<p>After visiting MIT, I realized that I like its vibe a lot. MIT students seem so friendly, open, and welcoming. At the same time, I feel like I won't be able to handle the workload at MIT. College everywhere will be challenging, but MIT is known for its "culture of suffering." Senior year has been extremely stressful for me, and I can't help wondering that if I struggle in high school classes, how am I supposed to survive MIT? Honestly I don't know how I got in with my average test scores. I have no research experience and no awards in math and science. Sure I have all A's in high school, but it's because I work hard, too hard in fact. Being hard-working is of course a great trait, but I still think it just doesn't cut it at a place like MIT. You need natural intelligence and supreme intellectual capabilities, neither of which I possess. Please do not think I'm unmotivated and lazy - I'm willing to work hard, but there is a limit to what I can do. This post is just a call for help, so MIT alumni and current students, please share anecdotal evidence that you think may be relevant to this post. May 1st is approaching and I'm near the point of panicking...</p>
<p>I can appreciate how you feel. </p>
<p>When I came to MIT, I quickly felt overwhelmed. I met classmates who were representatives of their countries’ respective math/science olympiad teams. I met many with higher SAT scores, better high school GPAs, and research experience I never had when I was in high school.</p>
<p>I don’t consider myself very smart. I am a slow reader, and my memory is pretty bad. I rarely absorb information on the first pass. I require repetition, repetition, repetition. I feel like I have to study twice as much as my peers, to get the same grade. </p>
<p>And, my first semester and a half at MIT… I failed… I failed a lot. But, in the wake of that disastrous first 3/4 of a year, I managed to figure out to survive and even thrive at MIT.</p>
<h1>1.) There is no shame in seeking help. That was a tough lesson for me, because having been a “big fish in a small pond” in high school, I was not used to seeking out help.</h1>
<h1>2.) There is a lot of help available to you. Once I understood #1, I started to seek out all the resources I could find. I went to professor-run office hours, TA-run office hours, and exam reviews.</h1>
<p>Case in point…</p>
<p>When I was taking Prof. Albert Meyer’s 6.042 class my second semester, I failed the first couple of quizzes. I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I struggled to understand anything. </p>
<p>Fortunately, I found help. </p>
<p>I started attending the problem set help sessions run by the various TAs in the Stata Center basement.</p>
<p>Even after I started attending help sessions, I still felt like I was struggling. So, I approached the head TA for the class and explained my difficulties, She pointed me to Eta Kappa Nu’s HKN tutoring program. I contacted HKN and arranged for a tutor to help me twice a week for 2 hours each. And that was free. (technically, the tutor is paid by MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)</p>
<p>By some miracle, I managed to finish the class with an A-.</p>
<p>You do not have to be smart to succeed at MIT. You can compensate for it with effort… and by finding the right kind of help.</p>
<h1>3.) Take advantage of “Sophomore Exploratory Option”.</h1>
<p>Let’s say you are a sophomore and there is a class you want or need to take, but you are worried that you might do poorly at it, and it could impact your GPA. Well, you can use your sophomore exploratory option. This lets you designate 1 class each semester that you can finish, see what grade you got… and if you do not like the grade or if you failed the course… you can retroactively change the class to “listener status”. Hence, the course does not count against you. If you like the grade you got… you can keep it.</p>
<p>I have used this as a safety net for classes that I was worried I could not handle.
<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/grades/exploratory.html”>Registration & Academics | MIT Registrar;
<h1>4.) Take advantage of Junior-Senior P/D/F option.</h1>
<p><a href=“Registration & Academics | MIT Registrar”>Registration & Academics | MIT Registrar;
<p>MIT provides various safety nets, like #3 and #4 above. But, you have to know about them, and have to exercise those options. Similarly, if you feel like you are struggling, seek help. That, above all else, is the most important thing.</p>
<p>What is your expected major? What careers are likely if you have some idea?</p>
<p>Also, what are your other choices?</p>
<p>I was in the same boat coming to MIT. No big awards (I didn’t know what an “Olympiad” was at the time), no research (I didn’t know high school students could do that). </p>
<p>Consider this: Admissions rejects lots of people it wants to accept (but doesn’t have the room for). To be accepted, you have to prove to them - very experienced people - that you can make it through. Admissions is good at picking up on students who can do it, even if the student doesn’t think so :)</p>
<p>@nakoruru, thank you very much for the helpful pieces of advice. I will be sure to follow them, if I choose to attend MIT.
@PiperXP, sounds like we’re in the same boat! and I’m glad you’ve been able to find success at MIT.
@collegealum314, I’m thinking Bioengineering, but I’m not set on it. I also consider Chem, Comp Sci, Applied Math, and Economics. I plan to enter the work force right after graduation. I’m currently deciding between Columbia and Yale also. </p>
<p>I feel like throughout my high school career I’ve been a big fish in a small pond. I was able to become very close to several teachers at my school who wrote me AMAZING recommendations. If I go to somewhere like MIT, I’m just afraid I won’t be able to stand out among so many intelligent and admirable peers. I will not be noticed by professors and won’t get good recommendations. Yes, I’ve heard a lot that college is more about competing with yourself and you shouldn’t worry about competing with other students. But I can’t help thinking about the more practical stuff, like having good recommendations for grad school and jobs and such.</p>
<p>Some majors are harder than others. The bulk of the math geniuses (i.e., the people winning gold medals in the international math olympiads) won’t be in applied math or economics classes, they’ll be in theoretical math classes. Chemistry and bioengineering will be harder than at Columbia/Yale, but these aren’t really known as brutal majors. Chem Eng. (related to bioengineering) and computer science are hard enough that some people won’t make it through at MIT that could have at other top places. I guess you have to decide what your priority and career goals are.</p>
<p>Finding jobs in comp sci. does not require you to “distinguish” you among your peers. Get above a 4.0/5.0 and try to get some experience and there’ll be jobs. Top grad schools are not that tough to get into with a 4.2-4.3 or so out of 5.0 in non-theoretial subjects like chem. If you want an i-banking job, you’ve got to get a higher GPA, probably above a 4.6/5.0 GPA. </p>
<p>@DestinyPenrose Getting a good recommendation from a professor does not mean you have to be better than everyone else.</p>
<p>When I applied to grad schools, I had gotten recs from 4 EECS professors and my advising dean, despite not being the best student in their respective courses.</p>
<p>What I think helped earn me recommendations from them was that I was diligent… I was always attending their office hours and their TA’s office hours, I went to these office hours in order to better absorb and clarify material I was having difficulty with. But at the same time, I think that extra time I spent impressed upon them my effort and commitment to doing well… particularly when all that extra time and effort paid off in good grades.</p>
<p>Also, being an undergraduate TA for a professor can help a lot in getting a good rec from said professor, as is doing UROPs.</p>
<p>
Nah. If you’re course 6 you don’t even need that. The jobs descend like vultures. I’m not even kidding. Career fairs are terrifying. Company reps run out into the crowds yelling, “course 6! course 6!”</p>
<p>^Yeah, you’re right. I was just trying to be conservative.</p>
<p>It reminds me of a story. I happen to be walking through one of the lobbies one day during a job fair, and some recruiter insisted on giving me a DVD of The Matrix, which had just come out on DVD. I wasn’t even looking for a job.</p>
<p>
I feel like you’re really selling yourself short here – if you weren’t naturally intelligent, it’s really unlikely that you would have been admitted to MIT, Yale, and Columbia. Most people at MIT aren’t otherworldly geniuses, just intelligent people who are willing to work hard.</p>
<p>You definitely don’t need to be the smartest person at MIT, or in your major, to get great recommendations and go to a top graduate school. Think about it – you’ll probably get a recommendation from your UROP advisor, who will know you well and like you and care about your intellectual/career development because you worked in his/her lab. You’ll probably get a recommendation from your academic advisor, who will know you one-on-one because you scheduled your classes with him/her and discussed career plans. (Not everybody is close with his/her academic advisor, but it’s kind of a no-brainer relationship to develop.) That only leaves one class professor with whom to develop a relationship, over the course of 3.5 years (assuming you’re applying as a senior). Not so hard, yeah?</p>
<p>
Hopefully. In my and a few others’ experience, maybe not. There are labs that will use you happily, in my case for multiple years, and spit you out. I’m sure bad people exist everywhere, not just at MIT. Don’t be unlucky.</p>
<p>
You also need grades that are not Cs (or Ds or Fs). In some departments, the B/C cut-off in classes that you need to take in order to graduate is very often set at the class average. More often the average is set to a B, which is still a tricky situation if when you’re at your best you’re at the average. I’ve had one class where the class average was set to a C+, and with every exam that C+ would get more and more challenging as the bottom of the class dropped, and then the new bottom, and then the new bottom…</p>
<p>I wanted to go to grad school before I came to MIT. While MIT has opened up a lot of fantastic doors for me, a PhD is not likely to be in my future. I certainly don’t regret my MIT education and the doors it <em>has</em> opened up for me, but if I had gone to literally any other school I think it is unlikely that that particular door would have closed.</p>
<p>If you’re already planning to enter the workforce after graduation then MIT is absolutely fantastic. Very few companies will ask you what your grades are when you are applying. All that matters is what you’ve learned, and if you’ve passed the classes you need to pass in order to graduate MIT in your department you have probably learned a lot.</p>
<p>OP. it sounds like you have hit upon a very important thing that many your age fail to understand. There is a certain amount of natural intelligence that simply cannot be ‘made up’ for by studying. Sure, you can do well by pushing yourself, but eventually you will burn out. Stop worrying about appearances and find something you enjoy that challenges you but does not require unhealthy amounts of your attention. It is called a ‘life’. Enjoy life and work within yourself. You do not have to have a degree from MIT to have a great life. (no offense to MIT peeps)</p>
<p>That did happen to me too… the scenario where the lowest scoring people dropped a class, thereby raising the class average of the remaining population… thereby making you regret having not dropped the class when you were just above the old bottom-of-the-pack… because now it meant that you were part of the new bottom-of-the-pack.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I did use one of my sophomore exploratory options for that class.</p>
<p>I will say, I did get a C- for that class… and I struggled for a while as to whether to keep the grade, or have it changed to Listener status so that it would not drop my GPA. Ultimately, I kept the grade. It’s the only thing below a B on my transcript (yay freshman Pass/No Record). </p>
<p>@lidusha why did you say that MIT has closed the door to PhD for you? Is it because of the grade deflation?</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your input! What I got from your replies
-It is possible to obtain good recs even when you are not the smartest in the class. You just need to take the initiative to work hard, ask for help, and go to office hours.
-MIT is a great choice for those who plan to enter the work force right away (Course 6).
-However, at the same time, one also needs to care about one’s own well-being.</p>
<p>On that last note, I feel like Yale may be the best choice for me, with its residential college system and support system. One concern I have is that an engineering or STEM degree from Yale may not be well-regarded or attractive to employers. Is there any way I’ll be unemployed with a STEM degree from Yale? I know I said that I want to go straight to the work force after graduation, but chances are, I may want to earn an MA or even PhD, so maybe I should save MIT for that. Do Yale students typically get accepted to MIT’s grad programs?</p>
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<p>It depends. Engineering would be extremely difficult–it’s probably more reasonable if you were one of the top people in the math or physics dept. at Yale and then were applying to an engineering department at MIT rather than majoring in engineering at Yale and then applying. Chemistry wouldn’t be hard. For economics, it would be possible if you are one of the better students in your class, but I’m not sure how good you would need to be (I’d guess 3.6/4.0 or better.)</p>
<p>For engineering, the most important thing is 1) how much you learned and 2) where your bachelor’s degree is from. </p>
<p>I would choose the place you think will give you the best learning experience. Also, remember that the first term is pass/no record at MIT, so if you are out of your league you will get that some idea of that and can transfer with an intact record to a good school.</p>
<p>I don’t think a 3.6/4.0 gpa which is barely above average at Yale is going to get you into MIT’s econ grad program unless you have something else exceptionally good. It depends a lot on the field but in many fields such as math or econ you won’t be getting into top grad schools if you have many Bs even from MIT.</p>
<p>^Yeah, you’re probably right. </p>