July Questions Omnibus 1

July Questions Omnibus 1 Daniel wrote, Any idea what date the application for 07 will come out? The website just says July We expect to receive this years paper application within the next week or so, and will have it on hand to distribute to on campus visitors. Shortly after that, we will begin mailing the application to more than 30,000 students across the country. If you have registered for MyMIT and live in the US, you should receive your application by the end of the month. As for the online application which is how most people apply these days it should be online in early August. - Visali wrote, Can you explain why MIT is very selective? I know that its the one of the most selective colleges in the US. I know applicants have to show their passion for MIT and their true personality. Among the applicants who love MIT and show high passion, how does MIT choose? Of course, the applicants are judged by their ACT and/or SAT scores, essays, recommendations and etc. Where is the line that seperates the accepted from the rejected? What we look for above all else is the match with MITs mission and culture. You can read more about our process and the match at this entry or on this page at MyMIT. - Claire wrote, Does MIT give any admissions weight to those wishing to major in a field that is not innately techical, such as Comparative Media Studies, Writing and Humanistic Studies, or History? When you apply to MIT, you dont apply to a specific department, but rather to MIT as a whole. And when we admit a student, we admit that student to all of MIT, and at the conclusion of freshman year, that student may choose from any of MITs majors, regardless of what was written on the application. This means that every student we admit we know can do the work in both MITs science math core (9 classes in math, science, engineering and technology) as well as the HASS requirement (8 classes in humanities, arts, and social science). So in short, no, we dont weight specific majors. - Edwin wrote, I had applied last year to MIT but without the subject tests.I was not accepted ,but now that my SAT2s are available and are three unlike next years class,would you consider me for this years class?i am from kenya. If you havent enrolled in a bachelors degree program, and you apply again, we will absolutely consider you for freshman admission this year. - Gary wrote, What about TOEFL mid 50% score range? We only know that the minimum is 570, 600 to be competitive. Also, when will we be able to see the Registrars Office data for 2006-2007? I dont have the TOEFL mid 50% range, but if you have at least 100/250/600 (iBT/CBT/PBT), I wouldnt worry about it one bit. The Registrars Office will update their statistics sometime after the census date, which is usually in early October. - Miguel wrote, PLEASE HELP ME AS PROMTLY AS POSSIBLE!!!!!! Hey whats up?? Im a dominican boy who wants to get into MIT after finishing highschool. Currently Im in the investigation process but i want some help about deciding whether to apply for MIT or just dont. One of my main concerns is how good is my accademcal education up to this point versus the one you need to be a succesfull student at MIT. Im a good student at highschool and Im starting my senior year on August 28th. How tough is the academic demand on MITs AeroAStro school??? because Im thinking of studying to be an astronaut or something related. Another thing I would like to Know is: What programs has the aeroastro school for people that have just finished highscool??? Another area area Im Interested in is in Mechanical engineering and I hope that somebody can help me with this and other important questions that Ihave about the Institute. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME AS PROMPTLY AS POSSIBLE!!!! Miguel, first of all, relax. If youre as stressed out as your text makes you seem, I honestly recommend a trip to the beach or the woods to think about the big picture. Theres no need to stress about this! =) Next, to address your questions: if youre generally interested in MIT and Aero/Astro, I would encourage you to apply to MIT and see what happens. I also encourage you to read through old posts on my blog and others, and read the MyMIT website, and the general MIT website to learn more. Here are some links for you to discover more about the Aero/Astro departments undergraduate program and the Mechanical Engineering departments undergraduate program. Also, as a prospective Dominican engineering student, you may be interested in the Society Of Hispanic Professional Engineers at MIT. I hope this is helpful! - Anonymous wrote, Hi Matt! I would like to know when wheather we would know about the number the applications per country and/or the number of acceptance and/or enrollment. You can find enrollment data from the Registrar; thats the best I can do for you. Enjoy! - Stefan wrote, Romania does not have an MIT Educational Counselor and my question is that if can be done something about this because i want to increase my chances to MIT as much as i can and also to express my needs and what i really want from my life which MIT can help me to achieve. So if will be a way to introduce MIT EC in Romania how and when. MIT has an EC in Cluj-Napoca. You will receive information about this later in the fall on the MyMIT website. - anshuman wrote, Do AP exams give an edge in the application process? I am from India where AP is not recognized by Indian universities. Secondly, isnt early action applicable for students from India?Thirdly, i have heard that MIT asks prospective students to write thesis for journalsis it true? To answer your questions, one at a time 1) We hope that students will take a challenging courseload from the opportunities provided to them. For students who have the opportunity to take AP courses, it can be a very good way to pursue that challenging courseload. However, we do not expect students who dont have the opportunity to take AP courses to have taken them. We will consider each applicant within the context of the opportunities provided to them. 2) Students who are not US citizens or permanent residents should apply during the regular action process; we consider all international students together in the same process. 3) We do not expect prospective students to write thesis papers (some current MIT students, though, must write thesis papers for their department). Most students who are admitted to MIT have not performed any formal scientific research prior to coming to MIT. - Anonymous wrote, Are the Boston fireworks televised or taped at all? Yes! You can watch them each year on a nationwide broadcast on CBS. If you missed it, you can get a flavor of it from this YouTube video. - l0ngL wrote, Hey Matt! I am going to purchase a MacBook Pro. Do you know if Apple has any special discount for MIT students specifically? Yes! MIT offers educational discounts for Apple, Dell, HP and Lenovo/IBM computers. Check it out here. - Anonymous wrote, Hi there! I just had a quick question. I know a while ago you said you would answer a bunch of questions that people had in a Questions Omnibus, and I was just wondering if you were going to do that soon or if you already did and I just missed it. Thanks! Nope, you didnt miss it. Ive answer a bunch of recent questions here, but didnt get to many older ones; if theres another question you have that went unanswered, feel free to post it again. Youll notice fewer entries here over the summer, as we admissions folks take vacation time and work on big projects; Im sure you understand that the blogging is a little less frequent this time of year. Until next time! July Questions Omnibus 1 Nicole R asked, What is the policy for supplementary material when applying? Can I send any? Yes. Were happy to accept extra materials if you feel there are things that you did not cover completely in your application. Some common supplements we see would include: recording of your music performance; slides/Powerpoint of your artwork; an additional recommendation from a coach, boss, or community/religious group mentor; a note explaining a special circumstance in your case. anonymous wrote, I am a high school senior from India and thereby an international candidate.I am one of those types who grew in an educational atmosphere (in the family). Ever since childhood I have been dreaming to go to MIT ..in fact go only to MIT. The passion that rides my mind when I think of it cannot be explained in an essay. But I have heard that MIT doesnt like to recieve extra-material like a letter stating why one wants to study there or the optional materials in the application. Is this true. Another thing is that my life revolves around computer science and programming.To pursue my talent I have practically done everything my school has to offer and am also the president of the Computer Club.Actually,what I want to know in a very straightforward manner is:Does MIT really consider ones extra talent and passion for their interests while admitting or is it only the marks on paper and olympiads that get you in. Another issue is related to interviewing in India.Here in India we are interviewed by Mr.Ravi Meattle and unlike MITs procedure of having a lively discussion he conducts a sort of a questionairre session (as told by my seniors) and doesnt really come in contact with the applicants.Now this is a matter which needs to be resolved and I hope you act on it. Anon, those are three good questions. Your first question in answered above. Your second question can be answered simply: yes, your passion and talents count greatly in the MIT Admissions process. Things like marks and test scores also matter, but are less likely to drive a decision. As for your third question, I assure you we are looking into the interviewing in India. I dont know what we will discover, but feel free to address an email to Stu Schmill, Director of the Educational Council, at [emailprotected] zoogies wrote, I plan to visit MIT this summer so am looking forward to the next post. Ive heard that staying overnight is a good idea, and that its best to do that during the school year. Im also wondering if its practical to conduct the admissions interview over the summer I asked someone this once and he mentioned how when it gets close to the deadline and everyone signs up for their interview, interview conductors can barely remember people by the end of the day. I also talked to a person working in the MIT admissions office at a recent college fair I was at, and asked him about my SAT scores. I had always heard that a 680+ would get you in the range, but he said that I should definitely improve my 700 SAT I Math to a 730 or above and that my 800IIC wouldnt make up for it. I feel like I can definitely do better on the SAT were I to retake it, but it is my strong belief that standarized tests are in league of the devil, so I dont want to unless its necessary. At any rate, would a higher math score help my application? How much? Ah, another person with three questions! Its all good, though First question: for students who think MIT is among their top choices, an overnight stay can be helpful. Well begin overnight visits for the fall in late September, probably. You can sign up for that on the MyMIT website. A summer visit can be helpful, too, and for many students/families can be a more convenient option. See my ongoing series on summer visits. Second question: No need to worry about the interview now; I think September is usually a good time to start scheduling your interview. It is definitely a good idea to not wait until the last minute to do the scheduling. You will receive your interview assignment on the MyMIT website. And remember, we dont do on campus interviews, all interviews are conducted by MIT alumni in your home area. Third question: The short answer is, a higher math score could help your application. Without seeing your entire case, its hard to know, because one score by itself doesnt tell me much, but depending on circumstances a higher score could help. For the admitted Class of 2008, the middle 50% of students scored between 730 and 800 on the SAT I Math. Middle 50% statistics for other tests are available on the MyMIT website. If most of your scores are in or close to those ranges, youll probably be okay, and even if theyre not, you might still be okay. Ej wrote, I am very excited to apply to MIT EA and was wondering if you could answer a question I had. I am not a fan of standardized testing and got a 32 on my ACT and 740 on my Math IIC. If I apply EA, will people who have 2300+ SAT I, 800 Math II, and 800 Sci, have a better shot than me? I have such great passion for everything that I do. I feel that numbers will hurt me. Do top scores get first picking? Is it okay as long as I am in your range? It sounds to me that youll be well within our range, and once youre within the range, scores are not a deciding factor. Youd be on equal footing, statistically speaking, with the other students within the range, including those 2400/4.0s. For the students within our range, it is the qualitative and subjective factors that make the difference in being admitted. zoogies wrote (in response to my post about Jo-Jo and Miss Massachusetts), I actually had the opportunity to hear Ms. [Erika] Ebbel [03] speak in person at the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams showcase June 9th. Not that my school was one of the teams, I was just a spectatorshe gave a really good speech, not the sort of thing you would typically expect out a pageant winnerit made me think how strange it was that people expect those sort of people to be self-centered, dim-witted vanity queens in the first place. A little unrelated, but Im curious as to whether being a management consultant in pharmaceutical industries is related at all to electrical engineeringit doesnt seem like it is. Did she minor in management and then jump to a different field? You dont need any Management courses, actually, to go into popular business fields like management consulting and investment banking. Many of my friends who went into these fields majored in non-business fields, including electrical engineering, physics, aeronautics and astronautics, and more. These companies love to hire very bright people who are good problem solvers, regardless of undergraduate major. They can teach you the business rules, but making good decisions cant be taught as easily. Perfect 800s? wrote, Matt, have you heard of the new show where they get a whole bunch of kids with perfect scores on sections of their SATs and have them compete like in The Scholar on TNT? That should be a pretty interesting show too. I havent heard of it. Can you provide a link? amrik wrote (in response to my post on the Clark medal), Is it similar to the Fields Medal? If so, wow! O_O They are similar in that they 1) both have an upper bound on age, awarding it to only young scholars, 2) are not awarded annually, but on a less frequent basis, and 3) are among the most prestigious awards in their respective fields. Sidra wrote, I was wondering where do you watch hindi films in Boston. Are they shown in movie theatres? I was just curious because I normally rely on tapes from local Indian grocery stores, since they arent shown anywhere around here. Bombay Cinema brings Bollywood films to Boston. They will usually rent screens at the Somerville Theater in Davis Square, which is just 4 subway stops from MIT. Im pretty excited for Salaam Namaste, which opens in Boston on August 26. You can also rent DVDs from local Indian grocers. Just north of MIT in Central Square is the Shalimar market, where I have a membership card and rent videos (my last rental: K3G, which I never saw in theaters). 09!!! wrote, hey did any of you 09s have a problem reading the diagram on question 12 of the math diagnostic (if the tests are all the same) ? it seems the letters are out of placei just assumed B was the 90 angle below A and C the point on the circle where the extension of OB would meet the perimeter??? I emailed the Academic Resource Center about this, and theyre aware of the problem. Your MIT lesson for the day: when theres a problem, go right to the source, which in this case was the ARC. Shikhar wrote, I have a problem regarding my application though,would you be kind enough to answer it. I got a letter from K lowry of RSI. I asked her that I was an international student and that I wanted to take part in RSI but that I was a senior. However, I also told her that I would graduate high school in late june 2006. She said that I would be elligible to apply in her mail. Should I still apply to colleges for fall 2006 or leave it for 2007,assuming I were to apply to RSI. Although i do feel that Im ready to take on college as I would graduate in june 2006. Just thought Id get the opinion of adcomm of my top prority school. P.S. I am an Indian student living in India Shikhar, I would say that while RSI is a great and amazing program, if you are ready to graduate after this year, I would not rearrange my entire life just for the program. RSI only admits a few Indian applicants each year from a large pool of of potential students. While you would certainly get a lot out of a program like RSI if you were admitted, I think that you could get similar benefits from moving on to a university, whether it is MIT or wherever else. aaron asked, how come MIT is ranked [by Princeton Review] among colleges having tiny, unsightly campuses and professors with low marks? The thing you need to know here is that the Princeton Review rankings are done by a not-very-scientific survey of students. So when MIT is ranked among tiny, unsightly campuses, there are a few things you should consider. One thing to think about is which schools students who chose MIT also considered. Compared to, say, Princeton or CalTech, I think few people would call MIT relatively beautiful. Even I admit that most of our so-called peer institutions have prettier campuses than MIT, and I would be honest as such in a survey. Does this mean I would rather MIT have Princetons campus? No. MIT is awesome in its functionality, in the way its architecture supports the collaborative, interdisciplinary environment we strive for here at MIT. MITs buildings are organic, they live along with the institution. Just this weekend a friend who is in graduate school at one of these peer institutions was telling me how while her campus was very pretty, it is the least functional campus ever. Also, MIT does have some truly beautiful places. Its hard to get much more collegiate than Killian Court or Kresge Oval. Garden spaces like the Presidents Courtyard are quite nice, and (biased opinion) Baker House is the most architecturally ingenious dormitory ever built. And while this survey ranks MIT #17 in Professors Get Low Marks, I dont buy it for a second. I thoroughly enjoyed my classes and teachers at MIT. Look at the list: most of the schools are universities with strengths in math/science/engineering do you really think that these schools have the worst teaching, or do you think that theres something else going on here? The biggest clue that this ranking is way off base is that Caltech is ranked #2 on this list. I need to stick up for Caltech here this is simply ridiculous. I seriously doubt there are 355 (out of the 357 this survey ranked) other schools at which I would rather take classes. These rankings also call MIT the #1 Toughest To Get Into. But I dont even know what that means. MIT doesnt have the lowest admission rate, nor does it have the highest average SAT score, or anything like that. Even I wouldnt rank MIT as the toughest to get into. And where is MIT on the lists of School Runs Like Butter, Diverse Student Population, Everyone play intramural sports The bottom line here is that these rankings are completely non-scientific and highly unreliable. Shikhar wrote, I needed to know something and real fast. I am an International from India and Ill be applying to MIT for fall 2006. I need to know whether my school needs to send a predicted report as I would not have given my final exams at the time of applying. When schools (usually international schools) can provide predicted grades, we find it incredibly helpful. Most often we get predicted grades from schools with an IB or A-level curriculum, but also from other schools with other curriculums. nehalita wrote, im trying to e-mail you from here but its not working and you dont have your e-mail up on the new blog, how do we contact you privately? I dont put my email address on my blog, but its pretty easy to figure out. The MIT homepage has a people directory, and if you enter my name, my email address should pop right up. LBizzle wrote (in response to my post introducing Alia Burton), Ooh, a Civil Engineering major. Im thinking about that Any way I can get an email address for her? Id love hear what she has to say about it. Shed love to hear from you. You can address a message to her at [emailprotected] and theyll be sure the message gets to her, or you can (as above) look up her email address in the MIT online directory. Ej wrote (in response to my post introducing Alia Burton), Wow that is cool. I live right outside of Philadelphia and go there a lot. Did you live near Drexel and 30th street station? What were your favorite things about Philadelphia? Are you going home for LIVE 8? Alia replied that she doesnt live near Drexel, and unfortunately couldnt make it back for Live 8, though she though about it. Kiersten wrote (in response to my post introducing Alia Burton), thats cool! How does one become an admissions officer? When asked that, I often respond that Admissions Officers have to have majored in Admissions Science in college, to which the reply is often Really? What colleges have that major? Then I tell them that Im joking. People who are college admissions officers have followed many roads in life. I once worked in e-commerce/e-learning; Ben has also worked in the web industry; Marilee was previously a biology researcher; Bette has a Doctorate in statistics; Stu was once a coach for MITs crew team. But, as in freshman admissions, two things are most important: one, you have to apply, and two, you must be a good fit. What would make someone a good fit for a job in college admissions, and at MIT? Believing in the mission of MIT, to create a better future through science technology; a desire and ability to work with diverse populations of exceptional high school students; strong communication skills; empathy and understanding of the many circumstances, schools and communities from which our appl icants come; and a sense of humor, among many other skills and qualities. You may note that each year we try to hire one or two young MIT alumni to serve as Admissions Officers. This is the position into which Alia and Mike (to be introduced in August), both MIT Class of 2005, were hired. I hope that maybe some of you will apply for this job when you graduate! The series introducing the Admissions Officers will continue this coming week, including myself (yes, were trying to have an entry for everyone) and our new newest Admissions Officer, Bryan N. (not to be confused with Bryan O. 07, who is still a student).