<p>A whole bunch (yes, that's the scientific term) of MIT students, alums, and parents post on this board, and we have a whole bunch of collected wisdom on the ins and outs of applying to MIT.</p>
<p>So without further ado, here is advice from us to you on your MIT application.</p>
<p>The most obvious advice is simply to apply if you think that MIT is right for you. Particularly with international applicants, daunted at the 4% acceptance rate, I encounter students who, despite the fact that they would really like to go to MIT, decide not to apply, or more usually, start but do not finish an application.</p>
<p>The simple fact is that MIT admits precisely 0% of those who do not apply. If you would like to attend MIT, then definitely apply. </p>
<p>Do not worry YET about Financial Aid. In time, an aid offer may or may not affect your decision whether to accept any offer of admission, but fretting about it now is premature. If you cannot afford the admissions fee, then definitely apply for a fee waiver; it absolutely will not be counted against you in the applications decision, and it removes the monetary burden of the application.</p>
<p>OK. That's great. You have decided that MIT is clearly for you, and you have decided to apply. Now, do not RELY on getting in. Every year I meet brilliant, talented, wonderful candidates who do not get in. Definitely look at other schools where you would be happy. Getting rejected by MIT is not the end of the world, and you should not put all your mental eggs in that one basket. I have met candidates who have ONLY applied to MIT. Frankly that alone should be proof that they are too unintelligent to make it at MIT.</p>
<p>Do try to relax (hah) and enjoy the process as much as is possible. It really is easier that way.</p>
<p>I would say, first and foremost, don't use the admission results to decide whether or not you approached your high school years in the right way. Admissions are a human-driven process, and errors happen, both random and systematic. If someone from your high school gets in with less qualifications, don't worry about it. In the long run, the creme rises as they say (even if you don't have a flashy undergrad degree from MIT or HYP.) And approach your college years in the same way if you think that is the best way to grow intellectually.</p>
<p>As for approaching the process itself, don't be afraid to discuss your dreams in your essay. Don't worry about being arrogant. If you push yourself to get 100% in your classes as a step toward discovering the next quark, then go ahead and say so. Overachievers sometimes are so hard on themselves that they downplay their own accomplishments and think it presumptuous to suggest out loud that they could one day be a leader in the scientific world.</p>
<p>Essay. essay. essay. By the time you apply the rest of your application, in a sense, already has been "written." You can dress it up a little or explain it a little but it is what it is. The essay is your opportunity to speak directly to the adcoms. Dont waste it. Even if you hate english comp or dont think you are any good at it, use this opportunity to tell them about yourself. Put your application in context. Say something about who you are, where You come from and where you hope to go. Outline different ideas. Pick one and and deveop it ino a full draft. Put it down for awhile. Rewrite it; move things around (dozens of times). Have others read it to make sure you dont sound illiterate (or insane). If it just doesnt work, scap it and start over. And, be sure to edit your final draft over and over again until it can be read from start to finish without a logic or grammar break. And best of luck.</p>
<p>The question that I asked the most when applying to MIT was “why is this application so HARD?!!”</p>
<p>For a lot of you, applying to college will be the most stressful thing that you’ve done to date – I know for me it certainly was. I agonized over every word in my application, got it proofread countless times, and basically freaked out nonstop until decisions came out. I’m sure that I was intolerable for both my friends and my family. You probably shouldn’t do that.</p>
<p>When applying to colleges, I didn’t do anything by the book. I only took the ACT, and I rolled out of bed the morning of the test, drank a cup of coffee, sat the four hours, and then went back to sleep. Later, I did pretty much the same thing for my SAT IIs, with a bit more driving, as they weren’t offered at my high school. I worried about my test scores, but the idea of spending more time and money sitting for another four hours, pouring out my knowledge of biology and math II was horribly unappealing. If MIT was going to reject me because I wasn’t perfect, well, that was okay with me. There are far, far better things that you can do with your Saturday morning than sit for another test.</p>
<p>Writing essays was another matter entirely – I am naturally verbose, so I just wrote every essay that came to mind. Silly ones, stupid ones, clever ones, sad ones – they were all carefully typed into Microsoft Word, until finally, I hit upon the essay that I knew was The One. This seems to generally be the way that things to – you’ll know when you write the right essay (or at least, you’ll pick one on the day the application’s due and send it in). Get someone to look it over to make sure you haven’t made any huge grammatical errors, or written anything that you think is hilarious but comes off as just inappropriate. Aside from that, let your personality show through.</p>
<p>This is the most hypocritical piece of advice that I will give, but eventually, you need to relax. Realize that the application is out of your hands once you hit ‘submit’. You may agonize over every character, type out your social security number time and time again, but there is only so much you can do.</p>
<p>The MIT application is only stressful because you want to get in so badly. For many kids, MIT is the college that they’ve dreamed about for years, for others, MIT is a place that they’ve only recently heard about but definitely want to explore further. You should get a little bit stressed, because it means that this is something that you want, and badly. The admissions officers will be able to see this in your application, and they will like the passion that you show for their school.</p>
<p>You only have a limited amount of space to use, and you shouldn’t waste it telling the admissions officers what you think they want to hear. MIT students have a few things in common – a natural curiosity, a desire to help others, and a zeal for learning. These are things that can only be shown through the way that you present yourself on paper. Write about something that you really, truly love, and the rest will take care of itself. Just be yourself, because you don’t really want to be admitted to a college where you aren’t a good fit and you’d be miserable, would you?</p>
<p>Lay it out on the line – your hopes, your fears, your dreams. The admissions officers want to know you as a person, and they want to know if you’re a good match for MIT. The best thing that you can possibly do for your application is to let them.</p>
<p>Best of luck to the class of 2013!</p>
<p>Laura's official advice for college applications:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>CHILL OUT.</p></li>
<li><p>TELL THE EFFING TRUTH.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For further elaboration, visit:
MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: "Application advice" and MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: "Application Advice v2.0"</p>
<p>^^ :) I like LauraN's advice. </p>
<p>And whatever you do, DON'T WHINE.</p>
<p>1) Don't do things for the sake of college apps.</p>
<p>2) Even though MIT is an engineering school, you still need to be able to write strong essays.</p>
<p>3) Don't be afraid to show your non-science/math/techy side.</p>
<p>4) Make the most of the opportunities you have (or can make for yourself). Don't complain that "my school doesn't have AMC/research mentors/MV Calc..." I remember one CCer last year (who, IIRC, was accepted at MIT EA(?)) started up an AMC/AIME program and robotics at her school. Some kids build awesome stuff in their garages. Some create opportunities for themselves <em>and others</em> in the process.</p>
<p>5) If you are going to submit research to Siemens and Intel, GET IT DONE EARLY. Your college apps will thank you. And if you do well in the competitions because you weren't trying to do that along with 7 APs and 15 college essays and 56 ECs, you'll thank me. ;)</p>
<p>6) MIT is not the only school on the planet for math/science kids. Broaden your horizons. </p>
<p>--parent of a MIT '12 EA accepted student who chose to attend a different school (but whose S will forever have a soft spot in his heart for Random Hall...)</p>
<p>First and foremost: EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU.</p>
<p>Don't go into application season thinking, "Oh god, applications! I'm so stressed out! It's so hard!"</p>
<p>No, it's not. Don't let them convince you that it is.</p>
<p>I applied to 16 schools - with 11 applications. People's jaws will often drop at this number. "HOW DID YOU DO IT?!"</p>
<p>Applications truly aren't that difficult. You answer some questions - you should know your sex, your high school, and your parents' education off the top of your head (even if you don't, you can ask =D). Just be organized when it comes to transcripts, CollegeBoard stuff, and recommendations. Make a checklist and get everything out of the way at once (oh, and try to get in recommendations ASAP - teachers appreciate the extra time). The worst part of an application that you have to do is an essay - but you've been writing essays for years. In this essay, all you have to do is talk about yourself! Be honest, let the words flow, and proofread later. </p>
<p>Don't let others make you believe that applications are this great terrible monster to overcome. The application itself is not that hard. Stop stressing about it and just DO IT =).</p>
<p>Now, the waiting game, an entirely different story. Agonizing for months was terrible - even for me, finding out in December! </p>
<p>So when you find everything is said and done, and now you're twiddling your thumbs until December (or worse, March/April), the task is simple.</p>
<p>Enjoy your senior year!</p>
<p>This is your last year with your current friends and the life you know! Hang out! Take pictures! Go to the movies, or have a BBQ, or whatever it is you guys do together! Make memories! Do you want your memories of your last semester in high school to be "I worried over college admissions" or "I did what I loved and spent time with the people I love"?</p>
<p>Because, accepted or rejected, college admissions shouldn't take your senior year away from you =). </p>
<p>In the end, you'll probably get accepted some places and not so much at other places. Don't let this become an evaluation of yourself. They are not calling you a horrible student - and moreso, they are not calling you a horrible person! Maybe you're brilliant, or funny, or really really good at table tennis. Nothing has changed - you just found out where you didn't fit. Concentrate on where you did get in and find where you need to go. Most people I know who didn't end up in their favorite school came to love their new school - and those were the people who got involved and were set to make the best of it. It's not about where you go as much as what you make of it.</p>
<p>Put your best foot forward, but don't forget to be yourself - not who you think your "dream school"/parents/guidance counselors want you to be.</p>
<p>Remember that applications are an opportunity to brag about yourself - but try not to be arrogant about it. Colleges are looking for students who are excited about the opportunities ahead of them, not resting on their laurels about what they've already accomplished.</p>
<p>Passion is a buzzword used too often. But it's still important.</p>
<p>For a longer explanation, try [url=<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_freshman_application/pauls_top_ten_commonsense_coll.shtml%5DPaul's">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_freshman_application/pauls_top_ten_commonsense_coll.shtml]Paul's</a> Top Ten Common-Sense College Application Tips<a href="patent%20pending">/url</a>.</p>
<p>Be yourself, be confident, and make sure to put yourself out there. Show your dream school how much you want to go there and why. </p>
<p>I threw together a large guide about this a couple days ago on my blog. Check</a> it out or read it below: </p>
<p>As many of the anxious prefrosh [know[/url</a>], MIT has delayed the grand release of this year's application for another week or so, leaving many prefrosh empty-handed. Originally, I intended for this post to be released concurrently with the application, but being the fickle man that I am, I obviously posted it now, hoping to partially satisfy the thirst of prefrosh everywhere by giving them a small taste of what their life will be like for the next few months. Essentially, at the heart of this post is a hodgepodge of advice - and ravings - from an application year veteran. Use the coming week to learn from this and prep for the MIT application.</p>
<p>With all the hype and excitement over this year's applications, I've been having nostalgic flashbacks about my own experience applying. There was that one night in Pittsburgh during my family vacation when I lay sprawled out on the coach until 1 a.m. fervently filling out the activities section in MyMIT. There was the five hour drive back home when I impetuously scrapped two essays and finally hit upon the one for MIT. And then of course there was October 12th, when I finally clicked the submit button and saw 65$ leave my pockets. Oh the good times.</p>
<p>As I sat musing about these memories, I realized there was one important thing I wished I could have had that would have meant the world to me: a simple guide for applying to college! So like any good engineer (soon to be engineer?) I decided to fix this problem for posterity sake by sharing what I have learned from my experiences. What follows is a list of some pointers that will help you prefroshies this year and hopefully for many years to come.</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2724058388_fd56d4c7c7_o.jpg%5DCaution%5B/url%5D:">http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2724058388_fd56d4c7c7_o.jpg]Caution](<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/questions_about_blogging.shtml#c103466%5Dknow%5B/url">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/questions_about_blogging.shtml#c103466):</a> Use at your own discretion. Tailor to fit your needs.</p>
<p>1) Be Yourself</p>
<p>I'm not a fan of overused, contrite statements like "Be yourself and you'll live a happier life," but in this case you really, really do need to be yourself. Many think that the holy-like MIT admissions committee are looking for a certain type of person, you know the MIT stereotype. These people have 2400s, develop new math theorems for fun, and can secretly program AI robots, but secretly don't because they all belong to a clandestine consortium of programmers protecting the world form robot destruction. Fortunately, this is far from the truth as the admission people desire an eclectic class and thus look for special quirks, the things that make you you. Why? Because otherwise every student at MIT would be clones and life would be dull (aka Communism). Admission to top-tier colleges is not random, even though a thorough examination[/url</a>] of the [url=<a href="http://omar-abu.blogspot.com/2008/03/ahh-its-really-so-simple.html%5Dnumbers%5B/url">http://omar-abu.blogspot.com/2008/03/ahh-its-really-so-simple.html]numbers[/url</a>] may make you believe otherwise. MIT looks for a "[url=<a href="http://mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/index.shtml%5Dmatch%5B/url%5D,">http://mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/index.shtml]match,</a>" a set of general guidelines that indicate how well suited you are for MIT. Does that mean you should present yourself in a different light, stretching the truth to be in accordance to the "match"? No, because you don't want to artificially match to a school and then find you are not enjoying the atmosphere of the place. I know many people, some who have even transferred, because they landed themselves in their dream school, but then discovered it was not for them. So my words of wisdom are, read up on your colleges, show them the qualities that demonstrate why you are a match, and all the while be yourself.</p>
<p>2) Know when to be serious and know when to let loose</p>
<p>Think of the application process as preparing for marriage. You can go wild, unleashing your darkest uncharacteristic behavior at your bachelor party, but for the most part, I'd recommend staying faithful and serious - and maybe even subservient - to your loved one. Despite somewhat of a bad analogy, most parts of the application require thoughtful answers so keep the writing relatively formal. Use profound language here and there to highlight certain parts, and even throw in some humorous anecdotes. Definitely have some fun, just not too much fun. Talk about [your[/url</a>] deadly fear of shower curtains or how you still play with Legos (umm...yes that's me). Make yourself stick out in the minds of the admissions officers by telling them something that will distinguish you from the rest and earn you some extra points.</p>
<p>As a side note, keep in mind that the "what do you do for pleasure" question for MIT really means "what do you do for fun." Don't talk about how you nurse stray baby kittens back to health just because you want to impress the admissions committee. Unless you truly do that for fun, talk about how you love playing Rock Band, how you only form scientific words in scrabble, or how cricket is an addiction of yours.</p>
<p>3) Answer the Optional Essay</p>
<p>In this game, optional = mandatory. Yes, there are many stories of people being accepted without the optional essay, but statistically you have a better chance of getting in by answering it. Don't you want to do everything in your power to convince the admissions committee of your worthiness? Ok, in most cases I'd recommend doing the least work possible to excel, as my Physics teacher always said, the first tenet of Physics is laziness, but for this, writing an optional essay allows you to express more about your passions and dreams. It gives the admissions people more to chew on. In my case, the optional essay provided an additional outlet to express myself. One essay felt too restricting. The word limit stifled me and relegated my full writing potential to a cage. The optional essay, on the other hand, has no rules. It's the "Joker" essay (The Dark Night ftw), the essay where you can unleash your writing talents for hours on end until you have a literary masterpiece.</p>
<p>4) Edit, Revise, Rethink, Consult, Rinse and Repeat</p>
<p>The essay portion of the application is by farthest the most important part in my opinion because it's MIT's only chance to see inside your head and see what's really rolling around in there. Luckily for you it's the part you also have the most control over.</p>
<p>While I wish writing the essay was as simple as pressing the "[url=<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YmMNpbFjp0%5DEasy">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YmMNpbFjp0]Easy</a> Button](<a href="http://www.xanga.com/shmor%5Dyour%5B/url">http://www.xanga.com/shmor)" and walla, it's not and will require time, patience, and an open mind. I suggest writing whatever comes to you at first, just to get your gears turning. Think long and hard - even spending multiple afternoons pondering - about what you want to convey and take risks. Write about stuff you wouldn't normally write about. Write about stuff you may have never told anyone before. Show MIT how much you are into them and why. Above all, don't be afraid to scrap a well-written piece because you have a better idea. In fact, I suggest you write intending to only use your third or fourth draft. It took me two essays, one about my middle eastern heritage and one about how tennis changed me, before I landed on talking about my childhood and how my biomedical engineering interests developed through various events in my life. When all is said and done, have people read and edit it. You yourself should at least read it 15-20 times, editing, revising, rethinking, until there's nothing left, but a pristine essay ready for submission.</p>
<p>Add an extra touch to your essays by showing, not telling. Don't just tell MIT that you built a social networking website for your school, show them. Describe the long, frustrating nights it took you before your algorithms worked or how Monster cans lay piled up all over the floor. Grabbing the reader's attention through detail is a surefire way to form a lasting impression. Going this extra mile will make all the difference.</p>
<p>5) Activities... which to choose?</p>
<p>One of the many difficulties you'll encounter during the application process is which of your activities you should include. I will first advise you not to attach a laundry list of your activities because in actuality colleges only [care[/url</a>] [url=<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_selection_process_application_reading_committee_and_decisions/clarification_on_last_post.shtml%5Dabout%5B/url">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_selection_process_application_reading_committee_and_decisions/clarification_on_last_post.shtml]about[/url</a>] the activities that mean the most to you, not everything you participate in. So, yes, unfortunately you must limit yourself to the top 5 or so activities you love. Remember, order matters here.</p>
<p>I will add that the only exception to my "no laundry list" rule is if you truly spend a respectable amount of time in more than 5 activities. Under these circumstances, you may attach something that describes the activities you couldn't fit on the application, but don't just list them.</p>
<p>For activities, it's crucial for you to convey your passions to colleges. Pick an activity - maybe two for you risk-takers - and just discuss every possible aspect of why you love it. In my optional essay, my feelings about research drowned the page. I told them how research impacted me and why it is I did it in the first place. Show them what drives you to reach such amazing heights.</p>
<p>6) SAT, ACT...no worries!</p>
<p>Try not to worry about your numbers when writing up your application. Just list everything as it is and leave the rest up to the colleges. Don't look back. Don't worry one bit. Colleges, especially MIT, care about the perfect "match" and not numbers based off of long, grueling tests. Being a match for MIT transcends any numbers and even grades (well probably not D's unless there's a good excuse).</p>
<p>7) Emphasize Your Love for the School</p>
<p>Don't be afraid of sucking up. In the classroom, being the teacher's pet may have earned you your classmates' snickers (pssh, I loved all the brownie points I racked up), but in the application, it's the best course of action. Schools hate nothing more than just being applied to for the heck of it. I'd recommend inserting school-specific comments here and there. In my optional essay, I mentioned the infinite corridor, the great dome, the [url=<a href="http://omar-abu.blogspot.com/2008/04/while-im-not-cool-enough-to-enroll-at.html%5Dball">http://omar-abu.blogspot.com/2008/04/while-im-not-cool-enough-to-enroll-at.html]ball</a> pit](<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_selection_process_application_reading_committee_and_decisions/there_is_no_formula.shtml%5Dcare%5B/url">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_selection_process_application_reading_committee_and_decisions/there_is_no_formula.shtml) in Simmons, and other random snippets about MIT. Showing a college that it is your number one choice and emphasizing your undying desire to have a home there is truly to your benefit. Let your gut, your heart, and your dreams guide you in choosing the perfect words to express your emotions.</p>
<p>8) Craft a Story</p>
<p>You're more than just an applicant. You are a person with one amazing story to tell so don't look at each piece of your application as a means to an end separate from the whole. Rather, try to weave your wacky and crazy experiences together into a "quilt". Each thread stands on its own, speaking for itself, but together you have a picture, your whole life story. The essays, short answers, recommendations, and grades are ingredients. Make sure that each has its own special flavor while still fitting into the bigger picture.</p>
<p>9) Arrogance, it's not a virtue</p>
<p>Tell it as it is, but don't show haughtiness in your writing. There's an incredibly fine line between discussing your achievements and bragging about them. Don't cross it. At the same time, however, don't be afraid to talk about yourself, your accomplishments, your goals. We all like to talk about ourselves - me more than most - and essentially that's what an application is for, so as long as you don't boast arrogance, you'll be perfectly fine. Be confident. Readers like that. Overconfidence, however, is frowned upon.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that while it may seem easy to rest your entire case on your crowning moments in high school, you must not rely too much on them as after all, they're still one piece of the pie. Weave them into your story to your advantage. Talk about how excited you are about the opportunities awaiting for you in college. While colleges will want to hear about your victories, they will want to know even more about how you plan to succeed at their school. For example, I raved about how excited I was to jump into the research "world" at MIT and how MIT would propel me forward to achieve lengths I never thought possible.</p>
<p>10) The rest is history</p>
<p>After you've completed the application, you're ready for the hardest part of all. Share with others what you've written. Make use of teachers, friends, and especially your parents. My mom and dad were invaluable throughout the entire process. We had many fights over what works, what doesn't, but after the dust settled, everything turned out perfectly. Double check, triple check. Keep checking! There's no extra points for submitting months early. Ask questions. Go to your counselor if you are unsure of something. Venture forth into the uncharted waters of college confidential and ask for help. The people there are tremendously helpful. Even if you don't have a question, go there and read, soak in the advice, and learn from people's mistakes.</p>
<p>Once you feel that you've represented yourself to the fullest, your essays are in tip-top shape, and all around you've written a story that flows from start to finish, you're ready to submit. Before you seal the envelope or hit the submit button, ensure that you are addressing the correct school. Lastly, I suggest, if it at all can be helped, to not wait until the last minute. Servers may crash, electricity can cut out, or life just happens, so plan to submit at least a week in advance. Trust me, it's not healthy staying up until 3 am three days in a row because of procrastination - or perfectionism for many of you.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>Luckily, I survived the application process to live another day - and share my fanatic lessons. This is what I've learned from suffering through the application process. For you, I hope it makes the months of hard work less distressing.</p>
<p>I enjoy sharing my war stories so please don't hesitate one bit to contact me. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help.</p>
<p>On one last note, I officially apologize for the length of this guide. I realize many of you skim these posts, but if this advice applies to you at all, I encourage you to carefully breathe it in and follow it. There's no 100% guarantee that you'll be accepted, but there is my guarantee that this advice is the best I can possibly come up with and will aid you tremendously during what is sure to be a tumultuous application season.</p>
<p>Everyone has posted excellent, reasonble advice so far, but here are some practical points:</p>
<ol>
<li>Set up a spreadsheet with the name of each school you plan to apply to, requirements, deadlines, etc., and update it/check it frequently during the application process.
2.Before starting the applications, gather your vital statistics (SSN and parents' contact info in particular), so you don't keep looking for these for each app.
3.Ask a math/science and a humanities teacher ASAP to write recs for you, if you didn't do this at the end of junior year; they'll get busier and busier after school starts. Don't ask for too many letters; overburdening the app reader with multiple letters can seem obsessive and backfire.
4.If you're applying EA, get your transcript ASAP; see above.
5.Be sure your AP and SAT/SAT-II scores are sent.
6.Don't obsess too much about the SAT/SAT-II scores and don't take the SAT test more than 2-3 times. Any scores above 700 are usually considered competitive. It'll surely look silly if you score 780 and then take a test again!
7.Don't worry if you haven't discovered a cancer cure, done research, or won a national award! Many if not most acceptees are not that accomplished. That said, you need to show in the app what makes you tick, so one or two extracurriculars you've pursued for years are more important than a laundry list of awards, clubs, and activities. </li>
<li>The essays should be used to show something about you that is not otherwise obvious in the app. The short essays are just as important as the long ones. The readers will likely read whatever you submit, so I'd suggest sending in an optional extra essay as it gives you another chance to reveal something about you. Stick to the word limits, though.
9.Don't be afraid to send in supplemental materials, but, again, be judicious.</li>
</ol>
<p>That's all for now.</p>
<p>1) Get a copy of your transcript and check it BEFORE you have the school send it out. S learned this the hard way junior year for some internship stuff.
2) Short essays are harder to write than long ones. Every word counts. Don't jot through the short ones in 10 minutes.</p>
<p>I have a grand total of two words of advice:</p>
<p>DON'T PANIC.</p>
<p>That is all.</p>
<p>I'll link to my first-ever post on CC for this one:</p>
<p>I can suggest the following two points:</p>
<p>A) Have confidence in yourself. If you have something to say, and others tell you not to say it, then reconsider, but don't back down just because it sounds like the safe thing to do. Learning how to take risks is important (although perhaps doing this on the application for the first time is not the best idea). Sometimes (though not too often) the reason a whole lot of people are saying you are wrong is because actually they are. (that sentence structure is foobar but oh well)</p>
<p>B) You can indeed architecture your application (is architecture a word that can be used like that?) to generate a resounding theme. Don't give them 10,000 small stories. Give them a few important stories, that have some kind of theme about you that you are trying to push. Then reinforce it from different angles in your application. The different essays should subtly hint at a kind of inter-essay coherency. You want the sum of the different essay questions to develop you more than any single essay. This takes a lot of thought. Most people asking for chances on these boards say "I'm sure I'll write a good essay." I advise you to be careful. I'm willing to bet most applicants don't write nearly the essay they think they do.</p>
<p>I am neither a student, an alum, or a past applicant, but I think that makes this tidbit of advice all the more proven: don't be deterred by MIT's high standards for math/science in its admissions or its GIRs (which mostly center around math/science). MIT, for me, was an obvious choice, given my interests (linguistics and CS, and MIT ranks #1 in both at some time or another). I did not, however, apply because I didn't think I'd get in without super-high math/science scores and because I didn't like the required GIRs. It wasn't until much later, after I'd applied to all my colleges, that I realized those were pretty petty fears/peeves. I regret somewhat not applying, but after all, I did okay regardless. Don't let those same superficial concerns deter you.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most people asking for chances on these boards say "I'm sure I'll write a good essay." I advise you to be careful. I'm willing to bet most applicants don't write nearly the essay they think they do.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, yes, yes. I become suspicious when every applicant on College Confidential claims that they will have an excellent essay. A lot of otherwise great students are poor at that sort of essay writing, and there are otherwise-qualified-appearing people every year who unintentionally broadcast giant red flags in their essays.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You can indeed architecture your application (is architecture a word that can be used like that?)...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think it would be "You can architect." :) Or "You can design," or "You can structure."</p>
<p>Food for thought. DD EA acceptance letter stated that her essay was one for passing around the office. Now a junior she loves her choice to attend MIT. She cannot remember her HS GPA or SAT scores. She has aced hard courses and has worked hard to pass easy ones. She has loved the experience. She of course meet all the grade/sat/other/recomendation criteria. Most applicants do. The essay was the spark that got her in. Give a lot of thought to what you have to say on the free response questions.</p>
<p>Advice:
1) Start early. I don't think most MIT applicants will have problems with that, but I did find it really helpful to look at the essay questions early on and just roll them around in my mind for at least a month. I paid more attention to the details of my everyday life and tried to see what little story I could make into an essay.</p>
<p>2) Have someone who doesn't know you read your essays. Even though a lot of people only give their essays to their parents/siblings/cherished mentor because they know them best, that's precisely why you shouldn't give them your essays. The reason for this is because the people who read your application don't know you. You might write about something that has a lot of emotions or connotations attached to it and since it's so ingrained inside of you, you might not explain it well enough. The people who know you well will immediately understand what you're trying to say, but the adcom might not. That's why it's good to have a stranger (who's good at writing and has experience with college essays, of course) read through your essays; they can ask you to elaborate on the vague points and help improve your essays. My high school had a lot of dedicated parents who were good at writing, so they volunteered to read college essays. Not everyone's school is like that though...</p>
![http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2724058388_fd56d4c7c7_o.jpg%5DCaution%5B/url%5D:">http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2724058388_fd56d4c7c7_o.jpg]Caution](<a](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2724058388_fd56d4c7c7_o.jpg%5DCaution%5B/url%5D:%22>http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2724058388_fd56d4c7c7_o.jpg%5DCaution%5D(<a){kind=link}