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As far as most international university admissions go, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is widely regarded as one of the hardest to get into due to its notoriously low rates of admission.
However, that figure didn’t stop a talented Malaysian from pursuing her dream to enroll herself at the renowned university and she ultimately earned her way into MIT.
Her name’s Leia Mayssa Masyerin and this is her story.
Ups & downs at PERMATA@Pintar
In 2020, 13-year-old Leia enrolled herself at Pusat PERMATA@Pintar Negara (PPPN) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), a centre that gathers gifted and talented children nationwide and provides them with opportunities to nurture their intellectual abilities.
According to Leia, PPPN’s syllabus is slightly different than that of most secondary schools, where Form 1 to 3 (known as Foundation I, II, and III) students study SPM-level subjects, while Form 4 and Form 5 students (known as Level 1 and 2 ) study STPM-level subjects.
And thanks to her intellectual prowess, she was allowed to jump straight into Level 1 and 2 after completing her Foundation I and II.
But like most students who were caught in the whirlwind of the pandemic, Leia had difficulty adjusting to her new routine during her first two years at PPPN.
“At first, classes were held physically. But as the pandemic worsened, it was switched to online mode completely.
“While I was fortunate to still be able to stay at home and study, it made group projects extra difficult to be completed as I couldn’t meet my friends physically,” she recounted.
Despite the initial difficulties, Leia’s deeply grateful for her time at PPPN, where she credits it as being the foundation which prepared her for her future journey at MIT.
A lot of people assume that since kids at PPPN are smart, they’re super lazy too. But this isn’t the case at all. Around 40%-60% of our marks are coursework-based, so you cannot afford to be lazy.
“The teachers were also very accommodating by conducting classes with me whenever I skip school for long periods of time to take part in competitions, so that I don’t fall behind in my studies,” she added.
As such, Leia was able to represent Malaysia not once, but three times in the prestigious International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), namely at Oslo (2022), Chiba (2023), and Bath (2024) respectively.
Not a math person
Given the fact that most courses offered at MIT are heavily rooted in Mathematics, I asked Leia whether she had a love for the subject during her schooling years.
“Personally? I’d have to say no, ” she admitted with a laugh. “When I was in primary school, Science was my favourite subject and I always thought I’d become a doctor one day.
“But when I got into secondary school during the height of Covid-19 pandemic, I sort of “discovered” Mathematics along the way and thought ‘Oh, this is a cool subject and I like it.’“
Leia also attributed her increasing love for Mathematics to a professor who gave lessons on YouTube during the pandemic, where she found herself being captivated by his teaching methods and digging deeper into the subject.
“Over time, I leaned more towards Mathematics but that didn’t diminished my interest in natural science. In fact, I plan to do take some classes in Brain Science too,” she clarified.
Giving MIT a shot
Leia revealed that MIT wasn’t initially in her bucket list of universities upon completing high school given how incredibly difficult it was to secure a spot.
“MIT isn’t a place many would fantasise of going as it often seems to be so far out of reach, and it was definitely the case for me. I knew it was a good university but I honestly didn’t see myself going there”
Despite these doubts, Leia submitted an application to MIT in early 2024 just to see whether she would be able to be accepted. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t manage to but was placed on the waiting list, which gave her a glimmer of hope.
At the encouragement of her peers and ex-MIT alumni, Leia decided to give it yet another shot at the end of 2024, not knowing whether she would ultimately be successful in the end.
‘I got in!’
As per tradition, MIT releases the result of one’s application at 3.14am to symbolise a significant number in the mathematics world (math whizzes would know what it is).
Coincidentally, Leia had a competition to take part in on the morning of the result’s announcement and she chose not to check her email to avoid affecting her performance if her application was to be rejected.
“After the competition, I got home and planned on taking a nap after checking the results so that I could sleep away the sting of rejection should it come true.
“But when I saw that I was accepted into MIT, I became very awake and my napping plans fell apart immediately!” she said with a laugh.
As she was home alone at the time, Leia sent the acceptance letter to her family group chat, which was accompanied by the sad emoji.
“My mum initially thought I didn’t get into MIT, but when she saw the letter for herself, she became extremely confused and called to clear the air. When I finally confirmed that I was going to MIT, she was really happy for me and it’s a core memory I’ll remember forever.”
Since stepping into MIT in August of this year, Leia has been thoroughly enjoying her time there and adjusting well to this new chapter in her life.
“Every day, I get to do cool things and meet famous people, including the math professor whose YouTube videos I used to watch religiously years ago.
Also, MIT also practices the ‘Pass/No Record’ grading system for first semester students, where you just need to pass your papers without having to stress over achieving exemplary grades.
“This is incredibly helpful as it helps to build my confidence in adapting to MIT, and it also provides me with more time to do cool stuff without the pressure of getting good grades hovering over me,” she said.
‘School is not your everything’
While Leia acknowledges that the first step into securing a good education is to perform well at classes and score good grades, she noted that it was equally important for one to enjoy life along the way too.
“Remember that school isn’t your entire life and that you have free will to do anything you’re interested or passionate in.
Universities aren’t looking for robots who score 100% in every exam; instead, they’re looking for individuals for are passionate about the things they do and simply be themselves.
“If you’re interested in something, take the initiative in proving that by taking part in competitions or starting a club. But don’t do all that just for the sake of getting into university, obviously.”
As for her future plans, Leia said she’s open to pursuing a Masters or PhD, adding that she will “just go with the flow.”
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