Emanuel Molla
4.4 GPA, Columbia University ’29
Q: What advice do you have for underclassmen?
A: “Don’t sell yourself too short. There’s a lot of opportunities that you can take to sort of expand yourself academically or in your clubs. But just allowing yourself to have the confidence to try to do something is what I would definitely recommend.”
Q: How did you figure out what you wanted to study and where to apply?
A: “ I knew I wanted to study biomedical engineering because I was originally just going to do biology and be on the pre-med track. The pre med-track is still what I’m going to be pursuing, but I knew that biomedical engineering sort of would teach me different skills that I feel like would be helpful that any doctor should have. Then I also started learning programming recently, and I thought it would be cool to find ways that I can blend programming with biology, and I think biomedical engineering was the best fit for that. I chose to apply to Columbia, in early decision so I didn’t really apply to many other schools, but I chose to apply to Columbia simply because it was in New York City and there’s just a lot of opportunity to get research positions and internships and stuff, it’s just like the cultural and economic center of the entire world.”
Q: What is the most rigorous part of applying to college?
A: “Definitely writing the personal statement, it’s the main aspect of your college application that colleges look at. You want to encapsulate your entire life in the 650 words, which feels impossible. I would constantly reread it [and] I’d have teachers reread it to the point where I was always asking for help and edits.”
Jacky Chen
4.498 GPA, Brown University ’29
Q: How did you figure out what you wanted to study and where to apply?
A: “I’ve always had a passion for computer science and I knew that I was going to study computer science ever since I was in middle school. I did a lot of research to decide where I was going to apply, and I did like a lot of the schools I looked at which is why I applied to 19 colleges. Additionally, I’d say the national rankings of colleges are misleading; I found out later that Brown is actually the number 1 undergraduate CS program in the country despite being ranked way lower on the college rankings.”
Q: What classes did you take or recommend underclassmen to take?
A : “I’d recommend taking classes that you believe are a good fit for you, many students are peer pressured into taking classes that their friends are taking. I regret taking IB Lit compared to IB Lit & Lang; [as you do the oral in junior year]. Additionally, IB Geography is not easier than IB Topics; I’d recommend taking what you are interested in. Also, you should decide if you want to do the IB Diploma program or not during your sophomore year.”
Q: What are you looking forward to at Brown?
A: “Brown’s open curriculum is something that I’m definitely looking forward to. Additionally, I love that Brown is very undergraduate focused compared to other CS schools who mainly focus on graduate research and learning. You don’t have to declare a major until 3 semesters at Brown and even then you can create your own major with an advisor if you believe that there’s no good fit for you at Brown. I’m looking forward to the Ivy League college experience that is so hyped up by everyone around me.”
