<p>MIT is my dream school and I am planning on applying. To that end I am also working my butt off to be a "competitive applicant". Even though the odds of getting into MIT are against me, even more so is my mother. She is really pushing for me to go to MSU. It is not because of the money, it is only because it is closer (although I know that my 3 younger siblings, when it comes time for college, will be able to go whereever they want becasue my mother would have gotten over this notion that we will fail at life :) if we go out of state). Her theory is is that I can go to MSU get my bachlors degree (which would only take me 4 semesters given all my AP credit that theygrant there) and then go anywhere I like for grad school. I tried to explain that even people who went to MIT for their undergrad don't always get into MIT grad school. She says she doesn't understand why MIT is so much better than MSU and why I would prefer MIT. I would like to go to school for engineering or physics. I have tried to tell her about the undergrad reseach oppurtunities and other things that make MIT distinctive, but I think she needs to hear it from someone else. I plan on showing her this post so any and all comments would be welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>Show her the website, tell her to read about it on the internet, show her some video lectures, some notable alumni etc.</p>
<p>Are you bringing her to your info session?</p>
<p>haha, no. My grandparents are taking me.</p>
<p>I had a similar choice when it came to choosing a college – I needed to decide between MIT and Ohio State, which is about 20 minutes away from my home. My mom didn’t want me to go away to school.</p>
<p>I came on my visit to MIT after I’d been accepted, and the biggest factor in my decision was just that I felt so much at home. I met so many amazing people who were friendly and helpful and nerdy, and I learned about how I’d be able to choose my dorm based on what kind of living environment I wanted, and I saw the tightly-knit freshman learning communities, and I was sold. </p>
<p>A big state school has a lot to offer, but MIT is a cozy little nook of a home, with enough variety in people and activities to keep anybody busy for four years. I got to know my professors personally (which I likely wouldn’t have been able to do at a huge school like OSU), I started a research position at the beginning of my sophomore year where I was immediately participating in experimental design and execution (no cleaning lab glassware), and I lived in a dorm of my choice with people who became my best friends (no random roommates). I took graduate-level classes starting in my sophomore year (no lotteries to decide who gets the classes they want) and was able to choose among the top programs in my field for graduate studies.</p>
<p>If graduate school is your goal, flying through college is probably not the best option, even if you can technically do it. To get into a top graduate program, you’ll not only need good grades and a solid GRE score, but you will need outstanding letters of recommendation from professors who know your research potential, as well as research experience that starts early and allows you to do real work. Insofar as graduating early hampers your ability to get to know professors and participate in research, it actively harms a graduate school application.</p>
<p>In my program, which is in biomedical sciences, large state schools are rather underrepresented as alma maters of our incoming students over the past five years. About a quarter of the students in my program come from HYPMS, with another 15% from Ivies and other top 20 schools, 15% from non-US schools, and 15% from LACs. Students from state schools are very underrepresented relative to the size of their schools, especially those not from top-notch state schools like Berkeley and UMich.</p>
<p>You are so helpful mollie <3</p>
<p>///////\ true.dat</p>
<p>
And just where have you been, young man? I’ve missed you!</p>
<p>Yeah, same problem with parents too. I know my chances are extremely slim to get in, but if I do, I intend to go. I’m pretty close with mom and dad though, and I don’t want to make them upset. But, until application time, I will just worry about getting in.</p>
<p>For OP: Even you end up at MSU. It is not a bad option. The physics department is pretty good there. Here is the productivity and impact of MSU physics department in the last 5 years:</p>
<p>MSU: papers=985, citation/year=3136.2, H-index=46, citation/paper=15.92</p>
<p>Major US physics departments:
MIT: papers=1443, citation/year=5133.6, H-index=66, citation/paper=17.79
Harvard: papers=1321, citation/year=3432.8, H-index=58, citation/paper=12.99
Princeton: papers=775, citation/year=3152.2, H-index=51, citation/paper=20.34
Stanford: papers=879, citation/year=3207, H-index=53, citation/paper=18.24
Columbia: papers=701, citation/year=2729, H-index=51, citation/paper=19.44
UCB: papers=1639, citation/year=5812.6, H-index=64, citation/paper=17.73
Caltech: papers=992, citation/year=3472.2, H-index=52, citation/paper=17.5</p>
<p>MSU only mildly lacks in citation/paper probably due to publications in low impact journals. But its productivity is pretty good. As far as I recall correctly, the nuclear physics program of MSU is rated #1 in the last 2 years.</p>
<p>Being a proud MIT student, I will give you 10 semi-detailed reasons, in no particular order other than what comes to mind.</p>
<p>Things great about MIT:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>MIT’s name. It’s a huge brand name, def in the group of most recognized university names. While this may seem arbitrary, it is a huge thing for employers when they see this name on a resume, and it’ll get your recognized pretty much wherever you go.</p></li>
<li><p>Boston/Cambridge environment. Lotta colleges here, lotta students, lotta companies, good places to study.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.Amazing education, especially in sciences, engineering, or business/economics. By the end of college, you’ll be recognized as some of the best undergraduate students in your respective fields. I’ve always though rankings were bull****, but overall, MIT is well-recognized as the top undergraduate education in numerous fields. Also, our humanities is terribly underrated and is actually very good, if you’re interested. People just don’t respect it b/c so few students at MIT actually major in humanities besides fields such as econ (which MIT is amongst the best).</p>
<p>4.Professors and researchers working on the latest things leading their fields. There aren’t many places where it’s so easy to interact with Nobel laureates, Turing award winners, McArthur Geniuses, etc. My freshman advisor was a Nobel Laureate (Phillip Sharp, 1993). Ate with him a few times and got to know him. It was awesome! I had lunch with Barbara Liskov, 2009 Turing award winner. I’ve heard lectures from 3 Fields medalists, 3 other Nobel Laureates, you get the idea. And this is all in one year.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>UROP =Undergrad Research Opportunity Program. It’s a huge program where you can do real research with professors and researchers for credit or pay, you choose. Terribly easy to get, and this is real, I emphasize, real reasearch. Many people (granted mostly upperclassmen) get papers published, posters presented, talks given, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Tons of recruiting resources. MIT has an amazingly wide connection with employers, and they bring in tons of recruiters. In matter of fact, on average, I probably receive 20 hiring ads from companies each day during the school year. There are tons of info sessions, career fairs, recruiting events, etc. As a freshman, I had 12 interview, and 7 offers for the summer. And I’m the norm.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>7.MIT Alumni network. MIT people are proud of MIT, and this carries on after graduatioin. MIT obviously has many successful alums, and this offers many opportunities for hiring, learning/meeting people, getting advice, etc. At one of my summer internships, there were several MIT alums there, and they found me and we had coffee, went out to eat, and I learned a lot from them. Fun fact: the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would be the seventeenth largest economy in the world.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Challenge. MIT is not for everyone, as wonderful as it is. It is a hellishly hard place. But you come out of it for the better. MIT provides a challenge like nothing you’ll have experienced yet, and you’ll learn so much, and gain so much from this challenge. If you like to challenge yourself, well then MIT might be a good place for you. People with drive to become the best will thrive here and get the most out of a place like this.</p></li>
<li><p>Fun! Yes did I say fun!? Yes I did. MIT is not just a place of nerds. Yes, we have more than our fair share and our average IQ is def abnormally high. But we’re still college students, and we love to have fun. Work hard, party hard. And yes we party hard. We have 20-some frats and several sororities, and we have several parties going on every week. And our parties aren’t actually lame, because we attract students from pretty much any other Boston area college, like Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, Wellesley, Simmons, etc. One of my friends liked to say that at MIT parties, you couldn’t assume a girl was from MIT, b/c half of the people at the party weren’t.</p></li>
<li><p>Last, and not least, perhaps most important, your fellow classmates. You would be in the company of the brightest body of students this nation has to offer. I bet you could learn a thing or two from other people and their experiences 
lol. Trust me, being in such a high class company will enhance your college and life experience beyond belief.</p></li>
<li><p>Look at: [Average</a> Cost for College - Compare College Costs & ROI](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/education/average-cost-for-college-ROI]Average”>Best Value Colleges | Payscale)
MIT’s #1! It’s got the best return value for your educational cost, and MIT alums on average make the most money of any university!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hope that provides a slightly informative, definitely slanted insight into MIT. Feel free to message me for more information.</p>