College Questions FTW

Does your high school record accurately reflect your effort and ability?
Well, my transcript, I believe, contains a nice list of accomplishments from my high school career. Unfortunately, I believe my full potential is not entirely presented on that page. I have spent every year of my high school career working hard and, for the most part, my grades show it. But there is one variable that I think has slightly skewed the way I am presented on my high school record. I found in my first two years I always had at least one teacher that had some odd grading practices. By this I mean it was difficult to get a hold of how you were doing in the class due to lack of updates of grades and/or explanation of how a project was to be conducted. Is this all to the fault of the teacher? No, but it makes life extremely difficult for a teen who is juggling twelve million other assignments for classes at the same time. So when that quarter report comes in and you see your grade for a class for the first time and its substantially lower than you other classes, it’s a little innerving. I found that this year, I seemed to have this issue with a majority of my classes. It appeared that there was a great lack in communication between the student and the teacher on how I was doing in the class and thus fewer opportunities to work at improving the grade. As a result, I feel this had an effect on my grade that seemed to "water down" my average.

I realize though, in the end, a few points here or there will likely not drastically alter the path of my life. Aside from occasionally complaining about how teachers conduct their classes, I feel that a major factor of a high school record is the extracurricular component of which I think also greatly represents my hard work. Playing in the band (something many students in my class are no longer a part of), being on Mathletes, National Honor Society as well as keeping up with a sport are all things I take pride in having on my high school record. I think they are all things that a college would like to see a student participating in as well as the fact that the activities are not too much or too few in number. I feel if you have 2,000,000 clubs and sports on your transcript, it sheds doubt on the fact you actually gave a true amount of effort and passion in what you decided to do after the bell has sounded. I truly believe that my high school record has everything on it I want and I am mostly confident in how it presents the work I have put into my high school experience.

Why do you want to major in engineering?
I was initially pushed towards engineering by where I was most academically proficient. Math and science is my element, and I feel most comfortable when dealing with the topic matter in these subjects. Engineering seemed the most logical choice. However, my official decision was brought about by the question "What can you do that you will enjoy every day?" I can believe that being a doctor would be a noble profession to undertake, but I know I would not enjoy going to work every morning if I was a doctor. I really wish to use my education to give back to the world, and I feel I can accomplish that through the engineering field with maintaining the joy in what I do. I have not fully decided what specific section of engineering I would like to pursue, but I am currently leaning towards environmental engineering.

I constantly hear about the environmental troubles of the world from the current Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the impending doom global warming seems to present. Instead of standing idly for these global problems or, even worse, complaining for someone else to do something about them, I wish to be able to actively participate in the solutions to these problems. My high school career has been defined by the pleads of my educators to take "pride in my work" and "make a difference in the world." I find that engineering is a field where I can accept to tackle these wishes with utmost seriousness. I have realized that engineering is an effective synthesis of my raw talents and personal desires for my future occupation. I hope my future in college will reveal more about my aspirations in engineering but it is nice to have a definite direction in my studies.