Data science is the bringing together of scientific principals with data to discover patterns and make predictions. Data scientists, and data engineers, use numbers and facts to inform governments, corporations, and, by extension, society as a whole. Predicting what will happen next or how to address a societal issue isn’t magic, it’s numbers. This is true whether it’s positioning a new toy on the shelves or designing a bug net roll-out to decrease cases of malaria. Both rely on data to be as effective and impactful as possible.
High schoolers have some exposure to dealing with data through high-level science classes, statistics, and sometimes an elective, but for most students it isn’t framed as data science — it’s simply sorting through a muck of numbers to find a pattern. But this is where all data scientists start. What comes next, though, is what differentiates students who are truly interested in data science from those just talking the talk. To get into a college with a top data science program, like Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon, it’s not enough for a student to write about what they want to be doing. They need to be actively engaging in it already. That is where extracurricular activities come in.
We work with our students to guide and support them through exceptional pursuits beyond the classroom. In this post, we are going to give you a peek behind the curtain at what we are prioritizing for sophomores interested in data science who want to go to a top-tier program with a scary low acceptance rate.
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If you want to go to a highly selective college, you need to be building your activities early. This isn’t just for the activities section of your application. Building up your activities now will help focus and deepen your interests, and will give you stories to write about in essays and supplements. Writing about what happens inside the classroom during normal class hours tends to be a bit boring, so you need to be building up a roster of experiences, leadership roles, and independent exploration that will then be perfect material for stellar applications. This is where to start…
CLUB/TEAM
It is highly unlikely that there is a data science club at your school. If there is, that’s awesome and rare and you should 100% be a member working towards a leadership role. Assuming that there isn’t a data science club, though, you’re going to want to look beyond that narrow of a framework. Yes, you could start a data science club, but we actually like the idea of you joining and, later, leading, a Quiz Bowl or Science Olympiad team.
This is because both Quiz Bowl and Science Olympiad are built on teamwork. They have clear and well-understood ways in which members are required to collaborate, and there are opportunities for mentoring younger members. Data Science is a really easy subject to pursue in a vacuum, and both Quiz Bowl and Science Olympiad reject that. They make you be in the midst of something, and that is a good thing. To set yourself on a trajectory towards leadership, schedule a meeting with the current club heads and ask them how you can best support them in their vision for the group. Maybe it’s leading a committee, recruiting, and orienting new members, or running a community fundraiser to help your team get to a big competition. Whatever it is, supporting the current leaders proactively and enthusiastically will be a major move towards future leadership roles.
RESEARCH
As a student interested in data science, participating in and/or conducting your own independent research is one of the best ways to begin exploring your interest on a deeper level. It all starts with a research question. Take that question, and either begin exploring it on your own or search for who is already digging into that topic and ask them if you can help. This could be a professor, graduate student, or research group. If you are going to reach out to professionals (graduate students included), though, it’s key that you have a resume and approach this completely professionally. You’re not a high school student looking to support research — although, yes, you are — you are a young and passionate professional student with a lot to offer and aiming for an opportunity.
If you are going to conduct your own research and data analysis, keep your question close to home and your sample pool manageable. You most likely don’t have access to granular data for all of the US, but you can create data through surveying and research for your school and home community. So, look small to go deep. And remember what the ultimate goal is: publication or presentation. You don’t want to do all of this work and have it languish on your computer. Instead, the goal should be to publish in a paper open to high school students or present the paper through a conference or competition.
WRITING
As you conduct your research, we also want to see you writing about it. A key part of being a successful data scientist is being able to communicate about what you discover, effectively communicating the importance of what you have to share. Yes, this means you should be writing a paper and report about your research, but we want to see you developing your writing beyond this. Join the team of your school newspaper, and begin working up the ranks with the goal of a column focused on data science and using the principles of data science to convey information to your peers that is relevant and important to them.
By senior year, you should have an editorial role with the paper. Right now, prove yourself by getting the job done.
SUMMER COURSES
Most students do not have access to elective courses focused on data science beyond a simple AP Statistics course. That isn’t enough, so you’re going to have to do some work on your own time. Take a course with a local community college or 4-year university, or sign up for an accredited online course. The key here is ‘accredited’. Do not pay for a course offered by one of the many online educators that don’t carry any weight with colleges. You need to pad out your academic resume with experiences that truly develop your interests and add to your credentials.
As a sophomore, you have a lot of time to make big moves before you need to start writing your college applications. This is powerful, and it is important to use the time right. This is truly when you can make bold moves that transform your college outcomes down the road, so let’s make it happen.
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