<p>well, as a Latin american we always use father's last name and mother's last name to complete registration processes.
(for example) if my name is Juan Smith they ask for the second last name that it's my mother's last name (for example) jenkins.
so, my complete name would be Juan Smith Jenkins and it's necessary to use it for completing a registration.</p>
<p>Is the same in USA? if It's not, can I use it anyway on MyMIT account?</p>
<p>Do you have legal paperwork (a birth certificate, a passport, etc) with your name on it? You should use your name exactly as listed on those documents.</p>
<p>Sure,thanks! </p>
<p>As long as the name on your MIT application matches the name under which you took the SAT, everything’s great. It doesn’t really matter which of your legal names you choose to use – my best friend, who’s Argentinian, goes as firstname lastname1 lastname2, but his sister just goes by firstname lastname1. </p>
<p>Just be aware (for purposes beyond applications) that having two last names Latin America-style can be a giant pain in the US. My best friend is thinking about just using lastname1 as his middle name, because people mess it up all the time, and it causes various levels of headaches. It’s also professionally annoying – the publisher of one of his papers screwed up his name and submitted it to the indexing services as firstname lastname2. </p>
<p>^ I think if you’re applying and international, you need to be pursuing a visa, and your legal name + visa + MIT administrative name need to match? I’m not sure, though. This might be a good thing to contact admissions with.</p>
<p>Yes, everything has to be consistent with other documents. But not everybody has just one possible legal name.</p>
<p>Right - I just meant that if you already have a visa, everything should probably be based on that. That one’s the hardest to change.</p>
<p>well, i don’t have a visa yet and i’ll apply next year so it’s not urgent at all, anyway thanks for the advice </p>