How an AI Extracurricular Project Can Help Students Stand Out in College Admissions
As the college admissions process grows seemingly more competitive each year, many high school students hope to stand out with their college application.
Despite this desire to create a unique and unforgettable application, many highly qualified candidates applying to top universities have similar profiles, including:
High GPA and test scores
Leadership role in an athletic team, club, or student government
Regular volunteer at a local school, food bank, or hospital
These students, like yourself, are impressive! It’s difficult to manage so many responsibilities at a young age.
But because most students are presented with similar opportunities, their college applications end up appearing quite similar.
These accomplishments alone may not be enough to set a student’s application apart from the rest.
But that doesn’t mean that students should get discouraged!
At Inspirit AI, our high school students often ask us, “How does Inspirit AI help me stand out in the college admissions process?”
In this blog post, we are sharing different ways that an AI extracurricular project can help students stand out with their college application.
How does an AI extracurricular project support my Common Application Essay?
Writing a memorable college application is a great strategy to stand out during the admissions process. After all, the essay allows students to tell their own story to admissions officers.
Each year, the Common Application contains several essay prompts from which students can choose. First-year essay prompts have included:
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
During our AI Scholars program, high school students, like yourself, have the opportunity to work on artificial intelligence research projects. To do this, students work closely with mentors from Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and other leading computer science institutions who have research and industry experience in AI.
Our AI Scholars students work on projects at the intersection of artificial intelligence and a variety of industries, including healthcare, sustainability, and mobility.
Past AI Scholars student Vishnu Nandurkar explains,
“It was almost unbelievable that I could build an AI module in a matter of weeks that can examine the chest X-ray of a patient and diagnose pneumonia reasonably accurately.”
Whether you choose to write about your project, your topic, or even your relationship with your mentor, your Inspirit AI experience will help you stand out tremendously in your Common App Essay.
Consider using the Common App Essay to tell your unique AI project experience and story to admissions officers.
How can I incorporate my AI extracurricular project into my resume?
College applications also include a resume section, where students share relevant work and extracurricular experiences.
As a graduate of the Inspirit AI Scholars program, you can include your mentor-led AI project on your resume!
For example, your resume might include:
Artificial Intelligence + Healthcare Research Project | 2022
Researched, developed, and trained an AI model to detect pneumonia in patient scans with 98% accuracy
Worked with a Stanford University mentor to present project findings to community members
Or, your resume might look like:
Artificial Intelligence + Sustainability Research Project | 2022
Researched and developed AI to efficiently place energy-creating sources (i.e. wind, solar) across the country to maximize coverage
Presented project findings to community members, supported by MIT graduate mentor
In both of these examples, we have highlighted a couple of key areas that you should focus on too:
What was your project topic?
What social good industry does your project impact?
How did you share your findings with the community?
By including their Inspirit AI project on their resumes, our students are able to showcase their authentic project work that has real-world application outside of the classroom.
At Inspirit AI, we also present students with certificates at the end of the program that can be added to resumes and LinkedIn!
How do AI extracurricular projects support my college interview?
Many students may have interviews as part of their college application process. During these interviews, the admissions team gains more insight into your personality and interests.
Oftentimes, alumni will volunteer to conduct these college interviews. As the applicant, you can use these conversations to express your interest in academic programs and even ask questions about the school!
At Inspirit AI, our high school students gain practice responding to difficult questions during their final presentations. Students have to clearly articulate their project findings and effectively communicate ideas to others – skills that are crucial to having a good interview!
During your college interview, consider sharing more about your work at the intersection of AI and a specific industry. Share your project topic. Share an anecdote about working with your mentor.
In doing so, you are likely to stand out from other interviewees who may share repetitive experiences.
Highlight Your Inspirit AI Experience Across the Board
Our Inspirit AI Scholars projects help our students stand out in the college admissions process.
As an AI Scholar, you can highlight your Inspirit AI experience throughout your entire college application – from writing your essay to talking with alumni during your interviews.
Our students are self-motivated and curious. Our students take initiative. And our students create final projects that are not only unique, but also have real-world applications.
Highlight your Inspirit AI experience throughout the college admissions process, and we believe you will stand out.
