Not quite a "Chance me"... okay it's a little bit of a "Chance me"

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi, so I'm the typical "smart kid" (top 10%, 2250 SAT, 780 physics, 790 math, 5s on APs, great teacher recs, etc) that yearns for MIT. The thing is just that, I feel pretty typical. Assuming I'm qualified in terms of academics because who really even cares...</p>

<p>I want to major in materials engineering, I've done 2 summer programs (not very selective) about it and just have this love for the science. I think it's so cool. I'm a girl, but that doesn't really make a difference for MIT much. </p>

<p>I've volunteered a TON (800+ hours) and eventually landed a high leadership summer job at this nonprofit fine arts center in my community, got a killer recommendation from the executive director</p>

<p>I'm the stage manager and technical director, and in the past I've been the lighting operator, for my high school's theater. Also done community service stage crew/lighting stuff for local dance groups and what not</p>

<p>Leadership positions on robotics team</p>

<p>Typical stuff like national honor society, etc. </p>

<p>Won the best math student award two years in a row, bausch and lomb award, Wellesley book award, national merit, ap scholar, high honors, blah blah</p>

<p>No crazy internships, no crazy major awards. My ECs are decentish I think (I don't have very many, but I have leadership positions and strong commitments in all). I go to a crummy public school that hasn't sent anyone to an ivy in years and hasn't sent anyone to MIT ever, so my expectations are low. I think I can pull off really spectacular, witty essays, and stand out in an interview. MIT is my dream school for a bunch of reasons and I think I could pull off showing that in my app.</p>

<p>I have several possibilities:
1. Just sort of fall in with the group of applications
2. Middle range academically+ECs, but stand out because of personality
3. Of course you'll get in yayitsme123 you're such a modern marvel of academic achievement in these trying times congratulations</p>

<p>Opinions? Suggestions?</p>

2

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Nope.</p>

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Nope.</p>

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Nope.</p>

<p>You are unique, just like everybody else, which is as tragic and as wonderful as it sounds. No one can tell you how your application will do because no one can see your application in full alongside the rest of the class of 2018 until you apply.</p>

<p>

That is wonderful! Do your best. Focus on what you can control. Read this page: [The</a> Match Between You And MIT | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/match]The”>What we look for | MIT Admissions)</p>

<p>You sound like a wonderful person and I would be thrilled to see you on campus with us. If that doesn’t work out, you also sound like the kind of person who can make an important difference in the world no matter where you go to college. Keep in mind that college is a stepping stone, not the end of the journey, and that luck is a massive component in college admissions. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Thank you, that made me smile so much! :slight_smile: Yeah admissions are pretty random but I’m glad you think I’m interesting!!!</p>

<p>I know I’ll be happy and do great stuff wherever I go, but MIT would be the icing on the cake, plus there are sooo many opportunities there. I’ll definitely keep all this in mind. Thank you! That blog post was really good, and I think (hope) that I embody those qualities and I think (hope) that I can show that in my application.</p>

4

<p>Here are my thoughts:</p>

<p>You have the necessary grades and qualifications. However, Your “chance me” spiel does not really grip me. If this is the image you project to the admissions committee, I just don’t see you standing out. I understand that you have just quickly rattled off your qualifications… but you haven’t emphasized anything.</p>

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</p>

<p>This is, really, the important part in my mind. But, the essays needs to be more than spectacular, witty, etc. They need to SAY something. You need to come up with some sort of USP (unique selling proposition) - a coherent image of yourself that will capture the attention of admissions officers. </p>

<p>Anyhow, my opinion is, almost all “chance me” threads focus on a listing of achievements, grades, honors, etc. as if this will be the deciding factor. If this is the focus of your application, its going to say “I want to go to a top school, any top school, so I did all this stuff”. That is not a very good reason for an admit. You should strive to go beyond that, and project the message “this is me, these are my passions. As you can see, these passions make MIT the place for me”.</p>

<p>So, to make your “chance me” thread better, give us a more personal summary. The real point of a “chance me” thread should be getting advice on how to make your application stronger, since none of us can actually tell you what your chances are.</p>

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<p>Exactly, sorry, I didn’t explain the purpose of my post enough. I wanted to sort of rattle off everything I’ve done, just to prove that/ask if I’m semi-qualified, and THEN ask if the community thought I could possibly get in on personality BEYOND all of this stuff. I didn’t go too deep into everything I do, because I didn’t want to make the post too long, and I wanted to actually get feedback. I have genuine genuine passions for everything I do, and can definitely get that across in essays and interviews. That is what I was trying to say with this post. </p>

<p>I’m going to present myself as a girl that has taken advantages of opportunities in her tiny community and created her own opportunities. I’m amusing and happy and driven with a natural curiosity. </p>

<p>Also, I realize this is probably a really generic description of myself. Again, I can write a good essay focusing on one facet of myself and really bring it out. For me, the main thing I want to emphasize is how I’ve combined my logical interests with my creative interests, and both those sides of me come together to improve my skills in each area. I want to do this because I obviously have a lot of experience in the arts, and I want to try and relate it back to my MIT-esque love of science while keeping it as an individual creative point. For example, I use math all the time when I’m drawing to get realistic proportions, and I use creative thinking to come up with derivations in math constantly. </p>

<p>Another thing I want to emphasize are the complications of live theater. Because I’m stage manager, technical director, and I’ve worked in lighting, I have some really amusing stories of minor mistakes on my part, but overall I’m a leader and a reliable cornerstone of my local theater. So, in that essay (whatever topic it may be) I can present myself as someone human who makes silly mistakes, but moves past them and maintains confidence. I’ll poke a little fun at myself, talking about some of the goofier messups I’ve had, and then I’ll go on to talk about the positive side of things, and how my duty as the lighting operator was to illuminate not only my own hard work, but everyone else’s.</p>

<p>I also want to talk about my small town, and how I’ve gotten around the small community mentality by reaching out to the internet and travelling</p>

<p>I’ve really thought a lot about my essays and how I want to present myself. I’m sorry if this thread came off as a “here are my grades, here are my ECs, am I gonna get in?” because that wasn’t what I was going for. I was more going for, “are my grades and ECs enough that I can possibly get in with character?” but I didn’t present my character at all. These are really quick descriptions of the personality I’m going for, by the way, and definitely extremely unpolished versions, so any feedback would be much appreciated!!! Are they boring, should I rethink them, narrow them down or expand them?</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the additional info. I’ll offer my thoughts on what stands out to me and what doesn’t, for what its worth. Honestly, its not worth a lot because, clearly, I’m not on the admissions committee, but hey, the admissions officers are people too… and what one person finds exciting/compelling, others are likely to as well. </p>

<p>But anyhow, take this with a grain of salt.</p>

<p>

This is good, but definitely don’t say this outright. It sounds boring and typical. I wouldn’t waste breath (words) trying to convince anyone that you took advantage of the opportunities presented to you, because of course you did… You should touch on this indirectly, but it should be treated as a given in my opinion. </p>

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I like this. This could be a compelling, interesting essay. Maybe its because I happen to believe that the most exciting stuff comes from the right combination of different skills and interests, but either way.</p>

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I would be careful on this topic. Make sure the essay is about you, not live theater (or anything else).</p>

<p>In one of my essays, I wrote about car racing, something I used to do semi-professionally and felt really passionate about. It took a number of revisions and edits to really focus the essay on myself, rather than the sport in question. When you are passionate about something, its easy to ramble on endlessly about it, but remember, the essay is about you.</p>

<p>Another general tip, the purpose of an admissions essay is often to tell the admissions officer something about yourself. A belief, a strength, etc. It is really easy to say something like “and, as a result of this experience, I am a stronger/better/more confident/etc. person”. But, actions speak louder than words. Your essay should make its own point without need of an explicit statement. I personally think it is better to avoid explicitly “stating facts” such as these to the reader. It is better if the reader gets a glimpse inside your head, rather then being told what your thinking.</p>

<p>Hopefully some of this rambling makes sense/is helpful. I really do believe the essays are very key (the most key), and taking full advantage of them is paramount.</p>

<p>ps: Stage lighting is a super cool industry. I’ve done lighting for a couple outdoor festivals/etc. So much creative and expressive stuff you can do with lights.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much! I’m glad you like the “sides of my brain” essay, that’s one of my favorite concepts I’ve come up with. That’s a really good point about my passions and focusing on myself, and I’ll definitely narrow my essay towards my own thought processes rather than outright stating “this has made me confident”. Maybe I’ll write more about the complications I’ve personally had with live theater, and how I’ve improved as a result of making little mistakes. The most nerve-wracking thing is that when you make mistakes in lighting, everybody can see them. Yay another lighting nerd!!! :slight_smile: Also, I’ll avoid stating who I am generically, because, I realize it’s not that compelling.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to read about me, and offering your insights. I’ll take all that advice to heart.</p>

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<p>You remind me a lot of me as far as your amount and extent of extracurriculars, as well as your academic achievement (I was lucky enough to be accepted to the class of 2017). My main advice to you would be to be honest with your essays. Don’t try too hard to be “witty” or “funny” unless that comes exceedingly naturally to you. Just have a conversation with the admissions committee and answer their questions. Talk about things that you like to talk about, because you can’t imagine how many essays they’ve read full of things that people think they want to hear. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that they value honesty and personality. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Cool that’s valuable input thanks! I do run my essays by a lot of people and if they tell me something isn’t funny, it’s immediately cut. I don’t try and crack jokes for the sake of cracking jokes though, more just little additions. But I’ll keep the honesty thing in mind!</p>