Hamilton Township School District student admitted to MIT

February 8, 2023

Hamilton, New Jersey. The Hamilton Township School District (HTSD) is proud to welcome Steinert High School senior Fadi Farag this fall to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study computer science and electrical engineering. “Class of 2022 has been the toughest year to get into MIT. For the MIT 2022 graduation, 21,706 students applied, of which 1,464 students were accepted, giving an overall acceptance rate of 6.7%,” according to IvyLeaguePrep.com.

Fadi has lived in Hamilton Township for the past fifteen years, attending Langtry Elementary School and Crockett High School. Fadi’s favorite subject is mathematics, which he began to get involved with in elementary school. Fadi thanks several teachers for helping him throughout his HTSD years: Mrs. Cumming (third grade teacher Langtry), Mrs. Mary Carlene Komjati (retired math teacher Crockett), Mr. Ryan, and Ms. Blue (teacher Steinert Middle School). “In elementary school, I saw my friends fiddling with computers and got interested. And then one YouTube video led to another… I love it when you can use what you know and just learn more to apply it to something you want to do. You can use mathematical and/or physical concepts and combine them in a project to see how your knowledge turns into something concrete and create your own things,” Fadi said.

Fadi is a devoted student who spends a lot of time participating in school activities.

He is a member of Steinert High School’s robotics club, debate and trial teams, and the school’s newspaper club. He is also the sound engineer for the theater program. When not in school, Fadi spends her homework learning new technologies, creating new projects, playing games and watching shows with her friends.

Fadi explained the college admission process. “First, I sat down and made a list of 15 schools, fearing that I would not get into many. I organized them into safe, middle, and outlying schools. I completed the actual application process and found the task of describing my life in 650 words one of the most difficult aspects. I wrote my essays, collected all the necessary information and just got down to business! I enjoyed applying to MIT as it was the most fun of all. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was one of my top choices and after doing some research, I realized it was the best fit for me,” Fadi explained. When Fadi received the confirmation email, he was confused when he saw the confetti… very confused… explaining that it took him a full three minutes to process what he read and then he was shocked! He first called his father to tell him the news. Fun fact: the confirmation email was in Fadi’s spam folder!

Fadi encourages other students to explore everything high school has to offer and get out of their comfort zone. Fadi explains: “I love that I can now work with my hands, a skill I learned in robotics. Simulating a trial taught me how to think faster on the go and make arguments on the spot. Each experience develops your skill set. The Theater Tech Crew helped me learn how to interact with different types of technology. My advice is to try it, and if you don’t like it, it’s okay.”

“As we begin our seniors admissions season, it’s great to see how Fadi’s hard work, dedication, and curiosity for learning led to his acceptance at MIT. We are all looking forward to its continued success,” shared Dr. Rocco, Director of Schools.

Fadi Farag Photo by Laura Gelch

1. Steinert High School Robotics Team: FRC Team Zero Gravity 2180

Back row: Rudra Patel, Robert Poppert, Ryan Liu, Dustin Crane, Don Papeil, Diana Schultz, Fadi Farag / Front row: Asadbek Ortikov, Rattler, Shaylin Curran

Photo by Laura Gelch

1. Mock Trial at Steinert High School in Trenton Courthouse

From left to right: Ryan Liu, Rudra Patel, Asadbek Ortikov, Hannah Rak, Annesimona Farid, Alexander “AJ” Difalko, Sajid Ahmed, Fadi Farag

Photo courtesy of Steinert High School.