Hey everyone! I’m looking for a bit of advice regarding admission to graduate programs. I plan on one day pursuing a PhD, yet I’m not sure where I should apply & my major is still undeclared (I’m nearly positive that I will be entering some form of engineering, however). I was recently rejected from MIT after getting deferred EA, and I realized that I could’ve improved my chances had I devised a plan throughout high school to make my application stand out. I received a 4.0 unweighted throughout high school (val), and I’ve already taken multiple “higher-level” college classes (i.e. Differential Equations, etc) and received A’s in them, so I don’t think grades will be too much of a problem (this could change, however, as I’m sure that differential equations and similar courses are far easier when taken at a community college vs the University of Florida). That being said, I had a few ideas regarding how to make my application “pop,” so to speak. Throughout high school, I found myself engaging in activities that weren’t truly enjoyable; therefore, in college, I only wish to pursue activities that I find fun.
I remember that MIT’s application asks for your top 4 extracurriculars, so I would most likely go with these:
- Write a novel (I write for fun in my free time & I come from a family of writers)
- Start a successful political podcast (I’ve always wanted to do this - I already make videos in my free time & I think I could find success in YouTube or similar websites)
- NASA summer internship (I’ve only done a bit of research regarding this program, but it seems that I would really enjoy this. It’s highly selective, however, and I’m not too sure how I can earn myself a spot at NASA as a freshman/sophomore)
- Possibly start a non-profit??? (I’m not sure what this would entail, but I’m willing to give it a go.)
Please note that I’m not set on MIT, and I’m definitely looking for advice regarding additional ECs I should pursue in order to appeal to a variety of schools.
Awards -
Win the UF Integration Bee - This may seem rather inconsequential, and I’m not too sure if graduate programs care about this. When applying to MIT, I fell in love with their Integration Bees, and I found myself doing as many integrals as possible in my free time. I was very pleased to see that UF has a similar Integration Bee, and I truly think I have a shot at winning this.
I have nothing else here. I don’t know what other awards I should be attempting to pursue.
Tl;dr - What advice would you give to an undeclared engineer wishing to earn admission to an elite graduate school program, other than participating in my aforementioned ECs?
*P.S. - Sorry for any grammatical errors, I wrote this at 6:30 in the morning :S
From what you say, you are still in high school and you don’t know where you will be attending college or what your major will be. Don’t get ahead of yourself with graduate school. First get into college and figure out your major. Next get good grades and don’t assume that a 4.0 in high school will translate to the same in an engineering program. Finally, get research experience during your time at college. Graduate programs don’t really care about ECs. They care about your academics and research experience.
Nevertheless, don’t worry about graduate school now. You might change your ideas in your 4 years at college.
If I had to give any advice to someone early on trying to get into graduate school, I would absolutely say get research experience and work in a lab (in any STEM or Social Science major). It is the major component of a graduate application. It is what you’ll have to talk about in your personal statement and what you’ll likely talk about during interviews. One major difference between undergrad admissions and grad admissions is that undergrad likes the idea of well-rounded individuals. Grad wants researchers. Anything else is just the cherry on top.
I agree with xraymancs though. You have four years. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just try and enjoy yourself and find a lab to work in as an undergrad.
Sounds good! And yes, I am a senior in high school (sorry, I should’ve made that clearer). And yeah, I guess I am getting ahead of myself, but I’m just trying to make sure that I don’t repeat the same mistakes I made in high school.
Non-research ECs don’t matter for graduate programs. If you want to write a novel, start a political podcast or start a nonprofit, do those things because you want to and you are passionate about them. Not everything you do in undergrad should be geared towards getting into a PhD program - some stuff you should just do out of interest/fun. But none of those things will help you get into a PhD program in engineering or the sciences (or even the humanities, for that matter).
The NASA summer internship could be useful if it’s a research-based one.
I agree with xraymancs, of course. Concentrate on choosing a college for now. When you get to college, seek out research opportunities with professors that seem interesting to you. Even if they don’t track directly on what you end up doing in a PhD program, they will still be helpful.
(As a side note - much like starting a business, one does not simply get the idea to start a nonprofit and then go in search of a problem to solve. One begins a nonprofit because they already see a problem that needs a solution, usually within a specific community or population, and sets out to solve that problem. Unless there’s some problem that you are passionate about solving - so passionate that you are willing to dedicate a whole lot of your time at negative pay to begin with and very little pay even after several years - don’t start a nonprofit. And even if you do decide you want to start one, try volunteering and/or working at a nonprofit first so you can see how they operate and learn from the successes and mistakes from others.)