Thanks to the generous support of the PTA, I'm lucky to be attending my ninth NACAC National Conference, located this year in Boston, Massachusetts. The conference starts Thursday, but I spent today on a pre-NACAC tour of MIT and Harvard (co-presented with Wellesley, even though we didn't get a chance to see the campus in person). Though I'd had peripheral exposure to these campuses before (I went to college only a few T stops away) it was nice to get to see the schools through the admissions lens and hear directly from staff about their missions and unique identities.
The morning portion of the program was held at MIT. I'll start by saying, the table centerpieces at breakfast were Rubik's cubes set inside glass containers -- a pretty great way to embody the spirit of MIT: quirky problem solvers that fancy themselves to be the kind of people who live on being just a little bit tongue in cheek. The campus buildings are often interconnected - a series of hallways that vastly improve quality of life in the winter but that also represent the intellectual intersection of departments across the transcripts of the students that walk through these spaces. All students are admitted undeclared, so all students are expected to be able to handle core requirement classes that include the likes of calculus, chemistry, physics, biology, AND the social sciences and humanities. This is to say that even the Literature majors are finding derivatives and the Computer Scientists read Shakespeare. This is a place for innovators that are both book smart and who thrive in hands on learning experiences. It is best for students with creative minds -- we were told they are the kinds of students who like to build things and break things. Loners are the ones who struggle - collaboration is valued. In fact, one of the slides we were shown said something to the effect of "we are looking to choose a 1,100 person team to climb a fairly interesting and rugged mountain--together." MIT isn't the kind of place one applies to on a whim. They use their own application platform and don't follow the same tune as many other highly selective schools. Do a ton of activities? That's nice, but MIT will only let you list four and they should be from grades 10-12. Have a super polished longform personal statement? That works other places, but here you'll need to complete 5 short answers instead. The students we heard from on the panel were clearly very intellectual, but they also had palpable passion and clearly viewed their time at MIT as a journey (complete with some high highs and low lows). MIT seeks those who are brilliant enough to tackle the world's problems and who can be bold enough to find solutions for the 'greater good.' It was an impressive morning and a great way to kick off the conference week.
Next we headed to Harvard, for a co-presentation about both Harvard and Wellesley. As a women's college, Wellesley's mission remains the same now as it has always been: to educate dynamic female leaders. Core tenets of a Wellesley experience include confidence, leadership, and sisterhood. The majority of the faculty is female and students are involved in running all aspects of the school -- from the Trustees meetings, to residential life running the dorms, to sitting on the admission committee (yes, you read that last one right). There is an honor code, so students are expected to uphold high levels of ethical decision making. One of the most exciting initiatives to emerge in the past two years is the new career advising system that gives every student a personal career advisor for all four years - an individualized program giving unparalleled attention to outcomes and employment opportunities. I hope that I get the chance, sooner rather than later, to see this place in person!
As for Harvard, the description of the students is that they are organized and disciplined leaders. We were told that admission decisions are driven by the gut as much as the head and heart. This makes sense in a way because in an almost universally strong pool like theirs, relying on the gut can be a much more reasonable endeavor. The risk is low and the payoff can be huge. Their committee is, of course, looking for phenomenal academics but also outstanding character and for the student to have a full and meaningful life beyond the classroom. Unfortunately, the Harvard 'tour' is not much of a tour at all in that we didn't go inside a single building. I think this is an effort to not have tour groups gawk at Harvard students as they try to go about their studies? But, it makes it harder to get a tight grasp on the community (not to mention that it also doesn't move the needle much when trying to fight the ivory tower stereotype). What is clear is that Harvard does an outstanding job of identifying young people with strong potential for success. Whatever their methodology is, it's working. Their historic campus and reputation make them both highly sought after and rightly proud of their legacy and achievements.
Tomorrow is the official opening day of the conference, and I look forward to seeing my colleagues from around the nation (and world!). Thank you to MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley for their time and attention to today's program.
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