What is MIT's view on self studying and taking hard math classes earlier on?

cellardweller
Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:36:45 +0000

Don’t stress too much about the USAMO. Making the AIME every year is an achievement by itself. My D just got in this year to MIT and she only qualified for the AIME twice never the USAMO. Another student was semi-finalist at both the Intel and Siemens competitions and received several other awards but was rejected. Competitions only take you so far and unless you are among the top finalists, you really don’t have a hook.

Let me suggest a few pointers:


Make sure you present yourself differently from the other applicants at your school, because you will be compared to them at the end of the application review process.
Show some passion for something even if it is not in science or engineering. If art is your thing, make sure you explain why you are passionate about it. My D sent a portfolio of slides although she never had her work exhibited anywhere. It just helped show her dedication. She also sent abstracts from her research work in a medical laboratory and the results were getting published. (She wants to go to med school).
Remember that MIT has its own application for good reasons. If it could have used the Common App, it would have saved them a lot of time and money. MIT is not your typical tech school. They ask you if you have ever created something on your own. MIT doesn’t want drones that can just regurgitate textbook material and solve well defined problems, they want students that can indentify new problems that nobody has even thought of. You don’t have to have filed for a patent to show you did something unique. Maybe what you created was not not even in science. You have to show you can think outside of the box. Your teacher recs should highlight that part of your profile. If they just state you were a top student they won’t help much, because MIT can see that from your transcript.
MIT is very concerned that students should be good team players. Although the workload is very intense, the atmosphere is MIT is not at all cutthroat. MIT does not rank, has no latin honors and does not even grade most of the first year. If you are a loner you probably won’t fit in and MIT will definitely not want you. No single individual can solve all the problem sets on their own. Most of the problems require teamwork. Demonstrate you are a team player. You will be most definitely asked about that in the interview and it should also show through the teacher recs.
Show you can manage stress. Everybody is at the top of their class coming in, getting 100% on every test. The students never needed any assistance and mostly tutored others. Now you are at MIT and suddenly you get 30% on your first chemistry exam. You get a p-set and can’t even answer the first question. MIT wants to know you are not going to freak out. The application essay is mostly about how you manage problems. MIT will be worried if you claim you have never faced a serious challenge, because you certainly will after being admitted.
There are fewer female than males applicants to MIT. This is good in one way as MIT seeks out women interested in the sciences. On the other hand, the female pool is more self-selecting, i.e. few women apply who are not qualified and serious about going to MIT. MIT does not admit by major, but many of the female applicants go into the life sciences and chemistry, and fewer into math or engineering. MIT wants to shape a diverse student body and does not want the math department all male and the biology department all female. Being very strong in math can set you apart from many of the other female applicants. Make a point of the fact you like the challenge.


It is pretty obvious you have the academic qualifications to be admitted and succeed at MIT. Just reflect on why MIT should admit YOU as compared to ten other equally qualified applicants. If you can come up with a compelling story to answer that question you should have a greater than 50/50 chance of being accepted.