I don’t think I’ve ever mention this here but I’m a member of my alma maters education council.. Or EC.. As its called at MIT. That means that every year i have the job of interviewing 2-4 high school students fromVermont that want to go to MIT. The idea is to both give the admissions office a personal view on each candidate.. And to let the candidate ask some questions about MIT. Its a job i enjoy and take very seriously. I love MIT And think everyone should go there… That said.. Its not the best place for everybody. There are lots of good schools that allow for a more rounded education .. The ‘tute majors in science and engineering.. If you want to major. N literature.. It might not be the perfect place.. But if you want hardcore.. Creative, collaborative, crazy all night thinking and ,making.. Theres simply no better place in my opinion…
Tats why i so enjoy talking to the would-be students, in the past 2 weeks I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to interview four of them. They’ve all been very, very good.. They’ve had near perfect math sat scores.. They’ve aced their classes… Some have already been taking college math and science classes… .but they are not one dimensional automatons.. Far from it.. They’ve been athletes, student council presidents, musicians…teen models (yes…. And she wants to go to mit !) .. 3 out of the four of them have been from the peoples republic of china .. Going to one of two different boarding schools in the Northeast kingdom.. Each of these exchange students has come to this country on their own to study english..and american thinking.. While im happy they like the American way of teaching… The apparent ease with which each of these students has sprinted through our education system makes me wonder just how our classes stack up…
Its both fun and humbling getting to spend an hour with these kids and understand what makes them tick,. They are at such a great juncture i n their lives.. Heir intellectual lives… Which have already been relatively full.. Are about to take off… Whether at MIT or one of the other fine schools that would be lucky to have them..
To tomorrow i need to sit down and write evaluation letters for each of these students.. Its a hard job.. . The funny thing is.. We’re not looking for test scores or aptitude.. Most folks who apply have about the same score.. The form asks about engagement, joyfulness, personal qualities (like curiosity and interests) and context..
MIT weighs these EC evaluations very heavily in admissions. I know that a poor report.. Or even a poorly written report… from me will pretty much keep a student from being admitted. A good/well written eval can really help

I hope i can distill the essence of each of these very fine students and get it on to the short form in the best possible way… Wish me luck !

Nite all, nite sam
-me

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