(Mods, if this post is not sufficiently vitriolic, please feel free to move it elsewhere.)
I pit Anonymous User. They join our fair message board, ask a question in which they present themselves as a high school student who excels intellectually. When several posters proceed to comment on his grammatical mistakes and use of all caps, they reply:
Wow, I’m insulted. You know, I don’t know about you all, but one of the things I really like about this message board is the fact that most of the posters do write well. They use good grammar, they organize their thoughts well, and they write interesting and thoughtful content. I also like that people generally seem to enjoy and respect this aspect of the atmosphere here.
So, Anonymous User, joining this message board and soliciting our collective wisdom only to say that putting any effort into grammar on that same message board is beneath you? That’s like walking into a classy restaurant in a wet swim trunks and flip-flops and then putting your feet up on the table. It’s disrespectful. It’s a jerk move.
You come off as arrogant and insecure. You solicit our advice only to reject large portions of it out of hand for being wrong. You describe the brilliance of your academic achievements in great detail, only to reject the idea that your impressive abilities could carry the day anywhere else. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, you reject the idea that English or writing is important for a scientist or a mathematician, when an enormous part of anyone’s professional success in any academic field is their ability to communicate your results clearly. This frequently means writing. For instance:
Anonymous User, what exactly do you think a dissertation is?
I’d like to comment on another subject, the question you originally asked about what it takes to get into MIT or any other top school. To answer your question, the grades, the SAT scores, the extracurriculars, and so on, are important, but not enough. What top colleges really prize is true intellectual passion. They want to find people who care about a subject from the bottom of their heart, in a deep, all-consuming way.
From everything you’ve said in your thread, you are not that person. What comes through loud and clear is that the only reason you’re pursuing any and all of your activities, with the possible exception of math and violin, is to get into MIT. It sounds like you’re focused on the results and outside recognition instead of the process of becoming a better mathematician/scientist/violinist and what that means to you.
But, not even this would be enough to guarantee admission to any school. If you’re asking on this board for the one super-secret thing that will guarantee you admission into MIT, you won’t find it, because there is no such thing. There is always the luck of the draw.
