mikeyt14
Dec 31, 2018
Undergraduate / JHU Supplemental Essay (about doing a math competition with middle schoolers) [2]
Write a brief essay (300-400 words) in which you respond to the following question.
Successful students at Johns Hopkins make the biggest impact by collaborating with others, including peers, mentors, and professors. Talk about a time, in or outside the classroom, when you worked with others and what you learned from the experience.
It was a whole new experience for me, attending a math competition hosted at an institution. In the October of my tenth grade, I attended the Caltech-Harvey Mudd Math Tournament (CHMMT) as a member of the A-star program's Orange County team. I never met my team until the day of the competition, but given A-star's reputation I anticipated a team of mathematical gurus, from USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) qualifiers to national medalists. Yet, when I arrived at the entrance, I was greeted by a group of five smiling middle schoolers. I was perplexed. Middle schoolers? In a prestigious mathematics competition written for ambitious high schoolers? I was skeptical.
But in no time, I realized these weren't just kids. The moment I met them, their radiant curiosity and masterful understanding of mathematics wowed me. While I was in school learning to solve systems of equations, one teammate, Andre, was explaining how to calculate the value of one imaginary unit raised to the power of another imaginary unit. Another teammate, Wesley, was obsessing over the beauties of the nine-point circle. The competition hasn't even started and yet I've already learned so much from these "kids".
During the team round, each team was seated in its own room with a whiteboard and a set of ten problems to solve collaboratively in sixty minutes. As soon as the round started, the incredible mathematical capabilities of my team members began to unfold, as they would attack the problems with enthusiasm and aggression with words of collaboration flying across the room at incredible rates. In my school, I tutored mathematics to people several years younger than me, but that day I found myself at the other side of the desk. During the competition, I was actively learning from these "kids", attentive to their every word and revamping my mathematical arsenal. But at the end of the day, I left with more than just raw mathematical knowledge; I gained the realization that the ability to shape minds can come from anywhere.
i kinda wrote this one on a rush. not sure what to think, because i am always biased towards my own work. please be as critical as possible.
Thanks!
Johns Hopkins essay
Write a brief essay (300-400 words) in which you respond to the following question.
Successful students at Johns Hopkins make the biggest impact by collaborating with others, including peers, mentors, and professors. Talk about a time, in or outside the classroom, when you worked with others and what you learned from the experience.
It was a whole new experience for me, attending a math competition hosted at an institution. In the October of my tenth grade, I attended the Caltech-Harvey Mudd Math Tournament (CHMMT) as a member of the A-star program's Orange County team. I never met my team until the day of the competition, but given A-star's reputation I anticipated a team of mathematical gurus, from USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) qualifiers to national medalists. Yet, when I arrived at the entrance, I was greeted by a group of five smiling middle schoolers. I was perplexed. Middle schoolers? In a prestigious mathematics competition written for ambitious high schoolers? I was skeptical.
But in no time, I realized these weren't just kids. The moment I met them, their radiant curiosity and masterful understanding of mathematics wowed me. While I was in school learning to solve systems of equations, one teammate, Andre, was explaining how to calculate the value of one imaginary unit raised to the power of another imaginary unit. Another teammate, Wesley, was obsessing over the beauties of the nine-point circle. The competition hasn't even started and yet I've already learned so much from these "kids".
During the team round, each team was seated in its own room with a whiteboard and a set of ten problems to solve collaboratively in sixty minutes. As soon as the round started, the incredible mathematical capabilities of my team members began to unfold, as they would attack the problems with enthusiasm and aggression with words of collaboration flying across the room at incredible rates. In my school, I tutored mathematics to people several years younger than me, but that day I found myself at the other side of the desk. During the competition, I was actively learning from these "kids", attentive to their every word and revamping my mathematical arsenal. But at the end of the day, I left with more than just raw mathematical knowledge; I gained the realization that the ability to shape minds can come from anywhere.
i kinda wrote this one on a rush. not sure what to think, because i am always biased towards my own work. please be as critical as possible.
Thanks!
