Autobiography - University Application Essay (Taiwan)

Hello! This is for applying for computer science and informational engineering program in Taiwan. They only said autobiography, so I just talked about my upbringing and life. This was made in like 3 hours spanned across two days as I am in quite a bit of a rush and need to translate this into mandarin asap. Please help me review it, I am open to suggestions and criticisms, thanks a lot :). Word count: 579

My name is X, born in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, as the last child of four siblings. Being the last child, even though my parents have never forced their expectations on me, I cannot help but feel anxious about my future and making them proud. Growing up, my parents have a distinct way of teaching me, my mom taught me how to be kind-hearted and patient. Meanwhile, my dad showed me that not every hurdle is as troublesome as I thought; oftentimes it was ourselves that overcomplicated it. Ultimately, my parents wanted me to be kind and find a broader perspective on problems and failures.

From elementary school to senior high school, I have been attending the same school, Darma Yudha School, one of the most prestigious and well-known school nationally, and accredited A in all levels. In elementary and Junior high school, I tried a variety of activities from robotics, basketball, to English; none of them really stuck with me. During this period, I am most interested in mathematics, but I never delve deeper than maths classes in school. That is until the last year of my junior high school (grade 9), where I got my own laptop and tried competitive programming, a new world of problem-solving I have never seen before.

Senior high school is when I take my grades and activities seriously. In grade 10, I got in the honor class, the fierce competition made me even more fired up to achieve good grades. During this year, I participated in Olimpiade Sains Nasional (OSN), the official national Olympiad of science. I am only able to qualify at the province level, which I was not able to solve any of the questions. At the end of the year, I was barely able to maintain my top 10 ranking in the class.

In grade 11, the honor class was disbanded, this created a much more relaxed environment. The less stressful environment made me realized that grade was not everything. This realization allowed me to balance socializing, maintaining good grades, as well as practicing for competition by actually focusing one step at a time and by making myself more discipline and do what I had to do. This year, I was able to consistently be at the top of my class for the entire year. I was also able to participate in OSN again. This time, I was able to solve 3 out of the 6 questions confidently, though it was still not enough for me to qualify for the semi-final round.

Balancing academics and social life is very exhausting, which amplify the importance of my hobbies. In my free time, I enjoy reading novels, which helps me relax and collect my thoughts after continuous coding. Through these experiences and my competition journey, I have developed problem-solving skill above my peers. At the same time, I acknowledge my main weakness of not being careful enough in submitting solution, which I am trying to overcome.

I have always thought that all problems are difficult to solve, but competitive programming taught me that the solutions are sometimes easier than you imagine. This method of seeing problems stuck with me, now I tend to try finding a simpler solution before thinking about more complex algorithms. I truly believe that pursuing computer science would sharpen my critical thinking and develop my personality as a whole. After completing my undergraduate degree, I intend to continue my higher education in computer science or data science.

I would remove the reference to your parents not forcing any expectations on you yet you still anxious about your future. There is something psychological about that comment that could leave the reviewer wondering about your relationship with your parents. Try to spin that into a positive take instead by saying that your parents removed the pressure of who you want to be in the future and what field you want to major in by not placing any unwarranted expectations on you academically. That gives your parents a more positive image.


This can be seen as a negative take on yourself by the reviewer. Do not use negative self take when discussing your academic background. You want the reviewer to know you are a good student and that you persevere when the going gets tough. Talking this way about yourself makes you sound defeatist instead and someone who just gets by academically through sheer luck. That is not a good image to present.


Still, this is not the type of accomplishment that will impress the reviewer. It would be best to mention your participation and placement either as an individual or as a team. Everything has to sound positive somehow. They reviewer will not give a student who does not accomplish anything a second look. He could consider you a non-qualifying applicant and reject your application outright.


Which novel would you consider influential in your life and why?


This is not an important part of your biography so there is no need to mention this. Speak only of your notable past and most recent accomplishments. Try to close the essay on a stronger note. For example, when you first heard about the university, why you were influenced to look into the university, and what convinced you that your current academic targets for your undergraduate course would be best served by attending this university as a foreign student. What can you offer the university that you feel will make you stand out as both a student and member of the student community?

Thank you so much for the advice, I will revise it as fast as I can. And is it fine if I make another thread for the revised version?

The content is strong and the competitive programming journey gives the autobiography a clear connection to computer science. The biggest improvement would be tightening the grammar and making the transitions between grades more natural, since there are several sentences that currently sound translated or repetitive. The OSN experience is actually a good point to keep because it shows persistence rather than just success. The final paragraph could also be more specific about why Taiwan and information engineering, rather than ending with a general interest in CS/data science. Overall, the story is genuine, but polishing the language and strengthening the connection between your experiences and your intended field would make it much more convincing.

Thank you for the advice :), will definitely fix the grammar and take your advice into account.

You have a good foundation here, and the competitive programming part gives the essay a clear connection to computer science. The biggest thing I would change is the focus on rankings and grades. Admissions readers already have your academic records, so more detail about what you learned from programming would make the essay more personal.

Some sentences also need grammar work, especially the parts about your Grade 10 and Grade 11 experiences. I would cut the claim that you developed problem-solving skills "above my peers" because your examples already show your ability. For your competition practice, keeping track of your time and consistency might help, even with something simple like attendcalc.com for an attendance calculator and planning routine. The last paragraph needs a stronger reason for why you want to study computer science in Taiwan specifically. Right now, your interest in the subject is clear, but your choice of university and location is not.

This is my revised biography, any critic is useful so lmk if theres still some mistakes here or parts that need to be changed.

My name is X, born in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, as the last child of four siblings. Being the last child, my parents did not pressure me with any high expectations which gave me the freedom to pursue my interest. Growing up, both my parents differed in their methods of teaching me; my mom taught me how to be kind-hearted and patient, whereas my dad showed me that not every hurdle is as troublesome as I thought; oftentimes, we over-complicated them ourselves. Ultimately, my parents wanted me to be kind and find a broader perspective on problems and failures.

From elementary school to senior high school, I have been attending the same school, Darma Yudha School, one of the most prestigious and well-known schools nationally, and accredited A at all levels. In elementary and junior high school, I tried a variety of activities from robotics and basketball to English; none of them really stuck with me. During this period, I was most interested in mathematics, although I never delved deeper than math classes in school. However, that changed at the start of my senior high school (grade 10), when I got my own laptop and tried competitive programming, a new world of problem-solving I had never seen before.

Senior high school was when I took my grades and activities seriously. In grade 10, I got into the honors class. The fierce competition made me even more fired up to achieve good grades. During this year, I participated in Olimpiade Sains Nasional (OSN), the official national Olympiad of science; I was able to qualify for the province level in the informatics division. At the end of the year, I maintained my grades and got into the top 10 of my class.

In grade 11, the honors class was disbanded, creating a much more relaxed environment. This made me realize that grades were not everything. This realization allowed me to balance socializing, maintaining good grades, as well as practicing for competition by actually focusing on one step at a time, becoming more disciplined, and doing what needed to be done. This year, I was able to be consistently at the top of my class for the entire year. I also participated in OSN again this year, this time I did significantly better than last year; improved from 7th to 4th at the city level and solved more problems for the province level compared to last year.

Outside of my academic activities, I also did volunteer work. My friends and I founded an organization called Project SPARK, focusing on helping underprivileged children in my area. I am responsible for co-creating the organization's website, making sure every gadget used in events is working properly, and interacting with the children during events to lighten up the mood. During our first year, we helped over 100 children in 7 different adoption centers, helped them set up hydroponics for a sustainable source of vegetables, and taught them about different subjects such as informatics, mathematics, and English. This experience taught me the value of teamwork, communication, and empathy, which reinforced my desire to contribute to the communities around me.

Balancing academics and social life can be exhausting, which amplifies the importance of my hobbies. In my free time, I enjoy reading novels, which not only helps me relax after continuous coding, but also gives me a better perspective on life; an example of this is Reverend Insanity, which is highly philosophical and talks about how you can become great when you were not born with an innate talent.

I acknowledge my main weakness of not being thorough enough before submitting solutions, which I am trying to overcome. However, competitive programming taught me that the solutions to our problems are easier than we imagined. This stuck with me and now I tend to find simpler solutions before moving onto more complex algorithms.

My interest in studying in Taiwan is driven by both personal and academic reasons. Several of my relatives are living in Taiwan which will help me to adjust quickly to life in Taipei. Academically, National Taiwan University (NTU) stands out for its extensive specialized courses in computing. NTU offers strong research facilities, particularly in high-performance computing, along with active student clubs like the NTU Competitive Programming Club. As a student, I am eager to contribute actively in both research projects and organizations. I look forward to bringing my background in competitive programming to the student community, collaborating with peers, as well as promoting competitive programming on the national and international scale.