What are some colleges similar to MIT?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Alright. So decisions have arrived.. and yes I was rejected just like 92.3% of the pool.</p>

<p>And sooo.. I would have to find another college, which may not be as good as MIT, but is similar.</p>

<p>I am not from the US so I wouldn't know much about many colleges in the US so I am asking people for help here. To those people who love MIT, do share with me what other colleges all of you would consider/ have applied for.</p>

<p>Firstly, these are my stats.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>ACT superscore (breakdown):E 32 M 35 R 33 S 36 W 10 C 34
SAT II (subject, score): Math II 800 Physics 790
Senior Year Course Load: A Levels – A: H2 Physics, H2 Chemistry, H2 Maths, H1 General Paper, H1 Chinese; C: H2 Economics; Merit: H3 Nanyang Technological University Semiconductor Physics and Devices
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): None
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Singapore Junior Chemistry Olympiad (Bronze), Business Diploma Scholarship, Councillor of the Term, Certificate of Merit, College Values Award, Many other leadership and Track and Field awards.</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Student Council, Track and Field, Harvard ArtScience, Shanghai Entrepreneurship Trip, Science Talent Development Programme, National Lasallian Leadership Convention Participant
Job/Work Experience: Personal Assistant to the CEO at an Automotive firm, CEO of business
Volunteer/Community Service: Overseas Community Service to Chiangmai and Japan</p>

<p>Next, I hope to major in Mechanical Engineering with a specialisation in product development.</p>

<p>What I love about MIT is the innovative culture, the collaboration with each other you find there, the "nothing is impossible" spirit and the small, selective class/ faculty and I hope to find a college similar to this.</p>

<p>For everyone else who's considering other colleges apart from MIT, the Singapore University of Technology and Design may be a good choice for all of you. It is developed in collaboration with MIT and headed by former Dean of Engineering of MIT Thomas Magnanti. Everything there is just like MIT and even their professors undergo a one year training in MIT. Its an option all of you can consider. I already got admitted there but I am still exploring my options. Here are some videos you may want to take a look at.</p>

<p>By President of MIT: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwRn3kOJcio"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwRn3kOJcio&lt;/a>
Unique Pedagogy: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVOtWr8gQc4"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVOtWr8gQc4&lt;/a>
SUTD-MIT Collaboration: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJwly4w97as"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJwly4w97as&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Anyway, do help an international here :) Thanks everyone!</p>

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<p>Let’s see…there’s Stanford which is even harder to get into…and then there’s Caltech which will be just as difficult to get into…</p>

<p>For someone like you…looking at your stats whose interested in mechanical engineering and being international…you should be looking at schools like Illinois, Georgia Tech, Texas…and possibly UCBerkeley, Michigan, UCLA which are difficult to get into even for Americans.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>Another quick question, may I know if any of those schools (MIT included), allow students to launch their own projects and work with the professors on the technical aspect?</p>

<p>I believe that not many schools do that and for most research projects students will take up a project the professor is currently working on.</p>

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<p>

That’s true for most research projects – undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate. If you want to do something that’s free, or if you come with your own funding for your project, that’s one thing, but in most cases you’re relying on funding that your faculty advisor has obtained to perform a project. And academia follows the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules.</p>

<p>Ultimately, your ability to drive the direction of your research project will depend on the faculty member with whom you’re working, and on how closely your ideas mesh with the research interests of the faculty member and his/her available funding. Some professors will give you more autonomy than others.</p>

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<p>@molliebatmit Well I guess that’s saddening… I always thought MIT was a great place for innovation and a place where technopreneurs emerge from its hallowed doors. But if MIT doesn’t even provide this platform for aspiring world changers to work on their own projects, where will the world get these people from? Harvard? Where Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg came from?</p>

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<p>Don’t get me wrong – you can work on your own project at MIT, and there are resources available to you (departmental shops, summer fellowships, incubator competitions) if you wish to do so. </p>

<p>I’m just saying that at MIT, and everywhere else in academia, the standard UROP and grad student and postdoc are working on projects that are related to the research interests of their faculty advisors. That doesn’t mean that the projects weren’t the idea of the trainee, or that the trainees aren’t excited and inspired by their research topics – just that you need to pick a faculty mentor carefully.</p>

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<p>@benjamineu - My thesis was an idea that was completely original to me, I found a professor to sign on to it (which was relatively easy – I knew her, I asked, she said go for it and she’d sign off).</p>

<p>If you have a great idea for research, find a professor in a related department and talk to them about it. Most students are simply interested in research and go with the professor’s idea because the students are trying to learn and are unfamiliar with the range of research happening. If you already have something awesome, you can probably find someone to support you doing it.</p>