Engineering is super broad. From designing the next bridge to developing energy solutions that will power the future, engineering offers a vast array of disciplines for you to explore as you contemplate your major. It's a field that captivates students from around the world, drawing inquisitive minds eager to leave their mark on history. Engineering is also the most competitive of our three categories: stem, humanities, and business. Given its super competitive nature, securing admission to top-tier engineering schools like MIT and Columbia is tough. But that just means you have to put it more work on the back end, and the time to start is now.
While we often discuss future goals with students during their sophomore year, juniors still have some time to plan for college. Not to be, like, so dramatic, but junior year is your last chance to enhance your profile before starting the college application process. So, let's dive into what you can do.
Discovering Your Niche
Understanding your “niche” is crucial in engineering. It's about identifying your individual strengths and interests and focusing that on a specific topic. There are so0o0o0o0o many different types of engineering. The first step is figuring out what you’re into. When we work with students, we talk to them to help them narrow down a little further. Into tinkering? Then we might have you look at mechanical engineering, and go from there - like deciding they’re really into studying how to create devices to capture wind power. Our goal is go get this granular pretty quickly.
We don’t want to harp too long on this, but figuring out your niche is probably the most important. You should really love whenever you settle on, because you’re going to get into the weeds of it pretty quickly. And if you don’t like something, it is hard to do it with your whole chest. But figuring out your niche can be kind of tricky when you’re 17 (or older! Figuring out your passion is low key hard!) You might be sitting there like, “duh TKG I totally get that things have to be narrow, not broad, but how do I do that?” Don’t worry, grasshopper, we got you:
Finding Learning Resources
We’re about to start learning!!! With engineering, this often involves online courses and finding ways to apply engineering principles to real-life situations. Because how are you going to learn about your niche if you don’t actually, well, learn about it?
Fortunately, studying your niche should be pretty interesting. Since you're delving into topics that interest you, the learning process shouldn’t feel like homework. We work with clients one-on-one to help develop a curriculum of books and classes that help them figure out their ideal niche, and as they go further down into the subtopics that interest them, we add new books, classes, and experiences to take them even deeper.
Leveraging Extracurricular Activities
While having knowledge about your niche is great, hands-on experience matters a lot more than just knowing stuff. There are a lot of things you can do as a potential engineering major to explore and apply your interests. You could be a teaching assistant for STEM courses or participate in engineering-related clubs at your school.
However, a significant portion of your extracurriculars should be outside of school. Think internships at engineering firms, research with a professor, building your own cool thing, getting a paying job, etc. There’s no one-size-fits-all list of extracurriculars for engineering, so we work with our clients to figure out exactly what the right activities are for them.
While we don’t want you to leave clubs you like, we advise against overcommitting to extracurriculars unrelated to your niche. Sports, theater, and band may not help your college application and may actually hurt you if they take away time you could be spending on your academic goals. We are so sorry to burst that bubble. But your time is precious!!
Building Your College List
Junior year is also when we start building out a college list. There are a lot of good engineering schools, and ultimately it comes down to fit>ranking, but here is part of a sample list we made for a client this year. However, remember that the best college for you varies based on factors such as your personality, niche, academic performance, and standardized test scores.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Stanford University
University of Michigan
University of California, Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon University
Columbia University
We work with our students to curate tailored college lists that align with their personalities, academic viability, and aspirations. Crafting the perfect college list involves figuring out if each institution's vibes and areas of specialization fit your specific needs.
Making The Most Of Summer Breaks
While summer is a well-deserved break, it’s also your biggest opportunity to delve deeper into your niche. We help our students make the most of their summer breaks to gain valuable experience and make those final additions to their applications. After all, this is your LAST SUMMER to do so!!!! Ah!
Summer programs are a popular way to have some fun with engineering and gain first-hand hands-on experiences. Whether you decide to join a program through a college, specialized camps, or an institution, they offer invaluable experiences and often let you get your foot in the doors of colleges/orgs that host them.
Summer programs shouldn’t be your whole summer, though – you need to do those things we talked about in the extracurriculars section. Consider internships, conducting research, or collaborating on projects with local groups as options for getting some good experience for a few weeks. Demonstrating your commitment to engineering during the summer months showcases your dedication to prospective admissions officers, which only helps make you look more appealing.
Navigating the Application Process
For our juniors, crafting the Common App essay typically happens around June and July. Once they finish, the focus shifts to Early Decision applications before we have them fill the rest of the RD apps, organized by their deadlines. We like getting these applications done well before the deadline because it minimizes stress and keeps you from having extra stuff on your plate senior year.
Junior year is hectic, but it’s also super important as your last opportunity to really grow before sending out college applications. Seize the moment and do your best to position yourself for success!
Need help for making the most of your junior year? Let us know, we’re great at helping students make the best possible college plan.