MIT

Finally, the MIT drafts are done - I invested around 15-20 hours of intense efforts of thinking and editing. I won't say that i am 100% satisfied but i am convinced that it covers all the facet of my application - especially professional experience. I somehow feel that MIT stresses a lot on diverse professional experience more than your other activities. I have mailed the recommendations too and i hope that they would reach by tomorrow morning. So, I am atlast ready to submit my first application. Even the MIT self-reported Transcript and Resume is done. I still need to work on the additional info which i plan to do next weekend [ I already have a copy from last application which would help me considerably.] It's not a simple job to write all the MIT essays especially the Cover Letter. I wish i knew the right reciepe because finally what makes the difference is what you have highlighted in your application. But i personally think that this strategy should differ from school to school - like for Kellogg teamwork, HBS leadership etc. etc.

I visited MIT school 2 years back. I was there on Sunday so i was able to visit Boston as well. The MIT campus is breathtaking just located by the Charles River. The Boston skyline is visible in the evenings. There are wooden chairs by the river where you can sit and enjoy the scenery. Boston is a great place but is a driver's nightmare - hence most of the people use muni. Boston is a beautiful city especially the building architectures which is a mixture of old and new - kind of grotesque. There were a few students out on the campus who reluctantly told me that Sunday is not the right day to visit the campus. Even then i walked around the engineering school - you already start feeling geeky in the campus and you get this trumendous urge to study. I took one of the Boston tours - i liked the city. But the only problem is winter when it is horribly cold and snow covers the entire city. This is the problem for any major city in the east coast and needless to say it is a hazard. I couldn't wait till the next day when i would finally get the opportunity to talk to some students.

Next day morning after a brief breakfast and with a coffee mug i headed for the campus. I went straight to the reception where i saw a bunch of prospectives munching on bagels and reading WSJ. I sat beside a chinese lady who immediately started asking questions - Her first question was - "What is your GMAT score?" . I was taken aback as i politely avoided the question. She started the usual stuff about she is applying to H/S blah blah blah.. Anyway we headed straight for the corner office where Rod Garcia talked about the school - I had a general good feeling of the crowd - I remember someone flew in from London to visit the school. [ It was 2002 , baby !!] The first words we heard was "Mens et Manus" [ I know it by heart by know.]
Then the bragging about the school started - MIT undoubtedly stands out as an academic oriented school - It is the only school where you have the option of pursuing a Research Thesis. Another thing which was constantly reiterated were that most of the administration is run by students - that was pretty obvious. Then our student ambassadors arrived to take us to the class. The class was a "Strategy" class and it was a blast. I never saw such cold calls in any other school - the professor repeatedly asked students question from the case. The most interesting part was that one of the students actually worked in the company whose case was being studied. One of the students gave a presentation which was very humorous. The most strikening thing about the school was the international student body. The discussion moved from biotech starups to german automobile to French spirits to Chinese manufacturing.. It was impressive - especially the diversity in the class. Obviously MIT recruits a bunch of smart kids..

And these smart kids are so humble and down-to-earth that it's unbelievable. Before the class most of the students accosted me giving me tips about the application. After the class my ambassador took me to the cafeteria [ it was pretty small - the only negative thing i remember about MIT :) ] Then he sat with his study group and started brain storming the next class. I walked towards the lobby where i saw a bunch of indian brothers - caught one of them and headed straight for a sofa. His instruction was just be yourself and don't get discouraged by the BW Forums ;) - numbers are only a part of the application and try concentrating on the essays. He told me that his first choice was HBS but got rejected after an interview - But he said no regrets - MIT is a great school. We talked in length about the application process and the cryptic essays [ essays have changed since then.] Overall i had a great feeling about the student body.

To sum it up, as we were crossing the MIT campus, the bus driver of the Boston tour remarked - "You know what the locals call this place - Millionaires in Training."