While conversing over the roar of the miter-saw, we sketched a design for a frisbee shooter on the whiteboard. A few cuts and grinds later and we had another prototype to test. Our robotics warehouse is filled with countless parts and tools of creation. It’s where we realize our visions – where a concept can be taken from mind to sketch and then machined into reality. I spend more time here than at school. For six hours on weekdays and...

Intellectual Vitality, letter to your roommate, what matters & why, etc.

Intellectual Vitality Essay: When I was a naïve seven-year-old, I was once asked the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It took some thought, but I eventually answered “An Inventor!” From there on, I spend my time pretending to be an adult “inventor” – I’d recline in my chair, put my hand to my chin, and think. In almost no time (being a young kid with a wild imagination) I’d come up with...

There are countless student organizations at Stanford catering to...

E40M: Introduction to Making is a great introductory...

Quirky, Motivated, Unique, Brilliant, Calm. There's a lot of different kinds of people here, but one thing you'll find is that...

The most important thing is to partake in activities that show your passion. Focus on doing what YOU want, and then tell the admissions officer about why that excites you so much. This can...

I was always looking at a school with a good engineering program, and...

I visited all of the schools I was accepted to. None of them were nearly as enchanting as Stanford. It's something you feel the very second you step onto campus. The hundreds of bikes whizzing through the campus, the bells ringing throughout the day, the California sunshine,...

I think the best recommendation I had was from my robotics team mentor. Teachers are required for recommendations, but nobody will know you nearly as well as...

Passion, passion, passion. Getting into any prestigious university already requires a strong numbers game - you need to have sufficiently decent SATs, ACTs, a rigorous courseload, good grades, GPA, etc. However, the majority...

You should apply to essentially any and all scholarships you possibly can. You'll realize early on that even getting all of these won't be nearly enough to cover all four years of...

California sunshine and weather can't be beat. You have the entire Silicon Valley at your doorstep, countless engineering leaders,...

Most of the time, an interview is a luck-of-the-draw scenario. My interviewer from MIT didn't care much about me as an applicant; he asked very few questions about me, mostly just looking at my resume and asking me superficial questions that he already knew the...