<p>Collegeboard says that MIt only "considers" application essays. Mind you, I've scheduled an interview too but I feel like the essays are my place to shine.</p>
<p>Also, what kinds of essays does MIT typically favor? Are they apt to appreciate that quirky, off-the-wall humor or are they all business?</p>
<p>Have you looked at the application? There are a lot is essays involved. By far it was the most difficult ap either of my kids filled out. If the essays are not important then a heck of lot of time got wasted.</p>
<p>Topics? No idea. Neither of my kids got in, but to be honest after seeing each of my kids as undergrads, I think MIT did a good job in rejecting them both. :)</p>
<p>(MIT alum who worked/used to hang out in MIT Admissions, though not in a role that made admissions decisions, here.)</p>
<p>Each essay question is asked for a reason. If you really botch them - and people do - it’s shooting yourself in the foot. And yes, really good essays will help you.</p>
<p>It’s not as simple as “off-the-wall” or “all business”. Those are stylistic choices, and both can make for a good essay. But think hard about the <em>content</em> of your essays. Read the questions, and try to put yourself into the mind of an MIT adcom. Try to figure out why they might have thought this question was an important question to ask.</p>
<p>@ JDong217</p>
<p>I noticed that too!! MIT’s Common Data set reports that the essay is less important relative to everything else! Weird huh? Especially considering that colleges like Stanford and Princeton consider everything, including essay, as “very important”.</p>
<p>You can kind of tell by just while the length that MIT asks for… it is basically three 250 words essays.</p>
<p>But for Common App you typically have a regular 500 words essay and then another 500 word essay on the supplements. THAT IS NOT INCLUDING ALL THE OTHER RANDOM ESSAYS/FREE RESPONSE THAT THEY AS YOU.</p>
<p>The essays are all important! They are your chance to stand out among the thousands of other applicants with great standardized test scores, glowing rec letters, national awards, etc. Everything the adcoms learn about you, they get on paper from the application. So the essays are often the only way to show your uniqueness. My son (a sophomore) wrote about what he learned from something he failed at - he noted various comments on MIT’s web site and by adcoms about failure being a good subject, so different from touting yourself. The fact that MIT changed things this year (no long essay) makes it harder to be creative, but a good essay will stand out even more.</p>