<p>I'm an international student from India and I'll be going to Trinity College,CT for my undergrad this fall. I really want to get into MIT for grad school. I've heard that most of the MIT grad students are undergrads from elite universities like Stanford,Harvard etc. Is this true? Does MIT consider students from Liberal arts colleges? Am I at a disadvantage? Any tips about getting into MIT grad school for intl's ?</p>
<p>PS : I'll be majoring in engineering or physics at Trinity. I've been selected for Trinity's ISP(interdisciplinary science program).</p>
<p>Yes, MIT considers students from LACs for grad school. My undergraduate thesis advisor, for example, majored in engineering at a LAC and got his PhD from MIT. As long as your undergraduate work is suitable for the graduate program to which you’re applying, getting into graduate school is more about how well you did in school and in jobs/internships and less about which school you went to.</p>
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<p>Those schools get the top HS students. When you start with the top HS students it would be reasonable to expect them to graduate the top College students.</p>
<p>That is not to say that graduates from other schools do not have a chance. All else being equal, … but all else is not equal. Being in high achieving environments pushes everyone to achieve higher. More opportunities. etc. </p>
<p>For undergrad, MIT looks for kids that challenge themselves, otherwise they would not make it through the challenging environment of MIT. If you just coast through Trinity, then you probably won’t have a good chance for MIT Grad school. If you push yourself, take advantage of every opportunity, make opportunities for yourself, then you have a chance.</p>
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Yes, and the largest number of MIT grad students actually come from MIT itself.</p>
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Yes, absolutely.</p>
<p>For admission into an MIT physics or engineering graduate program, you’ll need top grades, outstanding letters of recommendation from your professors, and excellent research and/or internship experience.</p>
<p>It will be harder to get into MIT engineering from Trinity or just about any LAC probably compared to a state school with a good engineering program, with the possible exception of an engineering discipline which is more sciency (like biomedical engineering in the Langer lab, which needs people who are chemists). </p>
<p>I would not say the same thing about physics or the other sciences. The physics GRE is a great equalizer. </p>
<p>Having a bigshot write you a research recommendation is important, so it’s a good idea to apply to a summer research program at a good research university. Ask around in your science dept.; I am sure they would be familiar with it.</p>