Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT or otherwise known as the Mecca of technical science research, computing and engineering. Tony Stark, the famous hero of the Marvel movies attended this university within the Marvel universe. MIT’s motto “Mind and Hand” speaks to their extraordinary dedication to applied sciences and STEM. Located conveniently on the river across from central Boston and a stone’s throw away from Harvard, MIT could claim to have the best location of all the elite US universities.

Perhaps unique of all the US universities MIT has no honourary degrees and utilizes only a pass fail system in the very first semester. This speaks to the difficulty of classes and rigour demanded of its students. At MIT passing classes and building skills is the main objective, grades are a distant second. This produces extraordinary results. MIT is constantly ranked as one of the best schools in the US and the world. With a 4% admission rate MIT is one of the most selective schools in the entire world with an impressive roster of alumni. Only a school of such selectivity could produce 98 Nobel prize winners and dozens of astronauts. This is definitely a school for high-flying ironmen.

More than that MIT offers an opportunity for one to become a pirate before they set sail for a career at Google, Amazon or Apple. If a student takes classes in fencing, archery, pistol and sailing they will end up with a certificate confirming their pirate credentials. Leave it to people of Boston to foment rebellion on ships. The spirit of the American rebellion lives on the in the hallrooms of MIT.

But apart from piracy MIT engages in groundbreaking research that has changed people’s lives over and over again throughout history. If you go inside your house or log on your computer you will definitely encounter things invented or co-founded by MIT students. Opening a kitchen cupboard you’ll find campbell soup which was invented by an MIT student. If your building has air conditioning you can thank MIT for that. Even daily menial tasks such as logging on to the internet, checking your emails and sending someone a spreadsheet would be completely impossible without MIT researchers inventing all of that.

This innovation continues even to this day. And for current or prospective students this is very good news because they can partake in that through the MIT’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). This program is designed for current students to work on actual research projects, that can make a profound impact on the technology we use today.

MIT is hard to get into. But nowhere else can you be a world-revolutionising pirate astronaut.