I am a 16 year old student from Alabama. I’m a junior in high school. My passion is robotics. I joined a robotics team at school, and I fell in love. I want to study artificial intelligence in college. I want to know which school between the two would better prepare me in the field. Furthermore, I would like to know the best things to put on my resumé. I scored very high on the ACT, but I realize I need more than that to get into either of these schools. Five years of experience on a robotics team looks good, but will also not get me admitted. I plan on taking early college classes through the University of Alabama. Would this help in any way? If it does, should I take courses such as calculus instead of English or History? I’m not trying to boast, but I know I am smart enough to get into these colleges. I have the drive to succeed, and I have been blessed with a good mind. The problem is my high school. I go to a small school that does not provide a variety of courses or opportunities. I know this was very long, but I need some answers! Thank you to everyone in advance!
You don’t need to go to MIT or Carnegie Mellon to study artificial intelligence in college and work with robotics in your career. The vast majority of people who apply to these universities, especially MIT, do not get admitted. Instead of worrying how to look good to these two universities, spend your time searching out a variety of universities that offer degrees relating to artificial intelligence and robotics (which are not the same thing, btw). Include some universities that you are sure to get accepted to, and that you and your parents can afford.
If you really want to reach for the stars and hope for admission to one of these dream universities, then do your best to win some national or international awards this year (through competitions, e.g.). Get a patent or two. Conduct a research project. Do something really remarkable related to your intended major. And figure out what major that is exactly. It probably won’t go by the name “artificial intelligence” or “robotics” but rather could be more along the lines of Computer Science or Mechanical Engineering.
Thank you for your help! I am sorry for not being specific enough, as this was written hastily. My intended major is in computer science, but I want to specifically study A.I. and robotics. I have looked at other universities, but I would die for the opportunity to attend either of these schools.
Do you know any specific competitions which I could enter? I am the leader of our robotics team, and if we won the regional competition it would be a remarkable feat. I'm still not sure this would be enough. I have big dreams, and I would go to great lengths to accomplish them. Thanks again for your help!
you should enter some math and computing competitions
even winning regionals won’t mean much. Placing at the national level is much more valuable. Think about how many students are on teams that win a regional competition worldwide. MIT and CMU can’t accept all of them.
CMU is actually harder to get into than MIT for computer science. I know CMU likes demonstrated interest- have you visited? Reached out to admissions? I think your location would help you as well- not being from the NOrtheast! Agree with the above - both are a crap shoot for even the perfect applicant. Make sure you have safeties that you would like to attend on your list as well. Good luck!
1/3 of all CMU CS admits have never written any code.
Nothing wrong with aspiring to MIT or CMU, but given their acceptance rates, you need to identify some less selective alternatives as well.
You might, for example, consider WPI:
- first school to offer a robotics engineering major
- collaborates closely with FIRST Robotics
- offers merit scholarships specifically for FIRST Robotics participants
https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/robotics-engineering
http://first.wpi.edu
https://www.wpi.edu/admissions/tuition-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships-grants/wpi-merit/first-scholarships