<p>Also, might I add, that mathematics is a great major for slackers. No papers to write, no projects to hand in. Just a few problem sets and exams, and picking the right classes + doing the bare minimum gets you a degree really fast.</p>
<p>I’ll emphasize that I agree with the above that STEM might not have been their genuine calling in the first place. And, really, there are few reasons to stick to a major that isn’t one’s calling - one being that it is not something one minds doing and might have more appealing career prospects, and I think to someone who cares about that so much, it’ll be enough motivation to stay in a STEM field.</p>
<p>^^ I would agree that Stanford is a better choice for prospective students who aren’t really sure that STEM is their calling. Students who remain committed to STEM fields will find their own support groups on the campus. It’s just a very different culture than at MIT, where a large, critical mass of students may enjoy dancing, acting, painting, crewing or writing poetry, but they also can’t seem to stop themselves from telling math jokes, hacking, and building stuff.</p>
<p>As for mathematics, about half the MIT students I’ve met over the past 5 years were double majors: math coupled with something else.</p>
<p>@MITChris: I am surprised that an admissions officer would openly refer to the theory of higher SAT scores implies higher income. If that is the case, why bother asking students for the SAT scores? Your comment is no better than the original comment of SAT scores implies smarter.</p>
<p>My D picked MIT over Stanford for class of 2016 for bio-engineering. She spent two nights at both places and felt she fit in better with the MIT student community.</p>