Comment An opinion from an MIT student... (Score 1) 177
While I'm sure you can appreciate other people's comments about 'not needing to get into a top tier school', I'm inclined to think that they did not attend MIT, Cal Tech, or another equivalent school. I do agree with one thing - the quality of teaching is not significantly different between MIT and, say, another school, but the rigor of the courses and the extracurricular activities is what sets MIT apart from other universities. I chose to come to MIT over CMU and CalTech because of the people I met here, who, for the most part, share your academic interests and support your endeavors far more than at other schools.
You aren't necessarily paying for a better education, but for the resources the school has to offer. MIT has a department for the sole purpose of facilitating academic internships - the UROP department (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program). Through this, several of my friends have been hired to work on projects featured on SlashDot, as well as many other projects that have less media acclaim. Also, in my numerous job interviews, I've noticed that interviewers certainly favor names they know over names that need explaining (Harvard is definitely guilty of this - once an interviewee says they went to Harvard, the interviewers have a habit of focusing on that one interviewee. MIT does something similar, but only when an Ivy League isn't around).
That was my rebuttal to people's unfavorable reply to top tier schools. Of course you should try your best to get in. If not, it won't be the end of the world, but if you never strive for your limits, you'll never be successful (which, as other respondents have noted, is based on you and not your school). For MIT, it takes something special - something abnormal and out of the ordinary. Starting a club, getting published, dedication to research in high school; these are things other MIT students have done to gain admission. Participation in math and science competitions is also helpful. And, unfortunately, it depends on your public school. Schools with a large number of applicants generally only get a few of the applicants in, unless you go to Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Mathematics, TAMS, OSSM, etc.
I wish you luck and hope to see you at our institute next year.
-Blitz
You aren't necessarily paying for a better education, but for the resources the school has to offer. MIT has a department for the sole purpose of facilitating academic internships - the UROP department (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program). Through this, several of my friends have been hired to work on projects featured on SlashDot, as well as many other projects that have less media acclaim. Also, in my numerous job interviews, I've noticed that interviewers certainly favor names they know over names that need explaining (Harvard is definitely guilty of this - once an interviewee says they went to Harvard, the interviewers have a habit of focusing on that one interviewee. MIT does something similar, but only when an Ivy League isn't around).
That was my rebuttal to people's unfavorable reply to top tier schools. Of course you should try your best to get in. If not, it won't be the end of the world, but if you never strive for your limits, you'll never be successful (which, as other respondents have noted, is based on you and not your school). For MIT, it takes something special - something abnormal and out of the ordinary. Starting a club, getting published, dedication to research in high school; these are things other MIT students have done to gain admission. Participation in math and science competitions is also helpful. And, unfortunately, it depends on your public school. Schools with a large number of applicants generally only get a few of the applicants in, unless you go to Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Mathematics, TAMS, OSSM, etc.
I wish you luck and hope to see you at our institute next year.
-Blitz
