FAQs

• What is the MIT Exam?
  • Let me get this clear, there is no MIT entrance exam which you can qualify to get admission to MIT. MIT has a complete holistic admission process where they consider you as an individual, not just a score/rank. They surely consider your academics (SAT, grades, etc.), but also consider all other factors like your achievements, extracurriculars, and, especially, you as a human.
• How to apply to MIT?
  • Check out https://mitadmissions.org/apply/ and they have sufficient advice for the process, what they look for, and the life and culture of MIT. It is not an easy process, but all the details are available at your tips.
• How to improve one’s chances of getting into MIT?
  • In short, I have no idea. You can look at what they look for. On the other hand, I can give some facts that all the Indians I know at MIT have “many” international achievements. Some frequent ones are Science Olympiads, ISEF, or some other widely recognized international competition. My general advice would be to do what you do best and excel in it.
• How to overcome procrastination?
  • I am not entitled to answer this, but what I do is just cut off all the things I do whenever I am not productive. For me, this includes, obviously, mobile games, computer games, browsing through social media feed, and, in extreme cases, table tennis or some interesting book. Once I have no way to distract myself, I get bored pretty fast after lying on the bed so I get back to work because that seems much more interesting. Also, setting brutal but reachable deadlines and actually reaching them helped me a lot.
• What did your daily time table look like?
  • [Link to Day in Life]
• Tips about essays for the US college admission process?
  • I am definitely not the right person to answer this. I don’t feel my essays were that good, that I can give ‘advice’ about writing them. This blog[https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/advice_on_the_essay/] might be helpful for essays related to MIT. You have to remember that essays ‘bind’ your application together and give objective details a subjective outlook.
  • On the other hand, if you want someone to peer review, I used this (no promotion intended). However, I got rejected from all universities to which I submitted peer-reviewed essays. So, proceed with caution at your own discretion.
• What are AP exams and how do I take them?
  • I am not sure why so many people are asking me this question. Just browse through this website or even google search about AP, lol. Personally, I didn’t get the ‘time’ to take/register for any AP
  • The AP exams are Advanced Placement exams that, usually, American high school students take to showcase skills beyond high school’s syllabus in subjects like Mathematics, Physics, History, Literature, and so on. I have seen many Ivy league admits having 5s on many AP exams. However, in the case of international students, it is unlikely that they will overshadow your achievements or will be the sole basis of admission in elite colleges. On the other hand, the science ones seem much easier than JEE and a 5 on them won’t hurt if you have time.
• Several people ask you to compare the difficulty of the SAT and the JEE. Would you say this is an unfair comparison? Why?
  • It is not exactly unfair to compare those too, but I don’t see a need why people are comparing those too.
  • Firstly, SAT is not an entrance exam but an exam to show your college readiness. So, a 1600/1600 scorer may be rejected from MIT and a 1500/1600 scorer may be admitted. It is just one of the parameters considered in the admission process.
  • JEE is an entrance exam with cutoffs, etc.
  • One can compare SAT maths to say JEE Maths, to predict how prepared they are for the Maths part and likewise with some exam for the ERW part. However, I think it is completely unfair to compare their difficulty levels and correspond it to difficulty in getting selected at MIT and IIT or any other college.
• What was your SAT score? How did you prepare for the SAT?
  • 1560, I prepared through Khan Academy and it is an extremely helpful free resource that was sufficient for me. I also attended a few lectures by my English teacher at Aakash.
• Why did you choose to attend MIT over an IIT? In what scenario would someone pick an IIT over MIT? What do you have to say about MIT and about the IITs?
  • I chose to attend MIT ‘over IIT’ because I found myself more fit with the culture of MIT than IIT. Moreover, I am inclined to study physics and MIT has much much better facilities and faculty to help me develop and improve my aptitude in that field. I also feel that MIT is more research-oriented, while I have heard that IITs are industry-oriented (or even very ‘package-oriented’). Moreover, I could study with my physics-oriented peers across the world and I highly value the significance of peer groups[link to peer group]. The intellectual development of an individual and the collaborative atmosphere is another weight on the scales towards MIT.
  • For the second part, there can be many scenarios and it personally depends on the individuals making the decision. For some, there may be extenuating circumstances that might make IITs much more accessible to attend than MIT. For extremely affluent families, who don’t get much financial aid (as it is need-based), the cost of attendance might be a dissuading factor. Some might have a preference to stay closer/ be accessible to their families or might have difficulty adjusting to the culture. However, if you are considering IITs over MIT, please reach out to me, because the MIT community is extremely welcoming and if you are admitted, you are an important member of the mountain your class will climb.
• MIT has a need-blind financial aid policy, even for international students. What does this mean? Have you received financial aid to attend?
  • MIT provides need-blind scholarship and meets the full need of any individual, domestic and international Source. This means that if you are admitted, they will provide enough scholarship to fully cover your demonstrated financial needs and your financial condition has no impact on the decision of whether you are admitted irrespective of your nationality. This is pretty rare in US colleges with only 5 extending need-blind and full need to internationals.
  • This also means that you would have to fill an application detailing your family’s financial condition (usually after submitting your college application).
  • In my opinion, the financial aid of MIT is pretty generous, in the sense, that money would never be the limiting factor. Moreover, you can reapply if you feel that your family won’t be able to afford with the provided aid.
  • On the other hand, the tuition fees of US colleges are huge when compared to Indian ones. Hence,‘scholarship’ awarded is also huge to allow people from low-income countries to attend. So, the clickbaity articles of someone getting Rs. some crores scholarship should be read as the person’s cost of attendance has been reduced by that amount, not that the person gets that money in hand.
  • Yes, I received a significant amount of scholarship to be able to attend my dream college and turn it into reality.
• How to apply for the Bal Puraskar Award? How recognized is it?
  • You can visit the Bal Puraskar website by WCD which is the department organizing the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (erstwhile National Child Award). They have an application form where you have to list all your achievements at various levels and in various fields. The categories in which one can apply are Innovation, Social Service, Scholastic, Sports, Art & Culture, and Bravery. I got the award in the scholastic category
  • It is recognized by the President, Prime Minister, and the Government of India. It has been regarded as India’s Highest Civilian Honour under the age of 18.
  • The main motivation behind this is to get ‘extraordinary achievers’ recognized (by the media, and, hence, the public) who haven’t been recognized before.