passioniskey

Don't worry about mentioning multiple departments. They know that you don't have your life figured out when you are 16/17/18.

nrousep

would someone from MIT please comment on the remarks by LACs that at MIT
a) TAs teach most of the time - Profs too busy with Research & teach UG very little
b) Classes are big - 200 -300 students

thanks in advance..

molliebatmit

It is certainly not true that TAs do most of the teaching at MIT.

The typical structure of a large lecture class at MIT is that a professor or several professors give all the lectures, something that typically happens three times a week. Twice a week, students from the class meet in smaller TA-led recitation sections to discuss homework problems and review material from the class. TAs are often graduate students, although I had a few faculty TAs during my time at MIT. And for most courses, there are a large number of recitation sections, so if you don't like the TA leading the recitation section you were assigned, you can usually pick another one with a better TA.

There are some large classes at MIT (300-400 students), especially for freshmen, but classes tend to get smaller as one moves into a department and takes upper-level electives. Most of my upper-level electives had 20-30 students in them, and I was even in classes with a total of 5 or 6 students. You can find the actual numbers for MIT class sizes at the Common Data Set -- the vast majority of MIT classes are not large.

I didn't have any problem with this system as an undergraduate -- even for large lecture courses, the professors hold office hours, so a student can go and speak with them without involving the TAs. And now that I'm a graduate student myself, I see the value in the system -- graduate students are future professors, and there's really no way to get teaching experience in academia other than TAing as a graduate student or postdoc. The TAs at MIT are some of the most qualified graduate students in the country, and often they have a very good grasp of what material is confusing to undergraduates, having recently been undergraduates themselves.

At any rate, not all research universities are created equal, and LAC backers tend to paint all research universities with a broad brush. MIT is not nearly as large a school as most state universities, and the student population is small enough that all students get attention from faculty members. Particularly, through programs like UROP (the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program), undergraduates are able to do cutting-edge research with the top professors in their fields, which is an opportunity not available at most LACs.

collegesgirl

Does admissions look at SATII tests in relation to when the student actually took course? Didn't really know that I might need SATIIs until senior year. Now have the scores/GPA/Etc. in the range of MIT, so trying to get these tests done to be able to apply. Could probably study more for it, but probably like most taking 5 or so AP classes, etc. Just curious.

ansar

Do I really have to send score reports? I mean, don't they just check themselves?

molliebatmit

They're certainly aware that students who take SAT IIs right after they finish taking a course get better scores than students who take SAT IIs later.

Says McGreggor:
No, a school can't access your standardized test scores unless you request that the scores be released to them.

nrousep

how much does a sustained interest in a major demonstrated by early works in the subject interest MIT & what role does it play in admission decisions if the scores are within the 50%tile? For example my son has been keeping tabs on developments in Neural Engineering ever since he saw the Matrix trilogy several times, from his 9th grade onwards...like an obsession ! do such things count at all? should we mention it in the app?

thanx again !

ChemGuy

Hello everyone, mollie, benjones, mcgmit

I'm a new member here and i have couple of questions/remarks. I noticed that most of the talk is based on high school students/seniors.

I didn't spend all day browsing the MIT forums, but i spent a good amount of time looking for a forum for transfer students. I understand that MIT accepts very very little percentage of transfer students. but i was hoping you would be able to answer my question or direct me to the right place.

I'm just wondering if this is the right place to post questions regarding transfer process. or if there is another forum, please let me know.

Thanks for your help.

Mikalye

There isn't really another forum, and there are precious few here that can help you. The basic problem is that there are so few transfer students that we just do not have a large enough data set to draw any useful conclusions apart from that it is extremely competitive.

I assume that you have seen the Transfer applicant FAQs (MIT Transfer Admissions). Beyond that, we can try to answer any questions you might have, but don't expect too much. Be aware that the transfer application (http://web.mit.edu/admissions/transf...erForm2010.pdf) is different from the undergraduate application.

PS: Ben Jones left the admissions office in July of 2008 (MIT Admissions | Blog Entry: "Big News")

molliebatmit

It's absolutely worth mentioning academic interests in the application.

k4r3n2

Only if he's not on the side of the Machines.

megmno

Hi Mollie -- I've got a question for you:

DS has applied early action, and we sent our stuff out on time. His school sends out the secondary school report along with the teachers recommendations in one packet, and according to DS's guidance counselor, that stuff went out on time too.

However, when we checked online at the MIT application tracking site, it shows that only one of the recommendations has been received, but not the second one or the school report. Since I know they went out in one envelope, should I contact MIT Admissions, or should I wait a little longer? I don't want to annoy them, but I also don't want to wait too long.

Thanks!

**EDIT: I just read the previous page of this thread. I guess we're not the only ones whose stuff hasn't been posted yet! I'll wait a week or two before bugging them.

TheDude2491

Just a question about recommendations from teachers & counselor.

Does it really matter who sends the transcripts and recs? Because I'm an international applicant, I feel a bit safer if I sent it myself (haha, not that I don't trust my teachers or anything).

Would MIT say anything about this as long as each transcript & recommendations are sealed with the teachers' signatures across the seal?

molliebatmit

No, it's not abnormal for one person to send everything, especially for international applicants, who have to conserve shipping costs.

collegesgirl

Average and Range SAT II subject tests.

Hi All,
What were the average SATII subject test scores (and range) for accepted students at MIT last year (or year before if not available)? Biology, Math I, Math2, Chemistry, US History.

Thanks