Is Inspirit AI Worth It? Hear from a University of Cambridge Student
Sofia Cornu is currently an undergraduate student at University of Cambridge studying Computer Science. Before getting admitted to University of Cambridge, Sofia was a student in the Inspirit AI Scholars program. She participated in the program in Summer 2021, and in this interview, she shares a review of her experience in the program, answering the question: Is Inspirit AI worth it?
Sofia Cornu’s Inspirit AI Alum Profile
How did the AI Scholars program impact your preparation for college and your academic journey?
“The AI scholars program provided a great introduction to machine learning and worked very well as a springboard to then continue doing research and learning about the field. Having touched base with some machine learning concepts meant I was able to carry out more personal projects with an ML component which I could then talk about in college personal statements and interviews.”
What project did you work on in the AI Scholars program?
AI + Skin Cancer Detection
In this project, students use computer vision and image classification tools to develop machine learning models to diagnose skin lesion images. Students explore a variety of image manipulation techniques and convolutional neural networks as you create an effective model that could help save lives. Students also study your model for bias, to make sure that it works for people with a variety of skin tones. Finally, students take your model one step further by packaging it into an application with a user interface.
Which colleges/universities did you apply to, and which did you get accepted to?
Sofia applied to highly selected colleges, including University of Cambridge, where she now currently attends. Take a look at her college admissions journey below.
In what ways did you feature your Inspirit AI experience on your college applications?
Many students will choose to showcase their AI project-building experience on their college application in a variety of ways. From including Inspirit AI on the activities section to writing an essay about their project, many students will highlight the work they completed as part of the AI Scholars program to help bolster their application. Sofia chose to showcase Inspirit AI on her application in the activities section, where she mentioned participating in the program, as well as her essays, where she wrote about her Inspirit AI project-building experience.
How has your AI Scholars project affected your career journey?
A student’s learning journey doesn’t end with AI Scholars—the Inspirit AI program can be a launching point for many students’ college and career journeys exploring computer science and artificial intelligence. For Sofia, her project helped inspire an interest in social good.
“Having completed the AI Scholars project has helped my career journey as carrying out the melanoma detection project made me realise how much more I enjoy working on a software application if it is designed with a social purpose/ to help people. This has shaped the sorts of projects I have chosen to work on within my studies, as well as the internship positions I have applied for, as I will actively seek out projects which are designed to help people in some way.”
What has your college and career journey been like since you completed the AI Scholars program?
“Since carrying out the AI scholars project I have developed a desktop application for my school with the aim of helping high school students pick the best diploma subject combinations based on their career goals, university aspirations and personal strengths. I have also carried out an internship with Philip Morris International in which I researched, tested and recommended 120 AI copilot tools for business workflow optimisation. I also took part in Amazon’s 2023 Discover program and will be completing a software engineering internship with them next summer.”
What advice do you have for high school students applying to their dream colleges?
“My advice for high school students in the college application process would be to find your niche within the subject you are applying for and hone in on it. If you are able to find a specific area of your subject that you are particularly passionate about, and dedicate the time to learning about it outside what is required in your courses, your interest in the subject as a whole will shine through much more genuinely in college essays, personal statements and interviews.”
For Sofia, the Inspirit AI program was more than worth it, from showcasing AI Scholars on her college application to applying her learnings from the Inspirit AI course to her work as a college student. If you liked this Inspirit AI review, we encourage you to apply to the live online program here.
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
