past month or so. then i watched a video of ben gulak, the guy who created the uno. i met him in NY when i was presenting my business idea at the new york stock exchange, and it was great talking to him. smart fellow, slightly intimidating b/c of his height, but smart and genial. i had completely forgotten to apply to MIT freshman year. (I guess in the midst of being with everything I got blind to the fact I could transfer there? maybe it was some sort of us v. them mental grouping going on.)</p>
<p>now, i'm romancing the idea of transferring to MIT. if I decide to do so i would stay at babson for one more semester and then transfer. however, this is a huge risk. i don't think i could get back into UVA if i deny my acceptance and then try to reapply later. i just want don't know if it's worth the risk to stay at babson and hope for a transfer. i feel that i'm a pretty risky guy, just what MIT wants, but this is a different risky. </p>
<p>it's a risk i'm half willing to take. i feel that i'm a great fit for the MIT culture, but at the same time, money is an issue. school is an investment, but it won't matter when you're out of a roof (meaning i stay at Babson and don't get into MIT). I'm mainly attracted to MIT because of the fact that it is not conventional. You might say it is, but when you're from Virginia and you meet folks at UVA and compare MIT to UVA or VA to MA you'll see how conventional VA and everything VA is.</p>
<p>i don't want to just go to school and get great grades and get a great high paying job. i want to set my own path. i dislike convention. if i was to follow the "conventional" path for my socioeconomics, race, whatever i wouldn't have done what i've done in boston. i feel that at MIT and i want it so bad. UVA isn't so much like that. I emailed a professor and he said "the vision (of Mechatronics) is to prepare students for graduate research or industrial careers in the area of automated mechanical systems" that's great for some, but not me. </p>
<p>i'm a mildly above average student academically. i mean i must have been somewhat smart to be in the engineering program and to be accepted by the schools that i did. i am competent. my SAT was something like a 1860. my gpa in high school was like 3.75 in high school. my gpa in college is 3.40. i cross registered to the engineering college and took a user-oriented design course. this is rare for freshmen to do that. my question is: do i even seem competitive? i could tell anyone to throw me in a lion pit and i'll win, but i'm sure many say that. i probably won't win, but i'll be stupid enough to think i will.</p>
<p>second question: what would you do? i'm stuck at a cross roads. if i don't go to MIT that's fine because i know my personality and character won't let me become a sheep if I go to UVA. but i want that culture at MIT.</p>
<p>i think i pretty much covered everything that's in my head. hah, even if no one answers or i get negative comments at least i got this out.</p>
<p>cheers,
duylam</p>
<p>*** i don't think everyone who goes to state school is a sheep. i love uva and there are great minds there. and when i say sheep i mean those who follow the path before them. that previous sentence might get me in a bit of trouble, but yes that's my opinion. everyone has their own choice for doing whatever they want and i respect that. but relative to MY life and to what i want, following the norm is not for me.</p>