<p>Hi I'm an international student thinking of applying to MIT as a political science/economics major. While I know MIT is mostly about math/science/engineering, I have heard that MIT has a wonderful political science program. And the school is need-blind to international students, which is a great news to me. </p>
<p>The problem is, I am not that interested in science so I haven't taken any of physics and biology courses in high school. Will this be a serious problem even though I will apply as a political science/economics major? </p>
<p>I don't know how I'll do in physics and biology classes in MIT if I get accepted cuz I have never taken those, but I took AP chemistry class, got an A on it, and received 5 for the AP test. The classes I took in math/science are general science, earth science, chemistry, calculus, statistics, computer science. My standardized test scores are CR 780, Math 800, and writing 750. </p>
<p>Wow I'm so bad at writing things neatly.. Anyways, my question was:
First, would it work as a serious disadvantage on admission that I haven't taken any physics and bio classes or done any ECs on science, even though I'll apply as political science/econ major?
Second, if I get miraculously accepted, would it be possible for me to do well on required physics/bio classes?</p>
<p>It will be A LOT of help if you could help me out!! Thanks!</p>
<p>I forgot to tell! I got 800 on both Math 2c and Chemistry SAT subject test.</p>
<p>If you’re not interested in science, don’t go to MIT.</p>
<p>At MIT, you’ll be required to take a year of science requirements. A year. That’s one-fourth of your time at MIT. It doesn’t matter what major you’re going to be - everyone has to take a year of science classes. A year of physics, a year of calculus, a semester of biology, a semester of chemistry – all probably much harder than any high school class you’ve had on a subject. And if you don’t like science and haven’t seen this difficult material before, you’ll be miserable – and frankly, may not get through, because you’ll hate it.</p>
<p>And it doesn’t just stop at the first year - at MIT, you’re surrounded by people who are majoring in science(/engineering). Or, if they’re majoring in something else, they still like science and talk about it. If you don’t like science, you’d get sick of that very quickly.</p>
<p>There are plenty of good economics and political science colleges. Go to one that doesn’t force you to take a year of subjects you’d dislike.</p>
<p>hmmmm I thought I’ll be able to tolerate science, but maybe not. Thanks for your advice!</p>
<p>I’m always slightly puzzled at these threads about not liking science in the slightest yet really wanting to go to MIT.</p>
<p>If anything, I’d think the stereotype that humanities people don’t fit in at MIT (which lots of wonderful people are trying to do away with) would bias the threads the other way.</p>
<p>I’m going to go ahead and say it’s possible for you to pass the science requirements if you want to pass them. That said, do you really care enough, and even if you could pass them, why do you want to risk going to a school which has such a heavy concentration of mathematics/engineering/science enthusiasts?</p>
<p>Is it not energy better spent to look at the many prestigious schools out there which offer great political science and do not have a tremendous math/science culture throughout the student body?</p>
<p>There are people here who aren’t majoring in the sciences. I have a friend who I’m pretty sure is double majoring in political science and econ, and he is pretty successful here, socially and academically. He even has a few papers published. I don’t think you would necessarily be miserable.</p>
<p>MITChris agrees with Piper, and you should give his advice the most weight, since he’s an actual admissions officer. I wouldn’t rule out MIT based solely on negative responses to this thread. We don’t know you. You know you. </p>
<p>Academic concerns:
- Your classes at MIT will be fast-paced and packed with more math and theory than they would be in other schools. If you don’t like math and theory this might make you unhappy.</p>
<p>2) You will indeed have to take a year of math and science before you get to classes in your major. I don’t know. This might be okay for you. You’ll also have to take more math after your freshman year. I encourage you to look at the classes you’d have to take in econ and political science: [MIT</a> Course Catalog: Course 14](<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT) and [MIT</a> Course Catalog: Course 17](<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT)</p>
<p>3) While the humanities programs here are really really awesome, everything that isn’t math or science or engineering takes a backseat. It’s a beautiful embroidered leather backseat, but still a backseat. Most people who major in a humanities field are also majoring in a technical field. Humanities programs have fewer requirements than most technical fields to facilitate this.</p>
<p>And the two most important concerns:
- A lot of people here go through some period of unhappiness, even if their overall experience is positive. MIT is hard. Sometimes it rips apart your self-esteem and your confidence in yourself as a capable person with something to contribute to society. If you’re not passionate about what you’re here to learn (or the classes MIT is requiring you to take) it’ll be a lot harder to motivate yourself and stay happy.</p>
<p>2) The culture here revolves around a passion for math and science and building things. I’m sure there are subcultures that lack it, somewhere, but I’m not aware of them. In other words, if you go here you’ll be surrounded by people who like math and science. There will be lots of math/science in-jokes. Lots of people will have math/science-related hobbies. Lots of other people will have other, equally nerdy hobbies. If you don’t easily relate to people who really really like math and science, you might have trouble adjusting socially.</p>