Should I bring up a blemish in my school career?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>I am an academically strong student (95th percentile rank, 2290 SAT) but I made a major mess-up in my high school career. In my sophomore year of high school, I failed to hand in my history research paper in time and received a zero for it. This brought my yearly grade from an A- down to a C+, my worst grade in high school. My question is this:</p>

<p>One of MIT's short answer questions asks about "something important that didn't go as planned, and how you managed it" and I was wondering if I should bring up my faux pas, mentioning how I used it to grow (this isn't BS I actually did learn a lot from my mistake). </p>

<p>On the one hand, they may see my tackling of the issue as a learning experience as mature and appreciate my openness.</p>

<p>On the other hand, they may just toss out my application because of my mistake.</p>

<p>What do you think MIT's thoughts on this would be?</p>

2

<p>Ha, I don’t think they will toss out your application for a C+ that you claim to be a learning experience.</p>

<p>Sounds like as good a thing to write about as anything to me.</p>

3

<p>You won’t get tossed out for one C+. That said, if it was a valuable experience that best suits that essay, feel free to write about it.</p>

<p>Sounds more serious than a faus pax to me, though.</p>