Language: English and Bahasa Indonesia
Pertama-tama, aku ingin mengucapkan terima kasih buat
teman-teman yang sudah meluangkan waktu untuk mengirimkan pertanyaan, tanggapan
maupun ucapan salamnya. Although some questions violate the rules that I’ve
stated before (eg ask w/o doing prior research), aku akan tetap mencoba untuk
menjawab semua pertanyaan yang ada, dan mudah-mudahan dapat memberikan
gambaran, bagaimana sih cara mendaftar ke MIT yang ‘baik’ dan ‘benar’ (in,
obviously, my own way). Tentunya apa yang kutulis ini bukan lah hal absolut
yang wajib diikuti (after all, there is no guidelines to getting into MIT). Anggap saja ini
sebagai masukan tambahan bagi adik-adik semua, dan jika menurut kalian ada yang
kurang tepat, mohon dimaafkan (dan berkomentar di bawah) haha…
Aku awalnya pingin langsung menjawab perntanyaannya satu per
satu, tetapi karena banyak yang menanyakan hal yang serupa, aku memutuskan
untuk mengelompokkan menjadi beberapa topik besar, yaitu:
- Science Olympiads
- Application in general
- Essay
- Finance
- Others (things that don’t go into either of these topics)
Before you start, it would be really helpful to read the following articles, which can give you insight on actual application processes.
I also embedded a few links in the paragraphs (color-coded with blue), which are also quite
useful. I hope you spend some time reading through these links (and fancy them as I once did. After all, I base most of my writings on them).
Science Olympiads
First of all, I want to address an issue regarding the
Science Olympiads. There is a huge misconception among international
applicants, particularly Indonesian students, that an international science Olympiad (or ISO, for short) medal, be it IPhO, IBO, IChO, IMO or any other IO’s, is enough to guarantee an
admittance to MIT. Let me tell you this, THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG! Aku kadang ya,
agak kesel saja, terutama setiap musim panas (musim olimpiade) seperti sekarang ini, baca
postingan “Congrats for the XXX medal!
Ntar lanjut dimana? di XXX (top university in US) ya? Tenang kok, pasti diterima!”, something
along that line, di media sosial. Hal yang seperti ini ya hanya membikin
persepsi yang salah, terutama pada kalangan muda, bahwa medali saja cukup buat
keterima di universitas ternama di Amerika Serikat. Unconsciously, this also
plants the idea that you absolutely need to have a gold or silver to be
admitted into top colleges.
Well, let’s just sit down and think about it for a
moment. If it was that easy, then MIT should’ve admitted at least (assuming there
is 40 eligible gold & silver medalists x 6 ISOs*** (IMO, IPhO, IChO, IBO, IOI,
IOL)) 240 former ISO participants every year.
Well, this is certainly not the case. Every year, MIT only accept roughly 130
international students, and I can say with certainty that only 25-40% have won a
silver/gold medal in at least one ISO (though 75-85% of internationals have at the
very least competed in their own respective National Science Olympiads). Atau ga usah jauh-jauh deh. Kamu kirain anak medalis internasional di Indonesia yang daftar ke MIT cuman satu tiap tahunny? Ga dong, BANYAK! Tapi yang keterima berapa coba? (ans: satu tiap tahunnya untuk 4 tahun terakhir ini)
"Aha! That proves my point then! Only international Olympiad medalist is admitted from Indonesia. If so, then it'll be useless for me, without any international level achievement, to apply here'. Okay, statistically speaking, one can infer that there is a cause-and-effect going
on. But I would say, after one year studying at MIT, reading through numerous
blog post on the admission site, and talk to one and only 'King of the
Internet', that there is not. It is merely a coincidence that the good,
well-rounded, well-behaved kids that MIT desires just happened to also be
ISO medalists (this is very true among international students. Ya mana mungkin
ga, orang yang gak punya medali langsung pada nyerah dan gak berani daftar). Seperti yang disebutkan di atas, mungkin hanya sekitar 1/3 anak internasional punya prestasi yang wow di Olimpiade internasional. 2/3 lainnya, ya hanya punya prestasi di tingkat nasional. Some may not even have a national competition certificate to boast of. But one thing that they have though, that most of these ISO medalists lack, is a story to tell. In this TIME article, you’ll
find how an officer rates the applicants. Although it’s true that a gold is
certainly a huge bonus point, it can only do so much to boost you
‘quantitatively’. Qualitatively, it doesn’t add anything to your resume, and
that itself can bring a huge problem. People often get too focused on their
grades, transcripts and certificates that they forget the most important thing
of their application, and that is YOU! Listen guys (and gals), MIT admits
PEOPLE, not LETTERS OR NUMBERS!!!.
Ini ya, penyakit anak-anak Indo terutama yang medalis
internasional, kalau nulis essai pasti terlalu fokus dengan Olimpiade: how they
win their medals, what their medal is, hardships they felt along the way, blah
blah blah, that they forgot to include what makes them a high school
student. Sebenarnya ga salah
sih untuk nulis mengenai Olimpiade di essai mu, after all it’s a huge
achievement and big part of your life, but you don’t have to over exaggerate
and write most of your essays about it. Ketika kamu cantumin saja medali mu di
‘kolom achievement’, admission officer pada langsung tahu kok kalau kamu itu
pintar, pekerja keras, pantang menyerah, dsb. I mean, they have been doing
their job for years now, reading through thousands of ISO medalists equally as
good or even better than you. Instead, your essay should focus on the things that makes you SPECIAL, that separates you from the pack. Your story should let the officers know on your background, passions, motivations, aspirations, dreams, personalities, etc that makes you as a human being (I'll elaborate more of this in the essay part). You need to do this too, especially you guys, the non-Olympians! If you know you can’t compete quantitatively, then
try to excel in the qualitative part. Again, quoting from the link above, an 8,10 beats a 10,8! This is
college people, not Mensa! Kita ga butuh orang yang super pintar but barely a person. Kita butuhnya orang yang punya mimpi besar, bertekad keras, problem-solver, yang bisa
dididik menjadi calon-calon penerus umat manusia (wow, that’s a big word, right
there! I don’t know if it’s even true at all, but let’s go with it cause it
sounds cool!). That’s why MIT don’t blindly accept Olympiad medalists. Jujur ya,
kalau mau dibandingin soal otak, banyak anak-anak undergrad MIT termasuk aku, ga
se-pintar dengan anak-anak Indonesia lainnya. But each of us brings something unique to the community and therefore, it’s us and not them, who can proudly call MIT a home.
Lastly, I just want to add, buat kalian yang sudah menyerah
karena bukan peraih medali internasional, well, don’t give up just yet! Try! An MIT admission is not a one-dimensional thing. It accounts for
several, unpredictable factors. One year, an officer might admit person XXX, but
another year, he might not. After all, we’re looking for a group of different talents, not a group of similarly, perfect individuals. You might never know that your
talents maybe what the officer is specifically
looking for that year, so don’t be disheartened with what you have, who you are
or where you are from. Instead, be proud of it. Embrace your weaknesses and
play it to your strengths. Pour it down to your essays, keep trying and don’t
let anyone tell you otherwise!
*** I only include this 6 ISOs since they are currently the only International Science Olympiads MIT accept and recognize. Others, like IOAA, IESO, IGeO, etc, are not (salah satu alasannya karena Olimpiade ini masih relatif baru, dan Amerika belum banyak pengalaman mengirim siswa ke lomba-lomba ini).
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