A little advice, assurance, closure?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>I'm a junior, canadian and interested in applying to MIT next year.
I'm not going to bother posting all the courses I've taken/taking, all my marks and all my ECS and volunteer hours, it will probably be*just be a waste of time. I will tell you however, that I have taken (and will continue too take) classes that really interest and excite me , as well as classes that I feel will challenge me. Of course, I've also made sure (and will continue) to take all the required classes (4 Years of english, science, math, etcetc). I can also tell you that I'm in awesome awesome ECs that all revolve around the one thing that drives me. </p>

<p>I have no clue what my GPA is, but I have 96% average. </p>

<p>Anyway, my marks in Grade 9 and 10 were awful and all over the place.
Grade 9: 58%,73%,89%,90%, 71%,65%, dropped a class.
Grade 10 improved a bit, but not much: 91%, 84%, 75%, 69%, 85%, 80%, 80%, 55%. </p>

<p>I should also note that My ECs in grade 9 and 10 are also non existent. </p>

<p>Throughout grade 9, I was back and forth from being in school for a month, out of school for a month, in school for a month, out of school for a month. I was dealing with health issues, it all got sorted out by the summer. It was extremely important that I focused on my health, and I had doctors recommending I take time off of school. Anyway, when Grade 10 came I was still adjusting to the new schedule of being in school everyday, and coming to terms with a couple personal things and of course, illnesses don't go away, it takes awhile to adjust. </p>

<p>Anyway, The thing is, I was dealing with a mental illness, well I should say illnesses (plural). Basically, my problems lies (and the point of this thread) in not knowing whether I should explain the awful marks and lack of ECs to MIT or not.
Hear me out:
I've learned a lot from the experience, and you can see in my marks today, that I have definitely learned how to deal better.
However, I'm afraid that if I explain to them what was happening (more in detail then here, of course) they will think because I have this illness I won't be able to cope with the stress of an MIT workload because I'll be trying to deal with the other stuff. Which, I mean, I can understand why'd they think that, but I've actually learned a lot about stress management because of this. </p>

<p>Anyway, I'm rambling. </p>

<p>I need your opinions.
Should I explain to them/get my counselor to write explaining to them about my mental illness leading to all over the place marks and attendance? Include the doctor note(s) that were issued at the time? </p>

<p>OR, Are grade 9 and 10 marks not even a big deal? Should I just let it be and not let them know about my mental illness and make any pre judgments about what I can / can't handle. </p>

<p>Also, please don't take this the wrong way, thinking that I think the admission team is prejudice or something like that, I think very highly of them. I'm just a worried highschool kid that's really ignorant when it comes to admissions and stuff like this. </p>

<p>I apologize if my grammar or sentence structure is really bad, I'm suffering from a headache and running on 6 hours of sleep for the last 2 days.</p>

2

<p>First off, go get some sleep :)</p>

<p>Second, I’ll be frank and say I don’t really know the answer here. I will say that MIT likes to see improvement. If I were in your boat, I’d simply let MIT know that you had health issues during your first two years. The fact that you’re getting a 96% average now speaks to the fact that you can manage the courseload (as will things like teacher recommendations).</p>

<p>The important thing, of course, is to take care to figure out if you can handle the MIT workload with your issue.</p>

3

<p>I certainly think that you should try to explain your situation, whether that occurs via a supplemental essay or counselor recommendation. Certainly junior year grades matter more, but 9th and 10th grade results like that merit explanation IMHO. But whatever you write, stress the positives, that you’ve most past previous issues and adversity, and are clearly capable of dealing with MIT coursework. Just make sure it doesn’t like you’re whining or making excuses. Best of luck!</p>

4

<p>Thanks guys!
I think I’m just going to speak candidly about the experience, and why I had those marks. </p>

<p>GPA is based off of all four years of high school, right? If so, my GPA is 3.32 which is absolutely awful. You know in the end, I feel like MIT would be a perfect fit for me and I feel like I would be able to handle the workload (obviously not at EASE, it’s MIT for goodness sake), but you know, at the same capability of many of the other students. I just don’t want my potential to be totally whipped away by the results of some hard times.</p>

<p>Anyway, sorry, I’m rambling and I’m honestly kinda ****ed at myself. Life goes on, back to the point. </p>

<p>Not sure if anyone will know the answer to this but I’ll ask anyway. When looking at applications, do they look at the stats (GPA, sat scores etc) first and then weed those out that don’t measure the standard, and then move on to the next apps? Because I mean, if that’s the case, explaining my GPA as part of my application won’t even do any good. They’ll see my GPA and toss, into the trash bin it goes. Please don’t tell me it works like that. Please tell me they at least read my essays, ECs and triumphs over this mess before deciding to kick me to the curb. I just want a chance to explain.</p>