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Name: Chandler Stevenson
Age: 21
College / University: Brown University
Major: Electrical Engineering / Philosophy
Country origin: United States
What did you do in high school to prepare you for this major? Tell us about your extracurricular activities and any honors/awards you received while preparing for university.
I really only knew that I wanted to pursue electrical engineering after my junior year AP Physics class. From a young age, I've always had an interest in figuring out how things work, and in high school, I think I was still connecting the dots on what exactly I was interested in. At the time, I was participating in activities such as Speech and Debate and Mock Trial but also engaging in a wide range of other activities such as marching band, varsity lacrosse, and playing in state youth wind ensembles. I think the biggest part of any major is curiosity, and I believe putting myself in all of these activities definitely made me more inquisitive and analytical. Unfortunately, I never really had the time to commit to our school's robotics team due to the long hours, but I did find the time to make at-home Arduino projects and taught myself how to code. Sometimes I would look up a random topic in physics and try to teach it to myself. I received awards from Speech and Debate as well as Mock Trial, but I also received awards for excellence in the classroom both in physics and for my wind ensemble. More notably, I was the 2021 recipient of the GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship in my senior year of high school, which is a $40k scholarship towards any US academic institution.
Please tell us your daily life schedule as a student with this major in your university.
I try to get up around 8 a.m. to get a somewhat early start to my day. This year I mostly had classes in the afternoon, so I used my mornings to plan out my day. I strongly recommend using a planner to stay on top of meetings, assignments, and events at school. I also use my mornings to do lighter assignments: tasks that would take me around an hour each to complete. I try to avoid difficult problem sets at this early time as I'm still waking up a bit and wouldn't want to make any silly mistakes. Since I'm also co-president of Brown Space Engineering, I also use this morning block to check my emails and stay up to date on any updates from members and/or potential sponsors. After my morning block, I'll grab a quick meal and go to class and make sure to take notes. If I don't get good notes because perhaps the pace was too quick or I couldn't catch the drawing of a diagram, I'll use the time right after the class to organize my notes. In any case, it's usually a good idea to revisit your notes frequently after you take them. It's at this time that I'll head to a library for a few hours before dinner to begin medium tasks that might take a bit longer to accomplish. I'll eat dinner with friends (eating at least one meal a day with friends is important to me) and head to the library for deep and longer tasks. This could be everything from coding for my research to working on my part of a project (as a senior in college, you may have more projects than not, especially in engineering). I usually try to set a stop time of around 12 a.m., but if I feel productive, I'll keep going and adjust my schedule the next day accordingly. Sleep is important!
How do you manage your stress? What's the secret?
I wouldn't say there's a secret that applies to everyone, but often stress related to school is less about actually doing work and more about thinking about getting the work done. When you have a large assignment, it can be so stressful just looking at what you have to do. The best way that I overcome this is by using a platform like Notion, to chunk out parts of the assignment into a section of my Notion where I have labels of 'not started,' 'in progress,' and 'completed.' Additionally, listening to your body is so important. Get up from your desk and stretch every now and then. Get good sleep. Try to get in a solid workout at least three times a day. As much as you may want to, no one can just sit down and work 24/7. Find pockets of time to catch up with friends and find a balance in your academic plan.
What advice would you give high school students wanting to study this major?
I would say don't be intimidated by it. I'm a teaching assistant for one of our more advanced introductory classes, so I interact with a lot of first-years going into engineering. Sure, engineering of any kind may be difficult, but so are a lot of things in life. I regard my engineering degree as one of the most transformative and rewarding things I've done in my life. On the other hand, I would also say keep an open mind. Stay curious and don't ever be satisfied with the status quo. Keep studying hard in your high school classes and get in the habit of not being afraid of asking questions.
What was the most helpful when applying to college for this major?
Just being yourself! Once you have decent grades and test scores, the rest is showing off your best self. I strongly recommend applicants to get involved in their school in any way, shape, or form because admissions officers love to see when you're involved not only in your schoolwork but also in your community and other extracurricular activities. There is not a one-size-fits-all kind of approach to admissions, so find something that you can really excel at and pursue it relentlessly.
If there is an app/website/social media account that you love or follow related to your major, could you share the link?
If you're ever curious about what people in engineering do, I recommend just browsing on LinkedIn. I made my account around the time of admissions and may have even linked it in my application. Don't sweat it if you don't have one, but it definitely is a good tool to get a feel for what people do in the field.
Thank you to Chandler Stevenson!
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