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10-09-2005, 09:03 PM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 35
| RESEARCH Paper in Application
How should I write about my research experiences in Completely Optional Essay about something that I created? The online application said the word limit was 500. Would it be good to excerpt from my paper, or would be better to just talk about it? How personal and/or technical should this get? | 
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10-09-2005, 09:09 PM
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#2 | | New Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 23
| yeah, I actually submitted one too.
just make sure you put a great abstract.
I asked admissions officials, and she told me that it annoys them if you submit entire research papers. | |
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10-09-2005, 11:19 PM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,014
| I too have this problem. I mention pneumatic haptic interfaces and five-link bipedal semi-passive walkers in my application, but I don't want the MIT adcom to have to pull aside a professor to understand what I'm doing (chances are they won't... and they shouldn't have to). I've heard they don't like full research papers too, so I think I'm just going to summarize my projects and experiences.
Then again, my friend last year (freshman this year) submitted his whole NASA research paper and got accepted, so I guess you never really know. | |
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10-10-2005, 12:02 AM
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#4 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 5,642
| Hee, learning to write an abstract is a good idea for applications and for life, if you're thinking of doing academic science/engineering for the rest of your life.  | |
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10-10-2005, 12:05 AM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,014
| Mollie: Should we just submit abstracts then? Or the whole clunky research paper with an abstract on top? | |
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10-10-2005, 12:43 PM
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#6 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 5,642
| If it were me, I'd just submit the abstract (that's what I'm doing for grad school apps, assuming the committees don't want to read an entire paper).
If you want to submit the whole paper, go ahead, just make sure you also submit the abstract for the short of time/attention span. | |
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10-10-2005, 06:08 PM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 35
| Mollie: Do you mean like submit the whole paper(with the abstract) as a separate part of my application, but then write about my personal experiences in that project in the Completely Optional Essay (500word limit) box? | |
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10-10-2005, 08:16 PM
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#8 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 5,642
| Sorry, I'll clarify: What I would do is submit the abstract as the Completely Optional Essay (with a sentence or two of context, I guess), and if you were so inclined, include the whole paper itself as supplemental material.
I think it would also be reasonable to write about the experience of the project as the COE and submit the paper + abstract as supplemental material. | |
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10-11-2005, 06:01 PM
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#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 35
| ok, I think thats what ill do.
Thanks! | |
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10-12-2005, 03:17 PM
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#10 | | College Rep
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: MIT
Posts: 623
| I like Mollie's idea. | |
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