<p>Can an outstanding essay make up for some weak extracirricular activities and awards? Unforunately I didn't pursue as many extracirricular activities and do not have as many awards as many of the applicants I've seen posting on this forum.</p>
<p>Use the essays to tell them about who you are, what you're most passionate about, and how you've pursued that passion. That's what will make an impression, not just the raw number of awards you've earned.</p>
<p>According to MIT's common</a> data set information, the essay is "considered" in admissions decisions, while extracurriculars are "important", one category up.</p>
<p>This doesn't, of course, mean that it's impossible to get into MIT with weak ECs and a strong essay, but it should give you a (very) rough guide as to what sorts of things MIT considers in their admissions decisions.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that MIT tries to identify the applicant's context and measure any applicant against context. For example, some people apply from schools where there are few or no EC activities offered. Others have other responsibilities that prevent them from participating in EC's. The Institute does not use a rigid scoring system to judge EC's, deducting points for withdrawing from the French club or some other such nonsense. Rather it is looking for evidence of intellectual curiousity and for passion. The essay is the one of the few opportunities that you have for presenting yourself as something other than a collection of statistics, and as a result has a value that is quite hard to judge. As a writing sample, the essay is considered, but not critically important, but as one of the only ways to stand out from a large pile of very well qualified applicants, it is critically important.</p>