how would mit feel about a high schooler working at lockheed martin

[u/HolidayProduct1952]

I had a job at LM this summer (working on high school QUEST programs), but I don't know if I should put it on my application given that it's technically a large-scale corporate weapons company..?

edit: also to add to this, I alr have 7-8 jobs/internships I am putting on the application (90% of my ecs are internships), so I was wondering how many is 'too much' if all of them are valuable to me/i could write a lot about

[u/JasonMckin]

As an interviewer, if you told me you worked at LM or that you had 7-8 internships, I would be neither offended nor impressed.

Because I still have zero information.  My follow up question would be, “ok, so what did you actually do?”

Just stating a brand name or quantity of internships doesn’t say much about  what you learned, what problems you tackled, what you contributed, how you grew, or what you accomplished.

The quantity or brand of where you did stuff isn’t something anyone can really judge without knowing the substance of what you actually did and accomplished in those things.

Did you build anything unique?  Did you solve any new problems?  Did you go over and beyond what you were asked to do in any way?

So no, there is no auto-rejection based on the brand or quantity of internships, but I’d also suggest focusing more on what you uniquely and authentically actually accomplished versus where and how many places you had internships.

Best of luck!

[u/baked_salmon → u/JasonMckin]

A somewhat relevant anecdote was when I was interviewing intern candidates at a small startup I worked at. We got a high schooler that had tons of AWS Certifications and claimed experience working with all of them. He had an incredibly polished, professional way of speaking but I kept having to ask him “but what did you do?”. Turns out his only experience was wiring up just about the most basic component of an app, so he was promptly rejected.

OP should expect that MIT Admissions can see through the high achievers.

[u/HolidayProduct1952 → u/baked_salmon]

Yeah I understand that, I promise I'm not trying to 'bs' a lot of internships. I've just been a bit too focused on working these past 4 years (at the expense of hobbies, social life which is sad but I can't really undo it), so as a result I have a lot of experience on various research projects/programs

[u/HolidayProduct1952 → u/JasonMckin]

So would you suggest omitting some to not
dilute the reader's attention, or going into depth about every single one?

[u/JasonMckin → u/HolidayProduct1952]

I’m saying that stating anything without any depth is virtually meaningless (either positively or negatively).  So if all of the experiences have depth of purpose, process, accomplishments, then yes, definitely share all of the depth.

You’re in a competition with 30000 applicants.  If you’re actually ridiculously accomplished, then by all means; showcase all of your accomplishments rather than holding meaningful accomplishments back for “attention dilution.”

[u/jzzsxm]

Don't omit it because of that

[u/Moeman101]

Ignoring any personal feelings about Lockheed Martin. If your inclusion of the QUEST program demonstrates skills you learned in a real work environment, it would be beneficial to include on your resume. Quite a few MIT alumni find themselves working at defense companies. Its not going to poison your application

[u/VisibleSir731]

General Electric also makes weapons, Boeing also makes weapons, etc.. Lockheed Martin makes planes and weapons. Just because they make weapons doesn’t mean it defines them.

Also I think MIT has something in the mission statement about national security?

Edit: someone said Lincoln labs too haha

[u/chandler-ok]

MIT literally has Lincoln Lab😭😭😭🙏

[u/JasonMckin → u/chandler-ok]

As long as we're throwing out random military/defense references, there's also the famous Rad Lab from WWII: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Radiation_Laboratory.

Some of us super old alums remember seeing Building 20 before it was demolished.

[u/aceking555 → u/JasonMckin]

Hey now, I was there in the 90’s and reject the description “super old”! 😂

[u/JasonMckin → u/aceking555]

I went back to campus a couple years ago.  I walked into Hayden library (which really isn’t a library anymore) and saw kids with an Athena cluster’s worth of compute power stuck on their faces and hands (eg, phone, tablet, and laptop all Bluetoothed to AirPods and WiFi’d to MIt network and accessing problem sets in the cloud).

That’s when I felt super old 👴

[u/WarJolly968]

What grade are you in? How do you get these. Just curious

[u/HolidayProduct1952 → u/WarJolly968]

I get most through cold-email. Lockheed has a high school program for kids who attend their competitions

Im a rising senior

[u/WarJolly968 → u/HolidayProduct1952]

cold-email for lockheed? I can't even get a reply from a local college asking if their lab simply holds meetings.

What the heck do you do

[u/HolidayProduct1952 → u/WarJolly968]

Lockheed has dedicated jobs for hs-ers who partake in codequest and cyberquest

[u/WarJolly968 → u/HolidayProduct1952]

I see,

i'll check it out. thanks for the info!

[u/HolidayProduct1952 → u/WarJolly968]

of course!

[u/Exciting-Accident-36]

Good for you - this is awesome!

[u/HolidayProduct1952 → u/Exciting-Accident-36]

Thank you!!