Singing quietly, I drove up my street. As I pulled into the driveway, I curiously noted that my mom’s Volvo was already home. But I dismissed my observation and gathered my belongings and checked the mailbox and took my sweet time getting into the house. My parents work until around seven o’clock, so I was accustomed to the silence of the house. But for some unknown instinct, I opened my parents’ bedroom door a crack and peered inside. ...

Cockroaches. Smoke. Dirty. Those words come to mind when I think of my grandma’s house. I hated it there. She had this raspy cough that carried this gurgling sound of phlegm. And every day, Grandpa always sat on his couch, ate snacks, smoked, and watched soap operas. I used to wonder how someone could sit all day doing virtually nothing. When Grandma died, my family was in the middle of a vacation. I remember that Dad cried when he...

Deep in concentration, I absentmindedly consented to what sounded like my dad asking if I wanted to join an aerobics class. However, I soon discovered that I had misheard and agreed to join a robotics class instead. That mistake may have been one the best things that has ever happened to me. I loved robotics. In fact, a year later, I joined the VEX robotics team. Slowly, I rose from the position of a rookie to the coach, driver, and...

Your favorite book and its author: A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Your favorite movie: The Lord of the Rings Your favorite website: www.deviantart.com Two adjectives your friends would use to describe you: bubbly, motivated Your favorite recording: The Phantom of the Opera, sung by Emmy Rossum and Gerald Butler Your favorite keepsake or memento: On my first trip to China, my dad got me a little golden keychain shaped like a fan with tiny Chinese...

Computer Science introductory course...

I'd write more for myself than for what people want...

I'm an engineer. So MIT should have been a natural choice for me. In fact, it was and still is my dream school. Ultimately, I still decided...

I was waitlisted from two schools, and I remember that I sent in a couple updates throughout my application process to remind...

I found that although my math and science courses were most relevant to my desired path, my best recommendations came from just teachers I got...