A Review of the Inspirit AI Program: University of Pennsylvania Student Shares Her Experience in the Inspirit AI Scholars Program
Clarice Wang is currently an undergraduate student at University of Pennsylvania studying Computer Science. Before getting admitted to University of Pennsylvania, Clarice was a student in the Inspirit AI Scholars program. She participated in the program in Summer 2020, and in this interview, she shares a review of her experience in the program, answering the question: Is Inspirit AI worth it?
Clarice Wang’s Inspirit AI Alum Profile
How did the AI Scholars program impact your preparation for college and your academic journey?
“The AI Scholars program positively influenced my college preparation and academic journey. As my first summer program in AI, it offered me invaluable project experience, enriching my understanding of AI and ML. This experience not only enhanced my college applications but also sparked a deeper curiosity in these fields. Following this, I ascended to a fellowship role, allowing me to share my insights with my school community through presentations at programming and AI clubs. This opportunity further honed my leadership skills and solidified my passion for AI, shaping my academic path significantly.”
What project did you work on in the AI Scholars program?
AI + Text Transformation
In this project, students use natural language processing to transform short pieces of content (i.e. tweets) into more formal language and long-form content.
Which colleges/universities did you apply to, and which did you get accepted to?
Clarice applied early decision to UPenn, 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. Clarice 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 Clarice, her project helped solidify her interest in computer science.
“The AI Scholars program positively influenced my college preparation and academic journey. As my first summer program in AI, it offered me invaluable project experience, enriching my understanding of AI and ML. This experience not only enhanced my college applications but also sparked a deeper curiosity in these fields. Following this, I ascended to a fellowship role, allowing me to share my insights with my school community through presentations at programming and AI clubs. This opportunity further honed my leadership skills and solidified my passion for AI, shaping my academic path significantly.”
What has your college and career journey been like since you completed the AI Scholars program?
“My AI Scholars project, focused on NLP and machine learning, significantly influenced my career trajectory. I developed a specialized project in topic modeling, applying BERTopic models based on BERT algorithms, a cutting-edge technique I learned from the program's advanced sessions. This experience not only deepened my technical expertise but also became a pivotal talking point in my internship applications and interviews. It opened doors in the AI field, facilitating opportunities for research and professional growth. The project showcased my practical skills and theoretical knowledge, making me a competitive candidate in the evolving landscape of AI and data science.”
What advice do you have for high school students applying to their dream colleges?
“Be proud of yourself and be excited!”
For Clarice, 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.
