applying, four years ago by Veronica P. '27

I first saw the MIT application in AP Physics C, on a screen that wasn’t my own. Sitting at my desk, I had my laptop open to a google doc containing all of my college supplementals. Early on, I had decided there was no reason for me to ever want to leave Texas, at least not for college. It was big state, with plenty of room to build my own life away from my family, and there were plenty of good schools. My dream school, I had even decided, was in Texas.

In my scroll of this document, I snuck a curious glance at my friend’s laptop. Aran, unlike me, was applying to all of the greatest hits. At that moment, he was working on filling out the MIT application.  I skimmed the questions as he browsed the portal.

“I feel like this application actually looks fun? These questions are really cool.”

“You think so? So why don’t you also apply? You know, you could actually have a shot.”

“Hmm… I guess I’ll think about it.” 

“Go for it, why not?” 

I went home and dug out a pamphlet that I had saved from the mail, “The best of the blogs.” After reading through them, I began to think that Aran could’ve been right. Maybe I could see myself here. The MIT portal was the last application I opened, and the first one I completed. This was a few days before the early deadline.

On some level, sure, every application was a chore. But for some reason, this one felt, to me, like a bit less of a chore than the others. Something about it just clicked. With each question, I could immediately start to see the shape of my response. The whole process felt well-motivated, approachable, and interesting. I probably did my first pass of it in one sitting. In talking with other peers about this feeling, I found that a lot of people felt this way, but about completely different schools.

Anyways, I submitted my application having already accepted that I wouldn’t get in. No harm, no foul; I got to write some creative short responses, and was even able to adapt them into other supplementals. When I got my interview, I thought it went… unremarkably. My friend Aran, on the other hand, loved his interview. In the moment, it felt like a confirmation: MIT just wasn’t for me.

The morning early decisions got released, I can’t say I was even aware it was happening. Aran texted me, urging me to check the portal. I had just woken up from a sleepover, and my friends and I were hanging out by the doorway, preparing to drive home. As my friends were chatting, I saw Aran’s notification and mindlessly opened the portal, with very little sense of bravado. I just clicked the link. I watched, incredulous, as some tiny beavers began to float across my screen (You can imagine, eventually, that my friends’ conversation got interrupted).

Aran was deferred, and eventually didn’t get in, but he’d agree that it’s true when they say that everything happens for a reason. He ended up graduating a year early, and is already onto med school! To this day, I still don’t feel I can express quite enough how grateful I am for his encouragement in that moment. Without Aran, I would’ve self-selected out of applying. I’m sure there’s a perfectly viable other life for me out there, but I feel infinitely lucky to be in this one, stealing cosmic brownies from the very admissions office that ‘clicked’ to me four years ago.

I know not everyone has an Aran, but hopefully this blog can serve as a pseudo-Aran. If you’re even thinking that MIT would be a fun place to be: don’t self-select!! Apply!! Seriously, what’s the worst that can happen?