Undergraduate / Taking advantage of a significant educational opportunity or overcoming an educational barrier [2]

University of California Essay

Q: Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

Response: It's okay to fail, but it is not okay if you do not learn from the mistakes that led to that failure.

In 11th grade, I changed my optional subject from Economics to Computer Science midway through the school year. I made this decision after seeing my friend write codes on the bus and realising that Computer Science involved a lot of Mathematics.

While attending Computer Science classes at school, I had set a goal in my mind, namely, to learn how to code. I started the class with great enthusiasm, but things started to go downhill after a little time. I realised that Computer Science was not just raw mathematics, as it also involved a lot of other things such as looping, code structure and algorithms. While I was trying to understand the basic concepts of programming such as my peers were learning advanced programming concepts such as data structures and loops. After a little time in the classes, I started to feel inferior to my classmates as all of them had a better understanding of the subject than me. I felt ashamed of asking doubts to my peers and teacher, as I was having a tough time to solve problems that they could solve easily. I started to fear the subject and, as a result, performed miserably on the final test.

One thing that sports has taught me through all these years is getting up after falling down. I tried to figure out my mistakes and found where I went wrong. To perform well in the subject, I had to remove its fear as well as understand its basic concepts. I did this by staying after school, online courses and clearance of doubts with the help of my peers and mentors. I worked hard and finally raised my marks by a significant margin. Although I may not have gotten an extremely high score, I am still proud of it as the increase represents the efforts that I had put in throughout the year.

Post this experience, I have furthered my Computer Science skills by learning new programming languages, working on a project combining engineering and CS and also volunteered to teach Computer Science to blind students.

I wanted to know whether it is good or if it sounds cliched. Also feel free to give any suggestions that would improve the essay. Thanks in advance!

Undergraduate / My interest in Mathematics & Computer Science- UIUC Undergraduate [5]

Question:

Explain your interest in the major you selected.

Describe an experience related to that area of study, what first introduced you to this field, and/or your future career goals. Limit your response to 300-400 words.

Response: My interest in Computer Science developed in 11th grade. On my way to school, I sat next to my friend who used to write codes on the bus. At first, I could not understand what he was typing, but after seeing him run the program codes, I realized that it was something related to mathematics. As I am a math lover, I assisted him in writing codes that involved complex mathematical logic. We would become very happy when our logic worked and the program ran successfully. Gradually, my interest in Computer Science increased, and I decided to change my optional subject from Economics to Computer Science.

When I sat in the Computer Science classes, I had set a goal in my mind to learn to code. Although it was difficult for me to learn the basics of the language at first, I put in a lot of efforts to learn C++ through online courses and the help of my peers. During this process, I could appreciate the beauty of Computer Science and the numerous ways in which technology can help mankind. After graduating high school, I have explored Computer Science and learned to program in Java and C. I have also tried to understand the real world applications of coding through projects such as home automation using Arduino.

My interest in Mathematics developed due to my love for solving problems. A lot of my childhood days were spent playing math games and challenges with my mom such as Sudoku. I was also learning the abacus around that time, which furthered my interest in numbers and calculations. Later in my high school, I relished the opportunity to further my interest in Mathematics. I took part in math competitions and exhibitions held at my school. I also worked on a project which incorporated fundamental concepts of physics and mathematics to show how to score a basket. This was the first time, I was able to use some abstruse formulas in a real-world situation.

At UIUC, I desire to major in Mathematics & Computer Science which will enable me to explore areas such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. To create something useful is an expression of great value, leading to a door of infinite possibilities. The abundant research opportunities at UIUC will help me fulfil my goal of creating something useful.