QA

QA Hey all! Time for another round of QA. A few general comments: 1) Easily-Googleable questions make me grumpy. Ex: what is the application deadline? or how many letters of recommendation do I need? Please ask the Internet for logistical questions before you ask me. 2) When I receive questions via e-mail, I have one of two responses: respond immediately, or file away and respond when I have longer chunks of free time (these chunks do not come by with great regularity). Sometimes I get e-mails with literally dozens of questions, all stacked together. There isnt necessarily anything wrong with that (unless a subset of those questions violate (1)) but its worth letting you know that really really long e-mails will often go into the respond later or respond much later pile. 3) For whatever reason, asking questions in the comments section of a blog post seems to have become a thing of the past, even though site traffic hasnt decreased at all. If you post your question there, you have a few advantages: youre likely to get a response more quickly, because current MIT students read the blogs as well, and you will get more diverse responses, because I unfortunately represent 1/4000th of the undergraduate population. So, Id encourage your generation to bring the comments section questions back! Phew. Okay. I think thats it. Moving onto e-mails from you all Z. H. asked, Do you read the essays? The answer is no, I have no input whatsoever on the admissions process. NONE! A.S. said, I just learned that my AP Calculus AB grade for my first semester is not a B+, but a C+. My teacher hadnt properly input my final exam score into the schools grading system… Id love to go to MIT. I want to major in Economics, and Id love to attend a school that is strongly scientific and result-oriented. I had a good application and a fantastic interview, but I think Ive just ruined my chances. I truly empathize with your situation in Quantum II class. I hope that things even out for you soon. I said, Thanks for your message. Im sorry to hear about what happened in AP Calc. Sometimes when Im bummed out about something, I try to imagine what it will look like to me a few years down the road. You may look back and think wow, that C+ really ruined everything alternatively, you might look back and think wow, you know, Im really glad I got that C+, because it motivated me to put in a bunch of work to fill in the gaps in my mathematical background, and Im way better off for it. How you feel down the road is up to you now :) But yeah I do empathize with you. Im a little freaked out that it may have ruined my grad school chances, but Im confident that Im a good applicant in other respects and Im sure things will work out. A.S. replied, Based on what Ive read on the MIT blog, youre crazy awesome. Presumably, graduate schools want to admit crazy awesome people, so obviously you should get in. I hope you get into your favorite school so that youre happy, but if not, its quite literally their loss. On the calculus front, my teacher agreed to raise my grade to a B on the condition that I get a B or higher by the end of the second semester. We both agreed that such a thing was very feasibleI always do better in semester 2. Ill be going to more study sessions and doing more practice problems, as well. Hardly the most exciting of plans, but its nice to have an outline for the battle to come. Thanks, bro. Battle on! V. M. asked, Over here at my school, we arent taught any foreign language. The languages taught here are English, Hindi and Malayalam of which English is my first language and Hindi my second. So I would I be able to fulfill that requirement by learning Hindi? Unfortunately I dont know anything about that best to direct e-mails like that to the admissions office. M. B. said, I spoke with some counselors at the community college Im attending for the next two years in place of my high school junior and senior yearsIn a totally unexpected turn of events, I will actually finish with Higher Level Calculus I, II, and III as well as Physics based Calculus I, II, and III, Differential Equations, linear Algebra, and a LOT of coding experience, which is particularly important to me. I am SO excited that I get to take these classes but I worry that I wont be able to handle it or that Ill overload myself and have a mental breakdown?! Alternatively, I worry Ill struggle too much and inherently have a suffering GPA because I took classes that I wasnt prepared for. The counselors at the college assure me that by the end of this year I will have had all the pre-college math I need in order to do well in Calculus 1, but I suppose some amount of uncertainty is natural on my part. I replied, The community college courses sound awesome! I sympathize with the fear of, you know, ruining yourself by taking more than you can handle. Let me pass on some advice that I got from Cathy Modica, the MIT Physics academic administrator, who has been around for a while and has seen a lot of undergrads come and go. She told me that she always encourages students to challenge themselves in other words, when theres a should I take this class? Im worried that itll be too hard she encourages them to decide yes!, because even if you dont get an A+ you learn a lot by stretching yourself and even surprise yourself by how much youre able to take on. That said, if you really find that youre WAY out of your depth so much so that youre not going to learn then pull out. I imagine that that will continue to be an option. So Id say go for it! Also, with those classes, you will be very well prepared for MIT :) Q. D. (a transfer applicant from California) asked, What kind of research opportunities does MIT provide for its undergraduate Physics students? Why did you choose to major in Physics? Is the transfer admission process handled by the same people who deal with freshmen admission? Why did you go to MIT? Whats bad about MIT? I replied (frantically, from an airport), Research opportunities: all kinds, from beginner stuff (simple coding, electronics, experimental stuff) to more advanced theoretical work for those with the requisite coursework. Why I chose physics: I liked my classes in physics, and the department here is absolutely fabulous. The professors are very invested in the undergraduates (which is not the norm for high-quality research institutions!) which to me is the most important thing. Also, there are great opportunities for doing research. Transfer admissions: I actually dont know anything about that, Im sorry… Im actually not 100% sure why I went to MIT it was kind of a gut thing. I showed up for CPW, loved it. I also had been reading the blogs for many years, and felt comfortable with the place. There are the obvious things like GREAT UNDERGRAD RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES! and SMART PEOPLE! etc, but in the end I think it was a feeling that I would be happy here and certainly, Ive had a good time. That said, there have been very rough patches. The atmosphere isnt competitive, exactly, and people are good about working together, but every individual is incredibly competitive with him or herself. Were all used to being the best, I guess, so we can be very hard on ourselves. Id say that student low self-confidence and high self-imposed pressure is the worst thing about this place. It makes for kind of a stressful environment. U. V. asked, Any tips on writing? I replied, Read a lot of good writing, and write a lot. P. G. from India asked, I have sent in all my college applications before the deadline, and am now enduring the nerve-wracking period of waiting for the decisions. While my MIT admissions interview has been waived (owing to a lack of interviewers in my area), I do have upcoming interviews for some other schools. Would you have any suggestions regarding the college interview? It would certainly help a lot. Maybe a few general guidelines. I replied, Congratulations on having submitted all your apps! Advice on the interviews: if these are US schools (interviews work differently in other countries) then I would suggest thinking of it like any conversation with an interesting person. You want to find out about this person (and MIT!) but also want to communicate certain things about yourself. Relax, and let it be casual. It helped me to think in advance about the kinds of questions they might ask (what my interests are, what I do for fun, etc) so that I could have answers prepared but I didnt rehearse anything. N. L. asked, I have an equal passion for both the humanities and science/math fields. However,I am stronger in the humanities. Math and science are a challenge for me. I often stay after school to get tutoring from my teachers/other students. I was wondering what the average class size at MIT is. Also, are the professors available to help students one on one after class? I replied, I also have equal passions for the humanities and science/math fields and Im also stronger in the humanities. Unfortunately, average class sizes at MIT are very big, for beginner (freshman) subjectsoften hundreds of students. As you get more advanced and more specialized, class sizes get much smaller. That said, professors and Teaching Assistants are available to help at least in the physics department, theyre very easy to get in touch with and reach out to. Not necessarily directly after class, but each has a special set of office hours when you can drop by and get help. N. L. wrote back, Regarding the beginner freshman classes, I was wondering how how quickly material in class is covered. In my AP physics class we usually learn the whole chapter within a few days. Im a slower learner who needs lots of reinforcement before grasping a concept and the fast pace weve been going at has been a struggle for me to keep up with. I wrote back, It really depends on the version of the freshman class. For intro physics mechanics, for example, there are multiple versions: 8.01L, 8.01, and 8.012, which cover the topic at wildly different levels of rigor and pace. I also need a lot of reinforcement to grasp a concept, and classes here have been difficult for me. Granted, there is always help available if you ask for it. Its worth bearing in mind that you cant spend all your time getting extra help and if you always need extra help, in all your classes, this probably isnt the right place for you, or you havent picked the right level / number of classes. Its really difficult to give you advice on your situation, because I havent taken your AP physics class, so I cant really compare the pace to the pace of an MIT class. It is certainly true that if you dont enjoy the challenge, you will probably not enjoy MIT classestheyre not easy for anyone. A. J. asked, Is coding really required for physicists? I replied, Yes, coding is definitely required for physicists! I. S. asked, Anyway, because it is very competitive to get into schools such as MIT, I understand that it is important to do what is enjoyable in school in terms of both academics and extracurriculars. I really enjoy doing cross country and robotics…but I havent really won major awards in high school Ive won some awards in cross country, but in terms of academics, I havent won any departmental awards. Though I have been in the math club, I havent won gold medals or any other type of recognition in a competition. However, I feel that I would still be able to write well about what I enjoy doing in my college applications. Would my lack of qualifications in awards be taken negatively by schools such as MIT? Or would it depend on the application as a whole (as they are evaluated holistically)? I really enjoyed the learning environment of the schools I visited, but sometimes, I worry that the admissions officers might question my qualifications because of my lack of awards/recognitions. I replied, Youre right; it is (outrageously) competitive to get into schools like MIT nowadays. So much so that acceptance is really down to luck, and whether you can somehow distinguish yourself from the zillions of other applicants. Distinguish can mean win every math award ever offered by the United States of America or win one gold medal per day since birth and I have classmates that fall into that category. However, it can also mean having a particularly thoughtful, kind character, which shines through on your application. It can mean taking a handful of AP classes, despite not going to a school that offers *any* AP classes. Basically, the goal of the admissions office is to identify applicants who will succeed here, and demonstrating the *potential* to succeed is just as important as having already succeeded. In other words, showing that youre the kind of person who *will* do awesome things here (who is brave, resourceful, etc) is as important if not more important than being able to l ist 20 awards that youve won. Im so (SO) glad to hear that youve been doing activities that you enjoy. Too many high schoolers think that the key to college admissions success is doing activities that will look good on their application and they ignore what they are naturally drawn to doing. I dont know you very well, but I can tell you that MIT will absolutely evaluate your application holistically, and that a laundry list of awards is NOT necessary for admission. A. T. asked, I dont know why am I telling you all this and Im sorry to ramble on this way but Ive always wanted to go to college at MIT ever since Ive known about the place; its just that I feel I havent done anything significant in the past 17 years of my life to be thought of as good enough to attend MIT…I was hoping you could tell me what does it really take to get in and whether or not I still have a shot at getting in. I replied, First of all, saying that you havent done anything significant in 17 years doesnt make much sense. Youve definitely done things that were important to your family, your friends. Sure, maybe youve never been on the news but most of us havent. The phrase good enough to attend MIT also doesnt make much sense…we get admitted here because were a good fit, and that can mean a lot of different things. To get in, it takes a demonstration that you will thrive here. That you will be able to succeed academically AND socially. I dont know you very well, so I have no sense at all for whether that would be true for you. If you think you would be a good fit, then apply, and see what happens! S. S. asked, Ive had a fascination with space, physics, and math and science in general since I was small, and I think I would probably like to pursue a career in a related field. I dont think that Im interested in a teaching/professorship position though. I know that there must be research positions out there but I dont know much about them, and generally when I look for information on jobs in these fields I find a lot of results about academia. Do you think that you could tell me a little more about career options besides tech/engineering available for someone interested in studying the sciences? I replied, There are definitely options other than teaching or being in academia. For example, I work at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is an NSF-funded institution and is made up of staff scientists, not professors. I really like the environment, and Id be happy to tell you more about it if you have particular questions. Other similar places include national labs, like the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, or the Los Alamos National Labs. These places tend to do a lot of defense-related work, but they have cognitive science departments and definitely hire a lot of physicists. There are also communities of researchers at (some) museums. S. S. responded, I think my parents are a little concerned that if I major in a pure science like physics or even chemistry, rather than something with more obvious applications (engineering or something similar) that I will have a harder time finding a job. Is it very hard to find work with a physics degree? Also, do you kind of need to have a Ph.D or will a bachelors or a masters get you a good job? If I were to pursue a Ph.D or grad school, are there similar amounts of financial aid available? My parents and I are probably going to have enough trouble with just paying for the bachelors and I dont know how expensive grad school is. Do you know much about how jobs and research opportunities in Europe compare to those in the U.S.? Are there similar opportunities available? I heard or read somewhere that in some of the bigger, more basic classes at MIT, you ended up teaching yourself a lot of the material, rather than it being taught to you. I took the majority of my high school classes online through community colleges so Im no stranger to that learning method but I was curious if you agreed that that was the case. Also, are there a lot of physics majors at MIT? And as a blogger, do you get a lot of emails from random people such as myself? I replied, I guess it depends on what kind of job youre hoping to have. Actually, a lot of companies (for example, financial institutions) really like hiring people with physics degrees! And you definitely dont need a Ph.D. in physics to get a good job you really need a Ph.D. for academia (research, teaching at the college level, etc.) There are some good resources online; the American Physical Society has a thing about careers for physicists in the US. In any case, once you get to college, you will have the opportunity to talk about this stuff in more detail with company representatives, professors, and upperclassmen, before you have to make a decision about a major. So you have plenty of time, but its good to start doing some research now! You actually dont have to pay for grad school in physics YOU get paid! Its considered a full-time job (and, really, it is youre working all the time.) Youre paid (albeit not very much) to do research :) Europe: depends what you want to do! I know that in my particular field (astronomy) there are a lot of really strong research institutions in Europe. Not sure about other areas of physics. For me, learning in college has certainly required more independence than learning in High School did. Thats because I went to a really small school, so had a lot of guaranteed interactions with teachers. If a student didnt do his/her homework, the teacher intervened and tried to work with the situation. On the other hand, college classes are so much bigger that you often slip by being anonymous if you fall behind, there wont necessarily be someone to push you and make you turn in your homework on time. All that said, there are a lot of resources available for people with enough initiative to take them; at MIT in particular, Ive found the professors to be REALLY helpful you just have to make a point to get in touch with them, and take advantage of the available resources! There are, relatively, quite a lot of physics majors at MIT. I think that in a given year (~1000) there are about 80 physics majors. Departments like computer science/electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering, are a lot bigger though. Depends what you mean by a lot :) I usually get a couple of e-mails a week. QA Sometimes, I receive e-mails from prospective students. I posted a batch of them here, and I think that the time has come to do so again. A high school senior asked: I am applying to some schools in the US for undergraduate studiesI am extremely passionate about Physics myself and am seriously considering it as a career path. However, I dont know whether I should select Physics or an Engineering course as my major during undergraduate studies. Would engineering provide a broader base from which I can then go into Physics or should I stick with Physics itself? -and- My MIT admissions interview has been waived by the admissions office, citing a lack of interviewers in my region. Will this adversely affect my chances of getting admission? Is there a way I can still have the interview? My response: When you get there, take classes in both departments and see which suits you better. Personally, I dont think that engineering provides a broad base for physics at all. The approaches in the two fields are very different. It would probably be much easier to start with physics and go into engineering laterbut again, you should see what the professionals and professors say once you get there :) -and- That will not adversely affect your chance of getting in; dont worry about it. A prospective student said: Hi. Awesome postJust thought Id bring a typo to your notice. The 19th or so paragraph reads Pulitzer Prices. and I replied: Whoops. Thanks for letting me know! My most loyal, dedicated reader  (dad) gave (regularly gives) me: A list of typos from my most recent blog post. Thanks Dad!   A prospective transfer applicant asked: What kind of research opportunities does MIT provide for its undergraduate Physics students?  Why did you choose to major in Physics? Why did you go to MIT? Whats bad about MIT? I responded, after taking a moment to blink the jetlag out of my eyes and wipe the sweat off my forehead: Im sort of in the middle of a bunch of traveling, so my answer wont be able to be too long, but Ill do my best- Research opportunities: all kinds, from beginner stuff (simple coding, electronics, experimental stuff) to more advanced theoretical work for those with the requisite coursework. Why I chose physics: I liked my classes in physics, and the department here is absolutely fabulous. The professors are very invested in the undergraduates (which is not the norm for high-quality research institutions!) which to me is the most important thing. Also, there are great opportunities for doing research. Im actually not 100% sure why I went to MIT it was kind of a gut thing. I showed up for CPW, loved it. I also had been reading the blogs for many years, and felt comfortable with the place. There are the obvious things like GREAT UNDERGRAD RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES! and SMART PEOPLE! etc, but in the end I think it was a feeling that I would be happy here and certainly, Ive had a good time. That said, there have been very rough patches. The atmosphere isnt competitive, exactly, and people are good about working together, but every individual is incredibly competitive with him or herself. Were all used to being the best, I guess, so we can be very hard on ourselves. Id say that student low self-confidence and high self-imposed pressure is the worst thing about this place. It makes for kind of a stressful environment. A lot of people ask me about: The TOEFL. My response is always something like: I know very little about the TOEFL much better to ask an admissions officer for this one. A high school sophomore asked: (Paraphrased): MIT is my dream school, but people have been telling me that in order to get in you MUST take this one IB exam, and my school doesnt offer it. My school offers very few subjects. Heres a list of the classes I *can* take, and heres a list of all the extracurricular activities that Im involved with. Do I have any chance of getting in?? I replied: Thanks for getting in touch. It sounds like youre involved with lots of awesome activities, which is great! If a course isnt offered at your school, MIT will not penalize you for not having the chance to take it. That said, with something like math, you are expected to be at a certain level when you get here MIT recommends having some Calculus. Two things: 1) Not being able to take a specific class doesnt prevent you from learning the material. You could, for example, self-study, or take the class at a local college. 2) MIT DOES have options for people who come in with a more limited math background theres a summer program for incoming students to sort of catch up. Some people do come in without any calculus; its just rare. Presumably they demonstrated, some other way, that they would be able to come in with a different background and still succeed. The real goal of admissions: determine whether you will succeed here. Sometimes that means having a particularly high level of math experience. If you can prove to admissions that you will be able to succeed, then you have a good chance of getting in :) Beyond that, Im afraid I cant be of much help. If youre really worried, get in touch with an admissions officer. Sometimes people ask me about: Transfer admissions. I always say: No idea, Im sorry. Ask an admissions officer. A high school senior asked me for: Advice on the interview. I replied: Think of it like any conversation with an interesting person. You want to find out about this person (and MIT!) but also want to communicate interesting things about yourself. Relax, and let it be casual. It helped me to think in advance about the kinds of questions they might ask (what my interests are, what I do for fun, etc) so that I wouldnt have to sit there thinking for ages. A high school senior said, as part of a longer e-mail: I really want to study chemical engineering at MIT and have no intention of choosing any other course or attending any other university. -and- I know that there isnt, and shouldnt, be a list of things to do to get into MIT. Though the admissions office looks at your list of achievements and capabilities and your essays and only then do they decide to interview you. So what im asking is how do i put my passion down on paper and my capability in a bullet-point list? What kind of events, activities etc should i be participating that i can write down in this list where my passion, for what i want to become, will come through? Very alarmed, I replied: Im glad to hear that youre so enthusiastic about MIT, but its always alarming to hear people say things like I have no intention of attending any other university. There are a lot of very, very good universities, that are just as good as MIT in lots of ways. Please dont limit your interests to one school whether you get into MIT will ultimately come down to luck, so youre setting yourself up for a lot of unhappiness down the line if you close doors in your mind so early. Be open to, and be excited about, other possibilities! Youre right the admissions process is unfortunately not perfect at really getting to know somebody. And youre right that there isnt a list of things one ought to do in order to get in. Do note that they dont decide whether to interview you they interview all candidates that they physically can, as far as Im aware. So, yeah there is no list of things to do to get in. No one activity is better than another: the best activities are the ones you truly enjoy, and arent just doing to look good to MIT. If you do things you really enjoy, then are honest on your application (talk about the activities youve devoted the most energy/time to, etc) then I think you can trust that that excitement and commitment will come through. The answer to what kind of events, activities etc should I be participating in? is the ones you care about. Its really that simple. Obviously, keep it legal and safe =P but other than that the stuff youre already doing sounds awesome. Way too many people* ask: *people who havent read my QA blog posts carefully enough Heres my GPA, my SAT scores, my list of extracurricular activities. What are my chances of getting in????? Depending on my mood, I may respond to this explaining that I am in no position to evaluate things like this, that I am not at all involved in the admissions process, that there is so much context that I dont know about that I REALLY CANNOT ANSWER THIS QUESTION. Or, I might just not answer. PLEASE DONT ASK ME THIS QUESTION.   Sometimes, people send me: Links to fun websites or videos, since youre interested in physics and other cool stuff like that (to quote one HS senior.) These spontaneous e-mails: Make me happy that the world has become such a connected place. Thank you! A high school senior asked: In my country, high schools are fairly different there were very few extracurricular activities. From what I see from the blogs, most accepted applicants were very active in clubs or teams during their high school years. Unfortunately, I do not have this option and I fear that it will hurt my chances somehow. Also, there are no advanced classes here, they are standard for all studentsadvanced classes also sound pretty importantfor getting into MIT, and, again, I could not have taken them as my school does not offer them. I replied: Admissions evaluates an applicant within his or her context. If your school doesnt, for example, offer AP classes, you will not be penalized for not taking AP classes. That said, the committee looks for evidence that the applicant tried hard to take classes that were challenging you shouldnt let yourself go through school feeling bored! Many students at schools without AP classes will take classes at a local community college, or online, for example. A high school senior asked: What sorts of extracurricular things did you put on your application? I replied: The sorts of things I had on my application were all activities that I was heavily involved with in high school. These were activities I got involved with simply because I enjoyed them. Thats all you need to worry about: finding things you care about and enjoy! They wont be the same as what I did because we are different people. For that reason, I avoid telling applicants what was on my application; Im worried about instilling some idea that theres a right thing to do. A prospective student asked: With the rigors of the physics major at MIT, do you have time left over for extracurricular activities? Does the academic rigor inhibit other opportunities, like research? I replied: As with any major at MIT, the work is difficult but its a matter of finding the right balance for you. If you pile on as many classes as its physically possible to take, you probably wont have time for other activities. If you prioritize having other activities, then you would choose to only do two or three physics classes, probably. I would say that the academic rigor only inhibits other opportunities as much as you allow it to. Most physics majors I know, do research as well as a couple of other activities so its definitely possible! A high school junior asked: Im a high school junior who has fallen in love with MIT. After reading the admissions blogs, the Tech, and pretty much everything about the school I could find, Ive found out that the academics and culture and basically everything are amazing and exactly what Ive wished for in a school. But theres one thing thats bothering me. Im a writer, and have devoted most of my time into creative writing-related things. I know youve said before that its very important for scientists to be good writers, and that theres a lot of writing involved in science, which does make me feel better, but… Im not that great at science. Check that, I dont think Im very good at all. I dont really struggle in any of my classes except math and science, and Im having a terrible time in physics right now. I mean, I like science, and Im okay at math when I understand it, but Im more right-brained, and stuff that involves logical thinking and, for lack of better term, sciency stuff is difficult for me. Im not necessarily worried about being happy at MIT (I really love being around people who are talented in math and science and seeing all the cool stuff they do, I know MITs known for its really supportive culture, and I just have this really deep, unexplainable gut feeling that I would be happy there), but Im worried about the admissions process and being asked about my interests in fields that involve math and science. My lowest grades and test scores are in those areas, and I havent participated in that many STEM-related extracurriculars, and Im not sure that, if I was accepted, I would decide to major in a scientific field as opposed to writing. Do you have any advice? I replied: Thanks for your message! I have a few thoughts on your situation. The first is that theres a difference between finding science hard, and not liking it. I find science hard. I find math hard. But I like both of them, and thats why Im at MIT studying physics. I think that liking it is more important than being good at it, because liking will often lead becoming better. That said, as Im sure youre aware after reading everything about MIT ever, everyone at MIT must take a certain amount of math and science. Everyone takes Intro Mechanics (8.01) and Intro Electricity Magnetism (8.02). Everyone takes math through multivariable calculus. Everyone takes biology. Everyone takes chemistry. Freshman year, for most people, is made up of getting through those introductory classes. The reason is that the vast majority of MIT students will continue in science, and MIT believes in a strong scientific/technical background for everyone. People who really struggle in those classes have a rough freshman year. The goal of MIT admissions is to identify who will and will not be happy and successful at MIT. My inkling is that if you have been struggling in math and science so far, and havent demonstrated a particular interest in math or science, then it will be difficult to get in, because the admissions office might be concerned that you wont make it through freshman year in one piece. That said, theres a reason that wanting to major in a STEM field is not a requirement to attend MIT. MIT tries very hard to admit a diverse student body, and part of that is building a class out of freshmen with a wide array of interests both inside and outside of STEM. I dont think that knowing that creative writing is Your Thing would be a disadvantage, and that alone shouldnt deter you from applying to MIT if you think its the right fit for you. MIT actually has a very good writing program, and Im sure the department would be thrilled to get an undergraduate who wants to join their ranks. One more thing I should tell you, though. This is something you probably havent come across on the blogsI should probably write a long post about this. The fact is: the vast majority of people at MIT came to MIT because they wanted to pursue a STEM career. I know exactly zero people who showed up at MIT with the intention of majoring in literature, or French, or writing. I know a couple of people who ended up doing that, but only because their original major didnt work out for them. One of those people was a girl in my Lit class, who was the only French major in her entire 1000-person class. She often said that she was excited to graduate and get away from this place, because she felt like people judged her for not being a STEM majorshe said that when people asked her for her major, and she said French, the response was usually something like why would you come to MIT and major in French? I dont know how much of this was her own insecurities and how much of it was true, but she defin itely felt very lonely as one of the few pure humanities majors. Personally, I think the humanities are awesome. I love that you want to become a writer! But you should be aware that you would be one of few others majoring in the humanities; so consider whether that would be an issue. I guess in summary, my thought is: if you love science enough to be willing to struggle through it (like me), then MIT could be the right place for you. That said, you have to not struggle TOO much, because you dont want to come here and accumulate Ds and Fs. In the end, the admissions committee makes a judgment on who they think would or would not be a good fit for this place. If you really love the place, I think you should apply, be honest about yourself and your interests and your skills, and let MIT admissions decide. If you dont get in, youll know that maybe it wouldnt have worked out after all and if you do, then youll be a very unique MIT student :) I hope thats helpful sorry if it was a little disorganized, but Im at the airport right now and just sort of word-vomiting. Let me know if you have any other questions. A high school junior asked:   What do you feel like MIT admissions is looking for? What type of person? Id like to attend, but I want to be where I will be a good match. I dont want to go to MIT or Harvard just because theyre the top schools. I replied: MIT admissions is looking for someone who will be happy at this school that means being successful academically, but also taking full advantage of all the resources available. Therefore, they will look for evidence that you really challenged yourself in high school and still succeeded. They will also look for evidence that you are involved in activities that excite you that you dedicate time and energy to them. They will want to see that youre the kind of person who would show up on campus and support your friends and do exciting things not just sit in your room all day, studying. These things are purposefully vague every admitted applicant is very different! QA I receive e-mails pretty regularly from prospective students (mostly High Schoolers), and have noticed that many of them have similar themes. So, I thought Id post a few up here. To spare you the trouble of scrolling and scanning, heres a table of contents: 1. Calculus and APs arent offered at my school. Does that eliminate my chances of being accepted to MIT? 2. What does a day in the life of a physicist look like? 3. Im worried that by pursuing a science/engineering career, I wont be helping people or the world, and that Im not smart enough to pursue what I want to pursue in math/science. 4. Im worried that Im never going to find a school as great as MITIm obsessed with it. Im sad that I probably wont get in, because Im not a genius. 5. Can I have some life advice? 6. Will you edit my application essays? A HS sophomore asked:   Basically MIT is 110% my dream school, I have worked so very hard the past year and a half with that goal in mind,  but I seem to be at a brick wall with no way around it. From what I have read, you must have taken calculus as a prerequisite  for acceptance? This isnt possible for me, as my school does not offer any calculus classesI also worry about not being able to take AP classes, as they are not offered at  my school. I would love to take them, but its just not an option for me and I feel as though I wouldnt be accepted  because I didnt have the opportunity to take the classes MIT wants me to. I take the most difficult classes its possible for me  to take at my school (honors, accelerated, etc.) but thats no replacement for the college level classes MIT expects out of a potential student. My response:   The only *really* strict requirement for coming to MIT is proficiency in English. It sounds like youve got that down pat, so I dont think you have to worry about that. That said, try to understand the goal of the admissions committee: they want to pick 1,000 kids who are going to ENJOY MIT, and that means succeeding here in every dimension: academically, socially, extracurricularly, etc. My impression is that you would have a really rough time here if you arrived without knowing Calculus. Sure, the social atmosphere may be a good fit for you (who doesnt love nerds?) but if youre miserable and struggling to keep up with your peers, all of whom have taken Calculus, then its not worth it for you. You want to go to college and be happy, even if that doesnt mean coming to MIT (and, I cannot stress hard enough, it is POSSIBLE TO BE HAPPY WITHOUT GOING TO MIT!) The MIT admissions site, as you probably know, says that you should try to take the most stimulating courses available to you; you mentioned that youre taking all the honors, accelerated classes, and thats great. MIT wont punish you for not having certain opportunities. However, it may choose to not accept you because it feels that, due to lack of sufficient preparation, you would be unhappy hereI wouldnt say that not having calculus eliminates your chance of acceptance, but I think it would increase your chance of being unhappy here even if you WERE accepted. That saidyou should check in with an admissions officer to get a more official opinion! If youre interested in learning calculus, I would suggest doing what you can to take classes at a community college or over the summer; the MIT website (as you probably know) suggests that if your high school doesnt offer courses that challenge you, you may want to explore other options, such as local college extension or summer programs. Another High School student asked:   In your last blog, you said that you wanted people to learn what people in STEM do in their daily lives (e.g. does a computer scientist glare at lines of code until either their work day ends or they inexplicably develop dyslexia?). In previous blogs, youve mentioned that you are majoring in physics and interned over the summer as a research physicist in NRAO. I read your blog Im sitting at work right now, and I now find it difficult to express how epic that blog post was. I completely agree with what you said about telling people about the details of everyday life in STEM careers, and that blog was a perfect example! However, I was wondering, what does the overall schedule look like? (Not trying to be stalkerish, I swear!) You talked about what you do at your desk (immensely entertaining and fascinating stuff, definitely preferable to my summer spent burning through Calculus and Diff Eq), but not what you do when you arent at your desk. Im going to go out on a limb and assume that y ou do not spend eight hours a day sitting at a desk. So what does a day in the life of a physicist look like? My response:   A day in the life of an astronomer! Ill describe mine (from the summer this is not at all what the school year is like) then describe my supervisors. Mine: 9am show up at work, turn on computer, drink something with caffeine, read e-mails and things. 9:30-10am actually start working. 12-12:30ish break for lunch, which usually involves eating food at my desk while I continue to code (SO HARD TO DRAG MYSELF AWAY) 12:30-3 more coding. 3-4 snacktime! go upstairs to the kitchen, where there is food and lots of awesome astronomers. socialize. learn a lot, and make new friends. 4-6 more work. *technically* I should have left at 6. I admit I pulled days that lasted until 10 at night, or even past midnight; it was a little ridiculous. I have a habit of cranking away until something is done to satisfaction, which probably isnt healthy and something I will have to deal with by the time I have obligations outside my work. Distributed throughout the day were routine trips to my supervisors office to ask questions. On Fridays, we had about two hours of group meeting, which involved sharing our progress with the other group members (a few grad students, a post-doc, and my supervisor) and discussing new ideas for going forward. And THROUGHOUT the day, I was in an office with other summer students, so there was often chatter and/or throwing things at each other and/or discussing issues with code. Every week, on Tuesdays, there were TUNA talks (Mondays had MUNA talks, the occasional Wednesday had a WUNA talk) that I always went to. Astronomers would come from all over the country (or even the world! There was one from Germany, another from the Netherlands) to present their research. The NRAO scientists would ask a lot of questions. Id ask questions. My supervisor: 10:30am show up at work. 6pm leave work. His schedule was pretty regular, having a family and all. During the day, he does a lot of coding, a lot of writing (grants, etc people dont realize HOW MUCH WRITING is involved in doing science research), a lot of discussing (he had like..eighty telecoms per day) and a lot of mentoring: his post-doc, grad students, me. He takes trips every now and then to Green Bank, the big telescope facility, to bring terabytes of data (in the form of likegigantic data disks. it was pretty ridiculous) back to work. He also goes on a lot of business trips, to China and Australia and other astronomy centers. Let me know if you want more details on any of that :) I guess a point I want to stress is that there is a lot of COMMUNICATING involved in science talking to people about your work, talking to people about THEIR work, writing proposals, chatting casually and making connections, etc. You wont last long if all you can do is code. A High School sophomore asked for advice on some dilemmas: 1.) Ive been told by countless people that Ill be wasting my writing talent if I pursue a science-related career, and Im also scared of this myself. 2.) I am also interested in many other science-related fields, and Im terrified Im making the wrong choice/will regret wanting to pursue Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and AI. 3.) Im afraid that by pursuing a science/engineering career, I wont be helping people or the world. 4.) Im afraid that Im not smart enough to pursue what I wan to pursue. Im a smart kid, but Im way more English-oriented than Math/Science oriented. My response: 1) False. Writing is an absolutely essential skill in science. My advisor from the summer spends a huge amount of his time writing: grants, papers, articles, etc. I personally believe that if scientists were better communicators (read: writers) then the gap between science and the public would be much narrower. Theres a big need for effective, articulate communicators in science! In a way, one could argue that you would be wasting your writing talent if you pursued a career that wasnt aligned with your real interests. 2) The nice thing about EECS is that you can go into a lot of fields from there. Every science nowadays requires programming the more you know, the easier life is for you. I personally wish I knew more. Once you get to college, you will be able to sample classes in a variety of subjects, and that will help inform your decision. One of my friends, for example, is a computer scientist/computer science majorbut he randomly found an interest in biology and is doing bioinformatics. 3) I think that science/engineering is one of the most effective ways to help the world! By studying the brain, we help cure neurological disorders, by studying the body we help cure diseases, by designing machines and robots we make contributions to medicine and technology that can have a very significant influence on peoples day-to-day lives. Electricity, computers, x-ray scanners, MRIIm not sure whether the people who invented those did so explicitly to help people. 4) I have the same fear. I dont think theres any reason to believe it, thoughand if you choose not to believe it then I think youre more likely to work your butt off and achieve things you never imagined you would be able to. These subjects are really hardI struggle. But I constantly amaze myself at how I manage to pull it off anyway. A concerned sophomore said: An especially big fear of mine is that Im never going to be able to find a school as great as MIT. Its pretty safe to say that Im obsessed with MIT. From what I read about it in student blog posts, it sounds like the most amazing place to be in the world! I feel as though no other school will be able to give me as great of a hands-on research experience that MIT has the potential to. Its incredibly sad that I most likely wont be getting in. Im not a prodigy, virtuoso, or certified genius. Im just a normal girl, and unfortunately, normal doesnt seem to cut it at MIT. I said: You shouldnt worry about finding a school that is great. You should worry about finding a school that is great for [sophomores name]. I would argue that those are distinct a school thats great for one person would not necessarily be great for another person. The most important thing is that you go to a school where you will succeed, not that you go to a school thats, say, in the top 5 on the US News Report rankings. A schools ranking has no meaning whatsoever if you go there and struggle. I know people who went to MIT undergrad, didnt do well, and are now struggling to find a job / get into graduate school. On the other hand, a school with not-a-very-high-ranking can be great if it means you excel; I know plenty of people at small schools who have gotten into awesome grad schools. My impression is that people overestimate the importance of the prestige of your school. Plenty of schools have research opportunities for their undergraduates. At every school, it comes down to whether or not YOU go out of your way to find or make such an experience. Thats something to ask when you visit schools, go on tours, talk to departments, etc. I would suggest making a point to talk to professors within departments before you apply / accept your place at a school; theyll be impressed that you were so ahead of the game! You dont have to be a prodigy or virtuoso or certified genius to get into MIT. Im not. Ive never won a math competition, I wasnt a National Merit finalist, or anything like that. I want to point out, though, that youre very interested in how the human brain works, and how we can apply that knowledge in the development of advanced AI systems and robots do you think that most people in the world would find that normal? :) The occasional person says: I would like some life advice from you. And I always say: Could you be a little more specific about what kind of advice you would like? The occasional person asks: Could you edit my application essays? And I always say: The short answer: no. The long answer: you want somebody who knows you well to read your essays, so that you can ask them questions like  does this essay do justice to me? Does it accurately reflect me? Does it convey everything important there is to know about me and my interests? Those are questions I cant answer, so I dont think I would be helpful.