For a student who has difficulty writing...

_theorymom
Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:19:18 +0000

…what are the chances for success at MIT?

In other words, my son will be applying, and although he has abyssmal writing scores and his essay will reflect his lack of ability, he still has a very good chance of being accepted, based on his strengths in math and science and his ECs and test scores.

But SHOULD he apply? If he is accepted, will his lack of writing ability keep him from succeeding as a student there?

He is very bright, has excellent reading skills, reasoning skills, math skills. The difficulty seems to be not in writing something good, it CAN and does happen, his writing is quite good, but it is in the length of time it takes him to get anything down on paper. After many years of trying to help him improve this skill, he has gotten a little better, but it not “there” yet. This gets him behind in all his course that require a great deal of “creative” writing, but he is not too hindered when it comes to science labs, math, answering questions with concrete answers, that sort of thing.

If he got accepted at MIT, will he find himself wallowing in writing requirements, or might this be a place where his true talents can shine?