<p>After getting deferred from Harvard early action, I've decided to pursue research heavy universities (since my application is basically research). I've published multiple research papers (all 1st author) to scientific journals & won research competitions (Siemens, Sigma Xi, *hopefully intel). The only things that are holding me back are: me being an Asian male, low SAT scores (on a relative scale - 2100+), and low GPA (on a relative scale - 3.85+). I've already had my interview (not best and not the worst), and wrote stellar essays. Thing is, does MIT care more about statistics (i.e rank, GPA, scores) or awesome ECs? Please also suggest research heavy institutions that would fit me well. Feel free to PM me. </p>
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Yes. The students that MIT most usually accept have great ECs and great stats. That being said, what usually gets a student into MIT is Match (see <a href=“What we look for | MIT Admissions”>http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/match</a>). That is to say, if you have great stats, and stunning EC’s but do not match well to MIT, then you will not be admitted (I have seen quite a few kids in this category over the years). Whereas if you match really, really well to MIT, then that buys a little bit of slack in some of the other criteria (but only a little). </p>
<p>@Calvin689111 Someone just got accepted with a 30 ACT score. With that being said, MIT’s acceptances are all over the board…</p>