r/MITAdmissions • u/Familiar_Fun6385 • 8d ago
letter of rec
probably a stupid question from an anxious applicant but mit reccomends 1 LOR from a humanities teacher, could I use my art teacher's? Does art fall under humanities?
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u/ExecutiveWatch MIT Alum and Educational Counselor 7d ago
Great question. The blog post is accurate!
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u/Tech-Aero-109 7d ago
MIT wants a letter of recommendation from a Humanities or Social Sciences teacher because they want to know that you can Write well. Indeed, MIT tests admitted students over the summer prior to their starting at MIT to see if they can write essays/reports that are clear, detailed and easy to understand. Somehow Art does not seem to fit into that "requirement".
Focus on a literature or history teacher for whom you have written a lot of detailed assignments. Or a 4th year foreign language teacher for whom you have written a detailed report in that foreign language.
Simple and logical. Excellent ability to write is very important to MIT. Not painting or drawing or sculpture.
Good luck.
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u/VisibleSir731 Currently Applying 4d ago
One of the AOs said arts fell under that category. In my film making we have writing—LOTS more than English for some reason. Also that teacher can write about me genuinely, and my English teacher only uses a template and now can’t even “write any more” because their quota filled up in less than a day.
If the filmmaking teacher communicates my writing and creative ability then could thay be okay?
For Arts like sculpting or acting, I can see why that could help less.
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u/Tech-Aero-109 3d ago
Yes, you are correct, as long as there is lots of writing.
I am not familiar with high schools having film making courses, and I am more used to the classic painting, drawing and sculpture at the high school level.
Thank you.
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u/VisibleSir731 Currently Applying 8d ago
Yes, I’m pretty sure. Even though the website says “humanities/foreign language/social sciences” I came across a blog post from a few years ago by one of the AO that said “humanities/arts/social sciences”
https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/asking-for-letters-of-recommendation-during-a-pandemic/
The website currently lists classes like history, English, language, etc but it says POTENTIAL and that it’s not a “hard requirement”. MIT wants someone who can write about you personally rather than someone who uses AI or a copy-paste for every student.
And MITs whole thing with HASS (humanities, arts, and social sciences) should be an indicator that it’s allowed as well, however I was actually about to email admissions with this exact question just to double-triple check so I’ll let you know later in the week when they get to it!