MIT today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

Agreed, MIT alumni again. I had many friends go on to be successful doctors, BUT they struggled a lot in the admissions process. You don't get bonus points for being in a rigorous undergrad program that sinks your grades. I do have a few friends that ended up on very extended paths to become a doctor because of their grades.

We had a joke among me and my friends - we all posted our Harvard grad school rejection letters above the toilet. I will say that people were pretty disillusioned over the whole grad school process. It felt like we were just a number like everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

Agreed, MIT alumni again. I had many friends go on to be successful doctors, BUT they struggled a lot in the admissions process. You don't get bonus points for being in a rigorous undergrad program that sinks your grades. I do have a few friends that ended up on very extended paths to become a doctor because of their grades.

We had a joke among me and my friends - we all posted our Harvard grad school rejection letters above the toilet. I will say that people were pretty disillusioned over the whole grad school process. It felt like we were just a number like everyone else.

Good advice. DD is considering JMU for pre-med so that she can get a 4.0 GPA undergrad while having plenty of time to prepare for her MCAT. She could use that 300K toward medical school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS was rejected from MIT. He is disappointed as MIT was his dream school and had worked very hard to maintain very good stats. He was accepted to Caltech, Georgia Tech and Berkeley MET. He wants to do electrical engineering. Which school would be the best for his major? He is leaning a bit to the MET program due to dual degree advantage and as he is interested in entrepreneurship.

He has received Stamp's scholarship at Georgia Tech, part scholarship at Berkeley. He had not looked into Caltech earlier but had just applied. Money is somewhat of a consideration but ultimately we want him to go to place that is best for him ( we do not mind taking loans). Understand that Caltech would be much higher fees. If we were not to consider money situation, any advice?

Golden ticket!! Stamps is full ride at GaTech, with lots of support. An Ga Tech is one of the top engineering schools in the country. #2 in some disciplines! He should take that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS was rejected from MIT. He is disappointed as MIT was his dream school and had worked very hard to maintain very good stats. He was accepted to Caltech, Georgia Tech and Berkeley MET. He wants to do electrical engineering. Which school would be the best for his major? He is leaning a bit to the MET program due to dual degree advantage and as he is interested in entrepreneurship.

He has received Stamp's scholarship at Georgia Tech, part scholarship at Berkeley. He had not looked into Caltech earlier but had just applied. Money is somewhat of a consideration but ultimately we want him to go to place that is best for him ( we do not mind taking loans). Understand that Caltech would be much higher fees. If we were not to consider money situation, any advice?

Golden ticket!! Stamps is full ride at GaTech, with lots of support. An Ga Tech is one of the top engineering schools in the country. #2 in some disciplines! He should take that!

I would agree, take Stamps for full ride. If considering entrepreneurship, MET is a great program, extremely competitive. Even a small scholarship from Berkeley for MIT means that your DC is a strong stats kid. Many kids with such high stats get accepted into Caltech, and in the end, go to one of the other places as above instead of Caltech

[Anonymous]

In a different field, I accepted a full ride to college at a school that might not otherwise have been my first choice. The mentorship I received as a result got me into world-class graduate-school situations and my dream career.

Take the full ride and the actual mentoring, teaching, planning, and life-building that it offers you. In a full-ride program you will be individually valued, and there will be lots of people specifically supporting your success. Being just another member of the crowd in a more famous program might well not provide the same experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a different field, I accepted a full ride to college at a school that might not otherwise have been my first choice. The mentorship I received as a result got me into world-class graduate-school situations and my dream career.

Take the full ride and the actual mentoring, teaching, planning, and life-building that it offers you. In a full-ride program you will be individually valued, and there will be lots of people specifically supporting your success. Being just another member of the crowd in a more famous program might well not provide the same experience.

Same poster (an academic in a different discipline): But BTW, I consider Stamps to be pretty darned famous and super impressive. Best of both worlds!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS was rejected from MIT. He is disappointed as MIT was his dream school and had worked very hard to maintain very good stats. He was accepted to Caltech, Georgia Tech and Berkeley MET. He wants to do electrical engineering. Which school would be the best for his major? He is leaning a bit to the MET program due to dual degree advantage and as he is interested in entrepreneurship.

He has received Stamp's scholarship at Georgia Tech, part scholarship at Berkeley. He had not looked into Caltech earlier but had just applied. Money is somewhat of a consideration but ultimately we want him to go to place that is best for him ( we do not mind taking loans). Understand that Caltech would be much higher fees. If we were not to consider money situation, any advice?

Golden ticket!! Stamps is full ride at GaTech, with lots of support. An Ga Tech is one of the top engineering schools in the country. #2 in some disciplines! He should take that!

+1 take the full-ride at GA Tech. He will have no shortage of job offers, same opportunities as if he went to CalTech or Berkeley. And you all will have zero debt. Great way to start his career!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

I agree with this. Med school requires straight As, though maybe they would be equally influenced by the undergrad degree - you should reach out to MIT and get their outcomes for med school applicants. That said, I am not sure I would care about an undergrad degree from MIT from my doctor. It's sort of an odd fit and the actual med school attended carries a lot more weight in my mind. I'd check with your options as to where the kids get into for med school. On its own being med school bound, I am not sure I'd pick/pay for MIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

I agree with this. Med school requires straight As, though maybe they would be equally influenced by the undergrad degree - you should reach out to MIT and get their outcomes for med school applicants. That said, I am not sure I would care about an undergrad degree from MIT from my doctor. It's sort of an odd fit and the actual med school attended carries a lot more weight in my mind. I'd check with your options as to where the kids get into for med school. On its own being med school bound, I am not sure I'd pick/pay for MIT.

If you DC really wants to go to MIT and I can totally see why, they have great undergrad research options. My brother in law was at MIT 4 years ago, did plenty of research, even got published in a medical related field. He did not have a very high GPA, but got into Harvard probably based on his research and connections he made while at MIT. He is a very very high achiever and may not be the path for everyone, but going to MIT and then getting into a top med school can still happen!

The good thing about taking MIT is that if you decide not to pursue medicine, being an undergrad from MIT comes with its own perks, whether you decide to go into industry, masters/ PhD route, plenty of equally good options!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

Medical school is stats driven, but you should still look at: 1) whether there is a significant weed out in pre-med courses 2) ability to get a good reference 3) do professor-guided research and 4) quality of pre-med advising

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

I agree with this. Med school requires straight As, though maybe they would be equally influenced by the undergrad degree - you should reach out to MIT and get their outcomes for med school applicants. That said, I am not sure I would care about an undergrad degree from MIT from my doctor. It's sort of an odd fit and the actual med school attended carries a lot more weight in my mind. I'd check with your options as to where the kids get into for med school. On its own being med school bound, I am not sure I'd pick/pay for MIT.

If you DC really wants to go to MIT and I can totally see why, they have great undergrad research options. My brother in law was at MIT 4 years ago, did plenty of research, even got published in a medical related field. He did not have a very high GPA, but got into Harvard probably based on his research and connections he made while at MIT. He is a very very high achiever and may not be the path for everyone, but going to MIT and then getting into a top med school can still happen!

The good thing about taking MIT is that if you decide not to pursue medicine, being an undergrad from MIT comes with its own perks, whether you decide to go into industry, masters/ PhD route, plenty of equally good options!

I hear you. Sometimes, I wonder if or when they will burn out. I hate doctors with little passion because they are tired. There is really no way to know. But, for those who are agonizing over choices, detach yourself from peers and expectation, and really ask yourself, what will make you happy in the long run. Pursuing education and building a career must be for your own self and not to please others or mask the fear of losing face.

[Anonymous]

There may be isolated cases where going to MIT undergrad may not have negatively affected med school outcome, but statistically speaking taking the full-ride state school is the more advantageous approach in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, I take it that MIT > Cal Tech? Why?? Does MIT offer more popular majors, better research opportunities, greater inter-disciplinary approach? What is the allure? I'd rather take Pasadena weather than Cambridge in the winter!

MIT does a very good job in caring for their undergrad students than Caltech. The level of support and resources that MIT students have access to, and by the openness and communications from MIT administration and president’s office. During the pandemic, they communicated with students and parents all the way through those semesters. From what I saw on parents page, Caltech didn’t handle it well. The lack of organization and communication caused a lot of frustration. For such a small school with such a large endowment, I think Caltech has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to how they treat their undergraduate students. I don’t know why administration makes it so hard for undergrads and why communication is lacking.
Just think about it - more than half of students accepted to Caltech choose to attend other schools.

Majority kids who get into MIT also get into Caltech, but not the other way. My DD graduated from FCPS school (now in UMD as she got a full ride) had 4 kids her year who got into MIT and Caltech. They all chose MIT over Caltech. MIT is broadly considered the premiere institution worldwide for math and engineering. Being a large school, offers a diverse student body that can support a variety of activities, clubs, and parties. MIT has a broader range of non-STEM programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD just got accepted by MIT but we're neither qualified for any merits nor financial aid. The cost will be 73K+/yr and it is a lot of money. DD will likely get full-ride from state schools. DD is debating whether to invest 300K and attend state school for pre-med.

Thoughts?

If considering pre-med and money is an issue, I would say state school. Med school admission requires high GPA which may be difficult at MIT. This is what I have heard fro my DS who is at MIT, but if maintaining high GPA is not a concern, no place like MIT!

I agree with this. Med school requires straight As, though maybe they would be equally influenced by the undergrad degree - you should reach out to MIT and get their outcomes for med school applicants. That said, I am not sure I would care about an undergrad degree from MIT from my doctor. It's sort of an odd fit and the actual med school attended carries a lot more weight in my mind. I'd check with your options as to where the kids get into for med school. On its own being med school bound, I am not sure I'd pick/pay for MIT.

If you DC really wants to go to MIT and I can totally see why, they have great undergrad research options. My brother in law was at MIT 4 years ago, did plenty of research, even got published in a medical related field. He did not have a very high GPA, but got into Harvard probably based on his research and connections he made while at MIT. He is a very very high achiever and may not be the path for everyone, but going to MIT and then getting into a top med school can still happen!

The good thing about taking MIT is that if you decide not to pursue medicine, being an undergrad from MIT comes with its own perks, whether you decide to go into industry, masters/ PhD route, plenty of equally good options!

Yes, it can still happen but does it happen regularly enough. Are students penalized in applying to med schools because they don't have A's on their transcript?

[Anonymous]

For this 2021-2022 season, there are many MIT students got admissions from top med schools. Pre-med program in MIT is very challenging however most of students in pre-med got great results. Pre-med counselors in MIT are doing their best to support students. Weed out class of pre-med is organic chemistry. Most of premed students in MIT take orgo in Harvard. Its one is way easier than MIT’s. And other premed classes are pretty o.k. I think MIT is fine for premed students,too. My DD’s friends who are in premed track have med school admissions at least 2 so far.