Guest post today from Mark F. '15, who was working on this essay for a writing class and wanted to share his experiences and insights with y'all:
There will come a moment when you will decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. For some, this moment appears organically in the form of a hobby, or perhaps an inspiring book. Others may experience it more synthetically, be it the pressure to earn a living, or living up to another’s expectations. No matter the means of inspiration, there is a goal, the destination to your journey. There is no winning path, and not every path leads to your goal. At times the road will bend and twist and break, doing everything to throw you off its course. A storm will break out, desperately pillaging the earth with electricity and water. Hopeless and drenched to the bone, you’ll take shelter off the road in a wood cabin. As the raindrops patter on the window, you seek guidance, and guidance you’ll receive.
Hope: A Guide for the Hopeless and Drenched
If you are reading this, you are lost on the path to MIT. Your grades are sub-par, your classmates are winning gold, your teachers are unimpressed, your essays are underwhelming, and your extra-curriculars are all but one. You begin to doubt your once powerful feelings of belonging at MIT, for what chances do you stand against tens of thousands of competent students with excellent grades, gold medals, impressed teachers, inspirational stories, and never-ending lists of extra-curriculars? Hopeless and unmotivated, you naively contemplate your odds. Before you call it quits, allow me to interrupt the biggest mistake of your life. Take a deep breath, slowly count to ten, and open up your mind as wide as you can. You are about to be given a couple guidelines you may have thought never existed. Not only do they exist, they hold true for getting into MIT. While following each guideline does not guarantee your acceptance, it may give you the best chance you got.
Guideline #1: There is more to you than numbers and letters.
Scores and grades do a fairly reasonable job of representing your academic competence on an objective scale; however, they can be fairly incompetent in determining who you are or what you are capable of achieving. Those who excel academically tend to hide behind the ink, exposing their success solely through exams. This is not to degrade the students who study and work hard to do well in school. It definitely isn’t easy and the high marks are well deserved, but there is more to being successful than succeeding academically. If baking cookies is your passion, or photographing the cities of the world is your dream, or writing code that affects millions of people is your drive, do it! Dedicate a significant amount of time to your hobbies as frequently as possible, even if it means skipping out on studying for a quiz. I cannot stress enough how fortunate you are to be applying to MIT, for you will not be judged entirely by the contents of your transcript, rather by the quality and depth of what you bring to the table. Bring the cookies, bring the photos, and bring the code. They will convey more about you than the grades everyone else has. People apply to MIT, not numbers and letters.
Guideline #2: B yourself, not As someone else
Don’t try to be the perfect pre-med student your parents want you to be, or the genius your calc teacher always wanted. If you’re going to become the perfect pre-med student or math genius, do so because it is what you want. In the long run, passion is more meaningful than academic competence. Students who tend to stay true to their passions even if it means sacrificing scores face just as equal, if not greater, chances of acceptance. Each year, thousands of brilliant students with dazzling transcripts get rejected while others with less satisfying numbers do not. This is not the admissions department perpetuating unjust evil. This is passion prevailing over academia, dreams over acquiescence, who you are over who someone wants.
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
I love it and I would really enjoy to read the rest (if it exists).
Thanks to Mark, and to you Chris for showing us this great essay, it gave me the force to believe that MIT is maybe an open door.
Posted by: Jose ('17?) on September 29, 2011
Posted by: Kyle ('16?) on September 29, 2011
Nice words from someone from the class of 2015*. But there are some very large holes in the argument: your parents wealth, your race, where you live. Why no mention of the 4 US States which got the MIT snub ( "not represented" in MIT parlance)? Why no mention of MIT's clear reluctance to publish SES statistics for the class of 2015?
Remember: EC's indicate affluence - that's why the admissions folks place such emphasis on them. MIT is after the wealthy and connected; your passion for doing great things - to them - is irrelevant. eh Chris?
Posted by: m_quinn on September 29, 2011
Posted by: Anthony L. '15 on September 29, 2011
Posted by: Gill on September 29, 2011
@Chris : Please tell me he's going to be a blogger.
Posted by: Adarsh Rao on September 29, 2011
Posted by: Bidesh Thapaliya on September 30, 2011
If I remember correctly, I read something about MIT admitting students from all states, BUT not all states had students that chose to attend. Also, if race has something to do with it, then why does MIT have excellent diversity - far better than most other schools I've seen?
Posted by: Heather K. on September 30, 2011
Posted by: Bidesh Thapaliya on September 30, 2011
Posted by: Nasser '17 on September 30, 2011
Posted by: Jota on October 1, 2011
Posted by: Andrew ('17?) on October 1, 2011
I didn't get in, of course.
The most important thing in getting into a "seventh-gear" school like MIT is having enthusiasm and drive. Enthusiasm about what you like, so much that you feel you have an infinite pool of effort to devote to it, and the drive to push that effort into overflowing into anything else you do.
Apathy towards anything is not an option. You may not like something, but you at least have to put your best towards it. That's where I was lacking -- I didn't like some things, of course, but my mistake was not putting full effort towards them anyways.
I'm going to a fairly well-ranked university at the moment (I'd guess 1 or 2 standard deviations above the mean), teaching myself to put all my effort into everything I do. It's a difficult change from high school, but I hope it'll be worth it by the time grad school comes around.
Posted by: M (!= '15...) on October 2, 2011
Posted by: M on October 2, 2011
Posted by: Jayant on October 2, 2011
Thanks,
N.T.
Posted by: N on October 2, 2011
I'm a hacker. I hack everything and anything including Ivy League admission systems.
Posted by: Hakker on October 3, 2011
Posted by: Edward Schembor on October 4, 2011
Was I the smartest person in my class? No. Did I have perfect scores? Heck no. But I was passionate about what I did. I enjoyed what I did. I wanted to continue what I did. If you don't want anyone to define you solely by statistics, then you should start by not defining yourself, your school, or anything solely by statistics. MIT is a great school because of the people who represent it, not because of its ranking. You're a great person because of your values and quirks, not because of your GPA and test scores.
So will moping around write your essays and perfect your application? No, you have to do that yourself. Will anything change your lack of admission in the past? No, but you can change that for the future. MIT is all about thinking out of the box and dreaming big, and no piece of paper can ever change that. No, the only thing that can make your plans a reality is you. Don't give up. Don't lose hope. Keep it up.
Posted by: S '15 on October 5, 2011
Posted by: david richardson on October 5, 2011
I'll give you a hint. Remember, the admission board are people just like you and me. They read your application... The people who read your application decide wether you are accepted or not. Very simple. Use that to your advantage. NLP.
I've said enough already.
I'm going to have fun applying to MIT next year. I'm 15.
Posted by: Hakker on October 6, 2011
Posted by: Hakker on October 6, 2011
haven't ...
a ...
chance ...
Posted by: m_quinn on October 6, 2011
Posted by: Heather K. on October 6, 2011
Saddening! :(
Posted by: Raj Kunkolienkar ('16)? on October 7, 2011
Do you REALLY believe the MIT assertion that admission was offered, but not accepted in not 1 but 4 US states? How do you feel about gravity? Evolution? I mean how embarassing for MIT to admit that they snubbed 4 US states?
Now as to stats: ask Chris P or Matt. They could, but do not post SES stats - which is really suspicious ...
I don't know what Universities you're refering to, but MIT diversity is miserable.
@Raj
Next Spring, when you get an email (yep that's all you'll get for your app fee) informing you that you're not going to be admitted, why don't you come back to this blog and re read my posts - twill be different I assure you. You don't even have to wait till Spring if you're an early decision applicant. In that case the misery will start when MIT sends you an email defering you to "regular" admission. When the admissions folks tell you something like "MIT wants you" you know you're had buddy ...
Posted by: m_quinn on October 11, 2011
Thanks for making me even more determined.
Posted by: Raj Kunkolienkar ('16)? on October 12, 2011
I agree with Raj.
That said, yes, I do believe the MIT assertion. I know people that have turned down offers to go to MIT, for various reasons. It's not that crazy to think that people might be offered admission and turn it down.
MIT diversity - from college board: 23% Asian, 6% Black or African-American, 15% Hispanic or Latino, 39% white, 5% Two or more races, <1% American Indian or Alaskan native, and 9% Non-resident alien.
University of VA diversity - from college board: <1% American Indian or Alaska Native
14% Asian
7% Black or African American
5% Hispanic/Latino
58% White
4% Two or more races
6% Non-Resident Alien
Wellesley - 22% Asian
8% Black or African American
9% Hispanic/Latino
44% White
5% Two or more races
11% Non-Resident Alien
Reed College - 1% American Indian or Alaska Native
6% Asian
1% Black or African American
2% Hispanic/Latino
66% White
12% Two or more races
5% Non-Resident Alien
Yale University - <1% American Indian or Alaska Native
16% Asian
7% Black or African American
9% Hispanic/Latino
<1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
49% White
6% Two or more races
11% Non-Resident Alien
Granted, those aren't all universities, but MIT is on par with most of them, or better. What would their diversity have to be to be good? And yes, that does not encompass all of diversity, but it was what I could find the stats on easily on college board.
Now, I don't know what SES stats are, so I cannot respond to that. Sorry.
Posted by: Heather K. on October 13, 2011
Come on ... in what universe does 23% Asian accurately reflect the Asian population in the United States? 6% Black / African American? That seems good (or fair) to you? For an institution that can get within a few millionths of a degree from absolute zero, these diversity figures suck. However, when viewed through an SES lens, they are undoubtedly perfectly understandable ...
SES stands for Socio Economic Status - how rich you, your family, your community ...
Posted by: m_quinn on October 13, 2011
m_quinn, please do not discourage us. If we have to get rejected, we will. But let us face it. Let us experience the thrill of applying. It's already made me a better person and I'm thankful to MIT for that. No, I'm not indulging in flattery, but just speaking the truth.
Posted by: Raj Kunkolienkar ('16)? on October 13, 2011
I understand your cynical viewpoint, and to a certain extent your argument has validity, that typically wealthier applicants have a higher rate of acceptance. Have you considered that applicants from wealthier families may simply know more about how to craft a persuasive application? I would give greater credit to the MIT admissions department. They realize that the smartest, most successful people don't always come from the highest sector of society and have the capacity to discern the people who look good from the people who truly are good.
@everyone else
Being a senior in the college process, I see too many of my peers taking a dangerous point of view. Though the original post does offer good advice, I fear it may lead readers to take motivation from the wrong place. College acceptance should never be your highest priority. Leading a life to please some arbitrary selection committee is pointless. You should be comfortable enough with yourself, your abilities and your interests to do what you want to do simply for your own benefit. An acceptance into MIT does not guarantee your future success or happiness, but getting in touch with and developing your best qualities will. MIT should (and will) accept you because you belong. You should strive to show who you truly are in your application. If you contort your personality to fit any institution, you will end up wasting what's supposed to be the best four years of your life. If you get accepted, then great, you know that you will have the time of your life. If not, then do not despair. There's a place for you, you just have to have the courage to find it.
Posted by: jrens on October 22, 2011
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