Mission Bit helps students secure UCLA admission

Cora Monokandilos | June 9, 2021
Categories: Announcements

It’s no secret our students are future-focused. After all, 95% of Mission Bit students consider studying Computer Science in college after attending their first Mission Bit class. But the gaps between wanting to go to college, planning for it, and realizing the dream of opening a mailbox to a coveted admissions letter can be daunting.

Mission Bit helps provide the bridges to span those gaps.

For students like Jessica Lin and Natalie Huang, Mission Bit was exactly what they needed to actualize their goals of becoming UCLA students.

Prior to attending classes in Web Design and Python at Mission Bit, Jessica Lin felt intimidated by the idea of pursuing a career in computer science or technology.

“It seemed like something only people of a certain gender could get into.”

Jessica’s assumptions were not entirely wrong. Although the percentage of employed women across all job sectors in the US has grown to 47%, the workforce of the five largest tech companies on the planet (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft) consist of only 34.4% women.

 

 

Mission Bit aims to combat these statistics by providing girls with leadership opportunities on their Student Advisory Board, mentorships, a Sisterhood of Code event, and by constantly striving for 50/50 female to male student body representation in every classroom — so that girls may see the world of tech as someplace they belong.

For George Washington High School senior Natalie Huang, the fear of entering tech territory did not pertain to the lack of representation of women, but more so the limitations of her own discomfort.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to major in some sort of engineering but was never interested in computer science prior to Mission Bit. I used to think that it was something I would not be able to do well in so I never pushed beyond my comfort zone until last summer. The Web Design class completely changed my perspective on coding and now it’s something I really enjoy.”

While each young woman’s trepidations about entering the tech sector were different, they agreed on one thing — the confidence-boosting power of the Mission Bit community.

Both young women also agreed that taking classes at Mission Bit significantly increased the likelihood for admittance at top universities. The secret is simple — Mission Bit’s computer science classes are standout extracurricular activities. The program assists students in building skills that make them competitive college applicants, including the ones they gain from participating in a culminating student showcase.

What they learn at Mission Bit prepares them for the final projects they can expect to encounter in college; key experiences admissions panels scan for in the application process.

.    .

 

Having Mission Bit cited on your college application may not be the golden ticket into one of America’s most competitive universities, but for Jessica Lin and Natalie Huang, it was enough to make all the difference.