<pre><code>I am currently a junior at Middleton Magnet High School in Tampa Florida, and I have been glancing through posts and other threads on this forum
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<p>regarding applicants getting into and getting rejected from MIT. Since Middle School i always wanted to get into a school where I could among people who greatly
appreciate the power of knowledge. I have met many intellectual people in my life but there was one thing about them all that bothered me. They seem to always have a reason to learn. For instance, they study for a test, an essay, something in that standard. None of them studied just for fun or just to gain knowledge. My mind set is that I don't go to school to get a career or to be a functional person in society. I only go to school to become greater than a human to become superior to a human. In the sense I wish to create my own world and my own creatures. (virtual world). In school, i am commonly known for "getting information out a teacher". I constantly ask questions and debate about teacher's true meaning of what ever the topic is. I never give on not completely understanding any material that is given to me. I study until I have 100% complete understanding. This trait is the main reason why I excel in the grades I make in school. Moreover, I always appreciate how the Creator of this existence (not affiliating with any religion) had the intelligence to design and create everything. I dream in my life to become that type of person, to become a creator. Sometimes I am a bit frivolous about the development of human kind and human community, considering the fact that i don't feel that purpose has really any true meaning. I have seen that MIT is looking a "well-rounded" person who can fit into their so called "human" environment. On the contrary, i feel that i am the opposite of that. My true dream is to go beyond the capabilities of a normal human being.</p>
<p>My main reason for writing this post is to see that if i were ( and i will) apply for MIT my personality fit MIT or would it hurt my chances getting in.</p>
<p>On more thing..</p>
<p>Currently i have 3.6 GPA unweighted 5.3 weighted. Taken AP Chem, going to take BC calculus and AP physics. A+ certified computer technician, going to apply for network/security certification.</p>
<p>ECs
on a FIRST team (Robotics team 1369, programmer, 3rd year), Menti Libre Alli (Science Club), Engineering Club</p>
<p>I'm not good at advice posts and so forth, and not particularly well-versed in MIT-related things, so I'm sure someone with more experience could answer your question better. I just wanted to respond to the initial thread title.</p>
<p>It's really not about your personality being "good enough." That idea makes me cringe a little. There's a difference between "value" and "fit," and I believe MIT assesses the latter. I think, rather than wanting the "best" personalities, MIT wants the specific kinds of personalities for which it can provide really valuable experiences. So if your personality "hurts" your chances of getting in, it's probably not a place where you want to be in the first place.</p>
<p>That being said, from what you wrote it seems like you would be happy at a place like MIT, and I'm sure that will show on your application. Just remember that college admissions is not a definition of your identity or an assessment of your human worth. And trying to mold your personality for the process could very well result in decisions that are regretable for both sides.</p>
<p>There's nothing better that you can do than be authentic (I know this sounds cliche, but personally I didn't completely understand it for the longest time, and right now I think it's really valuable (cliche or not)). Sorry for the wordiness and all the air-quotes.</p>
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Just remember that college admissions is not a definition of your identity or an assessment of your human worth. And trying to mold your personality for the process could very well result in decisions that are regretable for both sides.
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<p>I understand where you are coming from adellaid, on the contrary i don't see how i can accept not being able to get into MIT. You see, its the fact that i don't believe that any school in the country has the desire to learn besides education. Yeah, I understand that we need to product citizens of human society.(get a good education. get a good paying job). But that's not what i really care about deep in side. I want to be around people who want to understand every thing. People who admire GOD's power so to speak. I might go insane if i can't get into this school, considering the fact that no one understand or feed my deepest desire.</p>
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I want to be around people who want to understand every thing.
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While it's true that there are many such people at MIT, there are also many such people at many other fine universities in the country. And honestly, there are people at MIT who <em>don't</em> necessarily "want to understand every thing". There are humans at MIT just like anywhere else, and they fall on a spectrum. I love MIT, and I dearly love some people who attend/ed there, but it's not totally without parallel. Be open to other possibilities, since admission is never a sure thing and every applicant needs to be aware that they may have to accept not being admitted. There <em>are</em> other options; now would be a good time to investigate some of them for yourself.</p>
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There are humans at MIT just like anywhere else, and they fall on a spectrum.
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<p>Yeah i can see where you are coming, actually i already know this fact and i have already looked upon many other profound colleges in the country. But that not really the point. There are simply to many humans in this world making us insignificant. You probably don't believe this and thats okay, however that is my philosophy. I don't want to grow up being an average human or human at all. It sounds crazy but i can't shake this desire. I want to get into MIT so that i speak my views so that they may follow my path to become superior to a human. Yet when i think about what you say and what every body tells me....humans don't think the way that i think. I started to believe that i am not normal. But i still feel that MIT might select me because of my views and my grades. However if they don't, what other school can understand me.</p>
<p>University of Chicago is a very, very intellectual place, and incredibly challenging, if that's what you're looking for.</p>
<p>I can't decide - is it that you love to learn for learning's sake, or that you want to become famous through philosophy, or something like that? You're couching it in such bizarre terms...</p>
<p>It seems that you'd like UChicago, though...they're all about THE MIND and stuff like that. I loved their essays on their application, haha. But yeah, learning is cool. If only you could make money doing it... <em>sigh</em></p>
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But yeah, learning is cool. If only you could make money doing it... <em>sigh</em>
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<p>That comment is why the world is going downhill because everyone is worried about living this "human" society that we live in. I don't think Galileo was thinking about making money when he doing research about space or Albert Einstien theory of relativy wasn't to make him rich..But i am betting you were kidding</p>
<p>Well, not to be overly pedantic, but to even consider a career in science >100 years ago, one either had to be rich already or to marry rich (since science was self-funded rather than funded through the government as it tends to be today). So, no, scientists in the past weren't worried about making money, because they already had gobs of it to begin with.</p>
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But no matter what you do. You'll always be human.
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<p>well it seems that you are not the first one to tell me that. My friends and family has also told me the same thing. However, every time i hear this, i get really angry. Why? Simply because they believe that they will never be better than what they are now. A human. Humans are limited beings. Also, I thought that Science did not believe in absolutes at all, and that all theories are a possibility. I mean what really is the point of going to school or to go to college. Is it just to get a well paid job and live in this corrupt society that we live today or is it more than that, and i am saying this to all people of the world. If you really believe that you can go beyond your limits then this will be man's greatest downfall.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, I think it's a very human desire to want to overcome your own condition and to understand truth and so forth. But I don't think Galileo or Einstein were trying to become God through their work. And you probably will go crazy if you try to understand everything -- but it will be a good kind of crazy, in my opinion, and it will make you into a better person, "not average" if you will. </p>
<p>However, it won't turn you into some kind of magic robot. =)</p>
<p>P.S. I think you'll find that there are many schools in the country where you can find people who love learning for learning's sake. But I doubt there are any populated exclusively by this type of person.</p>
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every time i hear this, i get really angry. Why? Simply because they believe that they will never be better than what they are now. A human. Humans are limited beings. Also, I thought that Science did not believe in absolutes at all, and that all theories are a possibility. I mean what really is the point of going to school or to go to college. Is it just to get a well paid job and live in this corrupt society that we live today or is it more than that, and i am saying this to all people of the world.
<p>I know that presently i am a human. What i really mean is that everyone wants to stay as a human. There is nothing good about being human. You might not believe this but that is okay. *Is i possible to become something above a human.*Your not human if you can live over a millennium or be able to regenerate yourself if one of your limbs were cut off. Basically, what I am saying is that refuse to live and die like any of the 6 billion humans on this planet. I rather be greater than a human, and i believe that with enough knowledge it can happen. Knowledge is power.</p>
<p>PS: I think i am pushing a bit too much...you seem a bit tense...so sry</p>
<p>"What i really mean is that everyone wants to stay as a human."</p>
<p>Just to add to the discussion, the above is of course false. Lots of people in the past thought they could become immortal. Ancient Egyptian kings claimed to be related to gods and had pyramids created for them and all sorts of riches stored inside for their afterlife. De Ponce looked for a Fountain of Youth in Florida so he could live forever. The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone in Harry Potter is based on real human legend. Alchemists looked for it. And there are tons more examples in history. Basically if you, for example, write an MIT essay about how "everyone [except you] wants to stay as a human" you might come off as narrow minded. Huh, unless you're just trollin'.</p>
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Just to add to the discussion, the above is of course false. Lots of people in the past thought they could become immortal. Ancient Egyptian kings claimed to be related to gods and had pyramids created for them and all sorts of riches stored inside for their afterlife. De Ponce looked for a Fountain of Youth in Florida so he could live forever. The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone in Harry Potter is based on real human legend. Alchemists looked for it. And there are tons more examples in history. Basically if you, for example, write an MIT essay about how "everyone [except you] wants to stay as a human" you might come off as narrow minded. Huh, unless you're just trollin'.
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<p>Yes if i was speaking about the past but right now it does not seem that people think this way anymore. Or am i wrong</p>
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There is nothing good about being human.
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<p>Au contraire, my friend. There's nothing good about being completely devoid of humility. Before you reference your dear friend Einstein some more you should learn about his personal philosophies re: life.</p>
<p>"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind." --Einstein.</p>
<p>"[Man] tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it. This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own fashion. Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way peace and security which he can not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience."</p>
<p>"but right now it does not seem that people think this way anymore."</p>
<p>Well, I think part of the reason why there isn't anyone running around looking for the fountain of youth, or something similar, is that there is so much information out there. There are so few utter mysteries that the average person can be concerned about. Yeah, sure, there are mysteries about space and about the brain and about space travel or whatever, but very few of those touch the average person's life. The stuff that used to evoke such wonder (rain, aging, the movement of the stars), is pretty much explained. And I guess that so much is explained that people are just kinda like "eh, some one will figure it out eventually."</p>
<p>Just some thoughts, I guess. Sorry if you were looking for something useful.</p>
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There's nothing good about being completely devoid of humility.
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<p>Thats what a human would say..all this socializing business with other humans means nothing to me really. I admire Einstein because of his intelligence not because of his personality. </p>
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"[Man] tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it. This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own fashion. Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way peace and security which he can not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience."
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<p>The synopsis that i get from this is that humans tend to want to live in their world so that they can over come the obstacles in their life. Deep down side i think everyone hates the position that they are in now, and would give up everything to get something else in return</p>
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There are so few utter mysteries that the average person can be concerned about. Yeah, sure, there are mysteries about space and about the brain and about space travel or whatever, but very few of those touch the average person's life.
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<p>That is just laziness in the part of a human. People should not say that they don't want to discover things because they feel someone else will do it. Even though we know so much from science, we really don't comprehend it. Most of science is just theories. What everything we see, hear, or smell is just a lie. We know how water is made but we can't make water out of nothing.</p>
