How to Get into NYU (or your Dream School) Part 1: Understanding Myself/Yourself

Disclaimer: The entire blog post if posted as one would be very long. Therefore I have decided to divide my entire experience of applying to college into different parts, each focusing on a essential part of college applications. I have labeled the post with headings and subheadings for easy access to information. I would suggest to read the whole post if possible, since it explains my thought process and reasons in detail.

NYU – A Dream School

With three degree-granting campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai, and a wide variety of study abroad destinations, New York University (NYU) is a famous and prestigious university with roots in countries all over the globe. Furthermore, NYU has been consistently ranked within Top 10 Dream Schools by multiple websites and has a “campus” located in New York City (NYC), which means opportunities are close to those who search for them.

Any major would be thrilled to be placed in Manhattan. Business, medical, and performing art majors are advised to work in NYC since it is an ideal city to find a related jobs. However, that does not mean other majors should not study in New York City. New York City literally has a job for any and every major.

In addition to multiple job opportunities, living in New York City can open a person’s perspective about the world. There are many neighborhoods in NYC that serve a general population while acting as tourist spots. Examples include Chinatown, Harlem, and Little Italy.

NYC is considered a melting pot, as millions of people speak over 800 languages to others while countless cultures are mixing together.

NYU is an ideal dream school. But, it wasn’t my dream school.

My First Application

I applied to Boston University using the Early Decision option, meaning if I was accepted, I was mandated to attend due to the binding offer. I was okay with that. I did not conduct much research on universities and I just wanted to stop writing college application essays and personal statements. So I decided to apply to the school my older cousin attended. At least I would know someone if I was accepted.

I was indifferent to the school, its students, and my future.

However, the moment I pressed submit, it felt wrong. Applying to the school felt wrong. It just did.

Right there, I started hoping for a deferral. I did not want the university to reject me because my cousins would have made fun of me for being rejected. But at the same time I did not want to be accepted. It felt wrong to attend the school. Like I wasn’t meant to study there. And so I settled for a deferral.

I did not want to feel this way about another school again since the application fee was expensive! I decided to discover what I wanted from a school and what I wanted to study in general.

“What do I want to do in the future?”

I asked myself what I wanted to do in the future. What did I want to be? Did I have any dream jobs as a child? Was I passionate about anything that could also support me financially?

Asking yourself this question is important since you realize how you want to spend your life. When I realized I was just following my cousin’s footsteps blindly, I stopped that immediately. I don’t want to spend my life just following a family member: making the same friends, following them around, having the same experiences, etc. I don’t want to live their life. I want to live mine!

And so, I thought hard about my ideal future career.

Ideally – a Singing Entrepreneur

As a child, I wanted to be an inventor, an entrepreneur. I wanted to be like Thomas Edison, who tinkered and trialed through multiple failed attempts until he was able to accomplish his vision. Like Lewis from Meet the Robinsons, I wanted to make gadgets that served a purpose. (I also wanted a lab like his, with a chalkboard, a messy desk and everything.)

Figure 1. My ideal laboratory (from Meet the Robinsons)

But I also wanted to act, sing, and dance. The thing was, I never took performing art classes before. I would not have a portfolio or any experience to explain to my parents why I wanted to pursue acting when I never took an acting class before. I did not know if I enjoyed the thought of being an actor as opposed to enjoying a career as an actor. Nevertheless, I disregarded the performing arts idea. I could always pursue this as a hobby.

Realistically – Engineering

So the inventor idea. If I wanted to create electronic gadgets and make them work myself, I would need experience in electrical engineering and computer science. Instead of pursuing two separate majors, I could pursue computer engineering.

Computer engineering (CompE) is defined as the combination of electrical engineering and computer science. CompEs study how computer hardware work simultaneously with computer software.

This was the perfect major for me. But now I had to find out which school I would best perform in. By that I don’t mean just academically. I wanted to experience personal growth in addition to academic growth.

And so, the next step was to conduct research on colleges.

Which (Engineering) School?

There are a lot of factors in deciding on a college.

Here are some thoughts to contemplate:

Financial:

• Can I afford to attend this university?
• Will my family/I be stressed in paying off loans?
• Do I need to take out loans?

Location:

• Do I want to live somewhere close to home? Somewhere far?
  • How far?
    • Across the globe?
    • In another country?
    • In another state?
    • In another city?
• Do I want to live on campus? Do I want to commute?
• Do I want a college with a campus or a city life?

University:

• Do I want to attend a well-known university or one that is more obscure?
• Will I have an advantage if I graduate from this university?
• Do I like the campus feeling? Can I imagine myself studying/living here?
• Do they have my major?
  • If yes, is it a good program?
  • If not, do I want to switch majors and stay in the school or do I look for a different school?

Stressed? Read this.

In my experience, deciding on a university and a major depends on many factors such as income, passion vs intellect, ideal distance from home.

I was very stressed when forming college applications as I believed you had to know what you wanted to do with the rest of your life at the tender age of 17/18.

Let me tell you, you don’t. You don’t need to know what you want to do with the rest of your life at such a young age. It’s okay to be stressed and terrified. It’s normal. Thinking that the rest of your life weighs on the decision you make at a barely mature age is faulty. People may not obtain jobs from their major. People can change majors. More than once too. Don’t worry. You will not be stuck with this decision forever. It would be nice if you did not need to change it because some families cannot afford their children to stay in school longer than expected, but changing majors should not be looked down upon.

I hope this blog post can help those who are going to apply/are applying to university. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. If you agree/disagree or have anything to say, please feel free to comment as well.

Think INSIDE the Box

One of my questions on a General Engineering (EG) class test in NYU Tandon asked for two crucial aspects of an engineer, to which I replied, “Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.” They are essentially the same thing, which is why I got one point out of a possible two points for that question.

In an EG lecture, the professor talked about the cliche of “thinking outside the box.” According to Wikipedia, “thinking outside the box” is a “metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking.”

One popular example of “thinking outside the box” is the Nine Dot Puzzle, where the dots have to be connected in four straight lines without raising the writing utensil. As you can tell from the pictures below, you had to draw outside the given perimeter of the nine dots in order to complete the puzzle.

Figure 1. Solution to the Nine Dot Puzzle

When I first tried this puzzle, I was stumped. It was only when I saw the answer key, did I know how applicable “thinking outside the box” was.

But my EG class taught me to think inside the box.

But doesn’t thinking inside the box limit your options? How is that supposed to help you think creatively?

Yes, thinking inside the box does limit your options. However, it is by doing this – limiting your options – that you think more creatively. When you are presented with a certain amount of options and a clear goal, assuming goal is possible, you are forced to only use those options in order to acheive your goal.

One example of this is Duncker’s Candle Problem, which is also known as the Candle Problem. The task states that a candle has to be lit and on the wall, or corkboard, so that the dripping wax will not fall on the table. The materials given is a book of matches and a box of thumbtacks.

Figure 2. Solution to the Candle Problem

The solution, depicted in Fig. 2, is achieved by first emptying the box of thumbtacks. Then one would attach the now empty box on the corkboard by using the thumbtacks provided. Afterwards, the candle would be placed in the box, and the candle would be lit with the book of matches.

A main point of this problem is understanding that the box of thumbtacks can be separated into two objects, the box and the thumbtacks, and that both objects can be used to solve the problem.

One thing I learned from this problem is that all of the materials or options in a given problem are there for a reason. As a result, I need to understand the purpose of every material, whether the option is present to confuse me, or if it is there to help me.

Written Thursday, January 11, 2018.

2018 New Year Thoughts and Resolutions

Ask people if they have a New Year’s resolution on New Year’s day, and they will most likely say yes.

Ask the same people if they have a New Year’s resolution the day after New Year’s day, and their answer might change.

I mean, that’s what happened with me!

I wanted to read the Bible everyday, but I failed on the second day of 2018. That’s why my answer changed.

As I write this, one of my phone’s Bible apps showed me a notification saying, “It isn’t too late for a New Year’s Resolution…” I have realized, after my second-day-failure, that I fail too easily. Once I know I something is broken, or it does not turn out how I intended it to turn out, I consider my works a failure.

For 2018, I want to change this mentality. If I get pushed down and fail, I need to get back up and try again.

I am also writing this in Florida, during the last couple of days of the “Bomb Cyclone” in Northeast USA. Living in my uncle’s house for a week feels like a retreat; but I believe that I am not using my time for all it is worth.

But during this “retreat,” I have found this desire to learn. I had an amazing talk about engineering and the real world with my uncle. We talked about Spare Parts, both the book and the movie, and how such innovation was life-changing.

Throughout the engaging conversation, one small thought kept pestering in my mind. I loved to learn, even as a kid – my favorite book was the Encyclopedia – but I was afraid of breaking something. I remember receiving a small engineering set (8-in-1) that included a solar panel to make small prototypes of robots, cars, and animals. I wanted to use it, but I was so afraid of breaking the parts, inserting the wrong pin, or doing the wrong step in general. That’s my excuse for never using that kit.

I look at the kit now and I want to use it. But I am pretty sure some of the parts are missing, and I still don’t get some of the instructions. I can recall my mom encouraging me to try the kit, but I refused to since she refused to do it with me. I guess she wanted me to take a leap of courage, but I probably took a few steps back, in terms of courage.

Therefore, not only do I want to learn from failure, I want to stop fearing failure.

One of my cousins is a fan of Kobe Bryant, and as a joke, he kept pestering me with Bryant’s quote for a while.

Looking back now, this quote is encouraging.

While this is my third day in Florida, another uncle has encouraged me to make an app. While he jokes about it needing to make money, I understand the advantages of making an app, especially since it can prove something on my resume.

I have reconnected with an old friend of mine that knows a lot about programming and video-games; he is actually taking time from college to work and develop his game. Although I only know Python, I hope to learn other programming languages, to develop an app before the school year ends. Even if it is just a small game or an app that doesn’t make the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, I will be happy with what I accomplished, because the product I will have is the result of the hard work (or lack thereof) that I have put in.

Besides programming languages, I hope to learn actual languages, such as Chinese Mandarin, Chinese Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese. All of my other cousins know more of a language than I do, and most of them are younger than me. I feel some sort of pressure (and shame) because my family thinks that I should be fluent in Cantonese because I grew up with it in my household. I forget simple words and have trouble remembering new ones, but I am trying. Hopefully, I can master some sort of language by the end of the school year, by my birthday, or by the end of this year.

The following is my list of New Year resolutions.

• Get back up when you fail/Learn from failure
• Stop fearing failure
• Learn as much as you can/Be intentional
• Read a book a month (can increase the number of books if needed, but one book is the minimum)
• Make an app
• Learn another programming language
• Learn another language
• Exercise at least once a week
• Be a better Christian
• Write a highlight event every week and put it in a jar to read for 2019.

The above is not in any particular order.

Written Wednesday, January 10, 2018.