Ask any admissions officer at MIT, and he or she will tell you that, while grades and scores are important, it's really the match between applicant and Institute that drives our selection process. Understandably, we're often asked what is meant by "the match." Here are the key components.

• ●Alignment with MIT's mission to make the world a better place. Remember that there are many ways to make the world better - we're not looking for applicants to have cured all infectious disease in the world by the time they're fifteen. Tutoring a single kid in math changes the world. Lobbying a senator to change bad policy changes the world. There are thousands of examples.

• ●Collaborative & cooperative spirit. The core of the MIT spirit is collaboration and cooperation: you can see it all over the Institute. Many of the problem sets (our affectionate term for homework) at MIT are designed to be worked on in groups; cross-department labs are very common; MIT is known for its interdisciplinary research; the Open Source movement is powerful here; publishing and sharing of results is the center of academic research. Fostering a collaborative environment is an important part of the MIT community. If you enjoy working alone all the time, that's fine! But you're probably not going to be particularly happy here.

• ●Initiative. Research projects and seed money and interesting lectures aren't simply handed to students on silver platters here. Opportunities abound at MIT, but they must be seized. For those students who take initiative - who take advantage of what's around them - MIT's resources are unparalleled.

• ●Risk-taking. MIT wants to admit people who are not only planning to succeed, but who are not afraid to fail. When people take risks in life, they learn resilience as a result - because risk leads to failure as often as it leads to success. The most creative and successful people - and MIT is loaded with them - know that failure is part of life and that if you stay focused and don't give up, goals are ultimately realized.

• ●Hands-on creativity. MIT is an active, hands-on place. Innovation is risky and messy! Getting your hands dirty and trying something new is often the best way to achieve success. We apply theoretical knowledge to real-world problems here; our latin motto means "Mind and Hand." In other words, you shouldn't just enjoythinking, you should also enjoy doing.

• ●Intensity, curiosity, and excitement. (We used to summarize this as simply "passion" before various components of the college admissions machine turned it into a buzz-word and stripped it of its meaning.) In a nutshell: you should be invested in the things that really mean something to you (we're not particularly picky as to what). Explore! Choose quality over quantity - you don't have to do a million things to get into college. Put your heart into a few things that you truly care about and that will be enough.

• ●The character of the MIT community. Our community is comprised of good people. People who take care of each other and lift each other up. People who inspire each other to work & dream beyond their potential. We're looking to admit people who by nature will sustain the qualities of this community.

• ●The ability to prioritize balance. Work hard, play hard. Despite what you may have heard, this place is NOT all about work. To be successful here, you must prioritize some measure of down-time. Therefore we like to see that you've prioritized some down-time in high school as well. Question #3a (Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it) is not a trick question. Answer it wisely.

• ●Last but not least, remember that no one profile - no matter how impressive - represents "the perfect match." When we admit a class of students to MIT, it's as if we're choosing a 1,100-person team to climb a very interesting, fairly rugged mountain - together. We obviously want people who have the training, stamina and passion for the climb. At the same time, we want each to add something useful or intriguing to the team, from a wonderful temperament or sense of humor, to compelling personal experiences, to a wide range of individual gifts, talents, interests and achievements. We are emphatically not looking for a batch of identical perfect climbers; we are looking for a richly varied team of capable people who will support, surprise and inspire each other.

　　无论你问MIT任何一位录取委员会的官员，他（她）都会告诉你，尽管等级和分数很重要，但是真正主导录取选择过程的是申请者和申请院校的匹配程度。可理解地，经常会有人问我们这个“匹配”是什么意思。下面我们会给出其中的一些关键因素。

　　●符合MIT 的教学使命，共同创造更加美好的世界。要记住，能够让世界变得更加美好的途径有很多种——我们寻找的，不是那些在十五岁的时候，就能把世界上所有的传染病都治愈的申请者。（所谓的让世界变得更美好），有成千上万个例子，比如，当数学家教是改变世界，游说议员更改一个损害公益的政策也是改变世界。

　　●协作和合作精神。MIT精神的内核是协作和合作，这种精神在院校随处可见：许多习题（我们给作业起的深情的术语）都是需要团体合作来完成的；跨专业的实验室遍地开花；MIT就是以交叉研究而享誉全球；开源运动强大而盛行；出版和分享科研成果是这里学术研究的中心。培育协同的环境是MIT的一个重要组成部分。如果你总是喜欢独自工作，那很好！但是可能你在这里会不是特别开心。

　　●积极的进取精神。MIT不是单单的将研究项目，种子资金和有趣的讲座盛在盘子里端给学生。MIT充满机会，但是需要学生自己抓住。对于那些积极进取——能够有效利用身边资源的学生而言，MIT绝对无与伦比。

　　●有冒险精神。MIT想要录取的并不只是那些计划成功的人，而是那些不怕失败的人。当人们敢于在生活中冒险，那么他们就会在其中习得和感受心理弹性的作用——因为冒险会导致成功，也往往会带来失败。那些被MIT录取的极具创意和成功的人，知道失败是生活的一部分，如果坚持不放弃，那么目标终究会实现。

　　●具有实践上的创造力。MIT是一个活跃的，实践的场所。创新是冒险和混乱的。亲手去做并且尝试一些新的事物，往往是通往成功的最佳途径。在这里，我们会将理论知识应用于实践。我们的拉丁格言的意思是“脑袋和手”，换句话说，你不应该只是享受和沉浸于思考，也应该享受和沉浸于实践。

　　●强度，好奇心和兴奋（在各类大学招生机器将这个词变成一个流行语，剥夺了它原本意义之前，我们常常将其总结为“激情”）。总之，你应该做一些对你真正有意义的事情（我们不是特别挑剔什么）。探索！选择质量而不是数量——你不必为了被录取而做成千上万件事情，而是应该全心投入到一件你真正关心的事情中，这就已经足够。

　　●MIT社区特色。我们社区居住着一群善良友好的人们。他们互相照顾，共同提升；彼此激励自身潜力，去全力工作和实现梦想；我们寻找的是那些具有和能够延续社区品质的申请者。

　　●辨别主次，均衡事态的能力。学要学个踏实，玩要玩个痛快。不管你之前听说过什么，这里并不都是学习和工作。想要在这里取得成功，你必须优先考虑一些课余时间的措施。所以，我们也想看到你在高中的课外时间优先做了些什么。问题3a（告诉我们一些你单纯是为了愉悦身心的事情）不是一个技巧性问题，请明智回答。

　　●最后但并非最不重要地，请记住任何一个材料，不论它多么地让人印象深刻——都要能代表“完美匹配”。当我们在进行MIT申请者录取筛选时，就好像是在选择由1100位人员组成的团队，去攀登一座十分有趣又非常崎岖的山峰——大家一起。很明显，我们需要的是那些受过培训，有毅力和激情去攀登的人。同时，我们又希望每个团队里的成员，能够为团队增添点有益或者有趣的东西，比如一副好的脾气秉性，幽默感，引人注目的人生经历，广泛的个人天资、才能、兴趣和成就。我们的重点不在于寻找一批相同的完美的攀登者，而是寻找一个丰富多样的团队。在这样的团队里，成员们个个身怀能力，彼此之间能够互相支持，惊喜和激励。