Mit

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi,
I am a rising sophomore in high school. As a lot of high school students, I would like to apply to MIT. I've read some threads in here and some of the achievements and EC of other students are just phenomenal. Me, on the other hand, have never really done something extraordiary like that, although I would like to. Anyways, I have a few questions.</p>

<p>1.) Is MIT a little easier on females than on males? (What I mean is do they become more...lenient when a female is applying?)</p>

<p>2.) Would taking more than 5 APs be good enough to apply?</p>

<p>3.) I have been really passionate about aircrafts every since my cousin (a pilot in Nepal) crashed on a mountainside near the himilayas and, unfortunately, died. Would this be a good essay for how I got inspired or something along those lines?</p>

<p>That's about it.</p>

<p>I am not wondering whether I will get into MIT or not, but just wondering if I should apply or not. Of course, I still have 2 years and I really do plan on participating in more contests (I've done a few...not really big ones though), and I work everyday for about 2 hours at a child care (6 hours in summer 5 days a week Mon-Fri).</p>

<p>Thanks,
I would really appreciate comments and information about what I can participate in.</p>

2

<p>1) Oh ^%*&. No, but most of the people here won't believe it. It is possible, however, that an already-qualified female would get it over an equally-qualified male if only one of them could be accepted. But you have to make the grade like everyone else who gets in.</p>

<p>2) There is no required number of APs to apply. What MIT wants to see is that you took advantage of the opportunities that you had, which doesn't necessarily mean APs - maybe your school has classes that are better than the AP versions of the same subject, and you could explain that - but taking many of the APs offered by the school is one way to do it.</p>

<p>3) If you write it well and it's relevant to the essay prompt, sure.</p>

<p>If you are interested in aero/astro, and it sounds like you are, you could join a model rocket or aircraft team, learn to fly, get a grunt-work internship at an aerospace company or in an aero/astro lab at a local university, or do aero/astro research for a contest like ISEF. </p>

<p>You're in the US, so check out the Civil Air Patrol - they have a cadet program for teens.</p>

3

<p>Thanks jessiehl!</p>

<p>I will look into those things. :) My school offers many AP classes...so I have a lot to choose from.</p>

<p>Actually, I was part of the rocketry club last year and, unfortunately, the altimeter didn't work when the rocket was in the air...sooo we were disqualified.</p>

4

<p>1) No not really. If you look at the situation statistically, women have a clear advantage in that a larger percentage of them are accepted. Does that necessarily mean it's easier for them? Who knows. As many people usually point out, the female pool is a lot more selective than the male pool evening out the percentage discrepancy.</p>

<p>2) Since your school has many AP classes, be sure to take as many possible. The more you have the better it'll look. As jessie said, they only look to see how many of the opportunities you took advantage of in your school. I ended up taking 8 APs total, but my school doesn't offer many in the first place. </p>

<p>3) Yeah that can be formed into a great essay. Be sure to focus more on your passion though rather than the death of your uncle and such. </p>

<p>Research is always a fun activity to do that has many related competitions if you're interested. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Certainly the numbers to the extent they are available would suggest that it is statistically "easier" for a woman to get in. Many explain this through the "self-selecting" pool hypothesis and argue that more of the women who apply are qualified than is the case with the male applicants. However, I doubt MIT has ever published statistics that would confirm or refute this theory and many factors are so subjective I am not sure it would be worth the effort. In any event, the selection process such as it is seems to be working, in that MIT reps frequently state that women graduate from MIT with higher GPAs than men. That stat would appear to be relatively transparent.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Actually, I was part of the rocketry club last year and, unfortunately, the altimeter didn't work when the rocket was in the air...sooo we were disqualified.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's okay. I mean, it's sad for your club after all your work, but you probably learned some valuable lessons from it. You shouldn't think that MIT won't care to hear about this just because it didn't end well...MIT actually appreciates it when applicants have experience with setbacks, because setbacks happen all the time in science and engineering, and because people learn from stuff that goes wrong.</p>

7

<p>1)although they would never explicitly admit it, yes it is easier for females
2)depends on other factors: grades, test scores, etc
3)sure, go for it. sorry about your cousin.</p>

8

<p>Regarding Posts 3 and 6:
The non working altimeter would make a great essay for the something-
-I-built/designed question usually at the end of the MIT app.</p>

<p>As much as you may want to attend any college including MIT do not
lean on gender as a crutch. you are who you are and bring
uniqueness with you. Colleges want you for who you are as a person.
Please believe that.</p>

<p>On a possibly random note:
I used to get very annoyed with blithe remarks about how "economically
disadvantaged" people can easily get into the top schools. The idiots
making the comments to my face (yes I am poor) did not even realize that
the schools I applied to had no way of knowing my status at the time
they offered admissions. Of late I have learned to be magnanimous and
rage less internally. I thnk of it as their pro-cnidarian complex (they
try to emulate the piece they are missing).</p>

<p>Did gender matter at a school like MIT in the late 90's - probably yes.
If you look at the Enrollment composition % males
you will see the split is 55.5 Male to 45.5% female. Additionally a lot
more males than females apply. However what cannot be commented on
is whether the quality fo the female apps is </=/> quality fo male apps.</p>

<p>I do not believe it is easier or harder for any gender.</p>

9

<p>MIT did not turn into one of the top schools in the world by letting in unqualified people.</p>

10

<p>the simple answer to #1 is yes. The long answer is that you still have to be 'capable' and to be honest MIT checks that you're 'capable' and then goes way subjective regardless (for both boys and girls), so in that sense this isn't really any different.</p>

11

<p>Actually, MIT is much easier on girls than on boys.</p>

<p>Look at me: I'm a total idiot. I hate math and science. I couldn't identify a fraction if it bit me in an unmentionable place. My dream career is replacing the tires on garbage trucks. What fun!!! </p>

<p>As far as the application is concerned, I didn't do it. I just sent MIT my name, which is really feminine, and half the application fee, or $52. </p>

<p>This discussion is now officially over. I have to go pack my fluid mechanics and oceanography textbooks; I'm leaving for Boston in just a few days :) :) :) !</p>

12

<ol>
<li>Percentage wise? I guess. if you compare to other schools... not necessarily. Caltech always brags that they don't do AA. But out of 5 Axline receivers that I know, 3 are girls. Of the people who got into MIT from my school this year, It was 50/50. The same people all got into Caltech + 2 more girls that didn't get into MIT! Also, more girls got into Cornell Engineering from my school as compare to guys and probably same goes for CMU, Harvey Mudd. I know it is a super small sample size, but if you look at any engineering school, you'll probably find this trend that women as higher acceptance rate. Generally, a lot less girls apply and they are normally the ones that are really into science/engineering already. For your best interest, you should try your best no matter what. Even if it is easier for girls to get in, you are still competing with some of the smartest girls in the world for a spot at MIT. </li>
</ol>

<p>Keep in minds, guys has a better acceptance rate than girls in Liberal Arts schools...</p>

<p>2 yes... i only took 5 my whole hs career. (sucks that MIT doesn't give credit for 4 of them)</p>

<p>3 and topics written well, relevant, and personalized is a good topic.</p>

13

<p>"Keep in minds, guys has a better acceptance rate than girls in Liberal Arts schools..."</p>

<p>There is no difference at the top LAC's (by top, I don't mean the top 30.) Amherst and Williams have no problem attracting men. AA for boys at Kenyon College probably wouldn't impact applicants to MIT anyway.</p>

<p>"Caltech always brags that they don't do AA. But out of 5 Axline receivers that I know, 3 are girls. "</p>

<p>Caltech doesn't have AA for admissions, but they may use it with scholarships. I'm not sure about that.</p>

14

<p>1.) I don't think they are. They might pick a female over a male if both are equally qualified, but I don't think they would pick a female over a male just because someone's female.</p>

<p>2.) It doesn't matter how many APs you take...as long as you take advanced classes and a few APs as well and do well on the AP exams.</p>

<p>3.) Yes, of course. That would be a pretty good essay and you could tie that well into your passion for aero/astro.</p>

<p>Also, Piper, I was reading through this thread. What do you mean by that?</p>

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<p>"That?" Meaning my last statement? I mean that MIT is considered among the top schools in the world - a status it wouldn't have if it let in unqualified people (ie, being easier on girls).</p>

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<p>Some thoughts, and a rant:</p>

<p>By saying that it's easier for girls to get into MIT, does not suggest they are letting in unqualified people. On the admissions blogs, they stress that MIT has way more qualified people apply than they could ever admit. I personally don't really think admissions is easier for girls at MIT. I used to think it was, and used to think the "self selection" thing with girls was BS, until I saw it happen at my own high school over the course of several years. Any guy good at math and physics would throw an app at MIT, while a girl would only apply if she had additional stuff like doing well at math competitions or do research. Of course, this is anecdotal, but it changed my mind. I even saw a girl classmate of mine with an entire family of MIT alums, 3 years of research experience, Intel semifinalist, math through DiffEq, Orgo, Quantum, and 1st chair violinist get rejected from MIT. Her siblings were less accomplished and less social than she was, yet were deemed interesting enough to be admitted. Who knows?</p>

<p>To my knowledge on the admissions blogs (again), they claim they determine who is qualified to attend MIT, and then pick a diverse, multi-talented class based within that set. How on earth would you determine relative qualification with that criterion? It would be easy to pick out "academic superstars" so to speak, but the rest? Who do you take among the musician who wins math contests, the dancer who battles robots, or the class politician who does biology research, let alone start taking gender into account?? People talk about "well, we have to choose between a boy and a girl, so let's take the girl", but when would that ever come to that scenario realistically? There are just too many applicants to whittle it down to some NCAA-Basketball-like single elimination tournament. Since some comparisons were drawn to Caltech, I remember from a while ago I looked at some data for admissions for last year (I wish I could quote a source, sorry. I'm sure if you dig around Caltech's and MIT's websites long enough, you can find it, or prove me wrong), and the acceptance rate for women at Caltech was very close to the acceptance rate for women at MIT, iirc, 23% versus 27%. I understand that the sets of applicants aren't exactly the same, but I think it still says something.</p>

<p>Of course, what do I know? I don't even go to MIT, let alone work for admissions there. For all I know, they do have an AA "easy button".</p>

<p>What I do know: Caltech has absolutely no AA for admissions. Axlines are given to the highest academically qualified people, as determined by the admissions committee. Gender plays no role in it. However, President's scholarships (I think typically 5 to 20 grand?) are given to a number of minorities who are admitted, and that is how Caltech tries to attract minorities. We cannot and will not admit anyone who we do not deem highly qualified. Our retention and graduation rates are already bad enough...</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
By saying that it's easier for girls to get into MIT, does not suggest they are letting in unqualified people.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If you say it's easier for girls, you're implying that the standards have been lowered for girls. Perhaps "less qualified" would be better than "unqualified" - but it certainly implies that the girls aren't as good as the boys.</p>

<p>I agree with the rest of your post =P.</p>

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<p>What I'm saying is that there is a minimum standard that everyone has to meet, before selection begins. I bet you they admit "less qualified" guys too. Of course, you can still make an argument that it's "easier" for girls on percents alone, but there's really no good evidence that the girls are "less qualified" than the guys, especially since you don't know how many guys are admitted who you would deem "less qualified" as well. There were probably many guys who were "less qualified" than the girl I mentioned previously who were admitted while she wasn't. But I don't know that.</p>

<p>Besides, I think it would be too difficult to determine who's "less qualified" beyond academic superstars, as I stated before, and especially once you start considering applicants holistically, in the context of their background. I (anecdote) definitely lacked science extracurriculars (anyone looking at my awards and activities probably would have pegged me for music school), but Caltech admitted me anyway. Hopefully, it was because they recognized that no science extracurriculars were available at my school (and no one would help me start any!). What little I did and did well at I did on my own initiative. In a nutshell, there are too many variables to make this "qualified" thing as clear as people would like it to be.</p>

<p>As for how women do at MIT, saying that the average GPA of women is higher than the average GPA of men doesn't mean much, since not all majors are created equal, or even individual tracks and electives within majors. It might be interesting to see how men and women compare in GIR classes, since everyone has to take them, but I think that raises an entirely new set of problems (if they're like us, nobody tries their hardest on first semester pass/fail). Or maybe take the median or average GPA of men and women from each major, so the weighting of unequal gender ratios in each major is taken away?</p>

<p>Now that I think I've said everything that's ever been on my mind about MIT gender and admissions, I think I'll take a nice long break from CC. Thanks for the interesting discussion while I wait in lab for my cell cultures to grow up :)</p>

19

<p>look, it's not really even an argument. MIT roughly needs to admit half boys and half girls right? so on some level it has to be easier for some gender, in a given year, that's just math.</p>

<p>but another way to think of it is there's a threshold where you're qualified and above that it honestly is pretty hard to compare. so you have 5000 qualified people and 1000 are girls, 4000 are boys. if you truly can't compare between the 5000, then there's no harm in picking 750 from the girls pile and 750 from the boys pile.</p>

<p>there's another way to look at it, which i'll present as a thought experiment. let's take any admitted class of 750 girls and 750 boys. now randomly pair them up, one boy to one girl. next, suppose we have 750 independent mit admissions committees, each of which looks in isolation at exactly one pair and chooses either the boy or the girl to admit. ask yourself this question: do you think that girls will win half of the battles? personally i'd wager not.</p>

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<p>now that i think about it maybe they would, but it could be because the macroscopic affirmative action leads to a qualitative mindset that has an effect in isolation</p>