My Decision

Why I Chose MIT:

After being accepted to MIT, I want to make sure that others do not fall into the trap that I did. MIT should not be dismissed from anyone's college search. Originally, I did not think MIT was the right place for me. Now I know it is the place. One of my friends did not want to apply to MIT either, but after visiting, she fell in love with it. We are both going to the college we did not even want to look at. I finally understand the phrase "do not judge a book by its cover."

Stanford vs. MIT

I was accepted to Stanford Early Action. Later in April I was accepted to MIT. Now I had two renowned engineering schools to choose from. How could I choose? I have always wanted to attend Stanford; it had been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I loved Stanford when I visited--everyone was welcoming, and I was treated like a special guest. I could see myself going to Stanford, easily. So why did I choose MIT? My reasons are as follows:

A different experience: I have lived in California my entire life, and I have gone to Stanford basketball games since I was born. Stanford is familiar to me. As a freshman in high school, I would have wanted familiarity. After growing up a little, I wanted something new.
The people: I have been heavily involved in science fairs. The people I met at those competitions were so amazing and had such a passion for science. Although Stanford accepts very bright students, I felt that I was more likely to find more of these students at MIT.
Repect: Both Stanford and MIT are top engineering schools. But if you say you went to MIT, engineering experts will give you immediate respect; people who know MIT realize how challenging it is. Stanford cannot get you that kind of respect.
School unity: If you ask an MIT alumni where they went to college, most will immediately stick out their hand and show you their "brass rat" (the MIT ring--the second most recognized ring in the world). All the MIT alums/students I spoke with were very enthusiastic about MIT and they loved to talk about their experience. I also know that all of the students work with each other to solve their problem sets, so it is a very cooperative atmosphere instead of a cut-throat one. I really liked the idea of this school spirit.
Friendliness: The people at MIT are just plain nice. I've never met such friendly people. All of the staff, faculty, and students were very helpful and pleasant.
Impressions: I was impressed by MIT's drive to recruit students even though they did not need to.
A challenge: I have learned through the years that I gain so much satisfaction from successfully tacking a challenge. I know that I will get a huge challenge by studying at MIT.
Campus Preview Weekend (CPW) at MIT was a blast. It was then I knew MIT was the place for me.

The College Tour:

I heard so many bad rumors about MIT (the campus is ugly, it is too hard, all the students are depressed etc.) I did not even want to bother visiting it. Since we were visiting other colleges in Boston, however, my parents goaded me into taking a look. When I first stepped on campus, my initial impression was: "this isn't THAT ugly. I wouldn't call it gorgeous, but it is by no means ugly." There were more green areas than I thought there would be, and the buildings seemed in good condition. If you compare it to Princeton, there would be no contest. As many MIT students will tell you, "MIT is about the people, not the place." And boy, does that sum it up nicely. I had gone to so many information sessions during my East Coast college trip; I was sick of hearing stuffy alums and admissions officers brag about how their school was so selective they could fill the class five times over with amazing students and notice no difference. Thankfully, MIT was different.

A student led the information session, and he was the most enthusiastic presenter I had ever seen. Instead of hearing about the same thing over and over again while the presenter droned on, the audience heard jokes. I also felt like a person--a nice change from the degrading attitude of some of the ivies. The session was informative, funny, and well organized--the best out of the 10+ colleges I visited.

The tour was also very well done. Instead of just getting a walk around the campus (something I can do on my own), we got to go inside buildings, including dorms, the athletic center, the chapel, and the classrooms. I know for a fact that the information session person I had was not an anomaly: almost everyone I have talked to from MIT was the same way.

There was a sort of energy around MIT that none of the other campuses had. Everyone was very nice and friendly. If we looked lost, it only took a few seconds for someone to ask if we needed directions. I did not see as many "geeky" looking people as I thought I would (in fact most are just very intelligent, average students). There was no sign of the depression everyone says MIT students have. After talking with upperclassmen, I found that while MIT can be stressful, it is also a lot of fun (there is more information on that in the FAQ and About MIT sections). I felt like MIT actually cared about its prospective students. I could tell they took great care in selecting the people who did the information sessions and tours. I was impressed that they were trying to recruit new students even though they had no need to do so (their acceptance rate is one of the lowest in the nation because so many students apply). Most of the other colleges I visited did not seem to mind what vibe they were giving off; the admissions officers knew you would apply anyway. After visiting MIT, it went from one of my bottom choices to one of the top ones.

Another example of MIT's recruiting technique, from an email I sent to a friend: Something really funny and cool happened today. At Intel STS (Intel Science Talent Search--a science competition I competed in), an MIT rep came and chatted with me for a while. He handed out a few Frisbees, but ran out, so I didn't get one. He is doing an MIT blog (his name is McGann), so you should check it out. Anyways, I gave him the url for my Intel STS blog and he was really nice. I sent him an email on Saturday about Intel STS and CPW, and then I teased him about going to his office to pick up a Frisbee when I go to CPW. Guess what I received in my mail today-a Frisbee! I don't even know if he had read my email yet. Either way, he had enough courtesy to send me one!! I am soooo impressed by MIT and how much they want to recruit kids.

That's really all there is to it. At first I didn't even want to apply to MIT, but now I am going there. Funny how things sometimes work out like that :-)