"I am 19, crazy, differently weird, full of life, and fun"; MIT UPDATE

Well I really wanted to have an interview. Sadly my interview was waved off by the admissions office. I sent an email to interview@mit.edu requesting a Skype interview, but I received no response. Okay, I have been to a lot of interviews (Scholarships, National Olympiads etc...). Usually the interviewer asks the student for an introduction, and blah blah blah... then comes what; why. Well by now you have a pretty good picture of me, yet still, I am 19, crazy, differently weird, full of life, and fun. You'd think I am a perfect MIT applicant with all the required stuff preached my students, or the stuff on college confidential chances and stats. Ironically, I am far from perfect. In pursuit of my passion, I have made an ass of myself, many times. I am more proud of my failures than my success. I have failed a lot, more than I could keep count; but I have recovered from my every failure, and turned them into success in some way.

When I was learning Electricity& magnetism practically, I conducted an experiment at my physics club. It was a simple one with 2 rods, a lot of electromagnets and a lot of car batteries. I wired (long wire) the rods to 2 batteries, and placed them in a line perpendicular to magnets on both sides. One of the rods was fixed with plastic hinges, so as to reduce grounding. I arranged the 2nd rod in such a way that it always got repelled by both the 1st rod, and the magnets (when the magnet, and the 2nd rod are co-linear). 1ST round: just the 2 rods. As I increased the current in both the rods, their repulsion increased (simple physics). 2nd round: I placed electromagnets in a circle. I increased the current in the rods, and the magnets equally. The 2nd rod started to vibrate, as if trying to go straight to the ceiling, as I magnets repelled it from moving anywhere. As I removed the electromagnet co-linear to the 2nd rod, the rod throttled like a rocket in the direction. As per above concept, I thought E=MC^ (2) was flawed. Imagine "me" disproving Einstein; I was overjoyed. I then spent the next 7 months on designing a way to do it. I finally thought of a perfectly engineered cyclotron. The night before I was going to submit my research, I discovered that cyclotrons can only accelerate charges to 10% of speed of light (the magnets go out of phase). There I was, stuck by lightning. All my 7 months of whining gone bad. I thought of klystron; it could accelerate till 80% of speed of light. Einstein escaped!

But did you know what happened? I was happy, if not jubilant. I FAILED! But, those 7 months of research made nuclear physics my sweet heart. I discovered that high energy nuclear physics could be useful in developing nuclear fusion, and enhancing fission. Moreover I learnt about the bombarding of neutrons into noble gases release more energy than nuclear fusion using tritium, and deuterium. For example: helium-3, xenon-130(hypothetical as of today). If my expectation is right Ununoctium or radon would produce tremendous energy, far greater than humanly imaginable.It lead me to my 2nd high school, where is study humanities, and subsequently to MIT application. Boo-Yeah; I went against my parents, and all other living beings that I know of and have thoroughly discovered my true passion- nuclear physics and engineering.

Next you would ask why MIT? My answer - I don't want to struggle alone anymore. I was always discouraged by almost every (including my parents) - one except by my physics teacher. Trust me; it's too hard to do something when people are always nagging you. My mom repeatedly irritates me by saying " All your class-mates are in their sophomore year, here in India, but you are just sitting around saying passion, passion"; passion is not going to feed you son. What can I do? I can never do something I don't love. This is why I want to be surrounded by people who are similar to me, yet unique in his/her way. I want to be in a place where people are nice, encouraging, and think about unimaginable stuff and work for it, for a better world. Even now, I should be studying for my AP exams, but I am enjoying "The making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This is how weird I am. Probably half-hour interview is over, so until next time ADIOS! (Spanish good bye...lol)

I want to start off by saying you sound very interesting and determined that is good. I also enjoyed reading your paper.

I am not sure what type of paper this is but you don't use an ampersand in formal papers unless have a title, Like "A&E" Also you don't use contractions like "Don't."

Also you should not capitalized things for emphasis, well maybe you can, I wouldn't though.
You should also spell out your numbers when you say "2 rods".
Two rods. I am not sure whether this is formal or not but get rid of "lol" and the parenthesis when you have an aside.

"I don't want to struggle alone anymore. I was always discouraged by almost every (including my parents) - one except by my physics teacher. "

I have been discouraged by many, including my parents, they claim that passion will not feed you. These people insist on forcing me into their reality however I am confident in my ablity to succeed doing what I love.

That is just a suggestion the overall essay lack formality. I enjoyed reading it but tie up a few loose ends and try to keep your personality in the piece without making it sound like an Email.

it's an imaginary interview.... you rarely speak formally. i mean don't you laugh, express emotions when doing that

okay...i was high when i wrote this...thanks for your help guys... i will correct them

"Hello MIT admissions office, how can I help you?"- This was not what I was expecting to hear, as this was my first call to the MIT office. Yes, with great reservation, I made my first call to the MIT admissions office. Thereafter, I had no problem calling the office. Actually, I have called 59 times... haha, and it costs a lot to call from India. Surprisingly, I experienced the MIT effect: I became smart (thereafter, I used to call from Bobsled T mobile...because it's free to any number in the US...lol). Ironically not only my phone calls (the lady is really cool, and laughs a lot) but also my emails to counselor Beatriz Valdez, and Kristen.L '15' (she's awesome) were replied to with alacrity.

On reading through my applications you might have realized that I am more of an analytical thinker. I am 10% theoretical and 90% practical. In my applications I have mentioned about my risk taking abilities and also about my perseverance. Yet, the application procedure had left me with the tightest possible knot in my stomach. All my attributes were proving to be ineffectual. Then what was it that helped me trudge through this process? It was the support that I received from MIT. It is you who singularly, helped me overcome my inhibitions. Kudos to the admission office that strives to help even a candidate they have never met.

During the early days in October, when I was in the middle of my MIT application; I realized that writing numerous essays would require my best writing efforts. I felt helpless, angry and confused. Why do I have to write so many essays? Writing itself, proved to be arduous enough and what made it extremely difficult was the fact that I had to delve into my past and study my own self. My frustration at my own inadequacies translated into my essays and nothing seemed or rather read the way, I wanted it to. I decided to stall the application for a week and get a better grip on my own thoughts.

During this period, I was blindly surfing the MIT admissions' blog- trying to read through the posts written by the admission officers (previously I used to read only the student blogs because they were funny...yep, they are). After a few posts, especially by Mikey Yang (I am a great TV serial fan too), Chris LaBounty (can't believe he plays fifa), Chris Peterson's essay (how to write a college essay); I was like wow! These people are incredibly human. Their post had expressions and words in a clear, yet simple manner. A thought dawned upon me- MIT is not looking for Shakespeare or Mark Twain, but they just want to get to know the student better. They want to understand the real me.

With this realization also came the issue of, what to say, and how to say? Borrowing a stuffed teddy bear from my neighbor's kid, I dressed it in an MIT cutout dress. I then started talking to it while managing both sides of the conversation. I read out each of the essay questionnaires, and started a conversation on what I wanted the teddy to know about me. After the conversation ended, I penned down my thoughts, conversation and analysis. Then would come the most exacting task of narrowing it down to 250-300 words. On some-days, this process would run throughout the day. Tired and fatigued I often consoled myself by saying- I have to only 10 essays to do; imagine the plight of the admission officers- they have to read 15000 applications in 2 months, and select awesome students.

My journey of months finally came to an end as I completed all my essays. The journey through the MIT essays has been no less a Disney Rollercoaster ride. The fear and exhilaration were in complete togetherness with the feeling of knowing me better than I did a few months ago. I have re-discovered myself. This note is the last thing from me. You would think "aah... this kid has neither a great sat subject test score nor a great ACT score; so why should I admit him?? Yep, I couldn't agree with you more, but I have got lot of skills which I can contribute to MIT, and I

promise you this: I will study hard, learn a lot, and will make a difference at MIT and the world. No matter what happens-Thank you!

No. The second one is WAY WEAKER than the first one. Have you already submitted your application? Or are you in grad school? The first one shows more of your personality- the second one, after reading it, I was like, "what the crap is this." The conclusion is bad, and by bad, I mean bad. Don't mention your stats and application; they want to know the real you. They don't want you reiterating stuff from your application and putting it in an essay.

thank you guys...i have edited them..