I think this just means that for you, doing so would not be performative. I can’t speak on MIT in particular, but for many schools students are genuinely interested in the place specifically for reasons that are not those things. The collaborative and consensus culture that comes from the Quaker heritage of the school combined with its Honor Code. The open curriculum and students who love to learn, dive deeply into issues they are passionate about and explore new things. The place’s ethos on scientific discovery and rigor and commitment to undergraduate research. There are genuine reasons that people are particularly interested in an individual school that are not a professor, class or individual program and are also not fluff. Maybe MIT has none of those, but I doubt it. To me, if someone is focused on a particular class or professor, my thought is “so, if you don’t get that class or don’t get to work with that professor, what would you like about us? Everybody thinks x prof is great and most of them never get to do a thing with her.” A danger in the narrow answer is potentially not conveying what you actually like about the school more broadly. Liking a program obviously doesn’t have that narrowness issue.
But as others have said, answering genuinely as to why you like that specific place is the way to go.
I don’t disagree with you, but if you write about wanting to take chemistry to expand into Babka for this essay, my gut is you will get Babka. MIT kids want to tackle world problems.
I 100% agree with that. My message you initially replied to was a response to another poster who suggested that everything that is not a program, professor or class is likely fluff. I was just saying there are more unique and substantive things to what makes a school uniquely compelling than that.
I think it’s as simple as that. The students who answer this successfully have already been actively working on that answer for a long period (knowingly or not), through their engagement and activities.
Ok. That was never going to be my guess as to what he was saying. Writing about bread to MIT was not on my bingo card. But maybe sweet bread is their thing, I don’t know the school.
Got it. Didn’t see the earlier reference, or if I did, since I didn’t know what Bobka was it went over my head. No worries I was just confused and naturally assumed it was my lack of science knowledge. But it turned out is was my baking ignorance that shined through instead.
IAP doesn’t offer “chemistry”. It’s a months long term in January where professors get to teach whatever off-beat, fun, or hobby-type class they want. Yes, there will be classes with a more serious tone (there was a lot of publicity the year a group invented a solar oven which was designed for remote locales without reliable power, and some other “change-making” devices).
My point was not to harp on babka. But that in order to differentiate studying at MIT from being a physics major at BU or a comp sci major at Northeastern or a math major at Harvard, it’s not enough to cut and paste the name of “award winning professor who is going to want to have me in his or her lab”. It will take a little time to understand the vibe and ethos of the place. And demonstrating (in hundred words) why you are right for them.
Just like the Quaker example above. And babka (the dessert) is different from bupkis, which literally means “goat droppings” and is used colloquially to mean “nothing”.
I think there are very, very few schools where you could point out something so distinctive that isn’t a class/professor/institute of some sort. So, yes, it comes down to Google skills which is why I think it’s a silly question.
But let’s put this to the test.
OP: In your own words, and don’t be limited by 100, tell us why you want to go to MIT.
If OP can do that without mentioning a class/professor/program, and something less than 500 other schools couldn’t be inserted instead of “MIT” and the response should still make sense, I’ll concede defeat.
It depends often on the college. You’re applying to MIT. Why would you NOT show them you are interested in things unique to their school, and show that what they offer is connected to your interests?
There isn’t a hard and fast rule about any supplemental, except for maybe this: If the name of their college could be replaced with the name of any other college, I’d say the essay is not specific enough. Some essays are just seeking more insight into your personality, but others really want you to show why you need to be there as opposed to somewhere else.
I am not trying to defeat you. I am not suggesting that one should try to do this without mentioning a program, class or professor. I was merely responding to your suggestion that everything else is fake. My school I went to was uniquely right for me and I knew zero about specific programs, profs or classes at the time but 100% could tell you why that place in a way that people could guess where it was. My D26 has schools on her list that are the same.
I 100% agree that if talking about those things is an authentic piece of one’s why, like it clearly is for you as you can’t imagine otherwise, then absolutely write about those things.
The exercise you suggested for the student is 100% the right one. But, I don’t think OP should try not to mention those things. They should just write it and if those things are in it, great. If they are not and it comes off as 100% this is an MIT essay, also great. There is no defeating here.
Sure, but if a kid reads on the internet that MIT wants kids who want to tackle world problems, and therefore constructs an essay to try to make a claim that they want to tackle world problems, they are doing it wrong… and I doubt the essay would go over well with MIT admissions.
I’ve read a lot of Brown essays that focus on the Open Curriculum and then give a brief history of it, why they admire Ira Magaziner (one of the architects of what was then known as the “new curriculum”), etc.
Honestly, there isn’t a single adcom at Brown who doesn’t know the history of the Open Curriculum. If you can’t connect the dots between the institution and who you are, to me it’s a waste of real estate.
I didn’t mean to suggest that “everything else is fake”. (Nor am I intending to be argumentative.) No doubt, there are many kids who their entire lives have wanted to go to a particular school, and could tell you authentically and enthusiastically why that is the case. I’m just suggesting that is rare.
Having just gone through the process with my younger child and helping him answer the Why Wisconsin, or Why Georgia, or Why UT etc., essays we were very hard pressed to advise him other than mentioning specific programs / classes.
It reminds me of the obligatory interview question, “Why do you want to work here?” The honest response is, “because I want a job” but candidates have to make up all sorts of stuff that would apply as equally to a bunch of other companies as it does the one they’re applying to.
But maybe sweet bread is their thing, I don’t know the school.