I’m only asking because out of the three Asians (who were also STEM majors) I know who got into MIT, all three were 2-time to 3-time ISEF finalists, and two of them won awards at ISEF. I’m also an Asian with interests in STEM, and have won awards at my state science fair and at (less prestigious) international science fairs like I-SWEEEP. I have a chance of qualifying for ISEF this year, so that’s really what I’m aiming for, but do you really need ISEF to distinguish your application from the thousands of other Asian STEM applicants?
No.
Source: The two people from my school who were accepted last year - both Asian - didn’t have ISEF. One had science fair/research as their primary extracurricular and some regional/state awards, but never managed to make ISEF. The only student who has made ISEF from my school in recent memory was rejected.
That being said, it’s definitely an accomplishment to be proud of.
Agree, no. But you do need a much better read on what MIT does look for. Have you dug into what they say?
@thinkingfastslow thanks for your input!
@lookingforward I’ve read many of the blogs, and looked through their website. I just wasn’t sure if state science fairs
(as opposed to ISEF) aren’t enough to distinguish an applicant.
*are
Not in themselves. But no contest is, aline. In your app, you’ll form a self presentation. It’s really about the “whole,” not just highlights on a resume. It helps to (try to) understand your full match, the qualities they look for and how that shows.
As I said on another thread, some rounding is good. Try to look for some of the kids they brag about (or eg, blogger backgrounds.) It’s more than academics. More than all-stem/all the time.
Is it okay to have close to no competitions, so essentially zero awards, if you’re an Asian STEM applicant? I read that 31% of the students at MIT are academic superstars, which means winning a major competition; that proportion seems quite high. Also, if 1,700 students go to the ISEF each year, that’s 6,800 chances to qualify for each class. And if MIT admits 1,500 students a year and Caltech admits 600, theoretically, all of them could have qualified for the ISEF. Even top public engineering schools like Berkeley engineering seem to be full of ISEF qualifiers and they only admit 1,300 a year, so all the students there could be ISEF qualifiers as well. I personally despise all this hype about ISEF because everyone there is only there because of a judge’s subjective personal opinion. I’m sure they’re some amazing projects that didn’t make it and some not so great projects that did.
@“Prestigious Nerd” That’s why I’m actually kind of worried. In my local science fair (qualifier for ISEF), the son of the head coordinator is competing and I’m worried that she will show favoritism and pick him for ISEF.
@esperantist I will say that a few people have gotten into MIT from my school over the past few years and none of them made it to the ISEF. I know at least three just in the past two years. One was Asian and two were white. I also know a few people from other local schools who made it to MIT and I think only one had ISEF; multiple were Asian. None of these people even had regional science fair or any awards for that matter. I think it’s more about having passion and showing what you can contribute to campus. Just submit your research paper. I wouldn’t sweat not having ISEF.
Sometime student can not compete in ISEF as professor who is a mentor let student working them on a cutting edge research. professor do not want to share their work with the world till it is final, so student make agreement with the professor that no ISEF participation about student summer internship.
@nynycasino1234 Would you say a device made in two weeks, but is well done and has huge potential, can make it to the ISEF? I literally started my project two weeks ago and completed it and have to say it’s pretty amazing and definitely on par with othe ISEF projects I’ve seen, but there seems to be a hole here about what exactly they’re looking for. I’ve seen participants who did very similar projects but spent over a year on it, so I’m not sure what exactly I’m missing. If I give a killer presentation at my local science fair, should I have a good chance of qualifying. 6 out of 600 participants at my local science fair get to go, but many of the projects at the fair are a joke.
@“Prestigious Nerd” no idea
@lookingforward I thought it was better to have one specific strength rather than be well rounded. Or am I mistaken? I have some non-STEM activities (varsity tennis, quiz bowl) but I’m not sure if those really make me well rounded.
As an Asian MIT alum (class of 2012). I can say that I never did ISEF, yet alone any sort of international competition.
The most prestigious things on my high school resume were pretty much just competitions and awards at the state level, such as the Hoosier Academic Super Bowl, the Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics Contest,
and the National Mathematics League where I had ranked at the state level, but not at the national level.
If you are achieving accomplishments at the national or international level, I’d say you are doing a lot better than I ever did.
Best of luck to you in applying to MIT. It’s a great school to go to, and I will forever treasure my time there.
I only wish that professor Eric Hudson was still teaching 8.02 there. He was such a great teacher!