I remember the very first day we biked over the bridge, alone. My parents were initially indecisive when they heard my friend Ali's and my enthusiastically presented proposition: a bike ride across the canal minus a chaperone to buy some colorful embroidery thread at the local sewing shop. It was a dangerous route for a not-quite-tween to traverse alone, so my parents couldn't quite understand my overwhelming need for more colorful skeins of thread RIGHT NOW so that I could...

I grew up telling everyone who would listen that I wanted to be an astronaut. As a child, my favorite book was entitled “So You Want to be an Astronaut?”, complete with torn pages and a cracked spine from repeated use. My brother and I spent hours making intricate paper airplanes out of giant pieces of poster board, only to lose them in the woods after the folded masterpieces were launched over the edge of the three hundred-foot-tall local state...

Problem-solving is one of my passions; I am constantly working on a logic puzzle in my head, designing the next arrangement of furniture for my dorm room, fitting all the food in the cooler that we take on vacation, or figuring out the best way to control traffic flow through the busy dining hall. I always do my calculus and physics homework first because it is a fun challenge. One of my favorite problems to solve was posed my junior...

I am a pretty easy person to live with; I do not get angry easily and I am not very demanding roommate. I listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Goo Goo Dolls while I work, dance mixes in the shower, and country music before I go to bed. I love to sleep; I try not to stay up late if I have classes the next day. I wear soccer shorts and bathing suits all summer and colorful...

I am drawn in by the thought of an institution that focuses on the future, moving forward, always innovating with new ideas and connected around the globe. I want to be in Silicon Valley, surrounded by creativity and inventions that will stimulate my own inner innovator. I want to add my quirks to this community of not just thinkers but doers, full of vitality and diversity. Stanford is one of the very few undergraduate engineering programs that includes aeronautical engineering,...

When I was little, I was always the banker whenever we played Monopoly or Life, and I love logic puzzles. In school, I particularly enjoy math and physics classes; to me, solving a complicated physics or math problem is extremely satisfying, and I like the fact that there is usually more than one way to solve a problem. I grew up telling everyone that would listen that I wanted to be an astronaut. I even have a children's book entitled �...

My parents, both SU alumni, influenced me to consider the university during the college process. However, my ultimate decision to apply to Syracuse was a result of my visit to the campus. I had a really warm welcome by Mr. Binh Q. Huynh in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, who graciously introduced me to the engineering program gave me a tour of the engineering building. Listening to Mr. Huynh, sitting in a real flight simulator,...

I have worked both as a certified lifeguard at a water park and as an ice cream scooper for a local ice cream parlor, two very different jobs that offer different learning experiences. Being responsible for children as they played in the deep end of the pool was an eye-opening experience; their lives were basically in my hands as the adults lounged talking on the pool deck. Sometimes it is really difficult to tell whether a child is playing or...

While studying engineering at Syracuse, I definitely want to study abroad. I am mostly interested in the programs in France because my family is from France, and I have been studying French for four years. The summer program to Strasbourg is really enticing because I can study engineering while becoming fluent in French. I would also love to take a year abroad to study in London because my mother went to London in college and loved the experience. Closer to...

In college, I did a lot of sports. I found that it was a good way to balance my time between cerebral...

The most popular extracurricular activities at my college are division III sports and intramural...

My favorite course was Product Design for the Developing World with Professor Ken Pickar. This engineering design course took me to India to...

studious, smart,...

The culture is presented to incoming students as very fun and unique and interesting, but in reality people mostly...

I had an admissions counselor through my private school, but...

It's okay to be a regular kid. Having a job shows that you can...