- Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that’s developed over time – what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study?
(300 word maximum)*
I’ve come to believe that everyone finds their own way into computer, and those paths are full of serendipity. Mine is simple, it’s inseparable from games. I’d been playing all kinds of games such as Angry Birds on a computer since kindergarten. Back then I had no exposure to development, and the computer was just part of everyday life.
Around the end of elementary school I discovered a game called Dancing Line, where you tap the screen to control a “line” avoid obstacles. Once I searched online, I found several unofficial, player-made levels. I had a flash inspiration, if ordinary players could make these things, why couldn’t I? So I started hunting for tutorials. In 2019 I was a total newbie, it could take me half a day to track down a single resource. Lots of people were building custom levels, but very few shared source code or tutorials. Eventually I found one video that briefly explained how the code worked. They were using Unity 3D, so I downloaded it. I understood almost nothing at first, so I literally copied every character on the screen, line by line.
Hard work pays off. I got the line to turn, and I got collision with obstacles working. That may sound trivial now, but for me at that time it was a milestone. I kept following videos and “learning by copying,” building lots of little games until the code started to make sense. Yes, my programming skill really did begin with copying code.
Later I discovered GitHub. The first time I used it was to download a Minecraft mod, and from there I gradually learned my way around the platform. I kept making Dancing Line levels, even after the game stopped getting updates right up through 2022. In 2023 I began building my own indie rhythm game, and by now I’ve picked up a relatively solid set of development skills.
Games account for about 90% of my computing ability. Looking back, it all feels like chance: if I hadn’t played those games, or clicked on those videos, I might not be who I am today. And I’m not done. I plan to keep digging deeper into this field, because sense of accomplishment of getting something to work. And I hope, far into the future, it remains my strongest motivation.
- Many students pursue college for a specific degree, career opportunity or personal goal. Whichever it may be, learning will be critical to achieve your ultimate goal. As you think ahead to the process of learning during your college years, how will you define a successful college experience?
(300 word maximum)*
If I were to answer, a successful college experience is not measured by how many A’s you earn or what your GPA is, those are learning skills we should already have developed in high school, even middle school. The true purpose of college is to see whether, through study and exploration, you can genuinely change yourself and dare to take steps you once, perhaps even now, thought impossible.
After finishing my undergraduate studies, I plan to team up with classmates or like-minded peers to develop independent games. Although I don’t yet have a concrete plan, I’m confident that my college learning will spark countless compelling ideas. Of course, in theory you could find a high school student with the right skills to do something similar, so the real question is how to take the next step.
Right now, I make games simply because I love it, because I’m excited about what I might create, but that alone doesn’t explain why I should do it. What I’ve always pursued is to move people. I need a systematic understanding of the thinking and logic behind computer science and game development. I need to know why I’m making something, and how others might respond to it.
By the time I graduate, if I can clearly articulate the reasons behind my actions and possess the ability to create meaning through technology, then my college experience will have been a success, because it will have made me a person of deeper thought and greater initiative.
- Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee’s consideration? Highlight something that’s important to you or something you haven’t had a chance to share. Tell us, don’t show us (no websites please).
(300 word maximum)*
To be honest, I have a very distinctive trait, though I’m not sure whether it helps me or slows me down. If you search for “rhythm game proposals” on Bilibili, you’ll find tons of pitch videos that showcase gameplay, many of those mechanics are ineffective innovations, messy and unfocused. The ideas are well-intentioned, of course, but check back a year later and many projects have vanished without a trace. Some never even reach development: after a few PPT slides showing off mechanics, they simply disappear.
Seeing this firsthand years ago, I asked myself: if I make a rhythm game, will the same thing happen to me? If it did, how would my collaborators view me, and how should I take responsibility for their expectations? So when I began developing Domain Echoing (then codenamed Project_Athmyx), I examined a wide range of music games and compared many systems before deciding on the core gameplay. I needed to ensure genuine innovation without being reckless or innovating for its own sake. After that, I spent a month or two building a demo (just the level player) to verify the project’s feasibility. Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief. Then I posted a video online, found people interested in joining the next stages, and finally finished the game.
In cases like this, to leave as little to chance as possible, I always conduct meticulous research before making major decisions, doing everything I can to ensure my time isn’t wasted. My head is constantly buzzing with all kinds of ideas, many of them unrealistic. Without that validation step, I would lose a lot of time. This approach may be less efficient, but it’s part of who I am—and it’s still better than jumping on every impulse and, more often than not, failing.
Purdue University
Early Action · November 01, 2025
1. How will opportunities at Purdue support your interests, both in and out of the classroom? (Respond in 250 words or fewer.)*
For a student like me who is determined to explore the field of computer science in depth, Purdue University offers many unparalleled advantages compared to other institutions.
Although Purdue’s Computer Science program, like many others, provides a variety of specialized tracks, and my primary interest lies in the Software Engineering Track, what truly sets Purdue apart is its openness to research opportunities even for freshmen. Unlike most universities, Purdue allows students to engage in research projects from their first year, and these opportunities are not limited to on-campus or semester-time only; they extend into the summer as well. After enrolling, I hope to quickly take part in such research experiences, as practice is, after all, the only test of truth.
Moreover, I believe I am an excellent fit for “The Data Mine” community at Purdue. This interdisciplinary learning and research community welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to collaborate and learn together. It also provides opportunities to work with corporate partners, allowing students to tackle real-world problems and gain invaluable experience, something every computer science student truly needs. A particularly appealing aspect is that participants often live in the same residence hall, fostering constant communication and significantly enhancing research efficiency. This setup strongly reminds me of the NHSGA program at Carnegie Mellon University I attended last summer, which was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I would be eager to actively participate in The Data Mine.
Finally, events such as BoilerMake and many others hosted at Purdue greatly excite me. Purdue’s unique environment offers immense advantages for both research and hands-on practice, providing exactly the kind of support I need to grow as a computer scientist.
2. Briefly discuss your reasons for choosing your major and your interest in studying at this campus location (Indianapolis or West Lafayette). (Respond in 250 words or fewer.)*
Since middle school, I have been deeply interested in computers. Nearly all of my interest in, and ability with, computer science has been cultivated through game development. After earning my bachelor’s degree, I plan to form a team with classmates or other like-minded people to develop indie games. Although I do not yet have a concrete plan, I believe my studies in college will spark countless ideas. Alternatively, I may join an startup game studio and take on major development responsibilities. I have not worked on commercialization yet, so my first goal after graduation is to move toward commercial games. Commercialization is not only about making money, it also helps gather more resources and talent to build larger-scale titles. Purdue’s Computer Science program can tangibly help me achieve this. At Purdue, I can meet many like-minded students, and the CS coursework will equip me to become a capable game developer. I choose West Lafayette mainly because the department headquarters, the Lawson Computer Science Building, offers resources that are unique among universities and maintains very close ties with industry. I believe I will have a very successful undergraduate experience at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Early Action · November 01, 2025
1. Explain, in detail, an experience you’ve had in the past 3 to 4 years related to your first-choice major. This can be an experience from an extracurricular activity, in a class you’ve taken, or through something else.*
At the end of 2023, I suddenly had the idea to develop a music game. As with everything I do, my motivation came from imagining the sense of accomplishment that success would bring. It was my first time creating a game purely centered on rhythm, so the development process felt somewhat unfamiliar at first.
The game is a 3D falling-note rhythm game. I began by using BPM to directly convert time into musical beats, ensuring that all animations were created based on beat counts to keep gameplay latency minimal. Building the level player took a lot of effort, and designing the level-selection interface was equally time-consuming. Each chapter contains several levels, and each level includes multiple difficulty modes, all with their own unlocking mechanisms.
The most challenging part, however, was the level editor. Before this project, I knew almost nothing about the Unity Editor. By watching tutorials and reading documentation, I gradually built a simple custom editor, which still only supports basic functions for now.
2. Describe your personal and/or career goals after graduating from UIUC and how your selected first-choice major will help you achieve them.*
In addition to majoring in CS, I will choose Game Dev as my minor. After graduating, I plan to team up with classmates or other like-minded people to develop indie games. Although I don’t have a concrete plan yet, I believe I will generate countless interesting ideas during my studies. Alternatively, I may join an startup game studio and take on major development responsibilities. I have not engaged in commercialization yet, so my first goal after graduation is to move toward commercial games. Commercialization is not only about making money, it also helps gather more resources and talent to build larger-scale titles. UIUC’s CS program can help me do exactly this. I can meet like-minded students there, and the coursework will equip me to become a capable game developer.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Early Action · November 01, 2025
Why do you want to study your chosen major and why do you want to study your major at Georgia Tech?*
While majoring in Computer Science, I plan to choose the Media Thread. After graduation, I intend to form an indie game team with classmates or other like-minded peers, or join an startup studio in a core developer role. Although I don’t yet have a detailed roadmap, I’m confident that my university studies will spark countless ideas. I currently have no experience with commercialization, so my first post-graduation goal is to move toward commercial game development. Commercialization isn’t just about revenue, it also brings access to resources and talent, enabling larger-scale projects.
Georgia Tech’s CS program can tangibly help me achieve this. At Tech, I’ll meet many peers who share my interests, and the curriculum will equip me to be a strong developer. Beyond coursework, Georgia Tech offers distinctive advantages: CREATE-X is a mature, end-to-end entrepreneurship ecosystem, an ideal resource for someone like me, and its startup environment attracts collaborators and catalyzes team formation. I also understand that Tech has a dedicated game development club, VGDev, where I can readily find teammates and friends. Resources like these are uniquely meaningful to me. Coming here is not only about systematic learning, this distinctive community environment is what most attracts me to Georgia Tech.
University of Maryland
Early Action · November 01, 2025
At the University of Maryland, we encourage our students to go beyond the classroom to engage in opportunities that further both their academic and personal growth.
To tell us more about yourself, please complete the following prompts using only the space provided (Maximum 650 characters).
If I could travel anywhere, I would go to…*
Tokyo, Japan. I had the opportunity to attend the Comiket exhibition.
The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was…*
The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was that perception can exaggerate reality. When I was doing my research on solving cafeteria crowding problem with queueing theory last semester, I discovered that the actual number of people in the cafeteria was far smaller than what most students, including myself, had imagined. Experiencing the crowd firsthand felt much worse than what the data showed. I found it fascinating how our subjective feelings could distort our understanding of an objective situation.
In addition to my major, my academic interests include…*
Math, Physics, and Linguistics.
My favorite thing about last Monday was…*
My former classmates invited me to their school for their this year’s Halloween event. Since my school has a day off that day, I’m planning to go and bring a few signed sketches I drew for them.
Something you might not know about me is…*
My old classmates invited me to their school for their Halloween event. Since my school has a day off that day, I’m planning to go and bring a few sketch cards I drew for them.
Because we know that diversity benefits the educational experience of all students, the University of Maryland values diversity in all of its many forms. This includes (but is not limited to) racial, socio-economic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation. We are interested in hearing about your own individual life experiences. In a few sentences, will you please describe how you have learned, grown, been inspired or developed skills through one or more components of diversity.*
When I was a freshmen, the only Indian student in our grade was shunned by almost everyone. Many people refused to talk to him and even acted maliciously toward him. I felt deeply uncomfortable with those behaviors. Since we were in the same English class, I often talked and studied with him. Fortunately, most people didn’t exclude me for doing so.
Although I had always believed in diversity and inclusion, this experience taught me something new that inclusion is not just an idea to talk about, but something we must actively practice. I realized that an inclusive environment doesn’t exist naturally. Instead, it has to be built and maintained by everyone.