While not a requirement, have you been interviewed by an alumni or on campus representative prior to applying for admission? If so, indicate the name of your interviewer and tell us how it impacted your decision to apply. (500 words)
I interviewed with SCS class of ‘16 alumni, [name]. When I met with him at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, I asked him some questions about campus life and opportunities at Carnegie Mellon.
Since I had already chosen to apply Early Decision to Carnegie Mellon, this interview served to reassure my decision. We started off by discussing my internship at H2O.ai, a Silicon Valley startup specializing in machine learning. When I mentioned the company’s name and how I saw countless Google cars driving around, [name] recognized the startup immediately, as it is right across from Google where [name of alumni] currently works!
I learned that [name]'s education at Carnegie Mellon served as a concrete foundation for the work he does at Google. Particularly, the strong basis of math he acquired through CMU’s core curriculum allowed him to apply these concepts in his projects at Google. I mentioned that I looked for a college that emphasizes a strong math foundation in computer science, and I was pleased to hear how much CMU encourages its students to gain this background. In fact, Ms. Stenger also had shared similar information about SCS when I met her at the Gates building this past summer during my CMU tour. [name of alumni] also mentioned that many students in the SCS department attend hackathons, a fun and productive way to apply knowledge learned in class. I truly value an environment like this, surrounding me with like-minded peers from around the world to work together and make a significant impact on our society.
Similar to my future plans at Carnegie Mellon, Kevin also demonstrated an interest in machine learning since he had majored in computer science with a minor in ML. After discussing some of his favorite courses (Great Theoretical Ideas in Computer Science and Combinatorics), I asked him about research at Carnegie Mellon. I particularly like CMU’s project based environment and the value of interdisciplinary studies. [name of alumni] described to me that if you laid out a graph of research versus classes taken over the 4 years at CMU on a x-y graph, the negative slope implies the value of research at Carnegie Mellon and its impacts on the education process. We discussed about one of his research projects at Carnegie Mellon, where he created an image analysis program using algorithms that he learned in his undergraduate courses. In particular, [name of alumni] mentioned how easy it was to talk to CMU professors due to the small class sizes and personalized attention to students, an invaluable trait in any collaborative community.
We talked about everything from the practicality of the Google Car to food at Carnegie Mellon. I sincerely enjoyed my time talking to [name], giving me indispensable insight into the eyes of a CMU student. My interview reassured me that CMU is a great place to not only build important technical skill sets but also help me to build who I am as a person. I hope to step into the shoes that [name] left behind as a future CMU student and experience this for myself.