The website instructions say “Researchers may include a PDF of their abstract, poster, or research paper if available”. But the actual Slideroom field says only “poster or abstract”, so which it is really? I told my son to go by the field prompt, but a clarification would help.
And if a paper is OK to upload, is it a good idea? I know it’s been said on this forums that admissions prefer abstracts, but if they end up sending the portfolio to a faculty member, it seems to me it would be easier to judge the quality of the research from a full paper even without reading it carefully - and of course it includes the abstract prominently.
Although not your question, it really comes down to what you can submit versus what you should submit… AFAIK, you can submit either. As for the should part, here is what Matt McGann said while he was still Director of Admissions at MIT (he’s since moved on to Amherst)
https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/supplemental_material/
As for your comment:
IMO, if they want the full paper after reading the application, they will ask for it.
@skieurope The MIT Research portfolio is a new type of OPTIONAL portfolio at MIT, in addition to a Maker Portfolio that was started after 2016. I believe a full paper can be submitted, for that optional portfolio and there is a set of questions to be answered by the student, as well as a research advisor recommendation that needs to be submitted, so its a lot of extra work, but it does get evaluated today by either local Boston MIT alumni in the field, OR an MIT faculty in the correct field, that volunteers to help MIT Admissions.
Likewise MIT music portfolios are evaluated by musicians, not MIT Admissions. Remember all of these extra portfolios are completely optional, and cannot hurt your application but may help, similar to getting recruited by an MIT Division 3 sports coach may help.
Probably not the best analogy. MIT coaches are known to have no impact on the admissions decision, with a few possible exceptions. Anyway, I stand by what I said. The OP asked the question 3 months ago, and the deadline has passed, so I’ll assume the son has already submitted.
Future applicants can always contact MIT admissions to ask. They are all very helpful and certainly know the nuances better than anyone here.
Athletic recruiting at MIT is at an all time high. I don’t know if coaches influence the decision, but there is actual volleyball, baseball, tennis, soccer and football recruiting going on for MIT’s undergrad class. See attached list of MIT athletic camps for high school students. I see athletes getting into MIT now much more than fifteen years ago, here in Colorado. Running, and football are the biggest draw from Colorado, and we don’t really have A plus football like Texas, but its good enough, apparently for the MIT football team.
https://www.mitathletics.com/information/Camps-Clinics
Maybe @brassratter can comment.
Off topic for the OP. Again, they’ve already done what needed to be done. If one really wants to discuss athletic recruiting at MIT, a new thread is in order.