MIT’s Mighty MITES Prepares Students for Engineering Careers
Easily laying claim to the title of top technical school in the United States and maybe the world for that matter, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is finding new and creative ways to expand opportunities for students around the nation through its Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program.
MITES represents six tough weeks of academic study, enrichment activities, excitement and fun on the Cambridge Massachusetts campus of MIT. Promising high school juniors interested in science and engineering careers can receive full scholarships to this summer program that in some senses is as competitive to get into as it is for students to gain acceptance to MIT itself.
Over the past 33 years of the program, 34 percent of the students who participated in MITES while in high school were accepted into MIT. During each of the last two years, 40-50 MITE students entered MIT following high school. While the University notes that MITES is not MIT and getting accepted into one does not guarantee acceptance or rejection by the other, getting into MITES will look good on your resume if you decide to attend another of the top technical colleges or universities around the nation. Students who attend MITES also enroll in Stanford, Columbia and Harvard University to name a few.
Seeing the need for more scientists and engineers of color and from other underrepresented groups, the MITES program attempts to instill in its participants the self confidence and experiences necessary for them to be successful at any top science or technology school.
They focus on helping students acquire a high knowledge of the subjects that they study and top level cognitive and analytical skills that will help them as students and in their professional careers. They also familiarize students with the skill sets necessary to excel in high-level mathematics and sciences while exposing them to a new network of friends. MITES students bond and remain in contact as members of a noteworthy and highly distinguished alumni group.
In order to find out about the MITES program, students should talk to their science teachers, principals, and guidance counselors. Also visit the website http://web.mit.edu/mites to see how you can apply for the program online. Be sure to use all the resources at your disposal and ask questions – maybe students from your school have already been accepted to MITES and are a part of the alumni network? Maybe you can organize a representative of the program to visit your school and provide a presentation.
While the program does not discriminate, it does focus on traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences and engineering such as certain ethnic groups. A different criterion is used to ensure that there is a diverse pool of students and certain factors can help with your application including:
*If you would be the first in the family to attend college;
*If there is an absence in the individual’s family of science and engineering backgrounds;
*the individual’s high school has historically sent less than 50 percent of its graduates to 4-year colleges;
*the applicant attends a school that presents challenges for success at an urban elite university (e.g., rural or predominantly minority); and/or
*the individual is a member of a group that is under-represented in the study and fields of science and engineering (African American, Latino or Native American).
MITES likes to look deeper into candidates to see what type of obstacles they have faced and overcome as additional factors in an overall application process that should show ability and bright promise in engineering, science, or technology. Students should not only feel that they will benefit from the program, but also that they can contribute something to the program in terms of attitude, enthusiasm, different perspectives, culture and character.
On top of that, you must be a citizen of the United States and pull together letters of recommendations, essays, extracurricular activities and PSAT or SAT test scores.