“Flexible curriculum…allows you ample opportunities to explore different fields, and not be stuck in something you don’t enjoy doing!”
An MIT Experience: Coyin is a rising junior at MIT and is pursuing Biological Engineering. This summer, she is doing an internship at the Center of Cellular and Molecular Platforms in Bangalore, India. In MIT, Coyin is most likely to be found in a basement lab playing with fly larvae to get them to digest organic waste matter. This fly larvae project ‘Esperanza en Vuelo’ which means ‘Hope in Flight” is an organic waste management project based in Nicaragua. Both her internship and project are fully funded by MIT. Apart from geeking out in the basement lab, Coyin also plays the keyboard in a Hip Hop/R&B band. Here’s why Coyin chose to study in the US! =)
Why should students choose to study in the US, especially when alternatives may cost less, take less time, and offer more familiar styles of education?
I don’t have a “why-should” answer, but below are some reasons for my choice:
– Flexible curriculum: Since most US schools only require you to declare a major at the end of your first or second year, this allows you ample opportunities to explore different fields, and not be stuck in something you don’t enjoy doing!
– MIT (and many US schools) offer a tremendous number of opportunities in undergraduate research, and research was something I wanted to try when I was applying to colleges.
– Many people say the US system is not in-depth enough for the fields of sciences/engineering. While this may be a disadvantage twenty years ago, the world is changing so fast now that whatever technical knowledge you learn in college may not help you at all in your workplace! The way of thinking and learning new things that best suits you is probably the most valuable skill you will ever get out of a college education.
A critical piece of advice you would offer a student looking to further his/her studies abroad…
Instead of waiting for things to happen to you, make things happen!