To International students interested in MIT

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

I’ve seen many posts from international students expressing interest in MIT. I am curious about how and when you became interested in MIT. Do you have interest in any good engineering school so MIT is one of many you are interested in or is your interest mostly on MIT? Also, is it usual to go to another country for school or do most other people in your country choose to stay there? Has someone encouraged your interest in MIT? Is it well known to other people in your country? I have seen so much interest in this school by international students that I am curious about where they are from and why such interest.

I am not at MIT and have no affiliation with MIT whatsoever. I am just curious.

2

Great post and questions!

I would like to add:

Do most international students even know where MIT is?

Do you realize that the Boston area is cold in the winter? It gets snow. Lots of it. Check last year’s record snowfall.

3

Well the Infinite corridor provides some protection. And last year they dd have what amounted to a snow pyramid outside Simmons so the snow could be a positive change for some coming from places that get oppressively hot. But nobody is answering the Why MIT question.

4

I think it’s a rote list that is provided by unknowing parents who can only say the list in conjunction with the other 6 need blind colleges.

And, some students are completely unaware that a main necessity is a WINTER coat.

5

One international student last year here on CC asked to be chanced for University of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I winder if he ended up in Amherst!

6

I don’t think it is a rote list. MIT gets really interesting inquiries on their blogs from International students. They seem to know quite a bit about the school. Some say that attending is their dream. I’m not sure why and would love to hear.

LOL tomsrofBoston. Drag for that student if so. Not because Amherst would be less good but…well yes because Amherst would be less good if you want MIT and if you want Cambridge-not that there is anything wrong with Amherst but it ain’t Cambridge./Boston.

7

MIT is one of only 5 schools in the US that is need blind for internationals and meets need for internationals. For a student with STEM aspirations, and likely higher math and science test scores, it seems like an obvious choice. Of course many have no idea how difficult it is to get admitted.

8

@lostaccount My what a beautiful thread.

There’s also UMass Boston.

One common pattern (unfortunately) I’ve seen here and elsewhere is many students wishing to apply to MIT or another prestigious college with no idea how admissions works or even what standardized tests to take. Much of it is clearly spelled out on MIT’s admissions site. Assuming one has the capability of looking these things up online, lack of resourcefulness won’t take you very far through MIT…

And yes, the weather has a mind of its own. It’s been in the 70s the past two days.

As well as the tunnels, but not when you live on west campus or off campus and have to find ways to trudge through. At least the sidewalks are cleared very quickly during snowstorms.

I also got to slide down Mt. Simmons (before police blocked it off). It was pretty fun… :slight_smile:

9

I’m an international student and I’ll take a stab at your questions

  1. I do have interest in a few other engineering schools such as Harvey Mudd, Caltech, etc. among many other colleges in the US
  2. Most of the people do not even think of going abroad. That being said, even after taking out the majority, there are an awful lot of people applying abroad. Most of these people applying abroad aim for top colleges regardless of their qualifications (grades, test scores, etc.). That is probably the reason why our country has a lot of MIT applicants.
  3. Up to an infinitesimally small extent, yes. But other than that, no, nobody has.
  4. MIT is quite well known in my country.

The thing about MIT that entices me is not its strength in STEM, but the culture at MIT. From whatever I have experienced about MIT, I am 99.99% sure that I would feel at home at MIT.

10

Thanks for your compliment about the thread, MITer 94, and thanks for your reply anotherdude. Good luck if you are applying now. Hope to hear from others too!

11
  1. Long story short, I had a crush on a scientist or two when I was 6 or something. Because of the crush, I started reading science books. Somehow, along the way, I fell for chemical and biological engineering. Since MIT has a certain Reputation in engineering (great research opportunities, professors who actually love the subjects, good funding, open mind,…) and is need-blind for international students, it’s the obvious choice.
  2. I have my eyes on several schools that offer me the loves of my life, but MIT’s at the top of the list. Because research opportunities.
  3. Most people in the country stay, but most people in my city study abroad if they can afford it/are good enough.
  4. Absolutely no one. Everyone tells me that it’s way out of my league, but, eh, you only live once.
  5. Again, not well-known in the country, but pretty in famous in my city, especially in my high school, which has had several students accepted to/offered a place at MIT in the past decade.
12

I’m an international student from Canada so I guess I’m pretty used to snow haha.

  1. MIT is consistently at the top in the world for engineering so that'd be a reason. I'm also applying to other great engineering schools (Berkeley, Stanford, etc.) but MIT is my top choice as it is the best in my mind and is need-blind.
  2. My high school is one of the best in Ontario but it's literally only me and my twin sister that are even considering US schools. Most people choose to stay because Canada's universities are decent and way less expensive (for us) than schools in the states. Also, our school offers zero SAT/ACT prep so it's a lot of work self-studying everything.
  3. Not really, I guess somewhat my parents but they didn't think that I'd actually go through with it. Most people think that it's too hard to get in to be worth the effort I guess (kinda true).
  4. It's fairly well-known (not as much as Harvard obviously). Again, not many people that I know of actually apply though.
13

Synonyms, did you consider schools in other countries too? Calamity, thanks for your reply. Good luck if you are applying now.

14

Yes, actually. I considered the UK and Canada once, but well, parents objected. Apparently, I’m too young to go to a country that doesn’t have any relative all by myself. Oh well, I’m already in a pretty good college in my country. It doesn’t exactly fit me well, but if I’m not accepted, it will do.

15

Good luck to you Synonyms!

16

I am from Myanmar, whose winters are mostly hotter than Cambridge’s hottest summers. I have never seen real snow before, and I would love to! :smiley:

I admit that MIT isn’t popular at all in my country, unlike Harvard, which usually pops up in movies and mainstream media. Secondly, not so many students from Myanmar study abroad, especially in the US. And so, I didn’t know about MIT until I made a decision to study abroad. But when I googled it, made a little research, I instantly fell in love. ( World top, need-blind, TOEFL in compensation of low SAT, which is usually a disadvantage for international students. )

I have an interest in other engineering schools, but MIT becomes my top choice as I learned more about its welcoming and encouraging letters from officers from its website.

Most of us, international students, firstly google ‘World top (engineering) universities’, when we plan to study abroad. MIT has always been in the top 10 list, and in some places 1st. I think this first impression could be the one catching the attention of most international students.

17

My international family has a disdain or misunderstanding of what Liberal Arts education is. They see those pesky artsy distribution requirements as a waste of time. That led many of them to disregard many fine schools for “technical” schools.

I was never able to disabuse them of these ideas. Although I wasn’t able to convince my own kid that MIT wasn’t a good fit either so…

18

Hey everyone! I’m from France, currently in my junior year, and also really interested in going to MIT (Who am I kidding, not only am I interested, but this is pretty much my dream).

Let me have a shot at those questions :smiley: :
1 “Do you have interest in any good engineering school so MIT is one of many you are interested in or is your interest mostly on MIT?”


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Honestly, my interest is mostly on MIT. About a year ago I began wondering where and what I wanted to study. I started my search by looking up the top universities in the world, and found MIT: Pretty much only a few hours later, I had read through a lot of the articles on its website, and realized that I’d simply love to go there. Not just because it is one of the best schools in the world. But because… I don’t know, even though I never was there, I just feel like I’m going to feel at home there. Even after informing myself about a lot of other universities, I still felt that none of them were able to hold a candle to MIT. TL;DR my interest is pretty much on MIT, not simply a good engineering school.

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2 “Also, is it usual to go to another country for school or do most other people in your country choose to stay there?”


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As far as I know, most people stay in France and try to attend those schools called “prepas”. But there are still enough people who want to study abroad, especially on international schools like mine.

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3 “Has someone encouraged your interest in MIT?”


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At first it was just me, but then pretty much every person that told me about MIT wanted me to go there even more.

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4 “Is it well known to other people in your country?”


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Uh, let’s put it like that: It is well known among people who want to study abroad, especially english people. Those who want to stay may or may not have heard of it. Harvard, for example, seems to be much more popular here.

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