Caroline Hsu(2007)

College/Degrees

working toward Bachelor of Science in Chemical-Biological
Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Employer/Job Title

Undergraduate researcher at MIT’s Langer Lab (the largest
biomedical engineering lab in the world)

Accomplishments

: Inducted into Academic Hall of Fame (one student chosen per graduating class), two-time representative to National Chemistry
Olympiad, National Merit Air Products Scholarship, four-time competitor at international level of the American Computer Science
League (won 5th place as a team one year)

Testimonial

I can state unequivocally that it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. For five weeks, my classmates and I gave our everything to take advantage of all that we were offered. Some took on massive amounts of academic work; others threw themselves into learning from each other and exploring Pittsburgh. Whatever the case, we all shared one thing – a passion for our life at PGSS. Thinking back, I cannot remember anyone who was inactive, who did not expand and thrive under that shared passion. Other PGSS alumni to whom I have spoken made it clear to me that my experience was by no means unique, and I shudder to think that future generations may miss out on this golden opportunity. Today, I am a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I just started researching in the Langer Lab, the largest biomedical engineering laboratory in the world. In both my application to MIT and my interview with the Langer Lab, I described in detail the exhilarating five weeks that was PGSS, and I have no doubt that it played a major role in getting me to where I am now – working in cutting-edge research in an invigorating atmosphere of science and technology. Most of my old PGSS classmates are in similar positions of success, and we have all agreed that our PGSS days proved a huge asset, both on paper in applications and in our maturing into the young adults we are today. To the above, I would like to add that the collaborative atmosphere at PGSS has stayed with me in college, and PGSS prepared me extremely well for working with classmates on difficult problem sets. I cannot even begin to measure how much PGSS has impacted my life – I truly believe that I am a better student, a better researcher, and a better classmate because of my summer at CMU.