<p>If i've done great in math courses, taken math courses at a local university, and have 750+ on SAT and SATII, but do not have any olympiad things, or math competitions, will this stifle my chances? thanks!</p>
<p>Nah, people show their interests/work ethic/aptitude/etc in many ways. This is especially true if people don’t tend to do those competitions at all at your school, because the opportunity wasn’t as strongly present.</p>
<p>Look at the decisions threads for the last two years (stickied at the top of the forum) – most admits to MIT are smart, accomplished people, but most were not involved in these types of competitions.</p>
<p>If those things were offered or established at your school, then it isn’t a good idea to not participate in them. </p>
<p>It is more important when it comes to what you did in context of where you came from. </p>
<p>Of course is it always nice to introduce those competitions into your school. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This question always bugged me, though: what if you didn’t want to participate in them? I did give Science Olympiad and Math Team a go, but I didn’t really get the feel for it.</p>
<p>I would think that as long you have done something with math or science you should be fine. I have done OK on math competitions but never done well enough to get state or regional awards. I always remind myself that these math puzzles most of the time do not apply to real life. Eg. unless you are a pure mathematician, I would think most of the time you are doing more “engineering” by applying and tweaking already established rules (correct me if I am wrong).</p>
<p>If they’re offered or established at your school, do them if you feel like it, and don’t if you don’t. In my case I did Science Olympiad in 9th grade b/c I thought it’d help me get into college. I absolutely hated it and I decided that I didn’t care about having that to get me into college, so I quit for 10th grade, and in 11th grade I gave it another shot and this time I really really liked it, so I continued.</p>
<p>I don’t think one has to love science/math EC’s to be a good fit for MIT. A lot of those things I feel are a bit like the attempt to have lots of AP’s - resume padding that’s quite meaningless.</p>
<p>oh thank god, you guys have relieved me! i thought everyone was receiving regional awards and such…</p>
<p>"If they’re offered or established at your school, do them if you feel like it, and don’t if you don’t. In my case I did Science Olympiad in 9th grade b/c I thought it’d help me get into college. I absolutely hated it and I decided that I didn’t care about having that to get me into college, so I quit for 10th grade, and in 11th grade I gave it another shot and this time I really really liked it, so I continued.</p>
<p>I don’t think one has to love science/math EC’s to be a good fit for MIT. A lot of those things I feel are a bit like the attempt to have lots of AP’s - resume padding that’s quite meaningless."</p>
<p>If only the world was so ideal.</p>
<p>When we visited Olin a few years ago, they suggested that students do what they enjoy. We encouraged the same with my son. </p>
<p>When Robotics conflicted with Knowledge Bowl, my engineery son opted to continue KB… he had lots of fun and the team earned a state title. He favored music activities over clubs where he could have a traditional leadership roles… and he ended up with some some leadership opportunities via music. </p>
<p>So if there are non-senior students reading this… follow your heart when picking ECs. It will make your high school years memorable, and you will excel if you are happy.</p>
<p>Djokovic - What part of my post is ‘ideal’? I’m guessing you meant the part about not loving math/science EC’s and still being a good fit, seeing as the rest of my post is about my own personal experience. I know lots of people who love math and science and don’t like the shallow nature of most math/science EC’s. For example, there’s a girl I know who absolutely loves MIT - she likes math and science, and she’s good at them, but she’d rather create dozens of personal flash animation projects in her free time than compete in Science Olympiad.</p>
<p>T-bird</p>
<p>That wasn’t what I meant. I meant to say that sometimes when one is trying to show one’s passions for MIT, simply writing about why you fit doesn’t do enough justice. That is why kids looking into MIT are often suggested to participate in these science activities.</p>
<p>Oh I see now. Well, I was just trying to show that there are more ways to fit into MIT than by doing math/science ECs.</p>