<p>Hi - I have a weird question that may have been answered here but I couldn't find anything too similar. I'm looking at a lot of strong, top schools for both academics and tennis. I'm being recruited by MIT... but I'm not interested in math/science - I'm more into humanities, especially political science. Since MIT is such a highly rated school and so many people seem to love it, I don't want to rule it out, so I was wondering if anybody who's not into into math and science would fit in at MIT? Thanks</p>
<p>Well, you’d have to enjoy math and science enough to survive the general requirements: 2 semesters of calculus, 2 semesters of physics, 1 semester each of chemistry and biology, etc.</p>
<p>I believe that if you go to Brown, you’d never need to see a math class again.</p>
<p>If you enjoy mathematics and science but also want to focus on the humanities, then MIT might actually be a great fit for you. You should visit the website and start reading the blogs, including the archives.</p>
<p>Why not? I’ve taken more humanities (non-science) classes at MIT than science and I’m thinking of double majoring in History. (my primary major is Biology)</p>
<p>According to the Enrollment Stats ([Enrollment</a> Statistics: MIT Office of the Registrar](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/yrpts/index.html]Enrollment”>http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/yrpts/index.html)), there are 140 undergrads (out of a total enrollment of ~4000 undergrads) in the HASS (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) department during Fall term 08-09. You can see that there are 14 undergrads in polisci (XVII) and 69 grad students, which means you’ll definitely still find peers within your own major.</p>
<p>Personally, I think (and often vehemently attest) that “MIT is all math and science” is a very, very poor judgment and stereotype of MIT. We have vibrant HASS + Architecture + Urban Planning + Management departments and I’ve taken classes ranging from Economics to Japanese to US Foreign Policy to Art History - thoroughly enjoying the experiences along the way. My friends have taken Jazz, Chaucer, Creative Writing, to list a few and similarly enjoyed their classes.</p>
<p>Take a look through our catalog ([Subject</a> Listing & Schedule Redirect](<a href=“http://student.mit.edu/catalog]Subject”>http://student.mit.edu/catalog)) and see for yourself the scope of classes we offer.</p>
<p>To be fair, I must say though that you need to like science sufficiently enough to get you through the science GIRs (2 sems of physics, 2 of calc, 1 of chem, 1 of bio, 2 REST (restricted electives in science and tech), 1 lab class). Other than that, you’re free to do whatever you want. =D</p>
<p>If anything, I feel like the longer I stay at MIT, the more I lean towards the humanities. I think it pays to be a humanities student at a school like MIT since you’ll definitely get more resources/attention just because there’s less of us around. That’s a positive way to think about it. =)</p>
<p>ps. I remember the polisci department saying that we have one of the best (top 3) programs in polisci (i’m assuming for grad?). I don’t know what the reference is, though.</p>
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<p>Maybe at MIT, political science can somewhat pass for a science. :D</p>
<p>Thanks guys. My big concern was leading the coach on if there was no way I would end up going there, but seeing as it is a possibility I’ll look more closely at it. I’m a good math student - 800 SAT I and II - and 5 on calc soph year, but I just don’t see myself going that direction. I’m fine with physics but I’m not that big on science in general. It’s not that I can’t stand the classes just that I’m not that interested in these disciplines. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>The political science department is fantastic, especially if you like IR/security studies.</p>
<p>There is a brilliant junior mathematician who is also on the tennis team. My son, a sophomore, has pursued his musical interests many different ways (private piano study at MIT’s expense, a cappella, MITSO-orchestra, music composition classes, even a piano for personal use in a soundproof room in his dorm). MIT is in most ways closer to a liberal arts experience than most might think, though you won’t thrive without science interest and ability.</p>
<p>MIT is really dominant in quantitative political science where most of the current action is. Good luck finding a job in academia or elsewhere if you are only versed in qualitative methods. Just as in economics, job prospects for “quants” has generally been much stronger. So, if you want to stand out in a sea of liberal arts majors, MIT may be a very good option. </p>
<p>There are plenty of students at MIT whose interests lie outside of math or the natural sciences. All of them had to show competency in math and science to be admitted and to manage the GIRs. The life sciences are now the fastest growing area at MIT. The social science departments while small have always had a very strong following. </p>
<p>Also, I would not worry about leading the coach on. He has very limited influence anyway and at best he can recommend your application to admissions. You will be admitted based on your academic qualifications first. Strong extracurriculars are only a means to stand out among equally qualified applicants but will never compensate for an average or slightly above average academic profile.</p>
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<p>This is true, but absolutely irrelevant in terms of “leading the coach on”. While having a coach indicate that they very much want you to come and play is a useful hook, but not a guarantee, it is something that the institute takes very seriously. MIT will not compromise its academic standards for a recruited athlete, but when you consider that the Dean of Admissions (Stu Schmill) was a varsity coach before he moved to the admissions department, you will recognize that the coaches input is not ignored (though every year the admissions office has to explain to DAPER that certain of their favourites could not be taken). Further, while the coach has highly limited influence on the admissions process, but Coach Matsuzaki (Women) and Coach Hagymas (Men) do have a huge influence on the Tennis teams. Therefore, if you are extensively e-mailing the coach indicating that you are likely to apply, and you have little or no intention to do so, then you are leading the coach on, regardless of the degree of influence they have. That is just not polite.</p>
<p>I like math and science, definitely, but I’m not like OMG-EVERY-OTHER-SUBJECT-IS-WILDLY-INFERIOR. I hope to take a whole bunch of humanities classes at MIT - writing, music, game theory, languages, etc…I looked up ratings for these classes (at this website: <a href=“https://web.mit.edu/acadinfo/sse/index.html[/url]”>https://web.mit.edu/acadinfo/sse/index.html</a>), and they seem pretty neat.</p>