Hi, readers. Congrats to those of you who got in. I remember when I got in. It was my first college decision, and I was so excited, and so surprised - I had not expected it at all! Enjoy your victory, but remember that admission just means that you got your foot in the door. It's not the end in itself. Take advantage of what MIT has to offer you, because there's a bunch of kids who didn't get your spot.
For those who didn't get in - we'll all be there at some point, whether it's other college applications, grad/professional school applications, job applications...there are many opportunities in life to not get in to someplace where you wanted to be. I was turned down by three of the ten schools to which I applied for undergrad. You'll have the chance to succeed wherever you end up. It hurts, but you'll be fine.
I'm going through the job-seeking process...I can empathize with the applicant pool. At least you guys get to see statistics on numbers of applicants, percentage accepted, and stuff like that. :)
I haven't done a Q&A in a while. I'm sure that the new admittees, and possibly others, have questions. Feel free to post your questions as comments on this entry, and I'll answer them. It saves me having to be inspired in order to blog. ;)
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Posted by: Mick on March 29, 2007
Posted by: Jeremias on March 29, 2007
Posted by: Jeremias on March 29, 2007
Thanks-it's really fun to read your blog!
Posted by: Amelia on March 29, 2007
Posted by: Anna on March 29, 2007
I'm from Lawrence County High School in Lawrenceburg, TN. I hope that answers your question. lol! I'll be right there with you!
Posted by: Daniel on March 29, 2007
My biggest piece of advice is to know when and how to ask for help. Work through problem sets with as much of your own brainpower as you can, but do ask friends for ideas and problem-solving strategies when you're stuck (within your course's collaboration policy). When you get help from a friend, demand that they explain their statements, rather than just accepting their help without building a better understanding. And talk to a TA, a tutor, or a professor as soon as you don't understand the concepts that are being taught in class. There are a lot of resources out there that I definitely wish I'd taken advantage of instead of keeping my head down and hoping to muddle through.
You're definitely not going to breeze through things the way you did in high school, and you'll need to adjust your time management accordingly--no more "I'll do that assignment in an hour the night before it's due", if you value your sanity.
The freshman classes (calculus, physics, chem, etc) are definitely available in varieties suited to a less comprehensive background, and will get you up to speed just fine as long as you stay on top of the material and get help when you need it so that you actually retain what you learn for later use at MIT.
MIT is hard! But you learn so much! And you get to do REALLY COOL STUFF, like building robots! And the experience of actually having to work at something is a really valuable one. I go back and forth on whether I'm glad I came here, but most of the time I really do think MIT was the best choice I could've made.
Posted by: Christina on March 30, 2007
Posted by: jinjin on March 30, 2007
I am an international applicant from India and i will be taking admission in IIT Bombay this year. I dropped my one year after school to get admission in 1 of the best college like MIT. Do you think that besides high end academics in college MIT give preferance to college reputation for transfer students?
Posted by: Abhishek on March 30, 2007
Posted by: Abhishek on March 30, 2007
I currently attend Flagstaff High School in Flagstaff, Arizona. It is not as rural as some areas, but my high school doesn't offer many AP classes, especially sciences. I'm in the same boat. See you at CPW!
Posted by: Laura on March 30, 2007
Posted by: anonymous on March 30, 2007
Posted by: Kate on March 31, 2007
Posted by: Ramya S. on April 1, 2007
Posted by: Anna on April 1, 2007
I have an average of one B a semester with all other A's. I don't have IBs, but of my APs, I have two 3's, a 4, and a 5 (5 being the highest). I was accepted early. From my understanding, MIT just uses grades/scores to see if you're CAPABLE - A/Bs and 6s on a scale of 7 show that. It's the rest that really matters.
Posted by: Melissa '11 on April 1, 2007
@Abishek, you're not a loser if you even bothered applying! It takes guts to take a risk like that.
On topic: good luck getting a job Jessie!
Posted by: Kate on April 2, 2007
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Posted by: Devil's Advocator on April 2, 2007
Posted by: 0 on April 3, 2007
Personally, I think it will always sound awkward for a current MIT student to try and console someone who didn't get in. But I will say one thing: at least she tried.
Posted by: Paul ('11) on April 3, 2007
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