<p>So MIT has been a dream school of mine for a long time, but when I applied, I had no expectation of getting in, period. The only person from my school who was admitted early was the supergenius type; nobody was surprised.</p>
<p>There are plenty of people at my school far, far more qualified than I (and I really mean it); I was the only RA admit. I'm a girl, and I feel like that probably weighted the decision. I'm pretty sure my admission was just a fluke-- I have very few awards and none of real significance; I'm definitely not the "genius type"; my essays seem weak; so on and so forth. I was ecstatic for all of about a day before the reality sunk in.</p>
<p>MIT is an obvious choice for me for many reasons, but the one thing holding me back is that I feel like I'm vastly underqualified and will be struggling to survive there. I don't want to be throwing myself to the sharks. I would probably sound like a selfish little b**** to people who didn't get in, but I want to consider this carefully. Any advice?</p>
<p>If you were admitted, then the admissions office has faith that you are capable of doing the work. And you were not admitted because you’re female.</p>
<p>It’s tough to tell whether or not any given person will struggle at MIT – I mean, everybody struggles at MIT, but it’s tough to tell whether any given person will struggle in an extraordinary way. Success at MIT doesn’t require awards at the high school level, and there are plenty of non-genius-type ordinary smart people who are happy and successful at MIT. </p>
<p>Very few people feel like they deserved to be admitted to MIT, and almost everybody goes through an [impostor</a> syndrome](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome]impostor”>Impostor syndrome - Wikipedia) phase. It’s normal to feel like you might be overwhelmed, and, as they say, getting an education at MIT is like taking a drink from a firehose. But most people figure out what they need to do to achieve what they want (and first semester pass/no record helps them do that in a low-consequence environment).</p>
<p>Come to CPW, sit in on some classes, and talk with people. Chances are you will realize that the academics at MIT are tough, but not impossible, and that most people you meet are not world-renowned masters of incredibly difficult things.</p>
<p>So Mollie, are you suffering from this then? ; )</p>
<p>I saw this pretty soon after it was posted, wrote two paragraphs, but decided it was too convoluted so I deleted it. That was a great post right there.</p>
<p>I don’t think you have anything to be scared about. That’s what P/NR is for. You can always learn during the summer to catch up or build confidence, but I doubt that is necessary.</p>
<p>I was also scared when I came here, and many people who did not have crazy achievements in HS tend to be like that also. You’ll quickly realize you have as much chance to success if you are willing to work hard and catch up. One thing about MIT I love is it gives you the feeling that if you try hard enough, anything is possible.</p>
<p>Listen. This is your shot, a shot that everybody else only dreamed of like you once did. Sure being female improved your chances, that’s undeniable, but if you were admitted than they thought that you could handle the work. So suck it up and handle it.</p>
<p>@Mollie: thank you. Really. I’ll take your advice.</p>
<p>@faraday: I read the essay and I see what you mean. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I know several people who have those crazy accomplishments, whether they were achieved by inherent talent or blood, sweat, and tears, who clearly deserved admission and didn’t get it. And that bothers me.</p>
<p>@10liny: I know-- I’m not trying to be whiny here saying that I want to go to college and not have to work, or something. I get that if I want the experience of a school like MIT I’m going to have to work my a** off for it. I just don’t want to end up crushed by material that I (possibly) couldn’t handle in the first place, all because I made the wrong decision.</p>
<p>I felt very similarly to the way you do once I enrolled. (When I got in, I was all “woo hoo this is awesome!” and then as soon as I committed to going there it turned into “Oh my God what am I thinking?!”) But freshman year is like The Great Equalizer. No one has too much of a head start, and right away everyone figures out that you need to work together to do well. Like Mollie said, everyone struggles to survive at MIT. That’s part of the point, in a sick and twisted sort of way.</p>
<p>Also, I think part of the problem is that there’s such an exaggerated public perception of MIT students being “geniuses.” I never met a single person at MIT who would describe themselves with that word. We all pretty much consider ourselves normal people, and we do okay anyway. (While looking around wondering where all the “geniuses” are.)</p>
<p>As for being female, you need to forget about that. Whether or not it affected the decision, or you think it did, or anybody else thinks it did, you just can’t let it mess with your head.</p>
<p>@Mollie: Thank you for posting that link. I never knew there was an actual, accepted phrase for what I’ve been feeling all this time! =)</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about this ‘genius’ thing for like three years now and truthfully, here you will meet some of the most amazing people that you have ever seen in academia (undergrads TAing grad classes, Putnam beasts, undergrads publishing in major journals…etc.) and non-academia (undergrad CEOs, musical prodigies who are also good at science…etc.). </p>
<p>But at the same time, if you look around you at MIT, there’s plenty of people that are just like you. If you made the cut, then you qualified for admission, and that’s the end to the debate of whether you’re truly “qualified.” Yes, for certain people maybe their socioeconomic background or biographical factors also played into the decision somewhat, but just forget about that. You’ll never know how much of an impact (if any) that it had on your application, so just look forward.</p>
<p>Frosh year is a great time to figure out what MIT coursework is like, and you will find your balance. One of the great things about MIT is that you can go through this school at your own pace, whether it be 4 classes per term, 6 classes, or even 9 classes. We’ll all get to the end, and it’s actually sometimes a joy to learn after awhile here how much MIT had stretched your potential. I’ve definitely felt that, and it’s not something to be scared of!</p>
<p>I graduated from MIT almost 35 years ago but still have some of my friends that are teaching there. It is a scary, wonderfull, intense, fun, you name it place. I, too, was wondering how I got in. And then I found out most everyone was asking the same question. Just dive right in, play sports (there are all levels from D3 varsity teams to D league intermurals), get involved in research (makes the classroom work come alive and doesn’t hurt on the resume). One of the great things about MIT is IAP (at least that what it was called when I was there). For the month of January you can take seminar type classes and exploratory labs without worrying about grades. Try something new. I did and it led to a great term/summer job and helped make my career choice.</p>
My friend and I were talking about the same thing just a few days ago.</p>