MIT Essay Guide

Getting In...

Hi all! My name is Ashley, I’m 20 and I’m a rising sophomore at MIT! Before coming to MIT, I finished high school in Jamaica and then did an extra three years in an American boarding school (The Hotchkiss School). 

My GPA from my high school in Jamaica was a 4.0 and my GPA from Hotchkiss was a 3.7 unweighted. I got a 1540 on the SAT my junior year. I also took SAT chemistry and scored 770 and SAT math level 2 and scored 760. I also took AP chemistry (5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Physics (4) and AP Biology (4). 

Drinking From a Firehose 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located on the edge of the bustling city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 80-mile long Charles River separates MIT from Boston, the economic and cultural hub of New England. MIT admits roughly 1,365 undergrads out of 30,000+ applicants every year to form an undergraduate population of about 4,500 students. 48% of MIT’s undergraduate population identify as women and 56% identify as members of a US minority group.

It is easy to tell that a love for numbers pervades the MIT community and is an essential part of the MIT experience. MIT majors (called “courses”) are numbered rather than named. I, for example, am a course 6-9 with a minor in 21M. This translates to I’m majoring in Computer Science and Neuroscience with a minor in Music. Computer Science (Course 6) is by far the most popular major, accounting for more than 1/3 of the undergraduate population!

The MIT community’s devotion to numbers is also evident as one walks through the 168 acre campus. Again, all the buildings are referred to as numbers. For example, the iconic MIT dome is building 10 and the infamous Stata Center is building 32.

My major is a pretty popular joint-major program that has a lot of flexibility to accommodate the wide diversity of interests of the students within the major. It has a required core of mathematics and probability in addition to the foundational classes in neuroscience and computer science. Beyond that students have a lot of flexibility in their choice of laboratory subjects, program electives, an advanced undergraduate project, communication-intensive subjects and additional neuro and computer science classes. 

Outside of their majors, MIT students are required to satisfy MIT’s robust core curriculum program. The core curriculum requires that all students take two semesters of math, two semesters of physics, one semester of chemistry and one semester of biology or test out. The core curriculum also requires a minimum of eight subjects in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, including three to four in a concentration of your choice.

There is no way to sugar coat it, an MIT education will definitely challenge you. Sprinting from club meetings to office hours and staying up until odd hours of the morning to finish PSets will be exhausting. Former MIT president Jerome Wiesner famously said, “Getting an education from MIT is like trying to get a drink from a firehose.” (leading to this iconic MIT hack). However, getting an MIT education will also prove to be an incredibly rewarding and enlightening experience for those who are up to the challenge!

Applying to MIT

The typical “adMIT” has an SAT math score between 780 and 800 (25th and 75th percentile) and an SAT ERW score between 730 and 780, or a composite ACT score between 34 and 36. While MIT has not provided information about the average GPAs for those admitted, the Institute admits roughly 4.5% of early action applications and does not offer an early decision option. 

MIT does not take the Common App. Instead it has its own application website with its own questions. Except for an optional question giving you the opportunity to share any important details missing from your application, all of the questions on the MIT application are mandatory. 

My MIT Application

Essay 1: Please tell us more about your cultural background and identity in the space below. 150 words or fewer

Response: I identity as a cis-gender, heterosexual, black woman using she/her/hers pronouns. I spent the first sixteen years of my life in Jamaica, but have roots all over the Caribbean. My mother was born in New Dehli, India, but grew up in St.Georges, Grenada. As a result, I identify with Grenadian culture as well as Jamaican culture. As a result of my West Indian heritage, music and dance are important aspects of my life; my family is full of musicians. At home we speak English and Patois (Jamaican dialect). Both sides of my family are religious. I grew up Baptist; attending church, praying to God and celebrating religious holidays such as Christmas and Lent

Why Did It Work: This essay is a super simple introduction to my life. I explained my religious, geographical and racial background etc. 

Essay 2: Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, school, community, city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?* 250 words or fewer

Response: From birth, a love for my country and the Caribbean has been instilled in me. My father, who was born and raised in Jamaica, was a strong nationalist who would wear black, green and gold and talk about beef patties at any opportunity. My mother is a Grenadian woman who moved to Jamaica for university and fell in love with the Island. There was simply no way for me to escape the “yaad mentality.”

If nothing else, Jamaicans are a very proud and boastful people. Jamaicans celebrate accomplishments of any Jamaican as their own personal victories. Some of my favorite memories of my time in Jamaica are watching Jamaicans at the Olympics in a room full of people. After every victory, everyone would run around beating pot covers,  throwing furniture, waving flags, dancing, and celebrating their Jamaicanness. My biggest dream is to make my country proud. I want to be the reason they're beating pot covers and proudly waving their flags.

I was raised by a single mother who is an incredibly independent, intelligent and strong-willed individual. From a young age, my mother instilled in me the importance of education and being self-sufficient. She never takes anything from anyone without working for it. As a result, I aspire to be as independent and self-sufficient as my mother. I want to make her proud as a “thank you” for all the work she put in and all the sacrifices that she made to get me to where I am today.

Why Did It Work: I tried to make this essay impactful by showing instead of telling. I tried to create vivid imagery and be as descriptive as possible given the word constraints. I was pretty lucky because the world I come from is one of my biggest motivations and driving factors so this essay was pretty easy to write!

Essay 3: Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you.* 100 words or fewer

Response: Since I was thirteen, chemistry has been my favorite subject for more reasons than I can name within the bounds of this essay. However, the biggest reason I love chemistry is the periodic table. I have always had an appreciation for the symmetry, organization, and predictability of the periodic table. While I am not yet sure what I want to do with chemistry in the future, I would like to study chemistry because of the infinite number of applications. The constant challenge keeps me motivated to learn and practice more. 

Why Did It Work:

As you can see, the trend for the MIT supplements is that they are all very short! Therefore the difficulty is getting all the important ideas in there while still making the essay an interesting read that flows well. I tried to quickly explain why chemistry is important to me. I think this is a good response because the reasons I named could lend to a broad variety of subject areas and shows that I love learning and being challenged.

Essay 4: We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do for the pleasure of it.* 250 words

Response: Sandstone, sandstone, andesite, sandstone, sandstone, andesite. I step back and marvel at my latest masterpiece- The One Direction Library, right on the bank of Moon River (leading to the Frank Ocean) in the very heart of Forest Hills. To her left stands the Jamaica Museum of Science and Mathematics, a massive one hundred-and fifty-block high edifice of white concrete and black-stained glass. Over the past year, I have constructed a small city in Minecraft, named after my favorite album (2014 Forest Hills Drive) with buildings, rivers and streets named after the most important people, songs, things and places in my life. 

My friends introduced me to Minecraft a long time ago, but I found myself quickly developing a hatred for the game and the sleepless nights its survival mode would leave me with. I didn’t touch the game again until about four years ago. I began to explore the bounds of Creative Mode to see if I could build a model of the Chichen Itza for a history project and fell in love. I began using creative mode to build the houses in my head and then to replicate buildings in my life and finally, to create my own city, Forest Hills.

Why did it work?: 

This was my most controversial essay. My college advisor actually told me not to turn in this essay but I went against his advice because this was my favorite essay! 

My college advisor thought this was not a good essay because gamers are an “MIT stereotype.” He thought a lot of people would be sending in essays about them playing video games and I wouldn’t stand out.

I decided not to listen because I think this essay works because of how I used the gaming theme. I simultaneously answered the question (told the reader that I like to play Minecraft for fun), but also used it to give the reader a little insight into who I am. 

I think it's ok to sometimes write about a “cliche” essay topic if you have something else that makes your essay cool and unique!

Essay 5: At MIT, we bring people together to better the lives of others. MIT students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world's biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way in which you have contributed to your community, whether in your family, the classroom, your neighborhood, etc.* 250 words

Response: Frustrated with the systematic racism exposed as a result of the Black Lives Matter Movement, I felt an urgent need to take action. I created an Instagram account, @blackhotchkiss, that highlights the experiences of black-identifying students at my school, centering the conversation around BIPOC.  A group of thirteen students and myself approached administrators with a proposal to work together to ameliorate various aspects of our community from our eurocentric curriculum to the inconsistencies in the disciplinary responses. Over the summer, we met daily to draft a proposal of changes to our community to present to our administrators. Following the presentation of the proposal, we met with administrators to discuss our experiences and suggestions. Our school used our proposal as a blueprint for their roadmap for change. We continue to work with administrations post their adaptation of our proposal to draft a Constitution for our school and make our school more anti-racist.

I currently serve on my school's newly founded Curriculum and Pedagogy Subcommittee. We are working on changes big and small, such as incorporating more novels by BIPOC and LGBTQ authors into the required reading for students. We are also working to increase the scope of our history lessons- encompassing more of the world and placing less of a heavy emphasis on white and eurocentric history.

Why did it work?: This essay works because it also gives insight into the causes I care about.  It shows that I took the initiative to change my school and am passionate about creating more anti-racist community.

Essay 6: Tell us about the most significant challenge you've faced or something that didn't go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?* 250 words

Response: When I co-founded the inaugural BLISSummit, an inter school conference for black identifying students, I did not anticipate leading a movement of over 1000 students. Over 200 students from independent schools all over New England were set to attend and tackle some of the systemic challenges we faced as students in predominantly white institutions. With just a month before the conference was set to happen, the pandemic forced its cancellation. 

BLISSummit has since published a magazine for black creatives, authored a resource kit to support the Black Lives Matter Movement, and launched a mentorship program to connect alumni to current students. To maintain the spirit of the movement, we leveraged the power of virtual platforms to connect people. We have hosted zoom meetings in which we discuss a range of topics affecting our community, from police brutality in the wake of the murder of George Floyd to microaggressions and racism within our own schools. Perhaps the most unexpected venture was launching a BLISS clothing line of which 100% of the profits were donated to Campaign Zero and KYRC COVID-19. 

COVID-19 gave BLISSumit the biggest basket of lemons and this allowed us to adjust how we connect. These changes have allowed us to expand our community to over 30 schools and 1000 students. Plans are also underway to host our inaugural in-person conference in April, 2021.

Why did it work?

I think this essay worked because admissions officers were probably tired of hearing COVID horror stories. I explained how I used COVID to grow my organization by 500%. Having passion projects like this can look great on a college application! 

Written by Ashley Williams, PathIvy MIT Ambassador