application is up.....three essays?? am i missing something? whoa....

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>holy moly oly
the MIT app last year only required one long essay, there are now THREE essays for 2009-2010(not optional)
are my eyes deceiving me??</p>

<p>prompts:
1. Tell us about a time you used your creativity. THis could be something you made, a project that you led, an idea that you came up with, or pretty much anything else.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs, school, community, city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?</p></li>
<li><p>Tell us about the most significant challenge you've face or something important that didn't go according to plan. How did you manage the situation? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>(seems like all three are required, last year you could pick one between #2 and 3) </p>

<p>=OOOO</p>

2

<p>They’re not that long. Each prompt has a max of 250 words.</p>

3

<p>^ oh, ok gotcha
didn’t see the word count</p>

<p>i liked the one long essay better -_-</p>

4

<p>I love all these prompts, but I wish the word count were somewhere around 500.</p>

5

<p>I kind of feel like I can’t get a really good thought started and completed in 250 words.</p>

6

<p>250 words? Creativity, identity (or lack thereof), and disappointment is essentially my life story.</p>

7

<p>I really like these prompts, especially compared to those of some other schools. I’d much prefer to write 500 words, though.</p>

8

<p>3smalls is good.But still wish 2small and 1 big of your choice.Also I missed “end of the world” :(</p>

9

<p>Wait, did they get rid of the “for fun” prompt?? That was the best one!</p>

10

<p>too short >:O
i can hardly express everything in 250 words >_<</p>

11

<p>I think the length is fine - it keeps me from rambling, and for me writing shorter essays comes easier, although I think it’s harder to make them good.</p>

12

<p>Ok - I feel really dumb asking this, but you write different essays for each college right?</p>

<p>And you also send only 2 or more recommendations to all the colleges you are applying for right?</p>

13

<p>‘Most significant challenge’ == ‘end of the world’
‘Creativity’ == ‘something you’ve created’</p>

<p>There isn’t space for ‘anything additional you’d like to tell us’ anymore?</p>

14

<p>^^ MIT doesn’t use the common application. Therefore, make sure your short essays for the MIT application are specific to MIT. Like many other colleges that use the common application, MIT asks for two letters of recommendation, with a slight twist: one must be from a math/science teacher and the other must be from a humanities teacher.</p>

<p>To answer your question more broadly, the essays you develop for the common application (one long; one short) will go out to all colleges that ask for that application. These can be sort of generic in the sense that the two essays will go to all the colleges on the list. So be sure not to include the name of any college in those two essays. However, most of the colleges that ask for the common application also require a “supplemental application,” and this also may include additional essays specific to each particular school.</p>

<p>You have a lot of work ahead of you. Get started. :-)</p>

15

<p>"There isn’t space for ‘anything additional you’d like to tell us’ anymore? "</p>

<p>see the last page of part 2.</p>

16

<p>I mean, I’m a current student. I was just curious because adcoms have mentioned to me that the most interesting responses are generally found in that section.</p>

17

<p>@k4r3n2 - ah, so you belong to that species of MIT students/alums that are objects of infinite envy to us hopefuls :wink: Well, now that I know about those interesting responses, I better think of something interesting, eh?</p>

18

<p>Yeah, the “end of the world” question was actually worded more like the current question about “challenges” 5 years ago when I applied. They changed the wording, and now appear to have changed it back- but honestly I think the underlying question is basically the same.</p>

19

<p>@Laura - I thought so too, but I would feel sheepish answering a question about the “end of the world” with anything that wasn’t a death of a family/friend, a divorce, a serious illness in the family/close friend/myself, whereas the more mundane challenges that are still huge as far as transforming us as individuals fit more nicely in the “significant challenge” category.</p>

<p>… upon reading that, I’m not sure if it made any sense. Do you understand what I’m saying?</p>

20

<p>No, they still have the “what do you do for fun” question. I think the max on that one is 100 or 150 words.</p>