Current Upperclassman at Carnegie Mellon: ASK ME ANYTHING!

HSquared2
Wed, 22 Jul 2020 05:38:27 +0000

plundergraduate:

I’m interested in potentially double majoring, with one of the majors being robotics. HS rising junior at the moment.

I’ve been competing in VEX robotics since middle school (7th grade to be specific). Robotics is definitely my strongest EC; my team and I had a strong hand in rebuilding our school’s program and made it to Worlds twice. However, my freshman and sophomore seasons were not so successful due to funding/teacher issues, so we hardly competed, despite my peers and I doing our best to facilitate the program’s growth. We were set to come back this year with strong prospects in terms of fundraising/recruiting and generally, but COVID has vanished most of those into thin air, as my state will likely be remote learning and we don’t know what will happen to ECs yet. In all likelihood, they’ll be cancelled. I’ve had leadership roles throughout my years in VEX (team captain, club president in HS, etc) and am president of my school’s TSA, but aside from trying to get VEX certifications on V5, trying to build our TSA/robotics team, and continuing to learn as much as possible in preparation, I’m not sure what to do, since snagging a state title at minimum was how I was planning to dispel any doubts that the aforementioned two-year slump could cast on my ability. What do you think I should do?

@plundergraduate Hi! CMU is pretty unique in that we have a completely separate, dedicated department just for robotics: [url = https://www.ri.cmu.edu/] Robotics Institute , not to mention the ability to double major in robotics.

I didn’t do VEX, but I did FIRST all throughout middle school and high school and I understand where you’re coming from in terms of the administrative issues hindering the actual robotics (this also happened to my team)! You sound like you’ve done everything you can to get it running again and you should be proud of that; there are a lot of factors outside of your control, and I doubt this will cast much of anything in terms of your ability (as long as you explain that because of administrative issues, the team took a 2 year hiatus). I’m also so happy to hear that you’re taking on leadership roles; it’s no easy feat running a team and coordinating but it shows that you care a lot and are willing to take initiative. I know it’s a bummer that COVID ruined so much, but colleges will understand that this year is very abnormal and will take whatever you can do this year into account.

That being said:
[ol]
[] I don’t think winning competitions is the only way to showcase your passion for robotics. It’s certainly helpful to have these awards, but it’s not the only way to showcase that you have drive for a subject. In my opinion, competitions are just one facet to show that you’re super interested in the subject and you’re willing to work hard and do really well in it. Colleges are looking that you have the grit required to not only do well, but to push the boundaries of whatever you’re passionate about, even if it’s difficult. It sounds like you’ve faced no shortage of adversity in robotics, and sticking with it will only showcase your love for this field more. There are a lot of other ways to show this: I personally started programs and offered mentorship in robotics to middle schools and even elementary schools (such as mentoring other FIRST teams, and helping rookie teams hit the ground running), and learned a great deal of not only how to do robotics well, but how to run a robotics team well.
[] You can still do plenty of robotics related things in quarantine. My favorite would be personal projects. I’m not sure exactly what in robotics you’re most interested in, but it was incredibly mind blowing to me when I personally experimented with different computer vision refinement techniques (segmenting, thresholding, etc.) to see which one would help our ball launcher (shooter) best. Another close friend of mine implemented different control methods (if you’ve heard of them: PID, model predictive control, linear–quadratic regulator, etc.) to a self balancing robot they built from scratch to try to gain a more complete understanding. This, is the coolest part of robotics that you can definitely do at home! I think this shows your ability more than the two year slump and that despite everything happening in the world, you’ve still found a way to learn and explore robotics.
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Do you have any recommendations when it comes to knocking out Gen Ed requirements in high school for the robotics major? Just curious as to whether I should do dual enrollment and get some out of the way.

I’m assuming that you’re talking about CMU Robotics Major specifically so I’ll link the requirements for the major here: [url = https://www.ri.cmu.edu/education/academic-programs/undergraduate-options/curriculum/] CMU Robotics Major Requirements .

I never did dual enrollment and I went for APs (both are accepted at CMU) but you’ll notice that just from the requirements alone, there aren’t really any gen eds. What I love about CMU is that we throw you into this major and only ask you to take the relevant courses! In terms of high school, you could start fulfilling the prerequisites, if these courses are offered at your high school/local college: calculus 3, linear algebra/diff eq, AP computer science, etc.

Do you know anyone double majoring in music and robotics/another STEM major? What are the odds of getting in if you do that? Was there anything in particular you emphasized in your app because you wanted to double major?

We do have a BCSA (cross between the College of Fine Arts and the School of Computer Science.) program: [url = https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/bxa-intercollege-degree-programs] BCSA Program Info. I do know a few people, but I’d say that it’s not too common. The reason being that CS/Robotics is incredibly rigorous at CMU and most students I know want to be able to double count as many courses as they can from their primary major to their additional robotics major. The more related your primary major and your additional robotics major are, the easier it’ll be to double count, and the faster you can complete your degree requirements. However, it’s definitely possible to have an additional major in robotics from any primary major, and you shouldn’t feel discouraged from trying to do so. I’m not too sure what you mean by ‘odds of getting in’ because you won’t be admitted to the robotics institute; robotics is not a standalone major (for good reason) and can only be obtained as an additional major to your primary major. I would look at the admissions statistics for your primary major.

Robotics was actually what got me into CS in the first place, so I wrote a ton about robotics, my involvement in it, where I see it’s going to be in 50 years; I think it really showed not only my interest, but it extended beyond just applying to college: that I was able to think about what our relationship with robots might be in the future.

Hopefully this was helpful! Feel free to PM me or add to this thread if you have any more questions. I know that college apps are such a stressful time, but you’re doing great! Keep pushing through, and it’ll be over before you know it.