Yes you knew what they told you. Yes they looked at for a minute. Yes, out of a class of 950, it made a difference for 20-30. But I bet, privately, they spat on it. They had plenty of experience with total nerds who founded industries or disciplines. Remember, physics, chemistry, EE, material science, that’s 40-50% of the class: physics up to quantum mechanics. Entire undergraduate body: special relativity with 4 weeks of problem sets, and derivation of the magnetic field from this. When you’re 18.

I think you underestimate the number of people that have a perfect gpa and a perfect score on the sat/act. Thousands of kids get a perfect score on the sat or act test every year. MIT is going to have to be looking at more than just that.

You are right. I forgot. I wouldn’t even get in now probably.

Most of the people I’ve known from MIT, and pretty much all of the interesting ones, are technically savvy but pretty much the opposite of total nerds.

Heh heh. Perfect example of why “extracurricular activities” are total bs. Admissions people need to have intangibles. That way, they can do what they want, when they want to.