More than anyone else, he was the kid that I identified with during the latter part of my years at elementary school. Let’s call him Henry. On some level, we connected because we were both on the autism spectrum (Asperger’s, to be specific). More specifically, it was due to our intelligence, vivid imagination, and slight social awkwardness. Our bond was especially apparent during our free time, when, instead of talking or playing with the rest of the kids...

Describe your community/environment An unknown person said it best: If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. Over my academic and extracurricular life, I have grown accustomed to being among the best in my community in interests such as math and music. There is nothing wrong with this fact. It helps me to absorb information about my interests with relative ease, and it allows me to give back to my school community...

What I call the "curiosity" essay: There’s a saying that you learn something new every day. However, due to my curiosity for new information, I learn more new things each day than most. Sometimes, this learning is of an academic nature. I read textbooks ahead of what is required. I explore further information and questions not addressed in the curriculum. I create my own problems and solutions. This type of extra searching ensures that I fully understand the material...

Describe summers essay: My past two summers were both spent at the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS) at Boston University. For my first year, I went through a highly selective application process and was accepted into the program as one of 50 high school students worldwide. The program, which lasts for six weeks, centers on a number theory course which involves daily lectures and problem sets. These problems are designed to test such skills as numerical exploration, finding structure,...

I have never been good at speaking on the fly, so I tried to prepare what I would say in interviews as closely as possible. Since I couldn't predict every possible question, and since I couldn't have...

I knew that I had good enough qualifications to get accepted at top schools, and I knew (or at least thought) that I wanted to pursue engineering, so I looked at engineering programs at top...

Both in high school and college, my extracurriculars centered around music. In college, I got involved with a chamber...

What I like about MIT is that the student body is simultaneously diverse and like-minded. We're united by our love...

MIT requires one recommendation from a math/science teacher, and one from a teacher who is not math/science. I chose my AP chemistry teacher and my school choir director. I chose...