<p>I seriously doubt any of these are very important but I don't want my application to be needlessly confusing.</p>
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<li><p>First of all, I'm (part) Turkish. Although it was generally easy for me to select one half of my genetic makeup I'm still unsure about the other. Under which category would I put the Turkish people under? For the meantime I just chose 'Other' and wrote it in because Turks aren't really 'European' or 'Middle Eastern' (more like a genetic mix, AFAIK) and I don't want to be confused with an Arab.</p></li>
<li><p>I attended another school for one semester in freshman year after switching back to my previous school. For first and second previous high school, should I put that school as the first previous one, and then my current school as the second previous one?</p></li>
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<p>All right, I’m putting that in for now. Of course, I will review everything before I submit it. Here are a few more questions, though.</p>
<ol>
<li>In response to this question: “Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why?”, suppose I have an interest in two vastly different fields of study (no, I’m not trying to hedge my bets for any purpose whatsoever) should I put both or just the one I’m most interested in? </li>
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<p>(Just for reference, I’m both interested in Mech. Eng. and Sociology, which I know are completely different worlds of their own. Although I have a huge interest in sociology I feel mechanical engineering is something that would be both engaging and ultimately practical.)</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t know. You have a lot of room with a 250-word limit, if you are the master of pithiness. I think you should mention both, especially if you truly “have a huge interest in sociology.” That would be an interesting combination to pursue at MIT.</p>
<p>I maxed out that limit pretty quickly with the creativity essay. I actually have two or three different topics for it, which could be discussed at considerable length very easily. I had to shorten it a bit (not because they would care if I used three extra words, but because it made me feel better) lest I get carried away or something.</p>
<p>However, for the ‘interests’ response, I thought it had to be somewhat terse. I could mention both, but that question only asks for a hundred or fewer words. So I tried to make it as simple as possible. I compared the two, saying that my interests involve trying to understand complex systems in both, although sociology is more abstract and qualitative. I don’t know if I’m going to pursue sociology as much, but I’m still considering it. </p>
<p>Oh, yet another question. </p>
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<li>For the ‘something you do for the pleasure of it’, what would be an acceptable activity to mention? Although I like to watch TV or play Team Fortress a lot I don’t think they would be particularly interested. I just mentioned a more intellectual activity that I do occasionally because I have somewhat of a passion in it.</li>
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<p>Honestly, I think MIT is the one place where saying you relax by playing video games wouldn’t hurt you a bit. Something like 99-100% of the students play. I know a couple of students who wrote about liking to read. My daughter wrote about how she loves to draw using Adobe Illustrator.</p>
<p>Really? Wow, okay, I think I might be able to loosen up on that a bit. However, I don’t really think saying I play Halo really says anything about me though, and although it won’t hurt much, it probably won’t help either. At the same time, I might need to lighten up and not use reading math books as a pleasurable activity because it only reflects one side of me.</p>
<p>Frankly, whatever they tell you to. The aim of it is, in a sense, to get you to reflect upon other admirable qualities aside from high test scores, and whatever passions drive you.</p>
<p>For the first short answer question (“Tell us about something you do for the pleasure of it.”) I wrote about how I like to play strategy games. I said, in a nutshell, that I liked to play them against humans over computers because it forces me to constantly develop and apply new tactics. But I might change it. :/</p>