/* sed '/^>> /d'|tr '\n' ' '|sed 's/  /\n/g' */
vim: spell tw=72
Each are 50--300 words.

Why do you want to study your chosen major [Computer Science and
Mathematics] specifically at Georgia Tech?
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"You should check out this website. It's called Project Euler," my
friend Holden told me in fourth grade.
>> feels like a humble-brag
Project Euler is a list of math puzzles that require a computer to
solve, and I fell in love with the problem-solution paradigm.
Project Euler's "challenges" require experimentation, careful critical
thought and develop general and domain understanding.
I have worked with much more complex systems than the mini-problems
Project Euler presents, but the identify-fix-check debugging modality
fits the "problem" paradigm remarkably, as does exploratory mathematics.
I want to major in Computer Science and Mathematics at Georgia Tech
because both subjects deal in this sort of problem, and I want to
continue innovating and exploring in this analytical paradigm.

Through Tech's Dual Enrollment program, I've been fortunate to take
classes from some great professors at Tech, especially in math.
In my second year of Dual Enrollment, my teacher Dr. Mayer organized a
class conference to help develop our sense of how combinatorics fits
into the wider world.
As he walked around the room, he was genuinely interested in each and
every project's presentation of a unique problem space.

I've also been part of a small number groupchats run by Tech students
for specific classes or for this year's online-only situation, and I
have seen one of the most supportive and honorable student groups I
could envision.
The math class-specific groups I'm a member of is extremely deliberate
about not sharing answers but still enthusiastically share hints about
the fundamental course material.
Another group organizes weekly virtual movie nights, a heartwarming
display of the overwhelmingly supportive and positive Tech community.
I sincerely hope I can continue to participate in this welcoming
institutional culture, especially through the in-person activities like
the student-run hackathons.
>> The hackathons are a footnote. Is that okay?

>> pfft these aren't unique to Tech, good professors and good students?
>> I mean, this is entirely true, but do I need to mention the
>> institutional stuff like competitions, hackathons, etc, or would that
>> come off as insincere?
>> probably include, but there's no room (... words)
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All applicants must choose one of the two questions below:

1) Georgia Tech is committed to creating solutions to some of the
    world’s most pressing challenges. Tell us how you have improved or
    hope to improve the human condition in your community.

2) If you feel that your personal or community background can provide
    additional insight to your application that we have not already seen
    elsewhere, please take this opportunity to share that information
    with us.

I like (1).
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>> Recommendation I'm going off of: talk about something you've worked
>> on.
>> There also isn't a hook or anything here.
>> Is this a bit too ideologuey or is that appropriate to the question?
I love freedom.
Not exactly a controversial statement, I know.
>> "I'm aware"?
But my view of freedom does appear to be fairly unpopular.
I believe firmly in free software---programs that can be edited,
distributed, and run however the user chooses.
The catalogue of open source programs is fortunately long, but there is
still much work to be done.

I've contributed lightly to software freedom by using it, participating
in the community, and writing some free software.
But my current favorite project is OpenStreetMap (OSM)---a freely
licensed, globally editable map made up of trees, farms, streets, paths,
buildings, businesses, and everything else that fits in an objective
map.
I recently started contributing to OpenStreetMap and using OSM-based
maps, which are startlingly deficient compared to commercial maps like
Here or Google Maps.
My area, Fulton county, actually has very good data compared to the US
overall---it has decent buildings, addresses, streets.
But it doesn't have businesses listed, forcing my community to rely on
manipulative, closed data sources like Yelp or Google---whom have abused
their influence to extort businesses and manipulate customers.
And in less privileged areas, cartographic data is scarce and groups
like the Humanitarian OSM team can have concrete impacts on communities
around the globe.

There are pragmatic benefits like being entirely independent of the data
owner: it's generically searchable, available to governments for
disaster response or public information, allows for more private use and
more innovation and supports egalitarianism.
Like Wikipedia opening up encyclopedic information to everyone, the
"democratization" of geographic data improves widespread groups'
condition, and I want to help, by contributing my effort to making
people more free.
>> make the Wikipedia bit bigger
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