<p>Does MIt look at your family situation when considering your admission? My friend has a younger brother with down syndrome and is always taking care of him. Will MIT see that my friend had a difficult situation/atmosphere at home, which could have effected his performence in school?
He mentioned his brother's down syndrome in his essays.</p>
<p>MIT considers context. That kind of caring for someone else is likely to look very good to the MIT admission committee. I don’t consider any college like MIT a sure thing for anybody, but he should patiently await his admission results with confidence while waiting for news from other colleges too.</p>
<p>It’s just one of many factors. I interviewed an ED applicant to an ivy who stressed her care of her brother with autism. She had above average stats for the school. She was not accepted.</p>
<p>My god father went to MIT, and is one of their admissions officers. I’ll have my dad send him an email about this in the morning.</p>
<p>It sounds like a cool essay topic. With MIT, one can never know (kids with 2400, 4.0 US math team, etc. get denied). However, if he has kept his grades up and has good scores and E.C.s it boost his chances a little because it shows that he has overcome obstancles. Tell your friend I wish him and his brother the best.</p>
<p>@Kamikaze - </p>
<p>Yes, we will take that into account, as long as we know about it. Quite a number of our applicants have different situations like this - a disabled sibling, a need to work to support the family, a parent working or in the military overseas - and we take the impact on their time, extracurricular involvement, and grades into account. </p>
<p>The best thing your friend can do is let us know. Doesn’t have to be a biography, just a simple explanation. We see these things all the time so we understand in most cases what is going on.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much!
My friend has also been doing research on treatments for autism and has even started a reading workshop(not a huge/well renowned one) for autistic children and others who have mental disabilities.
Will this motivation impress the admission officers at MIT?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Just in case anyone was wondering, my friend lives in New York. He is valedictorian of his graduating class, got a 32 on the ACT, Rensselear Medal Winner, AP Scholar w/ distinction, etc., and is a first generation student with a low family income. He is Asian(killer for MIT), however.</p>