Student profile

Accepted into UC Berkeley, UCLA

GPA: 3.84

SAT/ACT: 1580

Extracurricular activities: Officer of the Computer Science club President of the Chess club; Member of the Math Club; Tutored Science and Math; US National Chemistry Olympiad; Stanford University's Programming Competition 2017; Volunteer, Basketball


Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.


My mind, still numb and reeling from the shock, cannot think properly. As my new group members shuffle out of the room, I slowly struggle to my feet and weakly shake the coordinator's hand. Walking out of the room, I contemplate the importance of the duties I was just given. As a high school intern at Santa Clara University's Frugal Innovation Lab, I had expected to be led by my group, all of whom were at least four years my senior. Instead, I was to be the group leader. Although I had been dreaming of this opportunity since I had known of the lab, I had never expected to actually obtain the leadership position.

A couple of weeks later, I'm facilitating a discussion on programming practices and version control. It's the same topic, actually, that I had given in lecture format to my high school's computer science club a few weeks prior. However, unlike that lecture, each member of the discussion contributes -- for example, I learn of RegEx -- and I quickly realize that although I am the group leader, the other members also have their own bags of tricks to teach me.

And so, even as I teach them, I learn. It's a leadership experience unlike any other I have undertaken before or since, and as a result, the most rewarding. When I finish my work, a few weeks ahead of schedule, it's not solely based on my own knowledge; my project is also imbued with little tips and tricks that the college students had taught me over the course of the internship. Later, I'm pleased to see that when they submit their own work, it is distinctly reminiscent of my own code. My pedagogy has done its job and allowed us to have a successful project.

When the project is finally completed, I'm back in school and unable to celebrate with the still-summering college students. But, as part of the group, I still feel their satisfaction.



Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?


I groan inwardly as I review my first biology test, which was in fact my very first test of freshman year. I had made careless mistake after careless mistake, probably due to sleeping only four hours the night before. Also, I’d guessed on a few questions, and gotten all of those wrong too, because I had left my notes at school and could not study. The reasons I couldn't perform well were so simple as to be childlike, yet on assessment after assessment, I don’t meet my own expectations. As a result, I'm getting destroyed in the class -- a novel and horrible experience for me. Just then, a plan hatches in my befuddled mind. Maybe I can hit two birds with one stone.

That night, when I get home, I toss my huge, unorganized all-in-one binder onto my bed and take the rest of the dust-collecting folders out for the first time since I had bought them. Painstakingly, with a hole puncher on one side and a stapler on the other, I go through every document in the giant binder and separate them into their own folders. Notes go next; eventually, each subject is neatly organized into its own section and, for once, I don't have to go searching for my assignments for the night. After homework, I find that I have more time, so I spend the remaining hours preparing for classes the next day.

Coming from a relatively undemanding middle school, I didn’t need to be organized or prepared for class, and I didn’t need to study for tests. When I transitioned into my first honors classes, I was initially clobbered by the rigorous workload. After my grades suffered at the beginning, I adjusted and gained study skills that would push me to succeed throughout high school and beyond. Through a trial by fire, I became a much better student and gained confidence in my personal prowess and resilience.

For the next biology test I take, I am confident, prepared, and ultimately unsurprised that I get an A.



Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. (MUST CHOOSE FOR ENGG MAJORS)


With each submission to the online grader, I become increasingly perplexed. Somehow, the "perfect" solution I had written to the programming problem isn't actually working as intended, and the grader rejects my solution, giving me zero points for the problem. As I ponder the problem, an idea leaps into my head like a crack of lightning, instantaneously illuminating the solution. Coding it is relatively trivial, and when I do so -- finishing the contest round with minutes to spare -- it's immensely gratifying.


Moments like these represent the crux of why computer science appeals to me in that they demonstrate the product of my study and intuition developed over hundreds of problems. The desire to learn and to use my newfound knowledge to solve problems is integral to my very being and how I conduct myself, and computer science provides the most direct and tangible way for my education to manifest. I feel most at home, for example, while I’m churning out lines of code to test an idea or reading a book filled top to bottom with algorithms. My study of programming and all the theory and practice involved has brought me to competitive programming and academic computer science, both of which are opportunities for me to hone my intuition and learn more about algorithmic theory through exciting problems.


I've competed in programming contests for most of my high school career, writing code in everything from the relatively well-known contests such as the USA Computing Olympiad to more local and regional contests, such as Stanford's ProCo. The feeling of being just one name on a massive leaderboard and competing against thousands of peers fuels my competitive spirit and gives me extra motivation to learn more so I can perform better on tests. On top of that, finding clean solutions to complicated problems induces a state of temporary euphoria -- that is, until I start over again with the next problem. In addition, I'm no stranger to the academic side of computer science, having taken multiple university level courses on various online sites in order to expand my computing horizons and better myself.



What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?


In programming, a "scope" error occurs when a variable is used outside of the "layer" of the code it is declared in. Programs often have myriad different scopes, all often working together to create a multifaceted, effective solution to a problem. Similarly, I have had impacts on communities of different "scopes," coming together to further my vision of a more prosperous and developed world and effectively solve the accompanying problems.


In the lowest possible scope -- specifically, my immediate friends and family -- I have aided those closest to me constantly throughout my high school years. Whether it was setting up and maintaining the information systems at my mom's new dental practice this summer in order to save the expense of an IT contractor, or creating and administrating a server for my school friends on the voice and text chat program Discord to be used as a homework and tutoring hub, service to those closest to me has always been one of my top priorities as a way to give back to those who have supported me. 


In a more expanded scope, that of my school and city, my service has also been extensive. For example, my duties and priorities as the president of the Computer Science Club at my school have included community outreach and developing education programs for those less fortunate to learn about the subject in which I spend much of my time. In the service of my city (and, really, the whole San Francisco Bay Area), I created a texting app for homeless people and immigrants to access services. 


On the largest scope of all, my contributions have been numerous. For my internship at NASA, where I am currently focused on documenting complex projects, I attempt to get our government's research out to the public in an easy-to-understand way. Going back further, my work at the Frugal Innovation Lab aided children in Nepal with their education. Finally, my project with Synopsys curtailed rampant credit card fraud.


Each person has their favored scope, but similar to a program, it's best to use all of them together.