Optional Essay | Additional Information

[wilson0925]

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@MITChris

You took physics last year? Send us an email pointing out that there was a long, long time between when you took physics and the test. It will help us keep that in mind.</p>

<p>Yes. The perfect place to include that sort of information is section 14 of the essay (the "anything else?" question). Just a quick note - "Please note that I am taking the Physics SAT II after only one semester of Physics" or something to that effect - will suffice. We get this all the time so people understand it, you just want to make sure we know. Seriously, that's all you need to do.

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<p>[thread=815408]How important are SAT Subject Tests for MIT?[/thread]</p>

<p>Is the section 14 mentioned above in section 9 Application Part 2 now?</p>

<p>I don't quite understand the rational behind this quick note to remind admission officers. Wouldn't they think this is an excuse? Will this make any difference to the application? </p>

<p>I am facing the same problem now. I took a gap year. I scored 600 and 650 in physics and math respectively in Nov. Because some of the concepts and formulae are not fresh in my mind now. However I scored all distinctions in my math, physics, and engineering subjects. So am I encouraged to put a note to highlight in section 9? </p>

<p>Anyway, I am mugging hard and will retake my tests in Jan. Hopefully I'll score >700.</p>

[undefined123]

<p>Rationale*
And yes, this is kind of an excuse. However, you don’t have to worry about sounding whiny, because the point of this if for MIT to listen and understand what you have to say. For example, I will write that the fact that I got 770 on SAT Physics was because I self-studied for it. Just don’t say something along the line of “the test was hard.”</p>

[MITChris]

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@OP

I don’t quite understand the rational behind this quick note to remind admission officers. Wouldn’t they think this is an excuse? Will this make any difference to the application?

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<p>Sometimes people like to leave notes because it makes them feel less anxious about their application. In these cases, I like to guide them towards writing a note that will not take much of their time to write, not take much of our time to understand, and might, however rarely, lead us to some more nuanced understanding of their application. </p>

<p>So there, that’s the rationale.</p>