Hey everyone! I’ve seen other threads like this for every year and it would be great if former students can collaborate with info and tips.
Hi! I’m a MOSTEC ‘17 student and besides MOSTEC (objectively haha) being the best, I want to remind you that with or without these summer programs, you are a great applicant.
Apart from that, here’s my tips:
- Get recommenders who know you well and can say things about your abilities as well as your achievements.
- take the time to work on your essays. Think them through, work hard and get people to review them.
- Apply to other free programs!! Carnegie Mellon’s SAMS, USC Bovard Scholars, LEDA Scholars, TASP, RSI, stanford’s Medical program, Hamilton scholars, subiendo academy, etc… make sure you have many options!!
Good luck!! @ me if you have questions.
Hey! Another MOSTEC '17 kid here. I just want to say that even though MITES seems like the most worth it of the programs, I can tell you that the others are as amazing also. The thing with MOSTEC is that you get to interact with all these cool people you meet for 6 months!! Even though you’re on campus for 5 days, you gain amazing information through reading other people’s blogs and through the webinars they host. Another advantage is that you can do some other summer programs with MOSTEC so you aren’t limited to just this one.
Anyways, now that I’m done with my promo, a few tips I have are
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Be completely genuine in your essays. You don’t have to show yourself as this STEM god who only seems to enjoy science related stuff. If you’re into humanities and social sciences, write about it!! Something I wrote about last year was my involvement in the music program at my school, and it worked out, so yeah
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Start a group chat! One of the most memorable things I remember from applying is the chat that was created while we were all applying. I made some lasting friendships through it, and its nice to have people you can relate to that can get you through the app process. I still talk to many of these people currently now that we’re doing college applications.
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I had another tip but I forgot it so rip
Anyways, good luck to all of you applying!! Also @ me if you have questions.
Hey there! I’m also a MITES applicant this year.
Does anyone know like around what time applications are released? I know they say late fall but that is so vague. When were they released last year?
Hi. I think this week
Excited to apply!!
The application is open: https://oeop.mit.edu/programs/mites
Mites Chance
GPA: 4.13 out of 4.5
Extracurriculars: President of Global Action, Member of Student Council, Key Club, NHS, Percussion in Band, the Tech Team in my church, Senior project on Music Therapy for Special Needs Kids
Essay: Living with an Autistic brother
Income: $50,000-65,00, A big portion goes to my brother, Free Reduced Lunch
However my PSAT score is a 930
@solarsystem I am interested in applying to MOSTEC 18’. I like the idea that it is online as I travel a lot in the summer for the sport I play. I also will have a family vacation. Are you able to work around your extracurriculars? Are there live webinars and classes that you are required to attend or is it fairly flexible? Thank you!!
Has anyone gotten accepted? Can you tell your stats if so?
@solarsystem @arinuma I know that MITES says “non-minorities can still apply”; however, do non-minorities actually pose a chance in being accepted? Is it even worth applying for the program?
@curiouspenguin I remember last year, some kid brought up this issue in the MITES 2017 thread and pretty much started a minority vs. non-minority thing that led to the decline of that thread for a few months and the increase in members of the groupchat @solarsystem mentioned. I will say this right now: These programs are meant mainly for minorities, but if you are low-income, then that helps. I would encourage that you apply if you are either. If you’re not one or the other, I would still encourage it as you may just end up winning the lottery and become one of MITES’s few non-minorities/high-income students. If anything, definitely join the group chat. That chat was honestly one of the best things that came out of applying to the MITES/MOTSEC/E2 programs. Also, I would definitely apply to SAMS as they give a slightly better acceptance for non-minorities and high-income. I am actually an alumni from last summer. There were 5/127 purely Caucasian kids there, but three of which were low-income.
@solarsystem @arinuma You know you’ve made it when we’ve blossomed from those hopeful MITES kids last year to advising the next year of hopefuls as alumni of both MOSTEC and SAMS. Things truly do come full circle!
@ak2018 Thanks for your response! I really appreciate your input and advice.
Where do you find the group chat? It is not on the MITES webpage.
@curiouspenguin We actually made one with fellow CC’ers (the people on this thread). I’m pretty sure I had a big part in it by advertising the group chat in our MITES 2017 thread. Also, there were definitely more people here this time of year in last year’s group chat. But yeah, if you want to, just make one and ask people on this thread to join. You’ll all slowly learn more about each other. It’s funny too, because our MITES chat eventually trickled into a SAMS chat, Questbridge chat, and normal college app chat. It’s been more than a year since we started chatting with each other and we’re still going strong and congratulating each other when we get into colleges.
@ak2018 I’m looking at the course offerings from 2016 on the MITES webpage. Were these the same course offerings in 2017?
@curiouspenguin I did not attend MITES in 2017, but yes. They were the same. I meant that I was a SAMS alumni.
@ak2018 Got it thanks.
Sorry for the late responses guys!!
@collegevisit the project course section of the program is all done throughout July. You’ll be required to do work and submit assignments to your instructors, and it is crucial that it gets done since your instructors write evaluations for you at the end of the course. I know a few of my other fellow mostecers (and myself) who did other summer programs with the required stuff in July, so it is mostly about time management, and it is also kind of depends on the project course you end up choosing. Although, during the rest of the 5 months, you have fewer requirements and everything is super manageable since it will be your senior year. There will be live webinars and meetings you’ll be required to attend, but like I previously mentioned, it is pretty flexible.
@anonymous522083 results come out in April lol
@Youngmis123 I wouldn’t do chance me threads on here. Accepted students come from a variety of backgrounds with scores all across the table. What I would mainly focus on for getting accepted are your essays!
@curiouspenguin Remember that minorities doesn’t only include race, but also women, people from low-income backgrounds, and much more!! If you think you fit that description, then you’ll be fine. If you’re worried about it, there were a handful of caucasian kids in mostec. And also yeah, more and more people will start to post (and lurk) this thread around feburary when the app is due. I would hold off till then for making a group chat since more people would join at once compared to now. Like @ak2018 said, our group chat took multiple paths, and like I mentioned before, I’ve met some of my best friends because of it! It was honestly one of the best things to have while dreading decisions last year lol. Lastly, course offerings vary year to year, so the ones on the website might not always be the ones offered for that year.
@ak2018 We’ve definitely made it!! Crazy how time flies and we’re considered the alumni now haha
So who’s making the gc lol