Advice appreciated, criticism

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Hello there, everybody. This is my first time on this site; please excuse any errors as they are unintentional. Well, I'm interested in MIT mainly because engineering is a profession that seems to suite me well. Science and math are interesting to me, and critical thinking/problem solving doesn't really get old.
Basically, I'm here to ask for help and advice from you guys on what I could do to make myself a better applicant and a more well-rounded person.
Currently, I'm a freshman, so it may be hard to predict what could happen. I plan on taking the SAT 1 and ACT next year as a sophomore (I have taken the SAT 1 before for a talent search).</p>

<p>Grade: 9
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Chinese
School: International Academy <a href="there%20are%203%20campuses,%20this%20is%20an%20IB%20school;%20you%20guys%20can%20search%20it%20up%20for%20more%20info">East</a></p>

<p>Grades: No GPA yet but I have all A's right now
Major classes:
Integrated Math 3 (Algebra 2/Trig combined)
Biology
French 1
The IA goes by a "planned" curriculum, meaning very little choices are given for all courses. Next year, I take both physics and chemistry full year, and I plan on taking IB Physics out of other choices.</p>

<p>EC's:
Junior Varsity Tennis for home high school (I tested into this high school, and it doesn't have a sports program)
Quiz Bowl since 7th grade
Piano (regular competitions/trophies) and I must say, I'm developing a passion for this... I don't practice as much as other kids in my studio, but I try to grind out 3 hours on school days, 2 at least. Summer, I do like 4-5 a day, which still isn't very much. But at least I'm starting to understand it better and appreciate it...
Chinese school (yeah, I know... don't say anything because I'm getting enrichment credit for this from school, and I get to take standardized tests for credit later on)</p>

<p>I also do clubs and such, but I don't really count those as extracurriculars, because some of them are like ski/snowboard club. Since this is freshman year I didn't do that much because I'm not too familiar with everything. Next year I'll probably run for student council since people know me quite well now. I'll also do science olympiad (I didn't even know my school had it until it started....) and this year I'm aiming for captain at quiz bowl. As for tennis, I'm planning on doing it all the way high school, and aiming for Varsity in junior year.</p>

<p>So, my question is: what else should I be doing or trying to do? Probably too early to tell but does MIT seem suited for me?</p>

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<p>you should probably do one (or more) of the olympiads (biology, chemistry, math, physics, computer science), as those are generally the most recognized contests in math and science. Science Olympiad is pretty minor. Don’t wait for ap classes and whatnot, those don’t help much anyways. Math is probably the hardest, and requires the most natural talent. I’m not very familiar with physics and computer science. Biology is the easiest in terms of thinking, but you need to be committed enough to memorize a couple textbooks cover to cover. Chemistry is probably the easiest subject overall, as the knowledge requirements is less than biology, and the calculations are much easier that math and physics.</p>

3

<p>Yes, you do look like a good fit for a place like MIT.</p>

<p>Science Olympiad was my major academic activity (and I got in), so don’t feel like it’s not important enough to help you get admitted. I knew a lot of people at MIT who did that, too. My activities freshman year kind of looked like yours too. </p>

<p>Think about taking the AMC’s (1st round of math olympiad selection). You’d probably enjoy it. Shoot for qualifying for the AIME. It’s realistic given your background, and it would look nice. They used to give it in February, so if you got moving you probably could take it. You will have to be somewhat pro-active if your school doesn’t have people take the exam. Talk to your math team coach or contact the AMC directly. </p>

<p>Doing research for one summer at some university and submitting your work to Intel or Siemens would also help, but it’s a little early for that. Most people don’t do that until the summer of their junior year. I generally took classes and/or played sports during the summers, and didn’t do research. </p>

<p>I think you are approaching things the right way, but just keep in mind that it college admissions is a crapshoot and things aren’t always logical. One piece of advice: in a couple of years you’ll be taking a lot of standardized tests, including ones in science. The guys that just coast through with A-'s or don’t try to challenge themselves generally end up having trouble on these tests. And if you try to coast with A-'s, there’s going to be a time where you miss the cut-off if you get a teacher with harsh or unfair grading. Try to crush your classes and try to find ways to challenge yourself and the stuff you are required to do, like SAT’s and SATII’s, won’t require any preparation. </p>

<p>There’s a thread on the Caltech forum that will give you a good guide.<br>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/442418-anyone-wanting-know-their-chances-getting-into-caltech.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/442418-anyone-wanting-know-their-chances-getting-into-caltech.html&lt;/a&gt;
Caltech admissions is more straightforward; shoot for that and then apply to MIT too and see what happens.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the response. As for AP’s, we don’t have access to those. We will all end up taking IB exams, and none of our classes are AP or honors; they’re all labeled IB. I’m not sure how that will change anything. Also, how do you think I could make math seem more significant? It’s always been one of my strongest subjects, mainly because I can learn it extremely quickly (self-learned geometry in 7th grade for 8th grade). Math competitions are quite different than just subject math; the competitions work by memorizing formulas and different ways to solve problems, because they’re all basically story problems.
Thanks collegealum314 for answering my question about math. Well, the good thing is that I’m probably quite familiar with the question format for the AMC, because I took a course in MathCounts in 8th grade, but I didn’t make the school team (there were around 50-60 people who tried out, they took 12 people, and I was #13) which was really sad for me because all my friends thought I could do it… Anyways, thanks a lot for the input, I appreciate it. It’s better to start now and know what to do!</p>

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<p>Is there a specific reason why you want to take the SAT I as a sophomore? The general feeling I get is that it’s wiser to just wait for junior year and take it at the beginning of junior year at the earliest. (You can squeeze in up to 3 tests if you REALLY need it.) I don’t see any point in taking it so early unless it’s that important that you get it off your shoulders - you might benefit from another year of high school. (Maybe not even classes, and just time for your mind to further mature.)</p>

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<p>munchybunch I understand what you’re trying to say, but I have MANY exams in junior year. That’s when I have to take my IB exams, which I abosolutely need to destroy; it’s the point of IB schools like this. Also, I know the format of the SAT, and when I was 12, I got in the middle 700’s on the math already, and that was when I was taking Algebra 1, so I feel pretty ready to take it now. My writing and such as improved by quite a lot since then, and I know what they’re looking for (prep books and stuff like that). If there’s any major reason why I should wait I would appreciate if you would tell me, because I’m not very familiar with standardized tests. I forgot to mention earlier, but I came to the United States 3 years ago; I lived in Canada before and was in the Gifted program in elementary school.</p>

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<p>Hampshire College has a cool summer program in math. You might want to check it out. They teach it differently than is normally taught in school, and it helps your problem-solving ability. It’s probably the most well-known program of its kind for this type of math problem solving.</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.hcssim.org/]HCSSiM[/url”>http://www.hcssim.org/]HCSSiM[/url</a>]</p>

<p>It probably would help you in these math contests as well, or at least expose you to the type of thinking that is required to be good at them.</p>

<p>CTY is also something to check out, though I think they require you to take the SAT. They have a 3 week program in the summer where you take an entire high school honors class. You learn what’s in an entire textbook in 3 weeks. Very intense.</p>

<p>Also, there are classes on-line (Art of Problem Solving–google it) where you can learn more contest-y math, but I don’t know if you finances are an issue.</p>

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<p>Alright thanks for your suggestions… I’ll check out the program. As for Art of Problem Solving, I spent pretty much half the summer there, and I got familiar with quite a few problems on there (even to the point of memorization where I just typed in the answer when the question appeared). The AMC does sound rather intimidating though… I had friends in middle school who were just insanely good at that stuff. Two of my friends scored perfectly on a national math competition last year, so it was pretty hard to live up to those standards. Now, however, we went separate ways. I went to take IB courses, which are more rigorous, but they take high levels of math and have quite a few AP’s.</p>

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<p>Well, first of all, it’s a mistake to make decisions based on what other people are doing. I know what that’s like, though. I went to school with a guy who got a perfect on the international math olympics (IMO) exam. He was pretty incredible, and I think a lot of talented people in the school decided against majoring in physics/math in college because they compared themselves against him. Anyway, I think that’s a big mistake. </p>

<p>As for AMC, don’t be intimidated. You might even qualify this year, and there’d be no pressure on you. I ended up missing the cut-off by a few points as a freshman, and I had no real math team training and was half-way through Algebra 2 like you. (Art of Problem Solving didn’t exist then; in fact, I don’t think I or anybody at my school had internet access!) </p>

<p>Again, don’t compare yourself to your friends. These math contest experiences are supposed to train you in problem-solving, and whether or not they translate into national distinctions is secondary. I was better at college math than a lot of guys who were a lot better at math contests, but I still think I got something out of contest math.</p>