Hamilton Township School District Student Accepted to MIT

February 8, 2023

Hamilton, NJ. The Hamilton Township School District (HTSD) is proud of Steinert High School senior, Fadi Farag on being accepted to MIT to study Computer Science and Electrical Engineering this fall. “The Class of 2022 was the single most challenging year to be admitted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology ever. For the Class of 2022, 21,706 students applied to Massachusetts Institute of Technology of which 1,464 students were accepted, yielding an overall acceptance rate of 6.7%,” reported IvyLeaguePrep.com.

Fadi has lived in Hamilton Township for the last fifteen years having attended Langtree Elementary School and Crockett Middle School. Fadi’s favorite subject is Math, a subject he began to enjoy in elementary school. Fadi credits several teachers for helping him throughout his education at HTSD: Mrs. Cumming (Langtree Third grade teacher), Mrs. Mary Carlin Komjathy (retired Crockett Math teacher), Mr. Ryan and Ms. Blew (Steinert High School teachers). “In elementary school I saw a bunch of my friends messing around with computers and became interested. And then one YouTube video led to another … I love when you can use what you know and just learn more to apply it to anything you want to make. You can use math and / or physics concepts and put them together in a project to see your knowledge translate to something concrete and make your own things,” expressed Fadi.

Fadi is a dedicated student who spends an abundance of his time participating in school activities.

He is a member of the Steinert High School Robotics Club, the Debate and Mock Trial Teams, and the school newspaper club. He is also a sound engineer for the theater program. When not in school, Fadi spends his time doing homework, learning about new technology, creating new projects, playing games, and watching shows with his friends.

Fadi explained his college application process. “First, I sat down and made a list of 15 schools, nervous I wouldn’t get into many. I organized them by safety, mid-range, and reach schools. I completed the actual application process and found the task of describing my life in 650 words one of the most challenging aspects. I wrote my essays, assembled all the necessary information, and just went for it! I enjoyed submitting the MIT application as it was the most fun of all. MIT was one of my top choices and after doing research, I felt it was the best fit for me,” explained Fadi. When Fadi received his acceptance email, he was confused when he saw the confetti … very confused … explaining it took him three whole minutes to process what he read, and then after that he was in shock! He called his father first to tell him the news. Fun fact: The acceptance email was in Fadi’s Spam folder!

Fadi encourages other students to explore all that high school offers and get out of their comfort zone. Fadi explains, “I like that I can work with my hands now, a skill I learned in Robotics. Mock Trial has taught me how to think quicker on my feet and make arguments on the spot. Each experience builds your skillset. Theatre Tech Crew has helped me learn how to interact with different types of technology. My advice is to give it a try and, if you don’t like it, that’s okay.”

“As we begin acceptance season for our seniors, it is exciting to see how Fadi’s hard work, dedication, and curiosity for learning has resulted in his acceptance to MIT. We all look forward to his continued success,” shared Dr. Rocco, Superintendent of Schools.

Fadi Farag Photo by Laura Geltch

Steinert High School Robotics Team: Zero Gravity FRC Team 2180

Back Row: Rudra Patel, Robert Poppert, Ryan Liu, Dustin Crain, Dawn Papale, Diana Schulz, Fadi Farag / Front Row: Asadbek Ortikov, “Rattler”, Shaylin Curran

Photo by Laura Geltch