Meet Areeba, a CS major, who made it into her top choice program after carefully reapplying
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My undergraduate degree in CS was largely exploratory; I had dabbled in various fields, and while I had a sense of what I liked and didn’t like, nothing had truly piqued my interest. To avoid being left behind in the graduate application process, I applied to a few universities without really considering how to present myself, and I ended up getting rejected. In hindsight, it’s clear: if I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, how could I convey my interests to grad schools, and more importantly, how could I ensure that I was choosing a path that brought me joy and satisfaction?
With this realisation, I decided to take a step back and ponder the specifics of my interests. I knew I wanted to work on developing deployable human-centred technology. So, I applied for and joined a research assistantship that allowed me to explore exactly that. I continued my previous research projects with a fresh perspective, aligning them with my interests, and successfully submitted my work to top conferences. Wanting my work to have a real-world impact, I also developed curriculums and questionnaires for short courses and workshops. At this point, it wasn’t even about building my profile— that was just a byproduct of enjoying my work and pushing my boundaries with tech.
My journey was not carried out in isolation. I was surrounded by great mentors and colleagues who took the time to help me throughout the process. This time around, I knew exactly what I wanted to apply for and kept open communication channels with my supervisors and recommenders. I learned to resist my imposter syndrome many times and applied for the more "ambitious" positions. Looking back, I am grateful for the past year. It allowed me to take charge, learn new skills (both technical and soft—networking is hard!), and dive deep into my interests. I'll just say this: the effort has truly paid off. If I can get into the best program in my field, so can you!
