What impact does MIT's Music and Theater Arts portfolio have on an applicant?

I’m not a professional film producer, nor do I have a teacher or club who produces that sort of media. However, I mostly self-taught myself how to film and produce media in interesting and engaging ways for a multitude of situations around my school. A lot of people have complimented me on my works, so I thought, “why not put it in a portfolio?”

I want to go to MIT for Bioengineering and am interested in their undergraduate research program. However, I do have a passion for film production and editing and would love to try showcasing my stuff.

I have some questions.

Is there any downside to sending a portfolio?

If I we don’t have a theater arts teacher, could I try to get a recommendation from a different teacher?

Will MIT try to direct my classes towards more Theater Arts rather than the Engineering?

I understand that when an applicant applies, they’re applying to MIT as a whole, but will the applicant, if recognized for their artistic ability, have to take classes directed towards that field?

I am guessing these sorts of questions have been asked before, so sorry if I’m repeating someone else.

Thank you for your time, and your potential answers.

I was also questioning whether or not this would fall under the makers portfolio or theater arts one, and decided it was probably more theater arts than makers.

Send MIT your portfolio. They are trying to figure out what kind of person you are! Not being STEM won’t hurt it one bit. It seems to me that MIT likes well rounded individuals and not just nerds. It is great that someone has something that they are passionate about.

MIT will let you choose which areas to study and will not push you into any one field even if you provide your portfolio.

My daughter is a very good cook. When she was a senior in high school, I wasn’t sure if she would go to engineering school or a culinary arts school. She choose engineering. Her apartment roommates in college loved the fact that she loved to cook and were the beneficiaries of many of her meals. She is now a professional engineer and delights her friends, and mom and I when she visits, with her cooking. Having interests outside of engineering only helps you in life.

It’s your choice to send or not. IF adcoms like the rest of your app, they may forward the portfolio for specialized review. Adcoms themselves don’t judge these supps.

I hope you’ve read this as well as all the info MIT puts out about what they look for. https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/portfolios-additional-material/

HPuck35, thank you. I’ll make sure to submit my portfolio. From your personal insight, in the interview portion of the application, is it fine to bring a laptop with film that I edited? I know that applicants are encouraged to bring something they’re proud of, but footage isn’t really physical.

lookingforward, thank you for your insight. I have read that, and it gave me some general information, but not everything I was looking for.

Thank you for your responses.

I do conduct interviews for MIT and a short video would be interesting to see in an interview. I’ll emphasize short but not quantify what is short. The purpose of the interview is to give the interviewer an idea of who you are. A long video wouldn’t give me any more info than a short video. I would feel that you aren’t respecting my time if the video was too long.

That’s cool! When conducting interviews, are you given the application of the person you’re interviewing, or is it completely blind? If so, would I really need to bring anything supplementary if you could view my entire application?

Thank you, I’ll definitely think about what I would bring to the table, and be respectful towards my interviewer as well.

MIT’s Educational Counselors (ECs) are given nothing but your name, the name of your high school and your contact info. The purpose of the interview is to find out what kind of person are you. ECs do not want to know your grades, your test scores or any part of your application. (in fact we are instructed by MIT not to ask for or otherwise obtain that info about you, your grades, test scores and application speak for themselves).

Wow. That’s very unique from the interviews that other colleges conduct, at least from my research of them.

Thanks, that puts a lot less stress on me, and gives me a better understanding of how this works.

At many tippy tops, interviewers don’t see more than the applicant in front of them. They’re a critical “eyes on.” Not reviewing your app/making admit decisions, though they may comment favorably in any reports.

Exactly. As an interviewer, I am looking for the stuff that does not show up elsewhere in the application. I definitely do not need to ask about anything in the application, because MIT has all of that already.