Any sensible child plays with toys; I disassembled them to find out how they worked. As a preschooler, I had no time to worry about the stresses of naptime or the crushing monotony of nursery school. I just had to break open the model car and find the secret to its motion. With the nonchalance of a seasoned pro, I pushed forward. After minutes of struggling to remove the batteries from their seemingly impenetrable casing, they popped out. I took...

Even before I became aware of Carnegie Mellon's excellent reputation, my Uncle Saul (who has a MS and PhD in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon) has long encouraged me to pursue my studies at this institution. Now that I have narrowed down my college choices, and have had the opportunity to visit Carnegie Mellon, I know that this would be an ideal educational opportunity for me. I have applied to the Carnegie Institute of Technology, though I am undecided as...

For as long as I can remember, my grandparents have come over for dinner on Friday nights. My grandfather has always had a special interest in me, and we have often spoken about things my sisters can not relate to: science, math, and sports. He told me the stories of his upbringing as a fatherless child in the Bronx and how he played basketball and studied engineering at Cornell. He ultimately got a PhD in physics—a completely self-made man....

I know few people who get as excited about Taylor series or infatuated with bridge designs as I do. Naturally, I am excited to leverage these skills in other areas of my life. One day in my economics class, it suddenly hit me that a simple differential equation could model a concept under discussion. Eager to share my discovery with my teacher, I was disappointed by his response, “I don’t know calculus.” My immediate sadness engendered an understanding of...

I know few people who get as excited about Taylor series or infatuated with bridge designs as I do. Naturally, I was excited to leverage these skills in other areas of my life. One day in my economics class, it suddenly hit me that a simple differential equation could model a concept under discussion. Eager to share my discovery with my teacher, I was disappointed by his response that he “does not know calculus.” My immediate sadness engendered an understanding...

I know few people who get as excited about Taylor series or infatuated with the physics behind bridge designs as I do. Even so, I had never considered the applicability of my math and science skills in completely different academic areas; that is, until my economics instructor gave a lecture about demand curves. It suddenly hit me that a simple differential equation can model a quantity demanded versus price graph. Eager to share my discovery with my teacher, I was...

I yearned to do what most kids do not want to do during the summer: learn. That did not mean I was not going to have fun. Before summer 2014, I had done some Python programming and worked out contrived engineering problems in school. But that was not real. My goal was to get genuine experience in engineering, and work on something with actual implications. SciTech Summer Science Camp at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology fit the bill. The program...

My ancestry traces back to Eastern Europe, where both my paternal and maternal forebears lived. Being Jewish, my family came to America to escape persecution overseas, both by the Nazis and the Russian Czar. My maternal grandparents immigrated through Ellis Island and had to adapt to American culture. My family retains certain aspects of traditional European culture, such as an emphasis on education, practicing Ashkenazi Judaism, and making traditional cuisine, but has embraced American culture. I attend a Jewish day...

Waiting for the school bell to ring, I eagerly wait to go home, not to play games, but to cook. I rush to the store to purchase my ingredients, and then return home to cook up my tasty creations. Whether I’m making pancakes for a party, coffee cake for my class, or fondue for my family, I love creating food from scratch. The artistry that goes into cooking makes it a challenge, but a challenge worth taking. I make...

The Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department appeals to me the most. Since enrolling in a computer science course at school, I have become fascinated with programming and its applications. My robotic leg project at the Technion helped me become interested in engineering. At MIT, I can study computer programming and electrical and computer systems. I am excited to immerse myself in these fields and learn topics ranging from machine learning to control theory. On my visit to MIT, I...

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I applied to schools with highly reputed...

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Try to find activities that *interest* you! I...