Monsignor Edward Pace High School senior Steven Yildirim has kept himself busy and his college options open the past few months by attending conferences at MIT, Cornell University, and now John Hopkins University.
Over the summer, Yildirim was accepted into the MIT Online Science Technology Engineering Community, or MOSTEC. He took a four-week online neuro-science course with an MIT professor and traveled to Cambridge to attend the 2014 MOSTEC Conference at MIT held from July 29 to August 2.
At the MOSTEC Conference, Yildirim presented and received feedback on his summer project for the online course. He also attended workshops in engineering and science writing, met with MIT researchers and students, and toured labs, industry facilities, and the MIT campus.
Yildirim is still networking with the MIT community as he has access to admissions advisors and must continue to post blogs on his work until January 2015. He has also been in web meetings where admissions representatives from schools such as Princeton and Harvey Mudd College have presented and given admissions advice.
He returned to the Northeast to attend Cornell University College of Engineering’s Fall Diversity Hosting Weekend held from September 18-20. Visiting students were matched with current Cornell students and stayed in residence halls on campus. They also participated in lab demonstrations, attended an undergraduate engineering class, and connected with Cornell faculty, staff, and engineering student organizations.
The very next weekend, September 25-27, Yildirim traveled to John Hopkins University in Maryland for the Hopkins Overnight Multicultural Experience. H.O.M.E. is an overnight on-campus program that brings together high school students from multiple ethnic groups. Students spent the weekend visiting classrooms, attending academic panels, and enjoying the Open House activities taking place at the university.