<p>Hello all. I convinced my parents to let me visit MIT and I LOVED it. Although my parents won't let me apply because they want me to have a liberal arts education. Help me convince them to let me apply. Thanks.</p>
<p>It’s hard to believe this post is serious. According to the log, last April you posted that you’d been admitted to MIT and several other top schools: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/488925-one-should-i-choose-caltech-harvard-mit-stanford-princeton.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/488925-one-should-i-choose-caltech-harvard-mit-stanford-princeton.html</a></p>
<p>I think he/she needs help on essays.</p>
<ol>
<li>Someone should slap your parents for NOT letting you go to MIT. (No offense, I’m sure your parents are lovely people! And I’m not being sarcastic, just a joke!)</li>
<li>The post CalAlum brought up shows that either you were lying on that post, or are now lying!</li>
</ol>
<p>You can get as broad an education as you want to get at MIT. If you’re really interested in getting a traditional liberal arts education in addition to a rigorous technical education, you can absolutely take all of the humanities, arts, and social sciences classes at MIT (or at Harvard or at Wellesley) that your heart desires. </p>
<p>MIT actually requires students to take 8 humanities, arts, and social sciences classes, which comes out to about a quarter of the classes the average student takes. It’s definitely not as narrow an education as it’s stereotyped to be, and if you want it to be even broader, you’re free to do that. MIT is a very flexible place academically.</p>
<p>I’m just curious regarding the post that CalAlum linked to: is there more than one post on that account? Because I think I saw another one of your posts said something about you posting on your sister’s account. So I wonder if that’s part of the confusion.
In any case, Mollie makes an excellent point. My mom was looking though the course offerings and was astonished that I could take such a rigorous music courseload and be a chemical engineering major.</p>
<p>Some of my teachers have been surprised that you can take English and literature classes at MIT.</p>
<p>…then I produce a copy of Junot Diaz’s “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” a Pulitzer Prize winner by an MIT prof.</p>
<p>(It’s also one of my favourite books from this decade.)</p>
<p>I hadn’t considered the point made by FantomBassoon, that this could be one account with multiple users. So, to take the question seriously, I’ll address it from the parent perspective (I’m a volunteer with MIT’s ParentConnect).</p>
<p>I assume the OP is a junior, with ample time to talk with parents. One of the most effective ways to show a parent what a school offers is not only to explore the various humanities departments, but also to actually log on to the course schedule. At MIT, you can find it here: [Spring</a> 2009 Class Schedule](<a href=“Homepage | MIT Registrar”>Homepage | MIT Registrar). At other universities, you may have to hunt around on the website a bit. When you dig deeper at some of the top liberal arts colleges to see what courses are actually being offered each semester, you can sometimes find that the number of offerings is surprisingly limited. MIT offers a wealth of humanities courses each semester, and as others have noted, students can also enroll in Harvard classes if they wish.</p>
<p>MIT graduates students every year that go on to law or medical school. Sometimes when parents express concerns about a student needing a good “liberal arts” education, it relates to their anxiety that enrolling at a school like MIT will close the door to careers in law or medicine. You can find MIT’s prelaw and premed statistics here: [Preprofessional</a> Stats - MIT Careers Office](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/preprof.html]Preprofessional”>http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/preprof.html)</p>
<p>Finally, for any student in a situation like that of the OP, I recommend drawing on vast reservoirs of patience when talking with parents. A bit of humor might also help. If anyone in this situation wants to pm me, I will send my contact information. I’m always happy to talk with parents.</p>
<p>To clarify I am the original cosmology’s younger sibling. My parents let him apply because he is a math/science type.</p>
<p>Just wondering…
Why are you applying to MIT if you’re not a math/science type? Even if you’re interested in Sloan, you are going to have to take the core requirements. These are not going to be easy…</p>
<p>FantomBassoon, what do you mean by “a math/science type?” like a student who can get A’s in those courses or someone who just absolutely loves math and science?
btw, I plan on majoring in 15.</p>
<p>Probably both.</p>
<p>“My parents let him apply because he is a math/science type.”</p>
<p>That’s what I am referring to. By saying their parents let them apply because he was a “math/science type”, that would imply that the new poster is not. And I would define that as a genuine interest; granted that typically happens if someone does well in those courses.</p>
<p>is genuine interest like studing the art of problem solving and other outside math or science works?</p>
<p>I think it’s however you describe it. My definition doesn’t really matter…</p>