College Admissions Essay: An Engineering Mind

While participating in the robotics competitions, I discovered my passion for robotics. Even after the initial team separated, I continued helping new members, based on my previous experience and new-found knowledge. In the future, I want to continue the legacy my grandmother and mother have given me and continue to strive for excellence, helping my country and the rest of the world by the hand of technology and

Seconds gave birth to minutes and minutes to hours, yet my concentration remained resolute. Despite the daunting nature of the task, I remained determined in what I had to achieve. For the first time applying some rudimentary scientific ideas I managed to build an intricate model of a toy car. “You shall grow up to become an Engineer one day,” my father exclaimed gazing at my laudable piece of creativity. I was only eleven and yet those prophetic words unknowingly chartered my future course for me.

In December 2014, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education published “Rethinking the Admission Process.” This article was written by Frank DiMaria, who takes a look at the research of the former president of the University of Wyoming, Robert Sternberg. DiMaria explains Sternberg’s stance against the current admissions process. Sternberg has research that depicts, “GPA, standardized tests, and essays do not successfully measure the true talent of a college applicant.” He believes that the policies need to change. Sternberg offers an alternative to the current process. Sternberg has been a part of a new admissions policy testing students not just on their memorization and analytical skills, but on their creative, practical, and wisdom-based skills as well. Sternberg’s ideas stem from his experience with disadvantaged youth and their ability to adapt and overcome obstacles. Sternberg claims that students who grow up in the upper middle class tend to have an environment which better values the analytical skills that the current tests measure. He argues that, because of this, colleges may not be getting the most creative and adaptable students. He shows that some of these less privileged students are capable of handling a college workload even though they may not have been able to score as high on the SAT or other tests. DiMaria believes that through Sternberg’s Kaleidoscope policy may be a solution. The Kaleidoscope way of admissions administers tests which ask open ended

I’m a good fit for the Engineering Honors Program at CU because of my commitment to academic rigor, because I thrive when I’m surrounded by other motivated and intellectually curious peers, and because I take advantage of every opportunity that I am offered to get outside my comfort zone and grow as a person. Perhaps the most important factor in my desire to join the Engineering Honors Community is my drive for academic excellence. I’ve taken the hardest courses available to me since my freshman year of high school, including the most advanced math class offered in my district (Higher Level Mathematics), and I’ve worked hard to make myself successful in those classes. My motivation in choosing my challenging path was never competitive in nature: more than anything, I wanted the personal challenge and the chance to explore my curiosity (hence my decision to take extra International Baccalaureate classes beyond the

The power of self-doubt and self-confidence is equal as compelling in strength. It’s just a matter of which force has the stronger pull on one’s mind. Throughout high school, I’ve always doubted my abilities and intelligence by comparing myself to others. They must’ve been born with the gift of ingenuity, while I born with a deficit of it. Eventually, the envy of how some peoples’ brains acquired knowledge boiled and poisoned my thoughts. My mind was polluted with the idea that I was not capable of such gift. However, that all changed because of one woman who poured all of her encouragement and faith into me. She was the panacea of my toxic conviction and taught me that it was a matter of perception and hard work and self-confidence.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it…..” -Henry Ford, 1863-1947, American industrialist and founder of Ford Motor

Upon completion of my mechanical engineering degree, I will commission into the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant, and enter the “profession of arms” tasked with the defense of our country. As a mechanical engineering student, with the scientific and technological understanding similar to those mentioned above, I have thought about the engineering of weapons that make our military incredibly well equipped and advantaged in conflict. Learning in this course however, we have been taught about the expectation of an engineer to “promote the welfare of human beings”, which conflicts with intent and design of weaponry. This yields the moral issue that is the focus of this essay; how does an engineer morally justify the engineering or weapons systems developed to damage or kill human property, infrastructure, and people.

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on.” Albert Einstein, famous physicist, had once said this. It’s true, as when others are producing ideas or creating solutions to things, you in turn start to think of your own. Yet, a lot of the times when I think of this statement, it reminds me of myself and art. In my free time, I love to look at other’s art and see their reasoning behind the picture – and then find myself start drawing the next second, feeling inspired by that particular artists reasoning. Every day if I can, I’ll look at all sorts of works by artists – sculptures, paintings, sometimes even dolls! Weirdly, I find myself always going back to the simple drawings on a paper and then making a few drawings of my own. Thus bringing a

engineering. My tenure in high school is what initially led to my choice in pursuing this

I live in a small town on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. I first became interested in robots since fourth grade. FIRST LEGO LEAGUE (FLL) Robotics was an after schoool activity funded through the 21st Century Grant Program. at our elementary school for the first time in history. I was president of our FLL club for three years, and I learned how to design, and program robots. and was active in finding solutions to community health care problems. was president of our FLL Club for three years and later became an active member with STEM during my two years in middle school. My participation at the Hawaii State STEM Conferences widened my interest in robotics and the field of engineering. Today, I am the president of our VEX/Robotics Club

Vastly approaching my departure from high school, I know for sure that chemical engineering is the right major for me. I realized when I was younger that I loved math and science with a passion; not to mention it saved me from myself before I knew I needed saving. The struggles I have encountered have really been a blessing in disguise because they brought me into world of science and for that I am grateful. For that reason and many others I am determined to get my PHD in engineering no matter how hard it can get for me at times. Georgia State would be the perfect place for me.

Being told “you can’t” is a crushing experience. It is equivalent to going on a run, then having a wall appear in your path and knocking you flat on your back. With no ladder or visible way around it, many would turn back. Accept that they will never see what lies beyond that wall, and simply give up. But not me. Wall after wall has been thrown up in front of me, but I never let them keep me from reaching the finish line I know lies beyond it.

Someday in life everyone has to get a job either related to their career or to make their living. Most of the people who get job is related to one’s career. One of the booming career these days in engineering, and among them aerospace engineering is one of the highly paid career and really interesting to work in. In the career of aerospace engineering, engineers usually have to work really hard. In this field, one mostly work on building or designing aircrafts based on the requirement. To be a successful aerospace engineer one needs to gain a lot of education and should be able to work in any environment. They have a lot of responsibilities to take on them. When choosing a career in Aerospace engineering, one must consider the education,

Finally after waiting a very long time, the LEGO robotics season had started. I wasthrilled, because this year, I would be building and programming robots. When my dad had told me about the program a week ago, I immediately responded yes, because I loved building LEGOs so much. I remembered spending hours on end wearing out my fingers from snapping together LEGO bricks. It was amazing to think that I would be able to actually build a robot out of LEGOs. LEGO robotics was a popular activity all around the world, and it spread to many countries, two being the U.S and Japan. My dad had said he found it extraordinary because it taught kids about structure, programming, and teamwork. The program was divided into two age groups,one would be the

Take a look around yourself. What do you see? Maybe books, chairs, a television, or even your clothes. All the day to day things that are man-made, you can be sure that an engineer helped make it. Engineers have shaped our world as we know it. There are many different kinds of engineers from chemical, mechanical, textile, civil, agricultural and structural engineers. Our civilization would be as advanced as the Stone Age without these people. This career demands a wide education of math and science. It is an ever-changing career with new advances in materials and the way products are produced. Engineering careers are very secure with respect to compensation. Regardless of this, it does have it’s disadvantages