<p>Hi, I am planning to apply to MIT, and I am primarily interested in studying Business there. My concern is that I really am not so Science oriented, like the classic MIT student would be expected to be. I still like/ and am decently good at science, and I have an interest in math (on math team), but I don't plan on going into either in college. I am considering a minor in architecture, but that's the closest I will get to going into the math/sciences officialy. I certainly won't have a problem with the GIR's and with some more advanced science/math courses that I may be interested in taking. Do you think it will be a problem for admission? Thanks for the help, guys.</p>
<p>Of course that’s fine, MIT wouldn’t offer non-math/science/engineering majors if it didn’t expect people to have them. As long as they’re confident that you can pass GIRs, you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight. I don’t know if you are an MIT student or not, but do you have any idea how many students pick course XIV or XV per year? I’m guessing it is a pretty small amount.</p>
<p>Last year 103 students graduated with degree in management and 35 graduated with a degree in economics. They’re not unpopular majors at MIT, and the departments are outstanding. ([link](<a href=“Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar”>Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar)</a>)</p>
<p>It’s certainly not a problem not to major in math or science at MIT, but you have to know that you’ll be happy in the MIT environment, and with fellow students who are mostly primarily interested in science and engineering. It’s certainly not true that MIT students are interested in nothing other than science and engineering, but MIT has a different culture than it would if fewer students were passionate about science and engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks.
I go to a magnet school that is very math/science oriented, so I am used to and enjoy being surrounded by that type of people. And I do still have an interest in math, just not as a major. </p>
<p>This is a random question that probably belongs in another forum, but how is the collaboration at MIT? I know that some schools are really competitive and no one wants thelp one another. My high school is very collaborative, and I really enjoy that atmosphere.</p>
<p>I’d certainly expect a sense of competitiveness, but MIT folks don’t want to bring each other down (as they do at JHU, where people literally cut out pages from library reference books so nobody else can study from them). People want each other to succeed.</p>
<p>Hi - </p>
<p>mollie answered your first question (thanks!) We accept plenty of students who want to study things other than science. </p>
<p>However, we do like to see two things: 1) that you’re at least interested in science and technology (you will have to take a year’s worth of sci/tech/math classes, no matter what your major is, including multiple semesters of bio, chem, calc, etc), and 2) that you are coming to promote MIT’s mission. MIT is not the sort of place for business majors whose end goals are to become rich because they went to MIT. It’s the sort of place where people come to do good work in the world through their business. </p>
<p>As for culture - yes, very collaborative. In many classes, students are expected to hand in their homework with the names of the classmates with whom they worked written across the top. There are no honors conferred at graduation so there is no competition for spots or GPA per se. This is an unusually collaborative place.</p>
<p>Thanks. And I agree, business can (and should be) used for more than personal monetary gain, and I think that is the way it should be. </p>
<p>On a side note, do the economics and/or management deparments encourage/ provide opportunities for research? I’m hoping to be able to do more than just take classes.</p>
<p>Yep! We have plenty of econ / business kids doing research - like Paul, for example, who is one of our student workers: </p>
<p>[Paul</a> Kominers: Index](<a href=“http://pkoms.com%5DPaul”>http://pkoms.com) </p>
<p>Did a UROP as a freshman and coauthored a peer-reviewed journal article.</p>