Demonstrating passions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>I just realized something. I have been thinking that I have everything needed to be accepted to MIT, like the grades, scores, and extracurriculars, and I expect to demonstrate that I am really interested in a lot of things in my interview. But now I am realizing that if the EC were to ask, "What is the thing you are most passionate about?" then I couldn't answer. If I were to just grab at something, it would be something that I have spent years working at, can talk about for hours, and understand very well, but I don't really have a lot to show for it. </p>

<p>I know some people can show that they have been in an orchestra for years and practice hours every day, or have done research that took many hours. While I have spent many hours doing little individual projects, I'm not sure if that would be enough, especially since these little projects are mostly done on the computer and the admin officers and interviewer can only know about it because I am telling about. </p>

<p>So, do MIT students need to have been working at a passion as in going to practice/ concerts regularly, or can it just be lots of little things?</p>

2

<p>I think you are overblowing the "passion" train.</p>

<p>What you are doing for the last couple years is called "problem solving." Just like the other kids spend hours upon hours practicing their instruments, you have been practicing how to solve all sorts of different problems.</p>

<p>How do you solve big problems? You try to break them up into smaller and smaller problems that you can solve. Nobody climbs a mountain before they can climb a small hill. So you should keep on solving all sorts of problems. But just make sure that once in a while you slow down and look for patterns. Get smarter about how you go about solving problems.</p>

3

<p>Thanks differential. Do you think it's a problem if my teacher rec's don't mention my passions (they would probably just talk about my work in class and so on)? Or is it important to have a recommendation that explains it? It's possible that I won't write my essay about it either, since I'm not sure that I can make it relate to either topic. Is telling the EC about how you feel enough?</p>