Choosing the Best University

Although many high schoolers look forward to applying to college, the thought seemed overwhelming to me. Since I had the test scores and grades to attend nearly any school in the country, many friends and family urged me to apply to the Ivy schools. However, I knew in my heart that I am a Texan through thick and thin. So, I did what any other indecisive native Texan would do when applying to a university. I sent my application to the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.

Next, my first filter for choosing a major was some type of engineering degree. I had lost too much sweat and devoted too much time to the fields of Calculus and Physics to not study something math or science related. The subsequent question that I had to answer was which field of engineering interested me the most. I knew the future of business lay in the keyboard of computers, so naturally, I decided that Computer Science was the best fit for my background. However, I had to decide which university I would attend. Of course, I made the right choice:

Upon looking more closely at the degree plans that Texas A&M offered, I noticed that there was a plan titled Computer Engineering - Computer Science, which essentially means that I selected a hybrid degree consisting roughly of 75% Computer Science (software) and 25% Electrical Engineering (hardware) courses.

Since the Computer Engineering department had this genius man at its head,

Bjarne Stroustrup

I knew that this school was the right one for me. As I began my academic studies, I realized that the mathematics courses that I was taking weren't enough. So, I decided that it would be a good idea to double major in Applied Mathematics. Furthermore, I came to the realization that I could handle the additional course work of receiving this degree in the form of Honors. This was the beginning of my academic career with a background in Computer Engineering and Honors Applied Mathematics.