Anonymous wrote:My kid LOVES it there.

I've been so pleasantly surprised by MIT. The students are so supportive of each other, help each other out in countless ways, and are far more social and outgoing than I would ever have imagined.

My son is thriving and the happiest I've ever seen him. Yes, it's intense, but it's an intensity that he clearly enjoys, and he balances his coursework with a lot of social activities; it seems many of his peers do, too. MIT admissions does a very good job of finding kids who thrive there. The student body is deeply curious and passionate about changing the world for the better. I couldn't be more impressed by a school I would've never considered attending myself (nor been qualified to).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:even if accepted, how do you know it’s a match, I wonder.

MIT alum - they seem to be very good at knowing how to pick students. Usually a mix of ambitious but kind. It absolutely is the hardest academic environment out there, but you learn to fail, be humble, ask for help and adapt.

With me and a friend we were choosing between MIT, Stanford and a few others.

Fit definitely depends on your student if you can give more details.

Love math & music? Carnegie Mellon might be another fit.

Thank you. Love of music and math and philosophy and physics. Hardworking. Kind. Can get himself into a hole though - this summer the professor he was interning with was opaque and brief in answering questions and my kid had a hard time persisting and keeping on asking questions- avoided the situation. Can procrastinate. A good friend. Likes being physically active. I just don’t know. Who knows if he’ll get in, of course, but if he did, I wouldn’t know how to counsel him. He didn’t apply to Carnegie Mellon bc he knew someone who went there who told him it was “sad”.

CMU is not a good comparison school to MIT. We nixed it after learning more about the vibe.

If you can get into MIT, you should go to MIT.

Of course it's hard. And many freshmen will feel imposters syndrome. Pretty normal. But it's not an unkind school. Everyone has been accepted for a reason. And the school has the resources to help everyone succeed.

Did not go to school at MIT, but did go nearby. Their frat bros are the same idiots you see everywhere, except with a little more brain capacity.

DC was interested in applying. But there's no advantage to applying early to MIT. Got into the ED school so ultimately didn't apply.

The MIT admissions blog is a good read. Recommend reading if interested

Anonymous wrote:DC was admitted to MIT, but turned it down for Harvard. Attended CPW and Visitas (admitted students weekends) to confirm gut feel about them which was that Harvard is the better fit for the four years of undergrad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:even if accepted, how do you know it’s a match, I wonder.

MIT alum - they seem to be very good at knowing how to pick students. Usually a mix of ambitious but kind. It absolutely is the hardest academic environment out there, but you learn to fail, be humble, ask for help and adapt.

With me and a friend we were choosing between MIT, Stanford and a few others.

Fit definitely depends on your student if you can give more details.

Love math & music? Carnegie Mellon might be another fit.

Thank you. Love of music and math and philosophy and physics. Hardworking. Kind. Can get himself into a hole though - this summer the professor he was interning with was opaque and brief in answering questions and my kid had a hard time persisting and keeping on asking questions- avoided the situation. Can procrastinate. A good friend. Likes being physically active. I just don’t know. Who knows if he’ll get in, of course, but if he did, I wouldn’t know how to counsel him. He didn’t apply to Carnegie Mellon bc he knew someone who went there who told him it was “sad”.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:even if accepted, how do you know it’s a match, I wonder.

MIT alum - they seem to be very good at knowing how to pick students. Usually a mix of ambitious but kind. It absolutely is the hardest academic environment out there, but you learn to fail, be humble, ask for help and adapt.

With me and a friend we were choosing between MIT, Stanford and a few others.

Fit definitely depends on your student if you can give more details.

Love math & music? Carnegie Mellon might be another fit.

Anonymous wrote:even if accepted, how do you know it’s a match, I wonder.

Anonymous wrote:even if accepted, how do you know it’s a match, I wonder.

Anonymous wrote:MIT == hardcore grind. Good for a certain type of kid. Disaster for everyone else. More important than for most places to confirm the match before enrolling.