Hey! I’m writing this blog at 11:20 (which is late for me cause I sleep early) while procrastinating on some other work and going to bed. Recently, these behaviors have made me reflect on why I’m at MIT and why I chose to go to this kind of school. Here are the ones I thought of when applying to and deciding to go to MIT. Going to school here is objectively not easy. I miss out on a lot of relaxing, fun, and other parts of the typical college experience. I still enjoy a lot of these, but there’s no denying being at MIT sometimes feel like a sacrifice. For me though, this sacrifice is every bit worth it. If you’re unsure whether you want to apply to an “elite college,” then read my reasons for doing so and see if it makes sense for you.
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I want the best opportunities. There’s no denying it, a higher ranked school likely has more funding, a better endowment, better opportunities, better connections, etc. While having “MIT” on your resume really won’t give you a golden ticket, it’s true that it can open doors and set you up for the future. I have heard from various sources (you can look it up too) that the median income for an MIT graduate is ~ $120,000. To me, that was a big reason.
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I like rigor. Lots of “elite schools” are typically harder. MIT (or engineering schools) especially so. It’s cliche, but I enjoy having an opportunity to challenge yourself. If you like bettering yourself, then going somewhere more difficult is probably a good idea!
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The community. The people at MIT are unlike people everywhere else. Well mostly anyways. But an insane drive to do well in many aspects of life: academics, work, internships, research, weightlifting, running, and being social are ubiquitous here. It seems like all people are truly focused on improving themselves, which encourages me to push myself further. I saw that when I visited MIT. People throw themselves fully at whatever they do. The same is true for many elite schools. It seems like people are constantly running around doing something. While not 100% true, this perception encourages me and inspires me to do more.
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Bragging rights. In high school, hearing people talk about me going to MIT really made me happy. It felt like people had finally recognized all the work I had put into school and my extracurriculars. Getting in seemed to be a validation of all my efforts. It showed me that the things I put my all into - wrestling, AP classes, extracurriculars, working over the Summer, were worth it.
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To be my own hero. There’s a somewhat cheesy speech by Matthew McConaughey where he says his hero is himself in 10 years. That’s something I really appreciate. A while back, a little Seth dreamed of going to a “great school.” While he didn’t really think they would come to fruition, I still owed it to him to try. Sometimes, that’s all you need to do. Be that hero for your younger self.
These aren’t exhaustive by any means, but these are a few of the reasons that helped me get to where I am today. Hopefully you have some of the same ones and they push you somewhere too.
Seth Robles, MIT 2027