Transcript for the Math Jam "MIT Admissions Math Jam" on Sep 25.

Math Jam hosted by MattMcGannMIT (Matt McGann ).

DPatrick (19:30:19)
Greetings and welcome to today's Massachusetts Institute of Technology Math Jam!

DPatrick (19:30:26)
Before I introduce our special guests, I would like to briefly explain our classroom to those who have not previously attended a Math Jam or online class.

DPatrick (19:30:36)
This classroom is moderated. This means that the messages you type will come to the moderators rather than going directly into the room. The moderators may choose some of the messages and questions to share with all of the participants.

DPatrick (19:30:49)
Only the moderators have the ability to send private messages in the classroom. Sometimes they will use these to privately respond to your comments.

DPatrick (19:30:56)
There are likely to be a lot of questions.Please be patient -- the moderators will be answering questions as quickly as they can, but it may take some time for them to get to yours. Also, your question may not necessarily be selected to be answered; please do not take this personally, as we only have a finite amount of time and there may be a lot of questions, so some may not get taken. Please only ask your question once.

DPatrick (19:31:24)
In addition, there may be a delay between when your question appears and when it is answered -- please be patient and give our guests time to type in thorough answers.

DPatrick (19:31:37)
Now let me introduce our special guests from MIT!

DPatrick (19:31:46)
Matt McGann is the Associate Director of Admissions at MIT. Not only is Matt one of the people who reads applications and decides who is admitted, he is also an MIT alumnus (class of 2000), so he can likely answer a lot of your questions about undergraduate life at MIT. Matt's home page is http://www.mitadmissions.org/Matt.shtml.

DPatrick (19:32:11)
Kiran Kedlaya is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at MIT. His research is in arithmetic algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory. Prof. Kedlaya is a former IMO medalist and serves on the AoPS Foundation Board of Directors. His home page is http://www.mit.edu/~kedlaya/.

DPatrick (19:32:28)
At this time I will turn the floor over to Matt and Kiran.

MattMcGannMIT (19:32:35)
Hello, and welcome to the MIT MathJam! Kiran and I will begin answering questions shortly. First, a few things (this will take a minute):

MattMcGannMIT (19:32:47)
To ask a question, I'd ask that you first introduce yourself with your name, school year, and home state/country. So if I was still a junior back in New York, and wanted to ask is the sky blue, I'd write:\rMatt / 11 / NY: Is the sky blue?

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:03)
You can read all of our blogs at http://www.mitadmissions.org/; You may also be interested in admissions statistics, test scores, etc, all of which can be found at http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/admissions_statistics/index.shtml

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:09)
You can view the entire MIT Course Catalog at http://student.mit.edu/catalog/index.cgi; Also, you can view the entirety of many MIT courses through OpenCourseWare at http://ocw.mit.edu/

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:17)
And the fun stuff: MIT has nearly 400 student groups, you can read more about them at http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/group-list.html

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:25)
And, of course, did you all see the fire truck that MIT students put on the Great Dome? http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/2006/firetruck/

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:36)
Some notes on MIT admission: We admitted 1513 students last year from a pool of 11,374 applicants. Admission to MIT is extremely competitive because of the limited number of spaces in the freshman class and because of the many, many talented applicants.

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:44)
There are two deadlines for freshman admission: an Early Action Deadline, which is November 1, and a Regular Action deadline, which is January 1. January 1 is also the deadline to be considered for international admission (for students who are not US citizens or permanent residents).

MattMcGannMIT (19:33:56)
Admission to MIT is not based on a formula. Even at MIT, admissions is much more of an art than a science. The MIT admissions process is a subjective, holistic process. It is much deeper than just a set of grades and test scores. We are really looking for students who are a good fit and good match with MIT.

MattMcGannMIT (19:34:05)
What makes someone a good match with MIT? Someone who is genuinely excited to learn, to discover, to create, to innovate. Someone who believes in MIT's mission, that our education should be to improve the world, to create a better future.

MattMcGannMIT (19:34:13)
Someone who works well collaboratively, and is excited about solving problems. Someone with balance in their life, who has more than just studying but sees that having balance, having some fun, is important.

MattMcGannMIT (19:34:19)
(How do you think a fire truck got up on the Great dome, anyway?)

MattMcGannMIT (19:34:27)
Anyway, that's just a little about MIT. Kiran, is there anything you'd like to say/add before we begin?

kedlaya (19:35:02)
Just a few words, so we can get to as many questions as possible.

kedlaya (19:35:42)
I may be biased, but I happen to think MIT is the best place in the world right now to be an undergraduate studying math; my job here today is to at least give a few reasons why I think that.

kedlaya (19:36:42)
One is that you'll have a whole lot of company. We have lots of math majors graduating every year. Many go on to grad school, at pretty much every top program in math, and some in other subjects; lots take other career paths too.

kedlaya (19:37:29)
As evidence of the strength of our program, I present the results of the Putnam competition for the last several years. Last year, over 30% of the ranked participants (top 75) in all of North America were at MIT.

kedlaya (19:38:49)
Our department is big, so we offer courses in pretty much everything, at many levels. Some of our students even take graduate-level courses, and we have plenty of those too since we're a top PhD program as well.

kedlaya (19:39:30)
And as Matt pointed out, you'll have lots of chances to have fun in other ways while at MIT; the only thing our students don't seem to manage to do is get enough sleep.

kedlaya (19:39:51)
That'll do for now, maybe we should turn to questions.

MysticTerminator (19:33:55)
Arnav/12/NC didn't they already put a cop car on top of the dome? Surely they're not running out of ideas!

MattMcGannMIT (19:40:05)
Hi, Arnav! I hope all is well. Anyway, yes, they did (see http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/); the fire truck, I think, is in part a response to the police car, and in part a Sept. 11 tribute.

MattMcGannMIT (19:40:29)
Let's try that link again: http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/

MattMcGannMIT (19:41:18)
More about the 9/11 tribute part: the fire truck bore the phrase ""Meminimus"" which translates to ""We Remember"".

Karth (19:38:29)
Karthik/11/GA: What factors does MIT consider with applications?

MattMcGannMIT (19:43:28)
Hello Karthik. We consider many factors in admission. You can take a look at our website http://mitadmissions.org to view a copy of our application for admission. You can see we ask for grades, test scores, two recommendations, an interview, some essays, and more.

Stargirl240 (19:37:26)
What career paths are open for people who are math majors?

MattMcGannMIT (19:46:01)
Having good grades is important. You don't need a perfect 4.0, but having mostly A's in a challenging courseload will be important. As for test scores, you should know that we don't make decisions based on them. They are considered but are far from the most important factor. We will also look at how you spend your time. Time is your most important resource, and how you use it is interesting information for us. Overall, we are looking for people who will be a vibrant member of our community. I hope this is somewhat helpful, Karthik; I'm sure I'll be elaborating on this in answers to forthcoming questions.

kedlaya (19:46:12)
Stargirl240: most of them! Of course some math majors pursue careers in academia, either in math or nearby areas (physics, CS, economics).

kedlaya (19:46:52)
Some work in finance, some in IT, some in law...

kedlaya (19:47:43)
Nowadays a big growth area for math majors is in biology, which suddenly has a lot of demand for people with math training.

kedlaya (19:48:09)
But in general, many employers like to hire math majors because they are good critical thinkers and problem solvers, regardless of what area the problems are in.

cdplayersony (19:40:39)
justin/11/WA: is there an advantage in early admission?

MattMcGannMIT (19:48:11)
Hello Justin. At MIT, we do not give an advantage to Early Action applications. You can check out some statistics on our website for some data, but the bottom line is that our office feels strongly that we should treat early and regular applications in the same way, so we do. There are no bonuses for early applicants other than knowing a decision earlier.

nealth (19:39:58)
Delong//10//LA: I made the MOSP (math olympiad summer program) this year, how much will this help me on the application?

kedlaya (19:49:23)
Delong: I can't say for sure, but you should certainly make prominent mention of it, as it is a significant accomplishment and MIT knows it.

chess64 (19:44:24)
Adeel/10/MD: Is it possible to go to MIT for graduate school even if you went to say, University of Maryland: Baltimore County, for undergraduate? I ask this because I am a sophomore in high school but I'm trying to graduate this year, and I realize that I probably don't have a good chance of being accepted to MIT. On this note, I'm also wondering what qualities you look for in early applicants my age (15). Thanks!

mdk (19:40:01)
Malick/12/DC. How is your engineering program?

MattMcGannMIT (19:50:23)
Malick, MIT is well known for its engineering programs. We offer programs in environmental, civil, mechanical, materials, electrical, computer, chemical, ocean, aeronautical, astronautical, biological, and nuclear engineering. Check out the web site for more info, I think you'll like it!

kedlaya (19:50:28)
Adeel: graduate admissions are done department-by-department, so I only speak for math when answering this.

kedlaya (19:52:09)
We admit graduate students from all over the US and all over the world. And we definitely keep an eye out for exceptional students from schools that are not on our usual list. The most important part of the grad application is probably letters of recommendation, for which it's key to get to know some of your professors, so that they know something about you.

DPatrick (19:52:40)
Let me jump in here...

kedlaya (19:52:52)
(Not to say grades, and what classes you took don't matter)

MattMcGannMIT (19:52:59)
Also, Adeel, we do have some younger students at MIT. I came a year early to MIT and even in my close group of friends freshman year, I was only the third youngest. Mostly, we will look at the applications for younger students the same way as all others, but with two other thoughts: 1) has this student exhausted the resources in their area? Do teachers around the student support the decision to go to college early? and 2) Is this student socially ready for a university environment? I hope this helps!

MattMcGannMIT (19:53:18)
There are a lot of questions! We're moving as fast as we can...

DPatrick (19:53:34)
Today's discussion is primarily about undergraduate admissions. We have tons of questions from current high school students. If you have questions about grad admissions, please post them on our forum instead of asking them here. Thanks.

Karth (19:48:11)
Karthik//11/GA: How would people study for the Putnam exam in MIT? Are there studygroups, etc.?

kedlaya (19:54:53)
Karthik: a couple of professors (Hartley Rogers and Richard Stanley) run a problem-solving seminar in the fall to prepare students (mostly freshmen, a few older students too) for the exam.

besttate (19:41:32)
Ric/9/IL: I am currently in a freshman in my public high school (New Trier H.S.). However, I am lucky enough to have the resources to attend a prestegeous boarding school such as Phillips Exeter or Andover. As an admissions director for MIT, which option you you reccommend that I pursue as someone who wishes to attend MIT? Thanks!

MattMcGannMIT (19:55:34)
Ric, New Trier, Exeter, and Andover are all great schools. Make the chocie that's best for you. If you are excited about an independent boarding school, you can look at those; if you'd like the resources of a large, well-known public school while living with family, New Trier is a great choice.

kedlaya (19:55:42)
Some students may also prepare on their own, or in small groups.

solafidefarms (19:48:08)
Billy/10/GA How many encryption/compression experts do ya'll have? what kind of encryption classes do ya'll have to offer?

kedlaya (19:56:53)
Those classes are mostly in computer science, but many math majors take them. And MIT is a world center for such things, with people like Ron Rivest in cryptography, and Madhu Sudan in coding theory, on the faculty and actively teaching courses.

cdplayersony (19:52:35)
justin/11/wa: what is there to do around mit? how is the weather?

Iversonfan2007 (19:44:00)
Shobhit/12/SC I was just wondering, how good is MIT's Biology/chemistry departments?

MattMcGannMIT (19:58:05)
Shobhit, biology and chemistry are well known at MIT. Last year, Chemistry Professor Richard Schrock won the Nobel Prize; on the biology faculty, we have 3 (4?) Nobel Prize winners. If you get the chance to come to MIT, check out 7.012: Intro Biology, taught by Eric Lander, who was the first author on the publication of the Human Genome Project and was also on the first US IMO team! Prof. Lander is an incredible guy.

kedlaya (19:59:06)
MIT has the great advantage of being in Cambridge, a lively city on its own right, and adjacent to Boston, which is even more lively. So you have all the advantages of city life (ample movies, concerts, etc.) plus all the activity centered at MIT itself.

kedlaya (20:00:11)
The weather is one of our weaker points, I suppose, but fortunately many buildings at MIT are connected internally, so you don't have to go outside so much if you don't want to. (One bright spot is autumn; the weather today was gorgeous.)

daveapeksha (19:55:12)
What are the advantages to MIT over Harvard and other top schools?

Taake (19:45:07)
Elizabeth/12/TX I?m applying EA for MIT this year as a 14 year old senior. I?ve read the blog you posted concerning this matter but, as a younger student, how did you fit in and cope yourself? Were there any obstacles that you faced directly as a result of your age? What is the general campus attitude (from professors, staff, other students) towards such students? Also, from the admissions point of view, would supplemental material ? a portfolio, extra recommendations ? be appreciated to show my maturity, readiness for college, and etc?

MattMcGannMIT (20:00:50)
From a cultural point of view, younger students are treated no differently on campus. One young student I know is among the most popular students on campus, and most students don't realize that he is younger. As for the admissions side, I would recommend some extra letters supporting your readiness for college and maturity. I hope this is helpful! Best wishes, Elizabeth.

kedlaya (20:01:32)
daveapeksha: this is a fascinating, and difficult, question. There is no denying that, for instance, Harvard is an excellent place to study mathematics, or most anything else.

MattMcGannMIT (20:01:33)
As you can tell, Kiran and I are crossing answers -- I know that the AoPS community is smart enough to figure all this out =)

kedlaya (20:01:49)
Yeah, I think they'll manage

kimby_102 (19:45:12)
Robert/11/CA: how important is the rank?

MattMcGannMIT (20:03:07)
Hi Robert. We will consider rank if it is provided, but in reality, we'll focus on the individual courses and individual grades. We know some schools have funny ranking/weighting schemes, so we'll always look deeper to better understand your courseload and performance.

kedlaya (20:03:16)
anyway, one advantage we have over Harvard, specifically in math, is that our department is bigger (maybe twice as many faculty), so we offer courses in more subjects. We also benefit from the MIT-wide better integration between departments, so for instance we have some courses cross-listed with computer science.

kedlaya (20:04:07)
But I usually recommend that students deciding between MIT and Harvard, or MIT and some other top school, should visit both schools, talk to current students, and figure out which place better fits their personality. Not everyone has an ""MIT personality"", though I suspect more people do than realize it at first.

danthemanvt (19:44:20)
Dan/10/VT: How important is taking honors level classes in the application process?

MattMcGannMIT (20:04:54)
Dan, we hope that you will challenge yourself during high school. Now, you don't need to take all of the honors/AP courses, but I hope that you'll challenge yourself with adavnced courses at a level that is appropriate to you.

daveapeksha (19:58:25)
Are are summer interships available at MIT? Does MIT value students to spend time doing research over the summer at other universities?

kedlaya (20:05:28)
In general, there are a lot of research opportunities available at MIT, both over the summer and during term.

kedlaya (20:06:12)
Specifically in math, we offer a program called SPUR in which undergrads are paired with grad student mentors to work on projects. Some students also work on projects directly with professors; I've supervised 5-6 of these in the last couple of years.

kedlaya (20:06:43)
In general, MIT considers student research to be an extremely important part of one's education, whether or not it's in a subject you pursue further later on.

nadocal (19:58:34)
Caleb/8/CA- For middle school students - are there certain types of classes you should take in High School? Also, if you want to be a math major, math competitions would be important, right?- but what about science ?

emilgouliev (19:44:47)
Emil/10/NY: What do you mean by 'having balance/having fun'?

MattMcGannMIT (20:07:00)
While I think all of us on AoPS can agree that math is fun, I hope there's something where you can relax, chill, or otherwise have fun. For some students, it's sports, or music, or theater, or building trebuchets; I just hope that there's something non-academic that you enjoy. At MIT, we do take our academic and research work seriously, but we also know how to have serious fun.

kedlaya (20:08:44)
Caleb: probably the best bet is to take the courses you find most interesting. And math competitions are a good way to broaden your exposure to topics you probably won't see much in class...

NeverOddOrEven (20:00:01)
Patrick/10/NC Have most of the accepted students done well in high school math competitions? (AIME, USAMO, etc.)

kedlaya (20:10:10)
Patrick: we do get many such students, but I think some effort is made to make sure that we also get some students who didn't have the chance to try these competitions, or to perform up to their potential.

soccerboy (19:47:43)
among all the different (and obviously impressive) test scores and grades that you receive from applicants, does that mean the personal essays play a major role in acceptance?

MattMcGannMIT (20:10:19)
I wouldn't say that it's the essays, but rather all of the other things in your application beyond the numbers. Your recommendations and interview will be important in addition to everything you tell us about yourself. We hope to understand you as a complete person -- what excites you, what motivates you, what you hope to accomplish, etc. -- to understand how you would fit in with the MIT community. because, as I said, what we're looking for is the right match between a student and MIT.

bagladyrockstar (20:04:01)
What math classes do you reccomend I take in high school if I want to be a Math major?

kedlaya (20:11:16)
There's no single right answer. One of the nice things about being a math major at MIT is that there's no single path through the major, so you can start wherever is appropriate given your background, and continue from there.

neelnal (20:00:39)
Isn't there some sort of underground tunnel to go to class to class at MIT if it is snowed out?

kedlaya (20:12:54)
Most of the academic buildings are connected, in some cases underground, though most of the dorms are not on that network. In any case, Boston winters get a bit of a bum rap; sometimes there's a lot of snow, but it doesn't usually shut things down completely.

goldengoal (20:04:45)
Luvreet/12/CA: I live in California so I am wondering what are the advantages MIT has over say Caltech?

Kalimdor (19:54:51)
Is it more preferable if applicants have, say, recommendation letters from university prof. or recommendation letters from his/her local high school teachers would be more useful?

MattMcGannMIT (20:13:37)
The best recommendations come from people who know you well. I see so many recommendations from famous people who barely know the student; it doesn't tell me anything. I find that often, HS teachers know you very well and thus write excellent recommendations. If you have a university professor who knows you well, by all means have them send a recommendation.

kedlaya (20:14:58)
Luvreet: well, we did steal their cannon, after all. But seriously, Caltech is also a great school. It's a bit smaller than MIT, which has some advantages, but I think MIT is able to offer more different subjects (particularly in math; Caltech's math department is much smaller than ours).

Elsaball (20:06:26)
Elie/11/NJ: I know MIT's general math and applied math programs are great. But does MIT have a quality actuarial science program?

kedlaya (20:16:09)
Elie: we don't have a specific actuarial program, no. But I do think some of our majors pursue that route and have no trouble studying the material for the actuarial exams on their own.

bagladyrockstar (19:55:14)
What kind of scholarships are offered? In general what financial aid is offered to incoming sudents?

MattMcGannMIT (20:16:28)
MIT offers financial aid based solely on need, and we meet a student's full financial need. There are no merit scholarships offerred by MIT, though our students tend to do quite well in other scholarship competitions. I find that for most students, we make finances not an issue. We really do give students the money that they'll need to attend MIT. I know that MIT really came through with substantial amounts of grant (scholarship) aid for me when I attended. For lots more info, check out the Financial Aid website: http://web.mit.edu/finaid/fin_aid/index.html

blootzboy_2 (20:08:10)
Ming-jinq/10/CA how good would making the canadian IMO team a few times (not that i have yet) look on an application

kedlaya (20:17:52)
We (the math department) love getting IMO students from all over the world. (I think one from Canada, Yufei Zhao, is a first-year now.) MIT differs from some other schools in that the admissions department realizes how much of an accomplishment attending the IMO is, and that makes our (the math department's) job that much easier.

daveapeksha (20:08:39)
If we want to go into biology, should we consider MIT over other schools?

MattMcGannMIT (20:19:07)
Justin and Karthik: test scores are one of many things considered in our holistic admissions system. We consider ACT and SAT I to be equivalent; we have no preference. We do also require 2 SAT IIs. For some statistics, you can go to the website, but the bottom line is that test scores won't be the thing that gets you in, and probably won't be the thing that keeps you out, either.

Karth (19:44:20)
Karthik/11/GA: How does MIT view SAT II scores? How about ACT scores?

cdplayersony (19:55:29)
justin/11/24: how prominent are the SAT's to ones' admission? can the ACT be a subsistute? and is the writing section now valued as highly as the rest?

kedlaya (20:19:14)
MIT is an extremely good school for biology; given that biology is becoming increasingly interconnected with mathematics and computer science, and that connection is something of a specialty. (See comments about Eric Lander above.) We also have a big department in brain and cognitive sciences.

kimby_102 (19:56:47)
Robert/11/CA: if one takes SAT 1 more than once, then would MIT look at the highest score on each sections?

MattMcGannMIT (20:19:36)
Yes.

MithsApprentice (20:12:09)
Daniel/12/TX: How much access do MIT students have to Harvard classes and resources? (and vice versa)

adelenpaul (19:56:06)
Joel/8/IA: Are there recommendations for specific foreign languages? Does it matter the language choice? Looking into future possibilities, does it make sense to start now down a certain language path. My mom wants me to take Spanish as it seems such a useable language. I'm voting for German. Does it matter?

MattMcGannMIT (20:20:41)
Joel, I don't think it particularly matters, at least not for admission. Choose the language you most want to take and that will be best for your needs and education.

kedlaya (20:20:43)
Daniel: MIT students can cross-register for Harvard courses and vice versa. This is not unusual; it's quite easy to get from one place to the other using the T, so it's completely practical.

kedlaya (20:21:22)
One example where cross-registration comes up is, Harvard offers more foreign language courses than MIT, so if you really must take, say, Russian, you can do it at Harvard.

cdplayersony (20:13:39)
justin/11/wa: what kind of things do you recommend we would fill up our free time with to fit the ""mit"" personality?

emilgouliev (20:16:51)
Emil/10/NY: How good is the Linguistics department at MIT?

kedlaya (20:23:08)
Emil: they have some guy named Chomsky, I hear he's pretty good. But seriously, MIT under Chomsky became the birthplace of modern linguistics, and it's still a distinguished school in that subject.

E^(pi*i)=-1 (20:18:45)
Alex/10/MD: Does MIT have strong humanities (I'm thinking especially philosophy) offerings as well as math/science?

MithsApprentice (19:47:09)
Daniel/12/TX: Hi Matt, I believe you made a recent entry about homeschoolers applying to MIT. I'd like you to clarify if there's a difference between how a homeschooler's application and ""normal"" (public school, private school) application is considered. Also, how is the absence of a GPA and transcript compensated for? Are standardized test results given more weight perhaps?

MattMcGannMIT (20:25:24)
Hi Daniel, thanks for having read up on this already. There's no significant difference in how we review homeschooled vs. non-homeschooled applicants, beyond what I said in my blog entry. As for GPA, yes, we will lean on other independent things, but I'd be more interested in things like university coursework, the AMC, etc, in addition to test scores. Recommendations, the interview, and your words will be important. We're still looking for the right match, so the subjective factors will have importance at least equal to the objective factors. In general, I don't find most of our homeschooled applicants to be at any disadvantage, since most are pretty resourceful and search for opportunities outside the home (like AoPS). I hope this is helpful!

kedlaya (20:25:26)
Alex: the Department of Humanities is not so large as at a broader-based school, but it has a number of distinguished faculty. Many students take courses in history, the arts, English, foreign languages (not sure about philosophy specifically). If all else fails, surely you can find a class at Harvard and cross-register.

emilgouliev (20:19:55)
Emil/10/NY: Is it true that you have to take a course in biology, chemistry, and physics every year at MIT?

kedlaya (20:26:19)
Emil: no. MIT imposes graduation requirements in all of those subjects, as well as CS and math, but most students take those courses in their first or second year.

adelenpaul (19:59:21)
Joel/8/IA: Regarding transportation around the Boston area, are there any discounts for students? Specifically on the T?

MattMcGannMIT (20:26:21)
Yes, I believe public transportation passes are half-price.

photonjohn (20:22:02)
Hardin/11/MO Is there any specific field of mathematics which the math departement specializes in?

kedlaya (20:27:23)
Hardin: because our department is big, we have good coverage in many areas. But we are particularly proud of: representation theory, differential geometry, topology, algebraic geometry...

kedlaya (20:27:41)
... not to mention combinatorics and applied math of various sorts.

nadocal (20:23:23)
Caleb/8/CA what are some other great schools I should apply to if I'm interested in math? And how can I figure out what kind of math I want to study?

evil_phoenix_fire (19:59:25)
What research opportunities would I have for nanotechnology?

MattMcGannMIT (20:28:47)
There are lots of research opportunities available for all students in all research areas. Check out http://web.mit.edu/urop for more information about the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), in which most students participate and do real, high-level research. As for nanotechnology specifically, it's all over at MIT. I'd guess there are opportunities in more than half a dozen departments. Lots of interesting questions to be explored, and lots of money to support that work.

kedlaya (20:29:37)
Caleb: the second question is easy, you take a few courses and see which ones excite you the most. As for the first: I'd consider our competition to be Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Chicago, Duke, and a few other places I'm forgetting

cdplayersony (20:24:26)
justin/11/wa: im strongly considering the field of finance. how does MIT's buisness school compare to Upenn's wharton?

kedlaya (20:30:19)
Justin: the Sloan school is internationally renowned, probably at the same level as Wharton.

MithsApprentice (20:27:48)
Daniel/12/TX: Are Sloan courses in finance and business open to interested undergrads?

MathDancer (20:05:09)
cathy/11/MD: i love math and science as well as ballet and piano - does MIT look at outiside activities as well as academic acheivements?

MattMcGannMIT (20:31:45)
Hi Cathy, Yes! I hope you'll tell us lots about piano and ballet in your application. You may also want to check out the websites for our music department and our theater/dance department to learn more about our offerings in those areas. Also, check out http://web.mit.edu/arts Thanks!

kedlaya (20:31:53)
Daniel: many Sloan courses are open to undergraduates. I think they even offer a couple of majors.

Karth (20:32:28)
Karthik/11/GA: I play the piano and Indian classical violin. How would playing instruments be noted on applications?

nealth (20:07:37)
Delong/10/LA: For international students, is it very hard to get scholarship?

MattMcGannMIT (20:33:38)
All of our students, domestic or international, have their full financial need met by our financial aid package. In fact, many of our international students, based on their need, receive near-full financial aid packages. We are need blind and meet full need for all students, domestic and international.

kedlaya (20:34:13)
see the answer to Cathy's question. I should point out that Indian classical music has something of a following at MIT; one of the music faculty (George Ruckert) plays the sarod, and a lot of visiting artists play concerts. (Zakir Hussain and Anup Jalota started their US tour at MIT.)

MattMcGannMIT (20:34:54)
Karthik, I should add that you can send a recorded CD of your music to our music department for evaluation (even if you don't want to be a music major). See the application for details.

michaelqzh (20:34:05)
Mike/10/CA how would you describe the economics department?

kedlaya (20:35:37)
Mike: economics at MIT is part of the Sloan School of Management, which as pointed out above is a top business school. But I don't think they are exclusively business-oriented

nilknarf (20:07:47)
Frank/11/ny: Will you have a lower chance to get in if you're asian?

MattMcGannMIT (20:35:46)
Absolutely not. The answer is as simple as that.

orl (20:34:07)
Did you notice an increase of applicants skill level after ML/AoPS was established?

kedlaya (20:36:28)
I certainly think the level has gone up, certainly among the students I get to see

cdplayersony (20:34:50)
justin/11/wa: how is the rock music scene at MIT?

kedlaya (20:37:40)
Justin: Boston is a big music city, so there are lots of venues (some very close to MIT, like the Middle East Cafe) and lots of artists doing stops on tours.

nadocal (20:09:33)
Caleb/8/CA- i will go to a top public high school in San Diego next year, but it's not one of the best in the US- do I have a chance to get into MIT even though I won't be at one of the top schools in the country?

MattMcGannMIT (20:37:45)
Absolutely. MIT students come from all kinds of high schools, some among the best in the country, some just your average school, some poor urban or rural schools. It's not the school you attend, but what you make of it.

MattMcGannMIT (20:38:25)
Justin: I might add that our Dean of Admissions, Marilee Jones, totally rocked out at MIT's Battle of the Bands last year. How many Admissions Deans do you know who rock out? ;)

kedlaya (20:38:40)
lol

Zzarkc-20_2 (20:11:08)
Do you often receive students from small rural town high schools that are out of state? Also, do you respect most high school AP classes?

MattMcGannMIT (20:40:43)
Yes. See The answer to Caleb's question above. I came from a pretty small, rural HS myself. Also, note that MIT is mostly out-of-state students -- less than 10% of our students come from Massachusetts, and California is our largest represented state (and it's 3000 miles away). So, in short, you won't be alone -- there are many students like you at MIT.

Elsaball (19:55:00)
Does MIT favor students who are very smart all around when compared to students who are math geniuses, but average in other subjects?

benign_blondazn (20:36:39)
Will skipping grades in math or taking advanced math be helpful?

kedlaya (20:43:00)
If skipping grades or courses puts you in the ""right"" class, meaning the one which you find the most interesting, then that will probably be helpful.

Vihang (20:14:35)
Vihang/11/In : How important is an interview ?

E^(pi*i)=-1 (20:39:25)
Alex/10/MD: What happens during January? I heard it is an ""Independent Activities Period"" or something like that.

MattMcGannMIT (20:43:31)
Vihang, an interview is highly recommended if there is an interviewer in your area. I see you're from Indiana, where we have a great team of interviewers headed up by the architect Sam Hurt in Indianapolis. It's easy to set up an interview; just go to http://my.mit.edu when you're applying and your interviewer's information will be right there. Contact that person and set up a day and time that is mutually convenient. The interview will be a conversation -- that is to say, there will be no calculus questions or brainsteasers or anything like that. It's a good idea to have the interview.

kedlaya (20:45:04)
Alex: indeed, January is an intersession period called IAP (Independent Activities Period). Although students are not required to be present, most stay around and participate in some of a huge variety of fun, noncredit activities. Some of these are offered by departments (the math department offers a lecture series, a bridge tournament, and the Integration Bee) and some are mostly run on student initiative (like my personal favorite, the MIT Mystery Hunt).

kedlaya (20:45:40)
Very few other schools have anything quite like MIT's IAP.

Elsaball (20:11:53)
Does MIT take a student's context into consideration? If so, to what extend? For example, I do not come from a high school with a notable math program, and had to take most math classes on my own. But I feel that if my school was better in math, I would have done better on contests (AIME, USAMO, etc.), and would rank up with the mainstreem MIT accepted applicant.

tongchen1226 (20:14:46)
Does the parameter of region of residence count in the admission process? For instance, if one lives in Mississippi, would he have an advantage over someone from CAlifornia with the same grades?

MattMcGannMIT (20:45:44)
Your context is absolutely considered, and is quite important. However, just being from Mississippi will not make you inherently any better than someone from California. We will look at your opportunities, resources, challenges, etc, and try to understand your achievements, activities, and goals in the context of your situation. I hope this is helpful!

photonjohn (20:43:17)
Hardin/11/MO: Do students generally take 4 years to finish their degrees? Also, are there common double majors in math?

kedlaya (20:47:12)
Most students finish in 4 years; a few spend a 5th year doing a combined bachelors/masters program. Double majors in math are extremely common, particularly with computer science, but also with physics, biology, and in many cases a humanities subject (usually music or theater).

kedlaya (20:47:29)
The math major is flexible (not too many required courses), so it makes double-majoring relatively easy.

cdplayersony (20:47:19)
justin/11/wa: how are the sports programs at MIT?

Elsaball (20:28:04)
Elie/11/NJ: Would it look bad if an applicant does well in the AMC (140 or so), but badly in the AIME (5 or so)?

MattMcGannMIT (20:48:22)
Elie, you've got to get out of the AoPS bubble! An AIME 5 is quite respectable, and we have plenty of students here who performed much worse.

kedlaya (20:48:24)
Justin: I read somewhere that MIT has more NCAA Division I sports programs than any other school in the US.

MattMcGannMIT (20:48:52)
(Actually, we are tied for the most NCAA sports, not necessarily Division I)

kedlaya (20:49:00)
sorry, my mistake

kedlaya (20:49:28)
but the point is, there are a lot of sports programs, and a lot of students participate in them

MattMcGannMIT (20:50:02)
We have 41 varsity sports, most are Division III. Our crew team is Division I, and we're quite good at the, um, ""pirate"" sports -- fencing, sailing, crew, rifle, pistol. And we're not bad at the other things...

MattMcGannMIT (20:51:00)
If you're like me, though, you may be more interested in intramural sports (IMs). 85% of students are involved in IMs, ranging from basketball to ultimate frisbee to table tennis to ice hockey.

michaelqzh (20:18:50)
What's MIT's top arts program?

kedlaya (20:53:15)
I tend to think of MIT's strong arts areas as music and theater.

nadocal (20:52:25)
Caleb/8/CA- what is the MIT Mystery Hunt?

mazingmath3141 (19:58:40)
Alexandra/12/MA: Hi Matt! I was wondering what depatment you majored in, what you thought of it, and that some of your favorite classes were, inside and outside of your major

MattMcGannMIT (20:56:34)
Hi Alexandra, thanks for asking! I received my degree in Management Science. I loved my professors in the department, and really enjoyed getting to take classes with and collaborate with the graduate students, who had such interesting experiences in industry. My favorite classes at MIT included Combinatorics, Intro to Architecture, Intro to Acting, Biology, and the political science classes I took.

orl (20:52:44)
Does MIT admit students based on their impressive sport skills as some other universities which lower the qualifications they are looking for in general in this case?

MattMcGannMIT (20:57:21)
No.

kedlaya (20:57:31)
Caleb: it's a weekend-long puzzle treasure hunt, in which teams of anywhere from 10 to 100 are trying to find a coin (or similar object) hidden on campus. See http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ for more information.

Kalimdor (20:53:02)
what's composition of MIT freshmen? (sex ratio and race ratio statistics)

MattMcGannMIT (20:59:39)
See http://mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/incoming_freshman_class_profile/index.shtml

cdplayersony (20:57:46)
justin/11/wa: how much of an advantage do legacies, people with financial contributions, and sports players have over the rest?

kedlaya (20:59:54)
I think you're mistaking us for Harvard. :)

mdk (20:49:22)
how is the basketball team?

MattMcGannMIT (21:00:37)
See http://mitathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mit-m-baskbl-body.html

orl (21:01:22)
MIT has lots of researchers with distinctive contributions in their field. How does that influence the time they have for student research requests or questions in general? Or is it more like that you cope with their assistants because they do not have much time or do not bother much about teaching?

cdplayersony (21:00:31)
justin/11/wa: so then legacies have no advantage at all?

MattMcGannMIT (21:02:52)
There is not a legacy preference at MIT. If you get in, it's because you're awesome, not because your mom or dad is awesome.

kedlaya (21:02:57)
Many MIT students are surprised to discover that some of their big-name professors are actually eager to talk to them! There is much less distance between profs and undergrads than you might expect.

E^(pi*i)=-1 (21:01:55)
Alex/10/MD: Do summer programs like Mathcamp help in the application? What about recommendation letters from faculty at such programs?

kedlaya (21:03:59)
Alex: I think one big advantage of such programs is that the people writing the recs tend to get to know you pretty well during the program, and they also know what to tell us that we will find useful. And of course you'll learn a ton and have a blast.

cdplayersony (20:40:12)
justin/11/wa: do you know of anyone being in a band making it big? for instance, if one were at...harvard (maybe it's stanford) then they would know rivers kumo from weezer

MattMcGannMIT (21:06:49)
Tom Scholz from the band Boston came from MIT. Boston has sold more than 30 million records.

mathgeek117 (20:41:42)
Sometimes I don't feel like I fit in that well at my school because I really like learning and many of the other kids just don't care. Will I find my community at MIT?

kevinH (21:01:46)
how is the football team

MattMcGannMIT (21:07:43)
Not as good as the basketball team :) See http://mitathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mit-m-footbl-body.html

kedlaya (21:07:57)
It is extremely likely that you will find a community at MIT that you fit into! The place is full of fun, interesting people who also happen to really be into learning.

orl (20:40:18)
How many people participating in UROP get joint publications with their supervisors?

kedlaya (21:08:51)
I don't have hard evidence, but certainly several students that I did projects with have ended up as joint authors on papers I wrote

MattMcGannMIT (21:09:26)
It's a toss-up between two: either R2D2 http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1999/r2d2/ or the Great Beanie http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1996/beanie/

kedlaya (21:10:07)
(I assume the question was something like ""what is your favorite hack?"")

MattMcGannMIT (21:10:43)
I'm sorry we couldn't get to all of your questiosn tonight! You should see the moderator window... there are lots and lots more questions. Thanks for participating! I love to answer questions on my blog, so come see me there: http://mitadmissions.org/Matt.shtml

mathgeek117 (20:44:31)
What is your favorite MIT hack?

kedlaya (21:11:15)
indeed, there are tons more questions we didn't get to. Thanks for asking so many good ones!

DPatrick (21:11:48)
I'd like to thank Matt and Kiran for attending tonight and staying for nearly 2 hours.

DPatrick (21:12:05)
And thanks to our users for all the good questions.

kedlaya (21:12:13)
My pleasure

DPatrick (21:12:37)
We'll hopefully be announcing more Math Jams like this one in the near future with other colleges...stay tuned!

MattMcGannMIT (21:12:41)
And my thanks go out to Dave, Richard, and the whole crew at AoPS/ML!

kedlaya (21:12:46)
ditto

kevinH (21:11:31)
Thank you for coming!

Karth (21:12:12)
thank you very much for answering my questions :-)

kimby_102 (21:12:48)
Thanks!

adelenpaul (21:14:03)
Joel/8/IA: thanks a lot for the help

Zzarkc-20_2 (21:14:08)
I learned a ton more about MIT. Thanks a ton for this.

.cpp (21:14:13)
I had a great time!

MithsApprentice (21:14:14)
Thanks for being here. Can we hound the MIT representatives doing those local orientations? :P

cdplayersony (21:14:49)
you guys helped very much and definitely have increased my intrest in applying to MIT. Thanks

E^(pi*i)=-1 (21:14:49)
Thank you for hosting this!

nadocal (21:15:21)
Thanks

mazingmath3141 (21:15:11)
Thanks so much!

deechou_2 (21:17:38)
Thanks

adelenpaul (21:18:03)
that was really neat

thatin (21:18:04)
it was really interesting

dogseatcheese (21:18:10)
thanx