I should add that you are probably right on this and my experience is largely in that narrow band of schools. Having said that, though I know very little about MIT other than what is in the general public impressions of them, I’d think that MIT is likely one of those schools. First, it is a world renowned science focused technical school which puts it in a small pool to begin with. Then I think about things like that they were the first to go back to required standardized testing because their data showed that is what they needed. Or, that they were the first to reject the administration’s compact, and did so via a public letter that focused on how they want to compete on merit for grants with everyone else in the country because that is the ethos of who they are and their core beliefs in scientific inquiry. And that everyone else followed. And that is not getting into anything about the students attracted or the culture or anything else. My point is, and maybe this is because I am a humanities person and not a science one, I just find it hard to imagine that MIT of all places is not one that has unique stories to tell other than I love your engineering program or x famous prof, or y class. I bet if I spent a couple hours (which I won’t) MIT’s unique story would be obvious to me given the impressions I already have. Like who else is really like MIT?
In summary, for @leapftstars -
Your background and interests would ideally tie to something MIT has to offer, that would ideally be unique to MIT. Straight up the middle stuff might be uninteresting and feel forced, but there just needs to be something.
And you’re probably right about MIT.
But I don’t think that’s true for the bunch of relatively interchangeable schools, all of which the applicant would be perfectly happy at, that tend to ask the question.
And….I’m just a cynic. If that wasn’t obvious by now. 
Thanks for this, and I may have read your original contrarian view post wrong. I am not trying to be argumentative either, just trying to give a different perspective on what a good answer could be. That said, after our back and forth, I don’t actually think there is much, if even any, disagreement between us.
to be honest about it, I want to go to MIT because it’s a place with students that are undeniably perceived as special (whether they are actually special or not i don’t know. i haven’t met them). because of this, the place and the people have a name for itself, and the students are given the privilege of expectation in any opportunity, whether that be an unconventional hobby or a new and unexplored idea in a research area. This privilege of expectation means that MIT students have the freedom to completely explore the ideas they want and will consistently be supplied with the exceptional support to do so, leading to them actually being special, if they weren’t already (as well as the success stories that MIT loves to boast about, like their students with brilliantly quirky fun side projects or their constant output of new and innovative discoveries). To me, it’s always been advertised as a place of normalized spontaneity, as a kid (and now, as a researcher) i’ve always wanted that kind of thing. It’s this quality that makes the college excel not only in the STEM it touts but also on the humanities side of things, and it’s also what produces more expertly well-rounded students.
Personally, I think this is kind of weird of me to say.
Also 100%.
So find a way to say that, incorporating what MIT offers.
I am getting the impression that you haven’t spent enough time figuring out WHAT MIT WANTS. You need to offer them that. As @MYOS1634 has said,
“You need to show you understand their values and match them to something you’ve done or regularly do. Think of it as a way to convince someone you like to date you. If all you do is say “You’re awesome” “you’re my dream person”… why would they go out with you? I mean, I’m sure they’d be flattered, but you’re not giving them any reason to think you are awesome AND a great match for them…”
Again, I suggest looking at the supplemental essay link I posted above. It’s not a “how to.” It’s tips that will help you. But most of all, I suggest you spend a lot more time digging deeper into MIT’s website and finding things they offer that align with what you said above.
Having worked with many kids who have attended top colleges, it is often clear from their writing that they understand the objective: showing the college why they should admit you. Not just telling.
Google MIT’s famous blog post Applying Sideways. That will give you more insight.
Both my kids did for the colleges they applied to, but it was mentioning professors they met during campus visits to discuss their high school research, and opportunities for doing something similar in college. It felt very natural to discuss that in their essays.
Isn’t it too risky to mention anything political? Wouldn’t any mention of protests, presidents forced to step down, certain offices dissolved/repurposed, federal funding cuts at the school, etc., be off limit? I would advise my child (or anyone) to stay far, far away from these sensitive topics, no matter how much it could potentially make their “why us” essays stand out.
The purpose of the “why” essay is not to stand out. The purpose is to connect the dots for the reader between what the U offers/is all about, and what the student would bring to campus. Colleges are not explicitly looking for kids who spend every night in their dorm room playing online poker. They want students who will engage- intellectually, artistically, etc. And if that engagement show that the student understands the vibe of the place- terrific. Mission accomplished.
I didn’t think the point of @ECCA2026 ‘s post was to be political. I think the point being made was that MIT is an individualistic institution with its own rock-solid ideals and goals. The student could find a way to express themselves to show their own mindset aligns.
I keep saying SHOW. Showing is much more interesting than telling.
Made up and not very scientifically accurate example:
It’s okay to say “I’ve been conducting experiments in my garage since I was seven and discovered many things. My parents didn’t mind if I messed up the garage.” It’s probably much better to say “Since I was seven, I’ve conducted experiments in my garage, ranging from a baking soda volcano to monitoring the effects of the local factory on our own microclimate. Using old glass jars in our garage, I learned that our summers have become more humid as the factory ramped up production of ___. I want to utilize MIT’s ___ lab so I can learn more about the effects of __ on climate.”
I think there is a big difference between “name dropping” and mentioning someone you have worked with or whose work you have studied and find valuable.
To me…”name dropping” is mentioning a name of someone important who you think will impress someone…but who you really don’t know well…maybe met once or something.
So…in my opinion, if you have something of substance to say about a person , fine. Otherwise…no.
Ive written about my current research in time scales and desire to dive deeper into that research as i continue it at MIT, as well as my plan to broaden my research topics to include applied mathematics (for example, computational biology, something i’ve been wanting to do since working with marine biologists on turtles in costa rica). MIT has many opportunities for this kind of thing (UROP, etc) and I know the math department and I would be able to work to reach my goals. generally, the point is that i’m someone who wishes to specialize in both pure and applied math as a researcher, and i feel like it fits MITs desire for an explorer type of person who has specific passions.
My question is, does this fit what you’ve been saying about “knowing what MIT wants?” and if so, how would i fit all of this and answer the question”why major” portion properly as well in 100 words? i feel like an adequate explanation of either would just make the essay lean towards answering one question more than the other. Like, i have to talk about math too, and i find a lot of value in my perspective of the subject as well.
This seems like the basis of a good essay to me. When you say MIT has many opportunities, why don’t you say that in your essay, but explain what those opportunities are? I.e., I’ll continue my research at UROP using their __ and __,. And HOW is their math dept going to help you reach your goals? Write that.
I am not seeing that you are having great difficulty with this. If you show that MIT offers what you need and why you need to be there to do it, you will probably show what they are looking for in this type of essay.
A student I knew had a pretty unique idea for something they wanted to develop with a biomedical engineering major at a top tech U. Can’t really give details as it was unique and might disclose privacy info, but it involved interfacing with 3 different departments, and potentially with a joint/partner program with a nearby college (the joint program exists). It was a really clever idea that IMO seemed long overdue, and the student did a great job of researching which faculty in which departments might have an interest in this idea and yes, this was included in the essay about the idea. There is no guarantee that the idea hadn’t been thought of prior to the writing of this essay (though not seeing a lot on line about it) but the fact that they researched which departments would need to work in concert, and which professors’ specific areas of expertise might make them interested in this idea to me showed a lot of forethought. So yes, this was included in the essay. Thy were accepted. Will never know if that essay helped or not.
100% this was my point. I was not suggesting that any student necessarily talk about that letter. I was using the letter as an example in the public domain that I, who has done zero looking into MIT, was aware of that shows MIT has to be a pretty unique place with lots to talk about that could make one want to specifically go there other than particular professors or classes in their engineering program or whatever. A student who might think they could study engineering at lots of places that have impressive professors and interesting classes, may have compelling why MIT answers that go beyond the academic program which often is not that different between peer schools. I was making a point with that letter as support, not advising anyone on what they should write about.
I’m not sure what quaker origins of MIT you’re referring to - I found a list of universities with Quaker origins bu MIT isn’t on it: https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/71/US-Universities-With-Quaker-Origins
None of the other things you mentioned are specific to MIT, which I always thought was the hallmark of a poorly written “why X” essay. It could just as well apply to Princeton or Cornell or UChicago, I think.
None of those things were about MIT at all. They were examples drawn from other schools I actually know to make the point. As I’ve said, I know very little about MIT. Sorry for the confusion.