Demographics: Male, Moroccan (Both parents are immigrants and I was born here), New Jersey, top 5 public high schools in New Jersey, I don’t think being Moroccan is a hook
Intended Major(s): Computer Science & Undecided
ACT/SAT/SAT II: I didn’t submit any, I took it but I wasn’t anywhere near the 75th percentile (1370)
UW/W GPA and Rank: 91UW, 95W (I screwed up heavily freshman year), our school doesn’t rank but does do percentiles, I think I’m at least in the top 20% or 10%
Coursework:
Most classes I took were either honors or AP. My AP classes are…
AP US HIST. (DIDNT SUBMIT INTO COMMON APP)
AP WORLD HIST. (DIDNT SUBMIT INTO COMMON APP)
AP HUMAN GEO. (DIDNT SUBMIT INTO COMMON APP)
AP COMP SCI (Submitted to Common App, it was a 5)
Senior Year APS:
AP CALC BC
AP LIT & COMP.
Awards: I don’t have any (unless you consider Github Aritic Vault Contributor, but I didn’t list that)
Extracurriculars: I have been programming a lot ever since AP Comp Sci in my sophomore year. Here are some things I’ve done and where I’ve used it on the application.
I have mentioned this on my application (through essays and common app activities):
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I have been working for an open-source software startup in my town for over a year now (the summer in 2019 till now, through covid). I wrote code for various parts of the project like the server, native backend, android application, ci/cd, and various scripts. I am paid
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a neural network that detects covid-19 and pneumonia using x-ray images (it is 92% accurate)
I have not mentioned these directly on my application but they are on my resume and the website I linked them
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an app that shows populations and images of endangered animals using crowdsourcing and neural networks.
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a bunch of other projects not as interesting as these ones
I mentioned this project in my supplemental essay but didn’t make it until after:
- a search engine that utilizes natural language processing and Wikipedia to find direct answers to questions a user asks them instantly (it isn’t done but it is partially working)
I joined Robotics (Software Programmer), Hackademic (hackathon club)(regular member), Track and XC(varsity), and volunteered for multiple clean ups and runs at my local park.
Essays/LORs/Other:
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I got a recommendation from my AP Computer Science teacher and AP Human Geo teacher (who is also my ap world hist teacher). I feel the AP Computer Science rec should be very strong considering I was one of the highest achieving students in her class
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I got another rec from my employer who is a software engineer at a cryptocurrency exchange company. This is probably my best rec.
My common app essay consisted of my journey with computer science and how I originally got to know it, leaving it because I didn’t understand it, coming back to it through AP Computer Science, and expanding my knowledge through my own projects (like the covid neural network) and my job
My supplemental essay was me talking about GPT-3, a natural language processing network that seems unbelievably human and real, and how it is a marvel of science and has so many uses. I went into how I want to make something as impactful as that and help people, and how Cornell could help me. I went into detail about the clubs I would join, the courses I would do, and a professor I’d want to do research with.
I feel these essays could have been written better. I kinda feel they don’t flow amazingly and the supplemental kinda sounds fake around the end when I talk about working with a prof.
I am also applying to a bunch of other Ivys and top schools, if I don’t get into Cornell I want to try my hand at other top CS schools. Some other schools I’m applying to is GIT, and Carnegie Mellon (as well as any of the t20s). If you have any idea how I could elevate my app for other schools, lmk.