<p>I only came across this site a few months ago, and before that I really didn't know much about how incredibly selective MIT and its peer schools are. Now I look at chance threads for MIT, and I see that a lot of kids have super focused EC's. They know they want to go into engineering or whatever, and they focus all their EC's on science and math related areas.
I kind of just went with the clubs and activities that interested me, not necessarily ones focused in my areas of academic interest. Was this a mistake? I'm really into Literary Magazine and Newspaper, but I'm looking to go into the sciences. Would it have been better (for application purposes) for me to join Science Olympiad (assuming we had it and we don't at our school) or something like that?</p>
<p>You should do what you’re interested in, do it well, and take it to a level more interesting than just your school. Do something interesting with what you are interested in. MIT has a variety of people, some of whom (like me) are just as into writing as they are into science.</p>
<p>What is the point of asking now, when you know you can’t change anything? IMO, schools can be looking for two types of students, depending on the admissions cycle: well-lopsided students and well-rounded students. On the one hand, you can have one kid who’s really thrown himself into research and has spent all his summers/free time at a lab and has produced something meaningful. As a result, he has a limited number of ECs, because of his one passion. On the other hand, you have the kid who demonstrates a wide variety of interests and is accomplished in several fields. Both are great students and are in great shape for admission. The key is to demonstrate passion, in one area or in all areas. The question is: have you really devoted yourself to your own ECs and do you have something to show for it? (e.g. being an officer vs. just being a member)</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Anyone else?</p>
<p>I was definitely in the “varied mostly-not-science extracurriculars” category. I rode horses, did a lot of acting, did karate, flew planes, did community service – I excelled and/or served as a leader in all of those. Most of them weren’t science at all. The only thing that comes close - flying - is not really academic.</p>
<p>Focused on an activity, not necessarily one related to academics. They have enough mile wide, inch deep applicants. They want people who make something of the gifts given to them (mile deep - inch wide).</p>
<p>That said, the interest should be something that contributes to the MIT community (your passion will benefit from an MIT education). So, what do you do if your interest is something like pottery making? Somehow relate the interest to the physics of making various forms, or the chemistry of the different clays. For Literary Magazine, or newspaper, maybe have an emphasis on technical writing. Don’t just write about the Science Olympiad team taking 1st place in 5 events - makes those 5 events come alive for the reader. Talk about the team’s design for the bottle rocket, and how that helped it get higher, and float down slower. What engineering challenges did they face, and how did they overcome it?</p>