A myriad of questions.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Alright, I have a bit of a situation to explain first.</p>

<p>Basically, I want to get into MIT. I have traditionally been a math/science minded person, but my entire high school experience/performance has been significantly altered by factors outside of my control.</p>

<p>I have Bipolar I disorder, and got into a really bad groove from 8th grade, through freshman year, and well into second semester sophomore year. I know this happens to a lot of people, and I feel for them all, but combined with the school I go to, being so depressed/angsty/irrationally thinking (yes, I was bipolar to the point of believing people thought things about me that they didn't, and believed the world was evil blah blah blah), was a serious detriment to my grades. However, I finally opened up a couple months ago, and since then have been 100% clear-minded and back to my regular self. I honestly don't even know how I didn't drop out of school and kill myself before I got on medication. Seriously.</p>

<p>Now, I had probably a 2.8-3.2 GPA freshman year, and I don't mean to say "it's not my fault" but you don't even know what was happening in my head that year. My semester 1 sophomore GPA was 2.67, and I got a D in English (which fails at my school).</p>

<p>For what it's worth, I do go to a very rigorous Silicon Valley private school. Just thought I'd mention that.</p>

<p>So now you're thinking, "you have a 0% probability of getting into MIT with those GPA's and a failed English class on your transcript". Right?</p>

<p>Here's the catch; my grandfather is on the board of trustees of MIT. He graduated from there and is a renowned chemist/entrepreneur. I will not mention his name for a couple reasons. He says I remind him of him when he was my age (16).</p>

<p>Now, I'm fully capable of performing well in school. Every one of my teachers has always said I am very smart (don't think I'm trying to brag or anything, I'm trying to present my case), my grandfather (MIT trustee) thinks I am extremely smart, the psychiatrist who met with me in the psych ward where I ended up said I was extremely smart, and every IQ test I've taken has put me at 120-139. It's just that I was SO DARN BIPOLAR and never asked for help.</p>

<p><strong><em>So, here's where I stand. Do you think, if I get all A's and A-'s in my junior/senior years, and take Honors Chemistry, AP Chemistry, Calculus AB and BC, Engineering, and Honors Physics and get A-'s and A's in ALL of those (which I think/know I am capable of doing now), and have a letter of recommendation from my grandpa who is on the board of trustees, that I would have ANY, even a very small, chance of getting into MIT?</em></strong></p>

<p>EDIT: Reading this back to myself, it now seems like I'm acting entitled. It's not that, it's that I feel like I am being punished, in a sense, for something that I could not have prevented. It's a wonder I only failed one class let alone stayed alive. I just want a chance to prove that I am a different person altogether now, and that I am capable of going to a school like MIT. Right now, I feel that chance is gone, and that no one will even care how well I do in math/science AP's in my junior/senior years because of how much the chemicals in my head ****ed up my life as a freshman/sophomore.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to read this, it means a lot to me. And thanks in advance for any advice you may have!</p>

2

<p>That’s all nice, but there is absolutely no proof that you are even capable of doing the work at MIT at this point.</p>

<p>I suppose if you get all A’s in your junior and senior years, a good SAT score, and write an essay explaining why your GPA was low in your freshman and sophomore years, you would have a decent chance.</p>

<p>If you stay in the same pattern, you can’t just say “I’m bipolar, so my grades don’t matter.” Don’t waste the application fee unless there is serious improvement.</p>

3

<p>@mtguy1 Thank you SO MUCH for reading this and responding. Yes, I know that there is no proof, yet. But if I DO establish proof, which I intend to work my ass off to get, do you think MIT will listen? Trust me, all I want is a chance to be heard out, and if I need to get a 4.0 for the next two years to get that chance, I will do it.</p>

<p>EDIT: Trust me, I will not stay in the same pattern. I am 100% out of the pattern now. Honestly I feel like I’ve been out of it for the past three years and I am now actually in full control of myself for the first time again. I am an entirely different person. Looking back, I see myself as someone else for all those years. Someone who was and is nothing like me.</p>

4

<p>Grades aren’t everything for MIT. Even if you get straight a’s, you also need to have substantial extracurriculars to even stand a shot. Try your hardest and see what you can do with your time in high school, and then come back to cc in a few years</p>

5

<p>W@tawclaw I applaud you for your determination andI wish you all the best. As a mom, I am wondering if you have thought about the stress of pushing yourself so hard and how that could affect your mental status. And what IF you got into MIT but had a setback or couldn’t live up to your grandpa’s legacy? Would you be ok with that? You are your own person and I hope you don’t feel the need to live up to your family legacy. Perhaps going to another school–one that’s all your own where you get to make your own legacy–will be healthier for you long term. There are other great schools out there, and I hope you will not get stuck on only one. Look around, and find a few others that you like. Keep an open mind. And keep up the tenacity. It will carry you far!</p>

6

<p>You have a remote chance of getting in since your grandpa is on the board of directors but I cannot see you getting acceptance unless you make sure they know your grandfather is an important member of MIT, your family makes regular donations and you get 2250+ on SAT as well as fairly strong extracurriculars and the GPA you stated earlier. I didn’t want to rain on your parade but you have to consider that there are people with much better stats applying. Luckily for you, you have a connection at the school which is everything. Under the chance that you don’t get in, however, it isn’t the end of the world. Believe it or not, some experts say that you can recover from going to a great university rather than the tippity top and still end up not being homeless and a complete failure. Never get down if you don’t make it in to the best schools. No matter where you are, you can always improve.</p>