Jabalpur boy wins Crimson Access Opportunity to study in Pennsylvania – Times of India

A scholarship can make a huge difference for any student aspiring to study overseas. The boy from Bhopal Vaasu Chandra, 17, got selected for the popular US Crimson Access Opportunity (CAO) scholarship, this year and is now set to fly to the US to study Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Vaasu received a $300,000 scholarship and will pursue a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science to create useful codes in AI at Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“Computer Science has captivated my fascination since my childhood because it is not limited by characters and alphabets, but is driven by human creativity,” says Vasu, whose father is Chief Engineer at the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board (MPEB) and mother is a housewife.

“I was inclined to explore both science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related projects along with social sciences,” says Vaasu.

No matter how much an algorithm is optimized or how fast a quantum computer processes, there is always a scope for improvement. “This is the key to innovation in technology,” adds Vaasu.

“Numerous useful codes are waiting to be written, studied, and expanded to evolve the dynamic pieces of society. I am intrigued by the codes and want to spend my life exploring them extensively,” he adds.

Preparing the statement of purpose (SOP) is of prime importance. Vaasu wrote several rough drafts and fine-tuned them to get the best one. Asking feedbacks for the same from experts make the application stand out, he says.

CAO support team mentored him and offered course-specific guidance that relieved the stress. Vaasu tracked the college’s website for hours to gather information about the college and if it would be the right fit for him.

Vaasu participated in a few prestigious summer programs including Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) and Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative (HUFPI), which strengthened his SOP. Apart from excelling in Mathematics and Computer Science at the academic forefront, Vaasu has been an accomplished Tennis player and volunteered in community service for the Indian Red Cross Society in his hometown.