Eileen (Yilin) Wu, DAIS/DHS Class of 2023Eileen is an empathetic and passionate student who values collaboration and cares for the environment. She successfully applied early decision to Cornell University, a world-known Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, and is going to study Operations Research and Engineering there.
Eileen is originally from Shanghai, China. She moved to Dalian with her family and enrolled in DAIS/Huamei School in Grade 9 when her father started working in Dalian.
Although she had been going to a kindergarten in Arizona, United States, and to Shanghai United International School before DAIS, Eileen says her international education experience here in Dalian is second to none. Dalian American International School and Huamei School is a small community where teachers care about students and their mental health, and students are supportive and friendly. “We are more like a family here”, says Eileen.
Eileen is a strong, well-rounded student. She took 11 AP courses, participated in many STEM competitions and excelled in the British Physics Olympiad. She also worked on a solar panel project in UC Berkeley summer camp and designed a health monitoring system for Shanghai Cosco Shipping during her internship last year.
Eileen (right) at DAISMUN
Following her passion for debating and public speech, she worked for the school Model United Nations program and was part of its leadership team. Her school life experience also included sports, outdoors, and social projects, including helping people with autism and a local nursing home.
Eileen (right) volunteering at autism center in Dalian
In 2021, the DAIS girls’ soccer team offered a charity soccer clinic for elementary students. The team delivered fun drills and taught the participants fundamental football skills. This event raised 1400 RMB and the money was used to buy needed supplies and brain-engaging “toys” for Aunty Wang’s elderly care home.
Eileen recalls: “As the treasurer for this fundraiser, I communicated with coaches and other officers about the expected profits, approximate expenditures, and ways to collect money, etc. Under the school’s policy, we first filled out and signed the fundraiser form with our proposal for it to get approved. To find an effective way to collect money and get more kids involved, we made fliers and posters around the elementary building to share the information about this opportunity for fun. With the profits from this clinic, we purchased basic needs and brain-engaging board games for the elderly.”
Eileen has always been passionate about science, environmental volunteering, and sustainability. Inspired by her Physics teacher in high school, Mr. Sim, she decided to consider a STEM career.
But Eileen would like to bring changes to the system and make science and engineering solutions more human-oriented. That is why she applied to the College of Engineering at Cornell University (ranked #20 in QS World University Rankings 2023) and was triumphantly accepted there by ED. Her counselor Ms. Carrie Sun helped her a lot during college application process, especially while we went through online learning in August-September 2022, and Eileen was busy working on her personal statement for the early application.
We asked Eileen why she chose Cornell. In her opinion, while this school is prestigious and has a great environment, the most important thing is that not many schools in the US offer the Operations Research and Engineering major. Eileen is excited to study data-driven system engineering and human-centered design, so that she can pursue her career plan as a project manager or designer and make the world a better place.
At the same time, she wants to keep study-life and work-life balance. Eileen says she will miss her friends from DAIS when she moves to America, luckily some of them are coming to the US too, so they will be able to maintain friendship.
Eileen (in the middle) with friends
Eileen gave our younger students a great piece of advice: "Stay positive and avoid overthinking since self-confidence is important."
We have no doubt that Eileen will find her way and soar to success in every project she is passionate about. Good luck!
