Thank you for your comment! I feel out of all the top schools I might match the vibe of MIT/Caltech the most because from what I’ve seen they are very heavy on STEM and I really, really love STEM to the point where I’d do it 24/7 no complaints which is why I was considering applying to Caltech - hearing this about your son makes me very happy because this is the exact environment I feel like I’d thrive in as well!
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@BlahBlahBlah25, congratulations! I bet, more good days to come! Good luck!
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Congrats for GT and good luck for the future decisions!
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To revisit an earlier suggestion, you could, I believe, take virtually all of your classes in science fields at colleges with open curricula (e.g., Amherst, Hamilton, Brown).
Good suggestion! Here’s a list of more colleges with an open (self-designed) curriculum:
Colorado College
Evergreen State College (WA)
Grinnell College (IA)
Hampshire College (MA)
University of Rochester (NY)
Smith College (MA)
Swarthmore College ¶
Vassar College (NY)
Wake Forest University (NC)
Wesleyan University (CT)
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You won’t be doing STEM exclusively at MIT. Make sure you understand the HASS requirements (Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences). These are not watered down “fun classes for engineers”. These are serious university level courses taught by actual scholars in their fields. They are required of every undergrad; they are rigorous and very time consuming.
MIT is not a good choice for someone who only wants to study STEM.
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Yeah current Hamilton freshman here. All 5 of my classes next semester are QSR (quantitative and symbolic reasoning).
I’m taking 2 physics classes, 2 math classes, and a music theory class.
I literally just chose whatever I want (space permitting). It’s truly open curriculum.
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As an additional comment on colleges with open curricula, note that their majors and minors tend to be structured similarly to those of other schools. Their distinction resides in allowing the student the freedom to choose their level of breadth and depth across the available curriculum . As one example scenario, a student could pursue a single major while also sampling widely across academic topics, such as in humanities and fine arts, physical and natural sciences, mathematics and social sciences. As another scenario, a student could pursue two majors and a minor all within, say, physical sciences and mathematics, while perhaps taking just of few courses of interest outside of these areas. These types of choices would be up to you, ideally with the guidance of your academic advisor.
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It’s interesting to look at what these 3 schools identify as “very important” in their decision making for who to admit:
GA Tech - Character/Personal Qualities, GPA, Rigor, residence
Cal Tech - Character/Personal Qualities, Essay, Recs, Rigor
MIT - Character/Personal Qualities
But they may have different definitions of character/personal qualities that they look for.
Of course. That’s the point. And how can you know?
As much as anyone might complain, it’s a lot easier to know where you stand when it’s just about the numbers.
And how about MIT. The ONLY thing they rank as “ very important” is character/personal qualities! Come on, how can they possibly know?
The teacher and counselor recommendations are very important for MIT.
I think MIT’s emphasis on personal characteristics works well. Most MIT students strike as being nice. Some are certainly socially awkward, but most MIT students that my kids know are friendly and readily willing to help out fellow students.
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Yes, my two cents is MIT makes it clear what you should do–early on, like from the start of HS and probably even earlier, you should practice being actively nice in your school community. In this classic advice, they phrase it this way:
- Be nice. This cannot be overstated. Don’t be wanton or careless or cruel. Treat those around you with kindness. Help people. Contribute to your community.
Today they also say the following:
Collaborative and cooperative spirit
The core of the MIT spirit is collaboration and cooperation; you can see it all over the Institute. Many of the problem sets (our affectionate term for homework) at MIT are designed to be worked on in groups, and cross-department labs are very common. MIT is known for its interdisciplinary research—passionate people working across their differences to tackle big questions and challenges together. If you enjoy working alone all the time, that’s completely valid, but you might not be particularly happy at MIT.
. . .
The character of the MIT community
Our community is comprised of thoughtful people from a wide variety of backgrounds and worldviews who take care of each other and lift each other up; they inspire each other to work and dream beyond their potential. Students regularly work alongside faculty and staff to shape MIT policies and further our mission to make the world a better place. We’re looking to admit people who feel responsible to their communities and will help sustain the heart of MIT’s.
My sense is a lot of what trips up some MIT hopefuls is they get to like junior or senior year of HS, starting looking seriously at what MIT wants for the first time, and this is all news to them. They had no idea MIT takes this so seriously, and had not really been making a point of being this sort of person. So maybe they ignore it, or perhaps they belatedly try to check that box in some way (like “create a non-profit” and such). But what they have not done is actually been actively nice in their community.
However, if you have actually been that sort of person consistently throughout at least HS, it will very likely come through in your recommendations and interview report, and probably some of your essays.
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