Mechanical Engineering is the type of engineering that builds things. As the name suggests, mechanical engineers design, make, fix, and operate machinery. Sometimes the machines are small enough to fit on your fingernail. Sometimes they are massive, like mining equipment the size of a residential home. No matter the scale, becoming a mechanical engineer requires a ton of specialized study — which is why one would major in mechanical engineering in college. As a sophomore interested in mechanical engineering, you likely already know this, though. What you don’t know is how to get from the mid-point of high school to a top-tier mechanical engineering program that can launch you into an impressive career. And that’s precisely where we can help.
We guide students through high school to impressive college application outcomes. Because strong grades are crucial, and exceptional scores matter, but that isn’t enough to get into a top mechanical engineering program like MIT, California Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Michigan, or the Ivy League. Ultimately, you need to present more to colleges than a strong transcript and score report. You need to show that you are a strong person — and that is where activities come in.
Below, we break down the key types of activities you need to be doing as a sophomore interested in mechanical engineering. These activities are chosen based on key characteristics you need to emphasize about yourself, including leadership, teamwork, creativity, and curiosity.
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We totally understand if this is overwhelming. There is so much that you can be doing right now, and trying to tackle it all can feel like a massive weight. We encourage our students to prioritize depth over breadth. You want to be building toward greater future success, not burning yourself out. So, pick a few things from the buckets below to and lean into them — hard. Make them key passions that fuel you, not drain you. This, with the time you have between sophomore year and your college application season, will amplify your application, and emphasize what a strong candidate you are. So, let’s dig in.
CLUBS & TEAMS
The first place to start is with clubs and teams offered through your school. They may have something explicitly related to mechanical engineering, but it’s likely that they don’t. That is okay, because there is almost certainly something adjacent, like a robotics club. If you can join a robotics club, and haven’t already, do so immediately and become involved with the build team. Ideally, you can work towards becoming build team leader. Towards that goal, mentor younger students and emphasize the type of kindness and teamwork that makes other people want to work with you. This is good regardless, but is additionally helpful as you work towards a leadership role.
This same framework applies to any other team or club that you have access to, especially those related to engineering. Maybe it is a Science Olympiad team or a STEM club, whatever it is called, the same general rules apply. Act kindly, encourage others, push yourself, and build towards leadership.
INDEPENDENT PROJECTS
A great thing about being a sophomore is that you have time to do something big on your own, or with a small team, before submitting your applications. We highly recommend that our sophomores interested in mechanical engineering tackle independent projects with the goal of submitting to the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), a similarly prestigious competition, or for publication by a science journal for high school students. As we help our students brainstorm a direction for this project, we like to keep a particular competition, event, or publication as our North Star. Ideally, we’ll end up there, but, even if we don’t, having it as the goal will lead our students to greater success than they could have previously imagined.
Taking on an independent project in engineering can be overwhelming, so remember that you should start small. You don’t need to do something wild; you just need to do something. Maybe this is a project for a fair, or maybe it is designing a household gadget simply for the improvement of your home. Both are impressive, and the later actually may be a more impactful story in the end.
INTERNSHIPS
We also recommend that sophomores work towards a summer internship with a mechanical engineering firm or company, ideally a small one that would be willing to take you on to help with small office tasks. You most likely won’t be doing mechanical engineering as a high school sophomore, but you will be proximate to mechanical engineering being done. Even a small role doing ‘boring’ work is a huge learning opportunity, and illustrates to colleges that you are willing to work hard.
If you can secure an internship in the summer after sophomore year, you even have the potential of being asked back for junior or senior year, building upon your previous experience, illustrating longevity of commitment on your resume, and developing relationships that can lead to supplementary recommendations.
SUMMER PROGRAMS
There are many summer programs available for driven high school students, especially related to STEM. If you live in a major city or college town, there is almost certainly something that you can do in-person to develop your interest in mechanical engineering, whether it’s a camp, an immersive intensive, or an in-person course.
If there aren’t any programs immediately available to you geographically, you are facing two options (assuming you want to do a summer program). The easiest to do logistically, but harder to make impactful, are virtual programs. These are very easy to schedule into your life and don’t require you to travel somewhere. That’s good, but you also aren’t building relationships or participating in team-based learning, two of the things that truly make these programs have an impact on yourself as a student, but also on your college applications. The other option is to travel to do an in-person summer program at a college or university, often living in a dorm environment. These programs can be a great learning opportunity, and a ton of fun, but they are also often prohibitively expensive for many applicants and their families.
So, how do you pick? We guide our sophomore clients along their best path, but if you are going it without guidance, it can be overwhelming. Ultimately, you need to follow your gut. Remember that doing a single thing, especially a summer program, will not guarantee you admission to a dream school. Instead, it’s about the big picture that your activities and academics create, and making that big picture as strong, and as specific, as possible. You are you, and you are enough, and showing how exceptional you are is easy if you pick the right activities and pursue them with enthusiasm and commitment.
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