<p>I am going to join grade 11 and for the first time in the SABIS currriculum and going to take my O-Levels(6) and AS-math level. It is a major shift for me from The Delhi syllabus which i followed from the middle-east being an indian.
My dad first introduced me to the concept of MIT. And i enjoy Science and Math and English a lot. Of course it takes more than this to be an MIT candidate. But i would like to know my scope but basically i want to know what i can do with this summer and the next and my two years in school that will help me achieve my ambition.
I want to pursue a career in reasearch though my dad obviously feels as a girl i might be better of doing medicine in a good university.
But MIT is the target for me coz it will help me become a good scientist.
thnx in advance.</p>
<p>What you can do? Everything possible. MIT doesn't take any less than the best of the best. Do research, competitions, standardized tests, other relevant stuff, and do them damn well. And practice writing essays. </p>
<p>However, you're a girl so you'll have a greater chance of being admitted. But it's still gonna be friggin hard.</p>
<p>Download an MIT application from the website. Look at the items they ask for and the essay questions. Then think of things you can do that would allow you to fill in the application blanks/ write the essay.</p>
<p>Please note that the number of internationals students admitted to MIT is limited by an 8% quota or about 100 annual admissions. This is partly because MIT provides identical and very generous financial aid to international and domestic applicants. With over 2,000 international applicants, the admission rate for internationals is less than 5%. Furthermore, India has the largest number of international applicants after Canada and China.</p>
<p>My impression is that MIT is more of a "hands-on" engineering school. One question my son was asked in his interview was "Have you ever taken anything apart and put it back together?" Besides a computer, his answer was no. Probably one of the reasons he didn't get in. Perhaps the only reason, I might say.</p>
<p>So aim high, but realize MIT may not be your perfect fit for a variety of reasons. Then, depending on what you finally decide to major in, look at University of Illinois, Case Western, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Rose Hulman, Harvey Mudd, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>^^Yeah, great engineers usual are the hands-on type. I know when my brother was younger, he usually liked to take things apart and put them back together for the fun of it. I think if you like tinkering then you will make a great engineer and that is what MIT is looking for.</p>
<p>MIT looks for a diversity of students. It's easy to forget, but engineers represent only half the student body. There are plenty of science, econ, business, etc. majors walking around.</p>
<p>My knowledge of computers is lmited to the internet and microsoft office and MIT still let me in early action (by the way, I'm an asian male). Having hobbies that show passion and drive are great, but tinkering with electronics does not have to be one of them. Good luck!</p>
<p>More so than "hands-on" types MIT looks for "creative" types. In the application they specifically ask you if you have created something unique and they always look for people that try to go beyond the known to the unknown. </p>
<p>Remember also that MIT is not just an engineering school but also a superlative scientific institute with extraordinary research resources. It is pretty much a given that all undergrads will be involved in some research project and MIT has a whole infrastructure called UROP to support it. You don't have to work on an established project; you can even propose your own idea and get funding to research it. </p>
<p>My D enrolled at MIT this fall because she is interested in neurobiology and medicine and liked it over any other school she visited because of the chance to do her "own thing". Most science classes beyond the intro classes don't use textbooks but work from original research materials with professors at the leading edge of their fields. </p>
<p>Other good things at MIT designed to encourage students to take on challenging classes and projects is the lack of ranking, no grades the first semester, no latin honors. While the work is intense, there is absolutely no competitiveness between students and most classes require teamwork.</p>
<p>Russ, it's true that we don't know what the OP wants to major in yet. My S is a CS major who is also "diverse"--good writer, classics scholar, musician, etc. But he knew when they asked that question he was not going to be on their short list. :D</p>
<p>^Not chemical engineers. I don't know what I would have said to that question in an interview. I guess I would have been honest and said Ive taken a lot of things apart, I was just uninterested in putting them back together again once I was done.</p>
<p>Perhaps computer building is too common a skill these days? As I understand it, the parts sort of snap in and out--you have to know what you're doing, but not in as "mechanical" a way as crystal radio sets or bicycles. I think.</p>
<p>MIT students in general are extremely curious people who want desperately to understand the world around them COMPLETELY. Some take stuff apart and redesign it; others research things; others study things in their whole integrated form. They generally--but not always--do well in school. If they don't do well, it's often because they are too busy doing something much harder than schoolwork. Many MIT students do things they consider fun and other people would consider hard work. I know several who spent hundreds of hours grinding lenses for personal telescopes, for example. MIT students have a fine grasp of delayed gratification, often working hard for weeks in preparation for an event with little recognition and a few minutes of intense activity. (These events are often called hacks.)</p>
<p>Well...
- I've smashed a ton of hot wheels cars and put them back together with a mini-motor and capacitor to get 2nd place in a contest. Does that count???
- I've put together tons of robots, too, but I didn't take anything apart to get the pieces :)
- My parents have destructophobia - even if it would work better after I "fixed" it, they'd still be mad if I took stuff apart.</p>