<p>MIT is known as the engineering school, but, from your or others' experience, why do students apply there as English or humanities majors?</p>
<p>I'm not interested in applying to MIT (I don't fit it), but I've always wondered.</p>
<p>Thank you! :)</p>
<p>There isn’t an English major at MIT. There is writing and there is literature.</p>
<p>Writing was one reason I went to MIT and not another top tech school. This semester 4.5 of my 5.5 classes have a large writing component, though only two of them are writing classes. I’m learning about many different styles of writing, all from people who are experts: science journalism from someone who wrote for the Washington Post, science fiction from a famous science fiction writer, memoir from someone who writes and edits memoirs, writing for academia from people who have published papers and more grant proposals. And I’m a blogger, which means I’m forced to write regularly for a large audience.</p>
<p>I’m hoping to have a career as a writer in addition to a career as a scientist. I think I’ve learned as much about writing as I’ve learned about science here, if not more. I was initially double majoring in a tech field and writing, until one of my writing professors convinced me to drop down to a writing minor and take more math classes (because the type of writing I want to do does not require or benefit from a degree).</p>
<p>I don’t know anyone who came here to major in writing or literature and that alone. I have a biased sample, because I live in a very math and comp sci-heavy dorm. The only person I know who is a literature major switched to it after trying out physics and physics not going so well.</p>
<p>Several of the humanities and social sciences programs at MIT are absolutely top-notch (philosophy, linguistics, economics, political science), and some students come to MIT specifically for those majors because they’re outstanding programs.</p>
<p>In general, students don’t come to MIT specifically for literature and writing majors, although those departments are no slouches themselves. Very few students graduate with literature and writing degrees, and most of those students are double majors with a technical degree program.</p>
<p>I heard an interesting discussion on the radio yesterday, about MIT writing professor Junot Diaz who won the macarthur genius award:</p>
<p><a href=“http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/macarthur-genius-winners-1002.html[/url]”>http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/macarthur-genius-winners-1002.html</a></p>
<p>Literature is an area of great interest to my son, equal to probably his interest in math.</p>
<p>Mollie,</p>
<p>Given what you said about the linguistics major, what’s your opinion about the following scenario:</p>
<p>A female student I know wants to major in linguistics. She’s studied several languages, did a linguistics summer program at Ohio State and has a background of interest in science, is highly creative, but is struggling mightily AP Calc this year as a senior. Her SAT is 800CR, 790W, and probably 600M.</p>
<p>Should this student be looking at other schools besides MIT? I didn’t think it would be a good fit, even though the linguistics program is top notch.</p>
<p>Her first two choices would be UCLA and Pomona at this point. (She’s from Ca.)</p>
<p>Thanks for feedback.</p>
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<p>^I think MIT is a really bad match for this student, at least for undergrad. For grad school, it is safer to just look at the rankings and go by that. But this person going to MIT is really like a round peg going into a square hole.</p>
<p>For undergad, you want a curriculum that is geared toward developing your strengths and shores up (but not overwhelms) your weaknesses.</p>
<p>^Agreed.</p>
<p>For an otherwise really strong student who’s interested in linguistics, but doesn’t have the desire/ability to muscle through the GIRs, I might suggest Harvard or Wellesley, which both have cross-registration privileges with MIT.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, collegealum and Mollie. I have already suggested both colleges, Mollie. I think we have a pretty good range of reach, match, and safety for her.</p>
<p>FWIW, I agree as well. All students at MIT, whether they are majoring in English Literature, Linguistics, or Urban Planning tend to have if not a liking for, at least a tolerance of Math and Science, and they tend to function in these fields at a high level. </p>
<p>This has implications across the Institute. For example, MIT Economists can teach with the understanding that all of their students can handle the math, an assumption that cannot be made at most other schools. Anyone “struggling mightily” with AP Calc and ending up with a SAT of 600M would not be happy at MIT.</p>
<p>To answer the OP’s question, people do apply there with the intention of having a primary major in a handful of the humanities majors. I don’t consider economics a humanities major, more of applied math, but many people apply with the intention of doing that major. MIT is #1 or close in that.</p>
<p>MIT has a top 10 political science department which has an understandable bent for quantitative analysis. People do apply with the intention of doing this major as well, although it’s a very small number. i knew two poli. sci majors as an undergrad, and at least one of them is a professor now at a major research university.</p>
<p>It’s very common to be excellent at classical music for highly talented math/science professors, and it’s my understanding this is the only field for which MIT offers merit scholarships. Some people do this as a primary major, though its more common as a second major. </p>
<p>Business is a very common major at MIT, although I don’t know if you consider it a humanities subject.</p>
<p>For the rest of the humanities, they are more common as a second major to round out a technical major. I knew or knew of a couple of people who majored in literature (or writing, I don’t remember). One started his own newspaper at MIT and now writes for Forbes magazine. I don’t know if he knew he was going to be a writing major when applying. The other was valedictorian of and preferred Harvard but didn’t get in. So she went to MIT and majored in literature.</p>