Is learning Python "extraordinary"?

[Michael Hudson]

"Jesse F. W" <jessefw at loop.com> writes:

> 	I am a high school senior, and like many others, I am applying
> to college.  I am applying to MIT (as well as many other schools).
> MIT describes what they are looking for as students who do or have
> done "extraordinary things".  My question is this, Is teaching
> myself Python (with the aid of the Python tutorials and some help
> from the various lists) an "extraordinary thing"?  How many
> python-list'ers are high school students?

Dunno about Python specifically, but I'd hope that a willingness to
learn new languages would help your cause.  I bet most CS admission
tutors fall off their chairs when an applicant has heard of a language
that isn't C++, Java or VB.  I'm not an admission tutor, though, so I
may be unnecessarily pessimistic.

Also I'd imagine that learning a little lisp is unlikely to hurt an
application to MIT...

Cheers,
M.