Sugarcoating Rejection? Stop it. Be realistic.

llazar
Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:30:49 +0000

@luisarose As far as what you said about hard work being forced on you, I couldn’t agree more. All good universities have opportunities for you to push yourself as hard as you want, it’s just that at MIT, the bar is all up in your face so you can’t really ignore it. If you truly want an MIT experience, then immerse yourself in your passion for STEM, regardless of what university you go to. You can make the “MIT Experience” seem as flowery as you’d like but the true beauty of that experience is the tortuously satisfying mental adventure that one is put through.

Here’s an analogy to high school. Not everyone goes to Andover or Phillip Exeter, in fact, most MIT applicants probably go to the average public high school with nothing more presented to you than a slew AP classes, at best. But what is it that led these very applicants to apply to MIT? It’s their internal drive to do more than what they were told is possible, it’s that insatiable hunger for knowledge which made them think “Hmm, I want to go to arguably the toughest STEM school in the nation.”