<p>^ MIT has explained its admissions process all over the website, on blog posts, through officers on CC, etc. I generally assume people interested in MIT has read through most of those things, but maybe I’m assuming more obsessiveness than typical :)</p>
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Anyone except people who actually know anything about the admissions process at MIT.</p>
<p>yeah that’s kinda true … but the holistic process never mentions Medals as an important part of your application … what i really want is some figurative or factual data supporting it … especially from India …</p>
<p>JainAman, I feel your pain dude. I’m applying as a South Korean international and those kids are absolute geniuses. They are math and science prodigies. I’m not sure if every S.Korean admits have international medals, but like you, I have none really to offer except a measly regional science olympiad medal. Hopefully our personalities will shine through the essays. That’s basically the only way I’ll have any shot at acceptance really at least.</p>
<p>So what I can infer from this discussion out here is( correct me i’m wrong): MIT looks for extreme level of passions in Maths & Science backed by some great evidence of excellence in the two fields. Now as far as Indians are concerned, there are many who have won IXO medals to prove there mettle.
For Indians, is there some other way except for IXO medals to show their passions in the two fields, i’m not sure.</p>
<p>P.s Away from all this, what do we have to fill in the Non-scholastic distinctions section in part2- say for example:I have won many competitions(state level, national level) in 2 altogether different fields, so should I just put them under 2 headings or illustrate any 5 of them?</p>
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<p>This world has an incredible number of opportunities for people. I didn’t have any knowledge of Olympiads as a high schooler, but I did get the chance to learn to fly a plane – and I took that opportunity. The Admissions office isn’t going to talk individually about every little thing people can do.</p>
<p>Frankly, the specifics of what you do aren’t terribly important. They’re not going to say “being a musician is better than being an athlete” or “being a pilot is better than building an amateur radio station in your back yard”. The idea is, what opportunities did you have, and did you do something awesome with them?</p>
<p>The type of data you seem to want doesn’t exist for what Admissions’ goal is, which is to find people who will make the most out of the opportunity of being at MIT (and go on to do amazing things with that education).</p>
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<p>Not exactly. A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to show excellence in these fields. Certainly, if you have the opportunities, you shouldn’t be bad at what you do. If you can take science AP classes and you fail every single one, that’s not a good sign – you need to take a lot of science as an MIT student. </p>
<p>You need to show that you’re going to handle the MIT curriculum (which includes a lot of science) and that you will use your MIT opportunities well (which may or may not be in science fields).</p>
<p>Though I’m sure many posters here have already read the below MIT blogs, I think it’s worthwhile for me to post them, as they address a lot of the points raised:</p>
<p>[The</a> Difficulty With Data | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/the-difficulty-with-data]The”>The Difficulty With Data | MIT Admissions)
[Diversity</a> or Merit? | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/diversity-or-merit]Diversity”>Diversity or Merit? | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>@PiperXP … completely convinced with the point Sir , no more points to raise and as a conclusion … the Cornell Letter was and is stamped as a bummer … Hence Proved …!!!</p>
<p>@mrwongburger … Thanks for sharing the pain bro … but as i see it, essays cannot compete against the Medals in though pen is mightier than sword, so our chance really will be our complete application …!!</p>
<p>@quickster94 … since u already said that many posters might have read it so there is no point repeating it but as a matter of fact i should add that the discussion was made as the BUMPED UP letter clearly slashed those words written in above posts and which are shared by MIT officials like MITChris, PiperXP, molliebatmit etc. … so thats where the discussion was bent, to make everybody (including and especially me) clear of the admission process, and i hope many just like me, in the same situation as me, might have got a new inspiration to apply with. (although only hours left to do so but still…) !!!</p>
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Just so everyone is clear: Chris is an MIT admissions officer. Piper and I are not – I am an alumna and Piper is a current student.</p>
<p>I heard of this guy from Taiwan who got into MIT Class of 2015. He was a great student with highscores, but he had no national medals, in fact, he got like a 1or2 for AIME. However, he did what he enjoyed, was a very interesting guy, he applied, and got in.</p>
<p>Medals are great, but aren’t the only way to prove that you’re passionate about something and have the potential to change the world.</p>
<p>deathblade127 … that’s the perfect example anyone can quote man so hats off … but the point is … can u compare this ,i.e., can you tell that a same thing can happen in an applicant pool including almost 20-25 International Medal winners for a selection size of almost 5 regarding that the applicant pool is almost 1000-1200 in strength ?? … will the holistic selection approach be applied there ?? i mean in a manner of saying, Medals kinda indicate the love for science but not always, but can the app alone with no such achievements stand out to compete the aforementioned 25 others ??</p>
<p>Honestly dude, medals are important. Unless you have some other outstanding extracurricular (I’m already assuming your test score are great), don’t expect much, particularly at MIT. This is true for international applicants only, of course. For instance, the people accepted at Harvard and MIT from Brazil were IMO, IPho or IBO medalists, winners of the Intel-Isef (the guy built a supersonic hybrid motor), etc. So competition is hard for internationals, really hard.</p>
<p>To JainAman, I’m not really sure what you’re hoping to accomplish in this thread. From postings by MIT alums and my links to the blogs, I think it’s reasonably clear that MIT doesn’t just grab all the I(X)O medalists and throw the rest of the applications in the trash. Why would MIT use holistic admission for domestic applicants and then throw that policy out the window for international students?</p>
<p>But of course, in the immensely competitive international applicant pool, you will need something to stand out. If it’s not a medal, then it’ll probably be a curiosity and passion that’s communicated well through the essays. </p>
<p>You ask a lot of questions that really no one on this forum can answer. We can’t tell you exactly how the admissions process works, exactly how students are selected. Admissions isn’t some hard science in which everything is derived perfectly from axioms or data, and we all have to accept that. I wish you the best of luck with your application, at this point, all one can do is wait.</p>
<p>@Johnstuartmill … that is exactly the point i wanted to come up with… is it important to show your excellence in Physics ( by gettin a gold in IPhO) or/and in Maths (same in IMO) while what you are actually interested is in Computer Science which does not offer such a competition to compete regionally or nationally or so on and so forth … but what if you show ur passion in Computer Science by other means (authentic, genuine and genius means) and … ummmm … as a complementary dessert … you do get to the National level of the IPhO, IChO and similar … so do even then the lack of an “IXO” Medal and Intel Isef and supersonic hybrid etc. etc. make ur app liable to fall out ?? </p>
<p>@quickster94 … umm not to hurt your sentiments or cross you by any chance but the accomplishments are quite clear pertaining to the fact that what ever you just quoted is actually contradicted above itself … and before you start screaming on me (which is what u wanna do right now very badly and i know because … let it be ) before your posts and posts by many alums, as you just said, all i wanted were some figurative and factual data supporting “ur” clause … i just wanted to clear the fact to not only me but maximum applicants applying sideways (e.g. my own city, state etc.) that only Medals cannot get you in … and if you think that i am the one who planted the idea that MIT admissions are not holistic in nature then all i can suggest is that you just read the partial conclusion of the thread that i drew on the previous page … hope you still do not hate me as much … :)</p>
<p>It is important to show excellence in Physics and Math. A gold medal in IPhO would certainly stood out and you would likely be accepted (considering good grades and test score and at least mediocre recommendations and essays). Just because you like CS doesn’t mean you can’t like Math and Physics – actually, Math is very related to CS. A friend of mine majoring in CS at Harvard (but also accepted at MIT) was a IMO medalist. There is also the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), if that’s your area.</p>
<p>Not having an international medal doesn’t mean you’re out of the game. The problem is that a lot of people competing for a spot at MIT from around the world have them medals, and admissions officers, especially at MIT, tend to love them.</p>
<p>quickster94 is spot-on. </p>
<p>The focus on medals to the exclusion of other qualifications is wrong-headed. It’s true that many international admits have high-level math/science awards, including medals in international contests, but it’s not the medals that got them admitted – they had overall strong, compelling applications, of which one component was an international medal. The medals are not causative of admission (and MIT admissions officers don’t “love them”); they’re correlative of an otherwise very strong application.</p>
<p>@Johnstuartmill … well first of all, IIO is something that is not conducted everywhere, e.g. my place, and secondly, correct me if i get you wrong … you are suggesting that if i dun have the medals, i should convince the admission officers that in spite of that i am a strong applicant ??</p>
<p>@molliebatmit … so if i have a strong compelling application , without the medals , and if my recs completely support me and my case , and more or less i have a genuine reason for the medal part … given that the admissions take context into considerations, (and trying not to build this hypothetically ) i am liable to get lucky right ??</p>
<p>@JainAman14 Please don’t think that I “hate” you or anything. I’m just slightly perplexed as to what you hope to get out of this thread, short of an admissions counselor posting here and saying “You will/won’t get in!” You’re asking for figurative and factual data that just doesn’t exist publicly. No one can provide any secret numerical information that isn’t available on the website. </p>
<p>Addressing some of your other points, of course you need to convince the admissions office that you’re a strong candidate. How else do you plan to get in? And what exactly do you mean by “liable to get lucky?” Liable to be accepted? I don’t think anyone can say that they are liable to be accepted to MIT given the extremely competitive international applicant pool…</p>
<p>Finally, I apologize if my posts seem slightly mean or combative. After following this forum for a couple months now, I’m just a little tired of the many posts that are some form of “How do I get into MIT? Oh no, I don’t have any I(X)O medals. Does that mean I will be rejected!?” Major props to the many frequent posters on these forums that answer these questions again and again, especially molliebatmit.</p>
<p>JainAman14: I have been following this thread and have resisted making a comment as others were saying what I was thinking. However, you seem to be wrapped up so tight about the issue of medals that you really aren’t understanding what others are saying (and your posts seem to have a very whiney tone to me). So, I’ll try a slightly different tack. By the way, I am NOT an admissions person, but an MIT alumnus.</p>
<p>Think of a college education as an opportunity. If you think of it that way, then the philosophy of how to choose the applicants that get admitted is a lot clearer; who is going to best take advantage of that opportunity? The application of the philosophy is still very hard and makes for a tough job for those that have to decide.</p>
<p>MIT is one of the premier colleges and presents it’s students with a premier opportunity. MIT, therefore, attracts top tier students. You need to have demonstrated a certain level of academic achievement to show you can handle the classwork, and therefore make use of the opportunity. That makes GPA and test scores important to a point but they alone don’t give the whole picture. Most applicants “preselect” themselves as those without the grades probably don’t apply. It then really comes down to what opportunities you have had and what you have done with them. Some people have a lot of opportunities and some not so many. If you were one of those that had a lot of opportunities then you would be expected to have accomplished much. If you didn’t have a lot of opportunities, but did the most you could with them, then great you would still be a good candidate for MIT. If you didn’t do much with your opportunities, then you’re not such a great applicant. After all, what you have done in the past is the best predictor of what you will do in the future and how you will best use your MIT opportunity.</p>
<p>Medals are not the only way of showing what you have done with your opportunities. JainAman14, what have you done with your opportunities? (you don’t have to actually post them, you just have to be truthful with yourself) At least part of your recommendations and essays should be reflective of your accomplishments, demonstrating what you have done with your opportunities.</p>
<p>@quickster94 … actually what i am trying to figure out , is umm what is like the name of the topic and that’s " Is it true ??" … and i agree all the points that you or some other alumnus, mod, college rep etc. put up, suggested etc. and as a proof i already concluded this idea … but what other are saying cannot be ignored as such too … and all i was trying to do was to understand their part of the idea too … now i have always respected each and every word that any official or anyone associated with MIT like you or anyone else has said … but sometimes (rather many times from past few weeks) i have come across data supporting the idea of this thread … now all i asked was some convincing data of your part of the discussion which i may or may not have got … and that was it end of story, good bye, the end without any questions … but with some doubts that were( and are being cleared) by none others but you guys … i dunno if you have read the posts with data which conceived this idea into many but i got my answer if anyone else got or not … so this was the reply to the part “what i wanted to get out of this post” … and for the “liable” stuff and all … all i was trying to do was to end the discussion with Mr. John … not to end up asking other questions … i know how tired you are … but trust me … except of you guys … everybody has been telling me the same thing again and again with all the facts, numbers and all and all and all … so it was pretttyyy necessary for me to know the truth …</p>
<p>P.S. … I was joking about screaming on me … 
:)</p>
<p>@HPuck35 … that’s the exact point i was trying to get some consent over Sir ( or Ma’am i am not quite sure so i think you can forgive me ) … but was unable too … if you have followed this thread you can easily get to know that what others (i.e. excluding anyone associated with MIT ) have said so far that only medals get you in, you have to show them passion, intl’ admissions are so competitive that i u dun have a medal you will not make it to MIT , medals show your passion or what not … but what was i trying to know/tell/find out was if it is true or not … i am not caught in the idea that getting medal is everything and that is because i dun have one and there are genuine reasons behind them , reasons i dun think i should share here but what i would love to with MIT , but now that was my question … will MIT accept it becuz all those talks that MIT is looking for Medals in intl’ admits and all … and i got my answer , by you ( the best way possible, loved the way you explained me honorable one [ i dunno how to address you]) and by others … and that was my part of the story …!!!</p>