Believe it or not, it is time for me, Benjamin Vikram Grass, to apply to colleges. Just a short few years ago, I remember being called by the name "Benny Bones Jones", and watching my cousins go through the exact same process that I am in the midst of. Just two years ago, I was criticising Shayla's decisions, but now it is time for you all to criticize mine (while I am still criticizing Shayla’s). Let's jump right in!
First, y’all must forget every single thing my mother has told you. Everything. Even if it came from somebody else who heard it from my mother. You see, my mother is clueless about all of these things, she has no idea where I want to go, what my "top choice" is, or really anything. Plus she has an obsession with the University of Maryland. Anyway, that is besides the point.
Step two is simple: sit back and enjoy the adventure. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts, so when you are done feel free to leave comments, send me an email, call me, whatever you would like! Just don’t send me snail mail. Or telegrams. Please. Just don’t. The format of this is that I am going to list the school, explain why I am applying and give a little bit of information about each one from my perspective. These schools will be sorted according to how far along I am with the application or the process, but really after the first couple there isn't much or anything that is distinctly different about where I am in that process. Alright! Let's do it!
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm interested in Computer Science, something that I only forgot to mention because I've pretty much known that for years. I've taken 4 years of computer science courses at my high school, spent the summer making apps in my friend's basement, and have had an interest in technology since I was in the third grade. Alright, I will stop with the tangent, but if I hadn't mentioned that you might be a tad confused as to why I mentioned computer science rankings about a billion times. On to the schools!
Rutgers University, New Brunswick Campus (New Brunswick, NJ) - Well the good news is I've actually already been accepted to Rutgers so I don't really have to worry about it for awhile. That being said, it was my safety school. Rutgers could be considered the best public university in New Jersey, and pretty much the safety school for 90% of my high school. It doesn't have the worst campus although I can't say I'm very fond of it, and I probably won't go there unless I don't get into other schools. Luckily, they have been rated well for computer science by many rankings, so I feel like they are not a bad choice at all, if I have to make it.
University of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada) - Yes, that summer where Shayla, Josh, and I memorized the Canadian national anthem, and aced citizenship tests in English and French definitely influenced me. The thing is though, I am applying (actually have applied), to this school not for the Canadianness, but because they are the 10th best school for computer science behind schools like Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Cornell, etc. All of these schools are places that I can’t get into (sorry to disappoint you all). While I do think Toronto is the most attractive location that I could attend college for its urban landscape, cleanness, and its incredibly beautiful campus, it is really the school's academic quality that attracts me to it. In reality, I wouldn't be able to get in there if I went to high school in Canada and got the same grades, but because I am international student, they really prefer using standardized test scores as a barometer, and I got a 34 on the ACT so I am pretty much set. (Or at least my CANADIAN guidance counselor thinks so :) ) Anyway, on to the next one!
Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) - Well Carnegie Mellon has a rockin' reputation for being realllly good at computer science (and drama!). But here is the dealio. I am probably not going to get in there. I can try! And if I get in there it would really be cool. It is my dream graduate school because they offer Ph.Ds in Robotics and have really good self-driving car research, and that is the type of thing that I am interested in. But I am only applying for undergraduate and to be quite honest I’m not really sure if it is the place I really want to go, otherwise I’d do Early Decision, which is something I am not doing.
New York University (New York, NY) - In Manhattan, NYU is another one of those places with great location, but it is also another one of those places that is a stretch school for me. Not impossible, certainly not as much of a stretch as Carnegie Mellon, but still a stretch. That being said, if I got in, I’d probably go there over Rutgers and a few other places. I am a fan of urban environments, and the academics at NYU are very good, so I think it would be a pretty good fit for me. That being said, I probably wouldn’t go there over University of Toronto, but at this point, I don’t know for sure.
University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) - Well, this is where my father, Sir David S. Grass went to school. The selling points of this school are that it has a really nice learning environment, but if I was to go there I would have to make sure the computer science there is really strong, something that a simple google search has failed to answer me thus far.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) - Well, instead of asking me about this school why don’t you ask Rupal Masi who got not only her bachelors degree here, but also got her masters there as well. It is quite a nice school and another place I’d have to consider instead of the base school, Rutgers, but also a place that I am not 120% sure that I will get into.
Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) - Stevens is a really good little computer science school that I did like a lot when visiting in Hoboken. It is in a beautiful location, right up against the Hudson river, while still having access to the “city” (sorry Shruti Masi) itself. It is a place I would probably go to over Rutgers, although I’d have to figure out what the reputation of the computer science department is in terms of graduate acceptance. But the school itself seems like a nice place. Only two more to go!
University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX) - Well this is probably the third best school at computer science on that list, and it is not a stretch at all in terms of admissions. I actually do enjoy Texas from the one time I went there for Radhika Masi’s wedding, and the academics are all great, but it is far from home, which makes it less appealing than many of the other schools on this list. I could see myself there, but I probably want to stay close enough to home that getting back and forth can be accomplished in a few hours if necessary. But I will definitely take a closer look at UT Austin if I get in!
University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, MD) - Well, it is my mother’s favorite which and she wants me to apply which is pretty much the whole reason that I will apply. But, it is very good for computer science and is a very good school overall as well, and is in a pretty decent location, sandwiched in between Baltimore and Washington D.C. That being said, it is like a Rutgers clone, but farther from home, more expensive, and I’d just prefer to stay in New Jersey if it came to deciding between UMD and Rutgers. New Jersey has more family, and is more convenient for me.
I think that it is a pretty good list! If you have any thoughts or opinions, please comment or email me, or whatever it is that you want to do and I will respond to your comments and whatnot. I guess at this point, University of Toronto is my favorite, but in reality, anything could happen. We won’t know until I enroll, but speculating, and the whole process is an adventure that I am excited to embark on. So, thank you for reading pages about me, so on that note, let’s talk about something else!
Happy Diwali everybody! Saal Mubarak! I hope you all had good celebrations and had a chance to see some family and celebrate with loved ones. I had the opportunity to celebrate with Anand, Devin, Maya, Jaya, Ravi, Mona Masi, Dave Masa, Manan Mama, Nrupa Mami, Shruti Masi, Mota Mama and Mami, Nrupa Masi’s parents, and my brother and parents at the Wetzel household, and like always, it was a blast. We did some fun sparklers and there were some other cool firecracker thingies that were fun, and spending time with everybody is always a pleasure. I hope you all had as good a Diwali as I did.
Other than that, there isn’t really much to say! CONGRATULATIONS “CAPTAIN JOSH” FOR COMPLETING YOUR FIRST SOLO FLIGHT! THERE IT ISSSSS. Alright, but if you didn’t know Josh is taking pilot lessons and he recently completed his first solo flight! I am so happy for him because he always loved aviation, and I’m sure this is some sort of a dream come true for him. On a different note, school has started for all of us kids in school now, and at this point I wouldn’t consider the school year young. I hope that everyone in school is off to a great start, and I am happy to say that I am off to a pretty good start myself! Other than that, we should have a new post done before Christmas time, and we will have a really interesting post for that. Hope you all had a great few months and I am excited to see most of you at the rapidly approaching Christmas vacation!
First, y’all must forget every single thing my mother has told you. Everything. Even if it came from somebody else who heard it from my mother. You see, my mother is clueless about all of these things, she has no idea where I want to go, what my "top choice" is, or really anything. Plus she has an obsession with the University of Maryland. Anyway, that is besides the point.
Step two is simple: sit back and enjoy the adventure. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts, so when you are done feel free to leave comments, send me an email, call me, whatever you would like! Just don’t send me snail mail. Or telegrams. Please. Just don’t. The format of this is that I am going to list the school, explain why I am applying and give a little bit of information about each one from my perspective. These schools will be sorted according to how far along I am with the application or the process, but really after the first couple there isn't much or anything that is distinctly different about where I am in that process. Alright! Let's do it!
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm interested in Computer Science, something that I only forgot to mention because I've pretty much known that for years. I've taken 4 years of computer science courses at my high school, spent the summer making apps in my friend's basement, and have had an interest in technology since I was in the third grade. Alright, I will stop with the tangent, but if I hadn't mentioned that you might be a tad confused as to why I mentioned computer science rankings about a billion times. On to the schools!
Rutgers University, New Brunswick Campus (New Brunswick, NJ) - Well the good news is I've actually already been accepted to Rutgers so I don't really have to worry about it for awhile. That being said, it was my safety school. Rutgers could be considered the best public university in New Jersey, and pretty much the safety school for 90% of my high school. It doesn't have the worst campus although I can't say I'm very fond of it, and I probably won't go there unless I don't get into other schools. Luckily, they have been rated well for computer science by many rankings, so I feel like they are not a bad choice at all, if I have to make it.
University of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada) - Yes, that summer where Shayla, Josh, and I memorized the Canadian national anthem, and aced citizenship tests in English and French definitely influenced me. The thing is though, I am applying (actually have applied), to this school not for the Canadianness, but because they are the 10th best school for computer science behind schools like Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Cornell, etc. All of these schools are places that I can’t get into (sorry to disappoint you all). While I do think Toronto is the most attractive location that I could attend college for its urban landscape, cleanness, and its incredibly beautiful campus, it is really the school's academic quality that attracts me to it. In reality, I wouldn't be able to get in there if I went to high school in Canada and got the same grades, but because I am international student, they really prefer using standardized test scores as a barometer, and I got a 34 on the ACT so I am pretty much set. (Or at least my CANADIAN guidance counselor thinks so :) ) Anyway, on to the next one!
Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) - Stevens is a really good little computer science school that I did like a lot when visiting in Hoboken. It is in a beautiful location, right up against the Hudson river, while still having access to the “city” (sorry Shruti Masi) itself. It is a place I would probably go to over Rutgers, although I’d have to figure out what the reputation of the computer science department is in terms of graduate acceptance. But the school itself seems like a nice place. Only two more to go!
University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX) - Well this is probably the third best school at computer science on that list, and it is not a stretch at all in terms of admissions. I actually do enjoy Texas from the one time I went there for Radhika Masi’s wedding, and the academics are all great, but it is far from home, which makes it less appealing than many of the other schools on this list. I could see myself there, but I probably want to stay close enough to home that getting back and forth can be accomplished in a few hours if necessary. But I will definitely take a closer look at UT Austin if I get in!
University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, MD) - Well, it is my mother’s favorite which and she wants me to apply which is pretty much the whole reason that I will apply. But, it is very good for computer science and is a very good school overall as well, and is in a pretty decent location, sandwiched in between Baltimore and Washington D.C. That being said, it is like a Rutgers clone, but farther from home, more expensive, and I’d just prefer to stay in New Jersey if it came to deciding between UMD and Rutgers. New Jersey has more family, and is more convenient for me.
I think that it is a pretty good list! If you have any thoughts or opinions, please comment or email me, or whatever it is that you want to do and I will respond to your comments and whatnot. I guess at this point, University of Toronto is my favorite, but in reality, anything could happen. We won’t know until I enroll, but speculating, and the whole process is an adventure that I am excited to embark on. So, thank you for reading pages about me, so on that note, let’s talk about something else!
Happy Diwali everybody! Saal Mubarak! I hope you all had good celebrations and had a chance to see some family and celebrate with loved ones. I had the opportunity to celebrate with Anand, Devin, Maya, Jaya, Ravi, Mona Masi, Dave Masa, Manan Mama, Nrupa Mami, Shruti Masi, Mota Mama and Mami, Nrupa Masi’s parents, and my brother and parents at the Wetzel household, and like always, it was a blast. We did some fun sparklers and there were some other cool firecracker thingies that were fun, and spending time with everybody is always a pleasure. I hope you all had as good a Diwali as I did.
Other than that, there isn’t really much to say! CONGRATULATIONS “CAPTAIN JOSH” FOR COMPLETING YOUR FIRST SOLO FLIGHT! THERE IT ISSSSS. Alright, but if you didn’t know Josh is taking pilot lessons and he recently completed his first solo flight! I am so happy for him because he always loved aviation, and I’m sure this is some sort of a dream come true for him. On a different note, school has started for all of us kids in school now, and at this point I wouldn’t consider the school year young. I hope that everyone in school is off to a great start, and I am happy to say that I am off to a pretty good start myself! Other than that, we should have a new post done before Christmas time, and we will have a really interesting post for that. Hope you all had a great few months and I am excited to see most of you at the rapidly approaching Christmas vacation!
Great blog entry, and I have to say again that I love your writing. Are you sure you don't want to be an english major? How will you ever get a job majoring in computer science?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, you will always be Benny Bones Jones to me. Deal with it. I am 52 years old and am still sometimes "Key-y-boy".
Second Rutgers is an outstanding safety school, but after seeing some of the things that come out of there, I think you can do better (ditto RPI and Rochester (just kidding)).
Third, love Toronto, primarily because I hate the thought of nothing good coming out of us all having to listen to "Oh Canada" sung off key a million times, but also because I think it will be a great opportunity to experience something very different. Along that same line of thinking going to Austin would be a great choice too. I think college is the perfect opportunity to push yourself a little outside your comfort zone and experience a different atmosphere, so I would encourage to go farther away than my might initially choose.
We thought about Carnegie Mellon for Josh but he brilliantly discarded it after examining one key statistic which is inexplicably absent from your descriptions: male-female ratio. Seriously Ben, I thought I had taught you better. I would acknowledge how pitifully I did in this regard except that even though there was only one smoking hot babe in Columbia Engineering, I got her.
Finally, I have no doubt you will do great and go far in this world no matter which school you choose. You are an amazing and gifted young man, and any of these schools would be lucky to get you.
Keith Masa
Ditto to what Keith said! When I was considering colleges, my parents told me that I could not go west of the Mississippi River, so I went the farthest away north. RPI actually gave me the most $ (yet another parameter missing from your choice equation!) and hence that was the final selection (it was even cheaper than my back-up - UT down the road from the motel)! If you do consider UT Austin, talk with Rathinka Masi as that is her Alma mater (and there is family in Houston & Dallas should you choose to go there)...Good luck!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Josh!!! When are you purchasing your own plane?! How about rides to family members? Just kidding. I'm certain it is a dream come true and I'm very happy for you.
We will miss you at x-mas but you can be jealous of the NM Patels and we plan to spend the vacation in HI!
Rupal Masi