Application Essay Excerpts

Random Acts In the course of a week, I discovered that my grandma can really dance (item 13), ordered diet water from McDonald's in an invisible car (item 10), roller-skated in a museum (item 175), helped a senior citizen complete their bucket list (item 85), walked on water (item 74), and the miracles kept happening. My explanation for performing these unusual acts is simple: I was a part of a Guinness World Record-breaking event, called the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, or for short, GISHWHES...

“Cookies?” she offered and smiled brightly at me. Irritated, I dodged her and glared at my phone screen…still no text?! “Grandson, you know you can tell me everything, right?” a gentle voice came from outside. I ignored her and blasted my music, trying to relieve my loneliness...

During my work at Acostek Co Ltd. as Assistant Engineer, I obtained two patents from the China Patent and Trademark Office (Patent numbers: ZL 2013 2 0447359.4 and ZL 2013 2 0447416.9) as co-inventor and inventor respectively. The patents were essential to designing the Automatic Communication Testing System (ACTS), a product that revolutionized the mobile acoustics industry...

A nerd… a geek… how about a parent? Only a parent would understand the complicated, harmonious-but-also-full-of-obstruction relationship between my projects and me. Parenting is a difficult task. Not only do parents feed, house, and love their children perpetually, they must also teach and raise them to have intellect and integrity...

It is widely accepted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can give machines the ability to think analytically and thereby enhance the human condition. With my engineering degree, I will devote myself and my accomplishments to altruistic progress—that is progress for the purpose of establishing, sustaining, and perpetuating the well-being of others...

“Stocks? What are stocks?” I asked as my dad handed me his Scottrade account in June 2012. I anxiously logged in and stared at the green $5,000 sitting in the corner—five thousand dollars to invest in any company of my choice...

As a child, I observed washing machines for hours, determined to unravel the secret of the hypnotizing, spinning barrel. Now I strive to investigate how trillions of intricate transistors work together in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to emulate human intelligence and imagination...

The cool air surrounds me and caresses my skin even under my sweater and jeans. I am perched upon a tree branch as I stare at the nonexistent stars in the suburban night sky. My legs swing aimlessly on both sides of the branch...

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl My father was raised in a old fashioned society where women had no purpose other than being a mother and housewife. He grew up with the belief that women could not fulfill their duties in life without having a porcelain face and indubious obedience to her husband. My mother was brought up with similar notions and is now the ideal wife for her husband...

My parents immigrated to the United States for one reason: the opportunity for a better life. They left behind their families, homes, and much of their belongings. They did not, however, leave behind their old-fashioned way of thinking...