[yongjik]

That article made me a bit sad. MIT might have made the right call, but I expected some reflection on why MIT rejected him, and the essay is just trite "Oh you just have to be good at academics, don't worry, there's nothing specific we require for admission, which means you can totally do it!"

[user3939382]

Academics i.e. (in my experience) be skilled at rote memorization and where there is a pretense of critical thinking, discovering your teachers' opinions and pandering to them.