Austen McDonald
1. Why was The Academy important to you?
I got the "mental conditioning" I needed: taking the tough college courses was critical to my development as a student and a scientist. I certainly would not be a Stanford without help from those West Georgia professors, to whom I attribute my love for math and CS. I just plain had a great time: the social environment in the Academy is wonderful and it's a real privilege to meet, work, and goof-off with bright students from all over the world.
2. What would your last year in high school have been like if you stayed?
I sort of laugh at this question; it's not that my high school was bad, it's just that the opportunities there pale in comparison to those at West Georgia. For example, I went to a high school in a small town---we only had one year of AP calculus. For the two years while I as at the Academy, I took more math than most engineers take at Georgia Tech. I was able to complete three calculus courses and two courses in differential equations. The mathematical training I acquired while at the Academy is directly responsible for my success in science (period!).
3. Where would you be now if you did not attend The Academy? How would your life be different?
While at the Academy I learned what research was, how to go about it, and how it is integral to the graduate school application process. It was solely due to my CS (7 courses) and math (5 courses) experience in the Academy that I got a research position with a professor at Tech---without that, I would not have stood out. Because I did undergraduate research at Tech and because of the mental preparation afforded by the Academy, I was able to write my own ticket to grad school. This past year, I was accepted for the PhD programs in CS at the top schools in the world: Stanford, MIT, Berkeley and Georgia Tech.