hmay
Oct 22, 2014
Undergraduate / Penn M&T Supplement Essay - Robotics, Business, and Engineering [9]
I'm applying to a really selective program at Penn based around Management & Technology; it only accepts 50 people a year, so I know my essays have to be really, really good. My main concern with what I've written is the ending - I'm not sure if enough people will "get it." I'm right at the word limit so I can't add anything without detracting from some part of the essay. Let me know what you think!
How will the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology help you pursue your specific interests in both engineering and business? Please address in depth specific engineering fields, areas of business, and their potential integration that you plan on pursuing through this Penn program. (400-650 words)
I walked into DuPont Building 700 for the first time with a demure smile on my face - but my inner feelings more resembled that emoji with a frontward-facing slash as its mouth. Eighty-something unfamiliar faces greeted my apprehensive eye; thoughts of "What am I doing here?" and "I know nothing about robots" bounced across my brain. I fumbled through the team cheer, listened to subteam presentations, and turned in a half-slip of paper with hastily written down subteam preferences at the end of the third meeting.
That building I first walked into as a sophomore with a jumble of doubts quickly transformed into a second home for the next three years of my life. As part of Team 365 - MOE and the larger FIRST Robotics community, I discovered the powers of coffee and pizza, the difference between swerve and mecanum drives, and how to rock our team's hallmark lime green. But most importantly, through both the Media team and the Computer Aided Design (CAD) team, I realized that success derives from both innovative engineering and successful management. Building 700 became a nest for both fields: through the Media team, I created business plans, streamlined our out-of-date website with its atrocious lime green text on a black background, and obtained crucial funding from sponsors. Through CAD, I began to dabble in the ropes of Solidworks, modeling prototypes that ensured smooth integration between each subteam. And when a particular design failed - a collector arm, for instance - I set to work with my teammates to innovate a new solution. Our robotics team rapidly became a well-oiled machine: fueled by the momentum of key business strategies to kick competition performance and STEM outreach into high gear.
Yet even as our team won awards like Entrepreneurship and Engineering Inspiration, battled through district competitions and World Championships, and garnered both sponsors and Twitter followers, one question lingered: what was I going to do after FIRST?
I know without a doubt that my experience at the crossroads of business and engineering is far from finished. FIRST was just the prelude; through the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, I can shape my story. The overlap between these two crucial fields continues to grow in size and importance - after all, the technologies of today are MOE's in and of themselves: Miracles of Engineering. Yet their success is interwoven with the phenomenal business strategies of their producers - Apple's household symbol, Microsoft's strategic merger with Nokia. I've seen firsthand the determination of FIRST students as they operate drill presses; I've heard the sharp gasps and raucous shouts as they anxiously await the score of a close match; I've felt the passion of creating something tangible out of knowledge that is intangible - and it is a passion I seek to share. Through M&T, I can develop a well-rounded mindset poised to innovate, engineer, and market a way to provide students with hands-on experience in STEM fields. A major in Systems Science and Engineering through SEAS will allow me to tackle systems much more complex than robots; yet at the same time, I can learn to develop novel ideas through classes like Management 235. With the tight-knit community of students within the program who share similar interests as well as the inspiring diversity of Penn as a whole, I can challenge myself to become an innovator, an adapter, and an entrepreneur. The tools I develop through both degrees can become a double-edged sword, ready to engineer the tangible future, and engineer the tactics necessary to make it a success. I need not sacrifice business or engineering.
Turns out, you can have your cake and eat it too - and even share some with the rest of the world.
I'm applying to a really selective program at Penn based around Management & Technology; it only accepts 50 people a year, so I know my essays have to be really, really good. My main concern with what I've written is the ending - I'm not sure if enough people will "get it." I'm right at the word limit so I can't add anything without detracting from some part of the essay. Let me know what you think!
How will the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology help you pursue your specific interests in both engineering and business? Please address in depth specific engineering fields, areas of business, and their potential integration that you plan on pursuing through this Penn program. (400-650 words)
I walked into DuPont Building 700 for the first time with a demure smile on my face - but my inner feelings more resembled that emoji with a frontward-facing slash as its mouth. Eighty-something unfamiliar faces greeted my apprehensive eye; thoughts of "What am I doing here?" and "I know nothing about robots" bounced across my brain. I fumbled through the team cheer, listened to subteam presentations, and turned in a half-slip of paper with hastily written down subteam preferences at the end of the third meeting.
That building I first walked into as a sophomore with a jumble of doubts quickly transformed into a second home for the next three years of my life. As part of Team 365 - MOE and the larger FIRST Robotics community, I discovered the powers of coffee and pizza, the difference between swerve and mecanum drives, and how to rock our team's hallmark lime green. But most importantly, through both the Media team and the Computer Aided Design (CAD) team, I realized that success derives from both innovative engineering and successful management. Building 700 became a nest for both fields: through the Media team, I created business plans, streamlined our out-of-date website with its atrocious lime green text on a black background, and obtained crucial funding from sponsors. Through CAD, I began to dabble in the ropes of Solidworks, modeling prototypes that ensured smooth integration between each subteam. And when a particular design failed - a collector arm, for instance - I set to work with my teammates to innovate a new solution. Our robotics team rapidly became a well-oiled machine: fueled by the momentum of key business strategies to kick competition performance and STEM outreach into high gear.
Yet even as our team won awards like Entrepreneurship and Engineering Inspiration, battled through district competitions and World Championships, and garnered both sponsors and Twitter followers, one question lingered: what was I going to do after FIRST?
I know without a doubt that my experience at the crossroads of business and engineering is far from finished. FIRST was just the prelude; through the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, I can shape my story. The overlap between these two crucial fields continues to grow in size and importance - after all, the technologies of today are MOE's in and of themselves: Miracles of Engineering. Yet their success is interwoven with the phenomenal business strategies of their producers - Apple's household symbol, Microsoft's strategic merger with Nokia. I've seen firsthand the determination of FIRST students as they operate drill presses; I've heard the sharp gasps and raucous shouts as they anxiously await the score of a close match; I've felt the passion of creating something tangible out of knowledge that is intangible - and it is a passion I seek to share. Through M&T, I can develop a well-rounded mindset poised to innovate, engineer, and market a way to provide students with hands-on experience in STEM fields. A major in Systems Science and Engineering through SEAS will allow me to tackle systems much more complex than robots; yet at the same time, I can learn to develop novel ideas through classes like Management 235. With the tight-knit community of students within the program who share similar interests as well as the inspiring diversity of Penn as a whole, I can challenge myself to become an innovator, an adapter, and an entrepreneur. The tools I develop through both degrees can become a double-edged sword, ready to engineer the tangible future, and engineer the tactics necessary to make it a success. I need not sacrifice business or engineering.
Turns out, you can have your cake and eat it too - and even share some with the rest of the world.