I’ve been wanting to post this for some time ever since Pi Day. I am a 2021 MIT admit and I wanted to post my story to hopefully help out future applicants.
I never thought I would get into MIT. Like you, I scoured the forums of CC to find a common thread in those that got accepted. Except unlike many of you, I had no interest in MIT. My end goal was Caltech, but many of the applicants to either school are very similar. Everyone seemed to have perfect SAT scores, groundbreaking research, and too many AP classes (where inevitably they all got 5s). I had none of that and I knew that since freshmen year.
I had a unique circumstance where I took the CHSPE and was planning to leave high school early after sophomore year. So for two years, I did not invest in my high school. I wasn’t planning on being there, so I didn’t bother joining anything. Since I had to transfer to my dream school after two years of community college, I began looking for advice on CC about Caltech transfers. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much help. All I knew was that it would be very difficult.
In the end, it didn’t matter since I eventually left community college. I wasn’t happy there and it began to show. I wasn’t motivated to do anything and slept a lot more than I should have. Later I realized that these were symptoms of depression. I went back to high school after two months and I did eventually catch up on all my work. I was much happier and everything seemed to be great again.
When senior year came along, I realized that my choice would probably be detrimental to my college applications. Everyone told me that colleges valued commitment all four years and all my extracurriculars were from my junior year and my ongoing senior year. I only had one activity that went on longer than two years. In addition to that, I didn’t spend forty hours a week on these activities. I couldn’t because I was the first to get home every day and I had to help my parents out.
CC seemed to confirm my worries. I had too little APs compared to everyone. By application season, I had only taken 4 AP tests out of the 5 classes that I completed. I had scored a 3 (gasp!) on one of them as well. My SAT scores were not perfect and as for my subject test scores, my highest was in U.S History (780). As for awards or competitions, my highest level was regional. I thought I could never compete with the high caliber students as displayed by the results threads on CC. There only seemed to be one or two acceptances that seemed to have my stats and it seemed so unlikely that I could reach that goal.
As I told you, MIT was not my original goal. I was set on Caltech, but one fateful day, I got an email from MIT giving me a fee waiver for the application. I was shocked since I didn’t receive a single fee waiver from any other college. Why would MIT differ from that pattern? Well, thankfully they did because that’s when I decided I wanted to apply.
As I read more about MIT, I realized that perhaps this place was better than I though and maybe even better than I imagined Caltech to be. The more I explored the school, the more I had my heart set on MIT. Caltech became my second choice after so many years of being my number one. Despite this, I was still hesitant to apply. I didn’t think I could get in. MIT had rejected me for their summer program in junior year. I was heartbroken that day when I found out, especially since it seemed to indicate that I wasn’t good enough to be there. If the summer program didn’t want me, then the school definitely wouldn’t.
Still I applied, despite having a seemingly lackluster application and an okay interview and on March 11, 2017, I cried again. Caltech decisions came out and I got rejected. My once dream school didn’t want me and I knew it had to be foreshadowing the Pi Day result.
So I cried once more.
I cried for all my failures and blamed myself for not being good enough again. I never dreaded a day more than I did that next Tuesday. Despite the inevitable rejection from MIT, I had that glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe they would like me and admit me. All I could think about that day was the decision yet time passed by so slowly. When school was finally over, my best friend of eleven years walked home with me, ready to support whatever happened. We stood in front of my elementary school and opened the portal.
And we cried. (crying seems to be the reoccurring theme here, haha)
I got in miraculously. I still can’t believe it. Every statistic seemed to be against me. For instance, I used three teacher letters of recommendation even though I read that a small percentage of 2020 admits used three. I saw that 7% and I freaked out. There was no way I could become part of that.
But now I am and I really want all future applicants to know that yes, statistics are helpful, but they don’t tell the whole story. I know that as scientists and engineers, we all believe in numbers first because numbers have never let us down, but we can’t be blind to the rest of the story. We are humans first and humans, thankfully, see more than just numbers. They want to see you. As you write those essays, remember that. Admissions saw a crazy Broadway nerd who had a passion for history and loved solving problems and wanted to be part of the future creators of this world.
And they let that person in.
So don’t doubt yourself. I did so many times and I almost didn’t apply. If you have this dream and I know you do, then take a shot and apply. You never know what might happen.
I know this was long, but I wanted you to know that there are people who get in without that perfect application, so don’t lose heart.
I wish you all the best of luck in the future!
