How are humanities majors perceived by the other students?
Can MIT be a good fit for someone who’s strengths aren’t necessarily math and sci?
If you want to major in writing or media studies are you expected to be brilliant at math and sci?
Is it true that everyone has to take 6 sci classes plus labs?
Thank you.
Every undergrad needs to take or have credit for chemistry, bio, two semesters of physics, and two semesters of calculus (equivalent to 18.01/02) and complete one Institute Lab.
As for humanities majors, there aren’t many of them here, but they can fit in and take whatever other courses they want to.
I’m not sure why someone whose primary interests are in the humanities or social sciences excluding econ would want to come to MIT. The programs in the areas are generally weaker than at similarly ranked schools, the MIT institute requirements would presumably be painful. I think the vast majority of humanities majors are doubles majors with another technical field. I think the mix of companies that recruit at MIT and would hire humanities majors is also worse than at peer schools.
It is hard finding true peers for MIT. People always mention the Ivies and Stanford (especially Stanford - and they are similar in quality, prestige and focus); but i think MIT’s closest peer is Caltech.
I believe this to be a true statement:
Caltech and MIT are the greatest STEM schools in the world.
Certainly Caltech’s pronounced weakness is its Humanities/soft science offerings, and it looks like it’s the same at MIT with the exception of Econ.
Both are so darn great at STEM, if they’d just shift a bit of focus onto the soft, supple majors, they’d be challenging HYPCO. That’s Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cambridge, Oxford. Same with Tree (Stanford), though they have less improvement to do in order to tout great Humanities/soft sciences.
I had always heard that English and Creative Writing was strong at MIT. That’s why I asked. Thanks for the responses.
Humanities are very strong at MIT. A.R. Gurney, the PEN-award-winning playwright, was a professor. Noam Chomsky is a professor of Linguistics and Philosophy. I.M. Pei, who designed the entrance to the Louvre, received his undergraduate degree from the MIT school of architecture. Graduates have found their passions in many of the Humanities. To say Humanities, or Arts (look to the Media Center and their innovative installations) is weak at MIT is ignoring the empirical evidence and promulgating biased opinions.
Humanities, and humanities education at MIT, are world class. Period.
Humanities majors are not perceived favorably by other students. Humanities courses are considered easier to pass and not as rigorous.
If your strengths are not in Math and Science, you will be unlikely to be offered admission, and you will be unlikely to be comfortable at MIT. It is said that the only way to an MIT degree is Through the curriculum. There is no way “around” passing the core courses.
Majoring in writing or media studies would likely be a double (or triple) major coupled with something else. Look, for example, at Simpson Garfinkel who triple-majored at MIT, then went on to a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia and a prolific freelance career in journalism; or the book by Pepper White.
Or just go to Yale. That’s what I am doing. 
I knew a few humanities majors at MIT. Many of them really enjoyed it. There are not that many humanities majors at MIT. For example, I think that there were three literature majors last year. That means that you get a great deal of individualized attention from the faculty, who are usually superb. So the OP talked about writing. Junot Diaz, who won the Pulitzer in 2008 for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. For specialist fiction, MIT has specialist instructors. For example Joe Haldeman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Haldeman) teaches Science Fiction writing. The individualised attention, small classes, and faculty attention is something you can get at small liberal arts colleges. However the faculty at MIT for such things tend to be world class. MIT humanities are not for everyone, but they are very strong.
If you want to be unemployed and waste a degree from an institution that is famous for STEM and has far superior math/science/engineering resources, then go for it. :))
JK, follow your passions, but don’t forget the practical considerations of what may come after college (especially an expensive one like MIT or otherwise)
If you want to be unemployed and waste a degree from an institution that is famous for
STEM and has far superior math/science/engineering resources, then go for it.
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This does not align with the outcome and careers of those I knew at MIT who had humanities majors.
A degree in creative writing does not set you up for a job as cleanly as engineering (see:on campus recruiting). Doesn’t mean you can’t be successful, but be prepared for uncertainty after graduation and maybe some (lots) of soul searching.
Well, my son’s best friend is minoring in the humanities at MIT. He loves greek poetry and he says the teachers are fantastic. I know Ta Nehisi-Coates taught there for a while. Secondly, if you have the expected scores and academics, being someone really unusual from the “normal” MIT applicant seems to be a plus with admissions.
My MIT classmates are lawyers, English professors with PhDs in English, musicians, writers, and actresses. I do think an MIT education in the humanities is a very good one, especially because a student can cross register at Wellseley College and Harvard Arts and Sciences. MIT students can do anything, including a PhD in English after MIT. The idea of coming to MIT with humanities in mind is unusual, however, and probably the EC (Educational counselor, a volunteer MIT alumni who interviews the student, if the student requests this ) will say that this student is not a “fit”, which could be a negative for admissions. However, admissions may find a humanities student " interesting " and admit the student anyway, if they are interested in say, technology and policy, history of science, history of architecture, urban planning etc. The student needs to visit to see if the techy atmosphere will be what they want. The humanities professors at MIT are truly exceptional. I took Goethe literature class from a German scholar, Japanese politics from a Fullbright scholar in political science an writing classes. There are NO weak faculty at MIT in humanities and social sciences.
Look at the output of Non STEM majors at MIT. Very strong. Everything MIT does is world class. And then there is the cross reg at Harvard. But I agree that you still have to be able to swing with the core focuses there. So I support going to MIT, but if you have no interest in STEM or STEMY people, then I agree with @cttwenty15- go to Yale.
Whoa… As a regional chair of the MIT Educational council, I strongly, strongly disagree with that. Heck, one of the ECs in my region graduated from MIT with a degree in Music composition. Another graduated with an Engineering degree, then decided that he wanted to be a fashion designer and retrained. His comparison of MIT and a fashion college is hilarious. I really take exception to the idea that the educational council does not know how to deal with Humanities majors.
That being said, all MIT students, regardless of major, have to get through the MIT core. That means a year of physics, a year of mathematics, a semester of biology and one of chemistry and some laboratory subject (which can often be in the social sciences). A humanities student who cannot cope with that is not a good fit. To be a successful MIT student, you do not need to have a love of STEM fields, but you do need to have a tolerance of them. Provided that is there, you can go very, very far with a humanities degree from MIT, and with a level of faculty contact and 1-1 attention that you just cannot get in any of the STEM fields.