MIT Admissions: The MIT Minority Community

The MIT Minority Community

We are committed to educating the best and the brightest students that the world has to offer, period. And no surprise - many of these students happen to be students of color. There are many African American, Latino and Native American students enrolled at MIT, hailing from all over the US and US Territories, (such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands). Additionally, we have many international students, from nearly every continent - all of whom contribute to the racial, cultural and ethnic diversity of our community.

But that shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, if you look through any college brochure today you will see a picture of perfection: an African American student standing next to a Native student, who is standing next to several Latino students, all casually dressed and sharing a laugh while perusing a differential calculus textbook. The implication: come to our school because we have lots of different minority students and they all love to interact with each other.

But how do you really know?

We're MIT, so we like numbers - and any way you crunch the numbers, MIT is one of the most diverse universities in the world. Case-in-point: there is no majority ethnicity here. The result is a vibrant community that spawns powerful new ideas, often drawing on cultures and wisdom from every point of the globe. In fact, MIT's strength comes directly from our commitment to diversity.

"Community" at MIT both encompasses and transcends ethnicity. How will you find community at MIT? The honest answer is: in many, many different ways.

Some are quite traditional, such as gatherings that connect you to your own racial, ethnic or religious affiliations. You will also find community through academic organizations, varsity and intramural sports, and our 480+ student groups.

On any given day, you'll have many different encounters in a variety of contexts that will make your personal "community" distinctive and unique to you.

Resources and support

Faculty, administrators and support staff of color are active members of the MIT community and can be valuable resources for individual students. Below is a short list of administrators in offices with which you are likely to interact as a prospective student, and throughout your years at MIT. While you are free to contact any other members of these offices, the individuals listed below have volunteered to serve as resources for the minority community.

Activities, clubs, and residential life

The following groups can help you feel at home very quickly at MIT:

Programs for Minority Students

MIT works to reach out to and challenge students from underrepresented minority groups, long before the freshman admissions process begins, and throughout their time at the Institute. Here's a sampling of MIT programs to serve minority students:

The MITES Program
MIT's Minority Introduction to Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Science Program, or MITES, is an intensive, six-week academic enrichment program serving talented high school juniors from across the country who are considering careers in science, engineering and entrepreneurship. Students live on campus. Tuition and room and board are free (though students must cover their own transportation costs to and from MIT.) MITES is open to students of all ethnic backgrounds.
Seminar XL is an academic enrichment seminar for freshmen. In addition to their regular class work in math and science, students meet for up to six hours a week in intensive study groups of five or six, receiving up to 6 units of extra credit. An upperclassman or graduate student "facilitator" helps the students help each other develop stronger analytical reasoning, study skills and test-taking strategies.
The Second Summer Program provides students practical industry experience as paid engineering interns during the summer after their freshman year. To participate, you must have successfully completed your freshman core courses and a two-week design workshop, held during the Independent Activities Period (IAP) in January.
The MIT Careers Office can provide valuable advice about preparing to work and study in a given field, and the range of your options after MIT.
Project Interphase is designed to help admitted MIT students "gear up" for their freshman year at the Institute. This seven-and-a-half week residential program gives students a chance to improve their academic preparation and get a head-start on adjusting to MIT.

Undergraduate Admissions Contacts

mitadmissions.org

Quinton McArthur
Assistant Director of Minority Recruitment
Office of Admissions
77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 3-108
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: (617) 253-3400
mcarthur@mit.edu

Office of Minority Education Contacts

web.mit.edu/ome

Tammy Stevens
Associate Dean
Office of Minority Education
77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 4-113
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: (617) 253-5010
tamste@mit.edu

Student Support Services Contacts

web.mit.edu/counsel/www/

Arnold R. Henderson, Jr.
Associate Dean (and Section Head) of Counseling and Support Services
Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs
77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 5-106
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel :(617) 253-4861
hndrson@mit.edu

Ayida Mthembu
Associate Dean, Counseling and Support Services
Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs
77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 5-106
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel :(617) 253-4861
mthembu@mit.edu

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