<p>The high school I attended was small and didn't offer as many AP's as I would've liked to take. I took the most strenuous courses I could take every year, but I knew my education wasn't going to stop there in the classroom. I volunteered whenever possible and joined any community service clubs my school offered. When I noticed there wasn't enough academically driven clubs, I started my own debate group.</p>
<p>My passion for learning drove me to do independent research through MIT OpenCourseWare. I took several courses spanning Psychology, History, Biology, and Computer Programming. I painstakingly put together portfolios of my work to document what I had learned. Because I come from a school where no one has ever been admitted to an Institute as prestigious at MIT it hits close to home what Open CourseWare is doing. </p>
<p>The OpenCourseWare website gives people on opportunity to receive an MIT-caliber education from their own home. MIT set a trend by making their courses available online and now there are universities all across the nation that are following in MIT's footsteps. Whether I am offered a spot at Massachusetts's Institute of Technology or not, I will be pursuing an education there. I will be pursuing my education for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>This is my optional essay, am I pushing it? Should I just take out all the MIT super-praise and the whether or not I get accepted shtick?</p>
<p>monicathegreat:
Take a moment to find some of the threads about why it’s a bad idea to publicly post your essay. Anyone can freely use it now as their essay.</p>
<p>Not a smart idea to post your essay as is on CF. </p>
<p>It’s good that you use OCW, I use it plenty myself as an MIT student who’s often too lazy to schlep myself to class (especially morning ones. oh god bless OCW.) However, I’d say maybe focus more on why your presence at the institute would contribute to your growth and to MIT’s diverse community. Admissions <em>generally</em> looks for smart, creative, out-of-the-ordinary people who seek out advancement of their knowledge in any field they’re interested in, and applying it too. For example, a student who’s interested in comp eng might follow the course VI lectures on OCW, but it’d be wayyy cooler if she or he did that AND, say, spent a summer working at a company programming nanocomputers to do awesome things. It’s not necessary of course, and it has a lot to do with your background and circumstances (esp the opportunities you’ve had around you), but what MIT likes to see, I feel, is someone that looks to expand their knowledge, as well as apply it in cool funky ways. I feel like this because a lot of my friends here now were like that at high school! (I was like that too lol, big computer nerd)</p>
<p>I third the comment, never post a full essay on CC. Also, no essay ever guarantees any acceptance or rejection. With that said, I do think your instinct is correct that you’re “pushing it”, cut back on the superlatives and it’ll decrease the defensive vibe that’s coming across. Yes, MIT should be aware of the circumstances of your application, and with your grades they will get a school report that states how many APs are offered. Try to maybe state the facts with a little more clarity, say something along the lines of “because of the limited AP selection at my high school, I did OCW instead”. Try not to bash your high school, even if there is animosity there, it may make them wonder if you’ll do the same thing to something you don’t like about MIT if they accept you.</p>