Essays / Cornell College of Engineering Essay Topic - Virtual Stock Market (what to write about?) [4]

I have been thinking about possible essay topics for my application to the College of Engineering (Computer Science major) and I was wondering if it was a suitable response to the prompt, which is:

College of Engineering:
Tell us about an engineering idea you have, or about your interest in engineering. Describe how your ideas and interests may be realized by - and linked to - specific resources within the College of Engineering. Finally, explain what a Cornell Engineering education will enable you to accomplish.

I was going to write about a piece of software I wrote in high school as FBLA president that allows its members to participate in a "virtual stock market", buying and selling stocks in real time and managing their portfolio. is this ok to write about? it's an engineering idea that I had but I already created. could that interfere with the second part of the essay (how may your ideas by realized by Cornell)? or could I write about the idea I had and relate it to my other interests in combining disciplines with computer science and how cornell could help me achieve that? let me know what you guys think about that topic. I just want to make sure the topic fits the prompt before I write it

Undergraduate / Penn "Engage Academically"- Engineering (Computer Science) [10]

Prompt:
A Penn education provides a liberal arts and sciences foundation across multiple disciplines with a practical emphasis in one of four undergraduate schools: the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Nursing, or the Wharton School. Given the undergraduate school to which you are applying, please discuss how you will engage academically at Penn.

thank you guys! I took all of your comments and synthesized them into an edited version of my essay. I would really appreciate it if you could give it another read:

Throughout high school, computer science has offered me a way to create. Unlike my other classes, which involve reading a textbook and answering questions or solving equations, my computer courses have allowed me to take concepts I learned in class and turn them into software that can be used in the real-world. I remember being so excited when I learned ArrayLists in Java that I went home that night and created an interactive polynomial solver to use in my Precalculus class. The Penn School of Engineering and Applied Sciences' unique academic experience that reaches past the walls of the classroom will fuel my passion for learning beyond the textbook and ultimately allow me to fulfill my dream of creating my own software design company.

Penn professors center their courses around the applications of a material, the type of learning that initially drew me to computer science. One class I look forward to taking, "Intro to Human Language Technology", not only teaches you the Wordnet Processor for Voice Recognition but also its applications in modern-day technology, like iPhone's Siri. In high school, my most enjoyable and intellectually stimulating moments came from hands-on software development with my teacher. Thus, the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering Program excites me greatly. By working one-on-one with professors, I will be able to fuel my passion for learning-by-doing and be left with a meaningful product that can be used to help the Penn community.

The Dining Philosophers, Penn's computer science interest group, is an organization I first learned about when I participated in the Philadelphia Classic, a programming competition sponsored by them. The quirky sense of humor and the passion for problem solving I saw in its members show me I would feel right at home in the organization. In addition, their PennApps contest is a competition that will allow me to implement my many ideas for applications, such as an educational Virtual Stock Market for finance students, while also learning about the entrepreneurial aspect of engineering.

Ultimately, the intriguing coursework and the extracurricular opportunities make Penn Engineering a school that will foster my academic growth and makes me eagerly look forward to the next four years.

the only problem is it is about 70 words over the limit, so if there are parts you believe are weaker/could be cut out, please let me know! thanks!

Undergraduate / Charity work in Nicaragua; Princeton Supp/ Event or Experience [3]

hey guys, so for the Princeton Essay with the below prompt:

Option 2 - Using the statement below as a starting point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your values or changed how you approach the world.

"Princeton in the Nation's Service" was the title of a speech given by Woodrow Wilson on the 150th anniversary of the University. It became the unofficial Princeton motto and was expanded for the University's 250th anniversary to "Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of all nations."

I was thinking about writing about an experience I had freshman year. I got involved with some rk with an impoverished school in Nicaragua and ended up organizing a few benefit concerts with my band that raised enough money to donate a library and a bunch of school supplies. Basically, I was going to write about how the experience changed my view of learning, and how people in the US kind of take for granted what these students would give anything to have and how that experience helped me to show that learning was, not to be cliched, but the "greatest gift of all". However, my main point is that since that Freshman year I have used computer science in my school to help teach others and have even created a few websites to help the students of my school to learn different concepts. My main question is whether I should include this part in the essay. Helping others to learn using computers is a big goal for me throughout college and I think my extracurriculars really show that and I am very passionate about it. Also, I feel like the essay would be somewhat lacking if I didn't mention that at least a little. The only problem is I will also be submitting the BSE engineering essay that asks me to elaborate on my interests in Computer Science. would it not be good to write about my interests in both essays? Or would it be good to use the first essay as the experience that influenced my interests and explain more in depth my interests in the CS essay? Let me know what your thoughts are on my topic and how I can go about combining the two essays together in an effective way

Thanks!