An outstanding Filipino student who has competed and won numerous awards for the country in different international competitions, including the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), will be going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US for his college education.
Filbert Ephraim Wu, 18, who graduated from high school at Victory Christian International School in the country, chose MIT, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, among the US and United Kingdom schools he got accepted to.
Filbert Ephraim Wu visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts ahead of the start of his classes in September (Contributed photos)
At VCIS, he graduated with the highest honors under the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) strand. He also received the College Board Advanced Placement Scholar Award.
MIT is ranked No. 1 in the 2025 QS World University Rankings' top global universities list released this month.
"For the 13th consecutive year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) maintains its reign at the top. This year’s ranking is the largest ever, featuring over 1,500 universities across 105 higher education systems," according to QS World University Rankings.
In the US News & World Report’s Best National University Rankings in the US and 2022-2023 Best Global Universities Rankings, MIT is ranked second.
Besides MIT, Wu also got accepted to Harvard University, Yale University, and Amherst College in the US, and University College London and Imperial College London in the United Kingdom.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Wu said he picked MIT over other schools like Harvard for its focus on science and technology.
“I chose to go to MIT instead of Harvard due to its more specific focus on science and technology and the modern feel of the MIT campus,” he said.
He added, “Furthermore, many of my Olympiad friends worldwide attend MIT, including several IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) and IOI (International Olympiad in Informatics) medalists from our country! I aspire to benefit from the intense academic focus of MIT, known to be among the most rigorous in the world, along with like-minded peers interested in solving problems with new groundbreaking inventions.”
Awards
From elementary to high school in the Philippines, Wu has brought home medals from different national and international math competitions.
At the IMO, he won a silver medal in 2023 in Chiba, Japan, and honorable mention in 2022 in Oslo, Norway. He is one of the official contestants from the Philippines to the 2024 IMO to be held in Bath, United Kingdom in July.
Filbert Ephraim Wu (5th from left) together with the other Filipino contestants, Science Education Institute-Department of Science and Technology Director Dr. Josette Biyo and Supervising Science Research Specialist Dr. Randolf Sasota, and coaches at the IMO 2023 in Chiba, Japan (Photo from Go for Gold: Philippine IMO Team on Facebook)
In the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), he won a bronze medal in 2023. He will be competing in the IOI 2024 in September in Alexandria, Egypt. He won as the national champion at the 2024 National Olympiad in Informatics-Philippines.
He was declared the national champion for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024 at the Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO).
For 11 straight years from 2013 to 2023, Wu, a resident of Taguig, was an awardee at the Department of Science and Technology’s Youth Excellence in Science (YES) awards.
MIT
Wu said he was surprised when he learned that he got accepted to MIT.
“Last March 14, I stared in disbelief at the screen of my MIT portal, which displayed an acceptance! I immediately envisioned the myriad opportunities for growth and innovation awaiting me at MIT, renowned as the foremost institution for STEM-related fields. Witnessing my brother's transformative experience at MIT, I am eager to forge my journey there over the next four years,” he said.
He is following the path of his older brother, Farrell Eldrian Wu, now 23, at MIT.
In 2021, Farrell graduated with a perfect grade point average (GPA) at MIT and earned two degrees: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering, and Bachelor of Science in Business Analytics, with a minor in Economics. MIT does not award class ranks or Latin honors like summa cum laude.
In elementary and high school in the Philippines, Farrell also competed and won numerous awards in various international math competitions including the IMO.
Filbert Ephraim Wu visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts ahead of the start of his classes in September (Contributed photos)
Ephraim said he will be taking the course Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making at MIT.
“I will be taking 6-4 (Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making) at MIT, a new course introduced in Fall 2022,” he said.
He added, “Courses like these, that utilize mathematical and computational applications to model real-world dynamics in modern business and engineering settings, make me excited to put theory into practice.”
According to him, “Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly valuable in today’s world, especially in the modeling of real-world, ‘big-picture’ problems such as optimizing traffic efficiency or predicting climate better. I hope to further AI’s development and contribute to this ever-expanding field of study!”
He has less than three months before starting his studies at MIT in September. For now, he is enjoying his hobbies and doing self-studies in preparation for his MIT classes.
“In my last year of high school, I set out to make a smooth transition into college while fulfilling my obligations as a representative of the Philippines to the IMO and IOI,” he said.
He said, “A new chapter of my life awaits me shortly, and I am jumpstarting it by self-studying and previewing MIT’s mathematics and computer science classes online this summer. In addition, a belief I would carry in my journey is that all learning is interconnected; thus, learning more knowledge in an adjacent field would help me, directly or indirectly, in my future learning.”
“I am also enjoying my summer and practicing my hobbies of speed cubing and photography! I’m getting more into running, which I envision to be a satisfying break from long hours spent learning in university,” said Ephraim.