<p>I am currently enlisted in the US army. I would like to earn a commission as an aviation officer (pilot) which requires a bachelors degree, and I would like to complete at MIT. My highschool performance was meh due to lack of motivation, however I do test very well and I am confident in my ability to score well on the SAT's. I have earned all A's in college courses I have completed since highschool. The army has changed my outlook and made me accustomed to responsibility and long hours, and I am confident in my ability to do well academically even in a challenging environment. </p>
<p>A little bit of backround: In the army, I am a helicopter crewmember/mechanic and I am personally signed for (responsible for) a 37 million dollar helicopter. Before I joined the army I started a small optical manufacturing company which my dad currently runs, and I am a proficient machinist. I also have a few random skills such as diamond cutting and welding, and I own a mining claim in California for a mineral deposit that I located myself during highschool, which is being actively developed. Also, I graduated highschool a year early and worked for about a year in an aerospace manufacturing facility in LA. </p>
<p>My questions are, am I actually qualified as a freshman candidate? On the website I only see information regarding applications out of highschool. Also, If you are an MIT student or alumni (especially an ROTC cadet), do you think that I would be a good fit in the student body? Is there a good deal of anti-military sentiment at MIT? Would being 22 or 23 years old as a freshman be unusual or problematic? And finally, although I hate to start a "what are my chances?" thread... What are my chances? Is there anybody like me at MIT right now?</p>
<p>What college courses have you completed? Was that through the army? Generally, college classes will be counted more heavily than high school performance, depending on where you took them (obviously a state college would be better than junior college.) I know people who started MIT at 21–it’s not a big deal. Often foreigners have to serve in their own militaries, so some of them are a bit older. There isn’t any anti-military sentiment MIT, in contrast to the ivy league. </p>
<p>You could be a match, and your machinist skills would be a really interesting addition to the class in my opinion. Just make sure that it’s clear from your record you could handle the theoretical curriculum at MIT. MIT is theory heavy; the hands-on stuff at MIT is usually in separate specific lab classes or contests, even in something like mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>Check with the admissions office so that you don’t lose your eligibility for freshman admissions by taking too many college classes–transfer admissions is much harder.</p>
<p>MIT is certainly a possibility but you can’t count on it as a sure thing because they are simply too selective. On the other hand your unusual background could be a plus. In any case make sure you consider some of the other [url=“<a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”>http://theaitu.org”]AITU[/url</a>] schools. The engineering education is also quite good at any of them and there are some which are not quite as selective as MIT.</p>
<p>A 22/23-year-old freshman is unusual, but not problematic - I’ve seen it occasionally, even one from a military background The college courses will weigh more heavily than the high school courses. Did you enroll as degree-seeking in college? If so, I think you have to apply as a transfer student.</p>
<p>The college I have taken has mostly been technical ed. stuff like machine shop, blueprint reading, welding, etc, and I have never been a degree seeking student. Since I have a couple viable businesses to develop, I have been more focused on taking classes that will teach me skills that I can put directly into use and less concerned about whether other people think I am “educated” in the sense of having a degree. However, this attitude does not apply towards MIT, where earning a degree might put me on the path towards one of my ultimate goals of space exploration.</p>
<p>While I definitely agree that my machining background may provide useful diversity in the student body (I have seen some projects from the medialab that are brilliant conceptually but laughable from a manufacturing standpoint), I think that my biggest asset in terms of diversity is the life experience I have gained since high-school. I have had the opportunity to experience and learn to manage a lot of the difficult sides of the life (IE: starting a business, managing debt, setting realistic goals, coping in highly stressful situations, being in charge of a bunch of people who all think they know the best way to do something, working long hours, dealing with authority, etc.), and I think that a lot of these life skills are transferable. Of course, the difficult part will be portraying these experiences in the best light possible on an application, but its worth a shot. </p>
<p>I was specifically thinking about 3D printers. How are you going to hold 0.0001" in your print if you can’t hold 0.001" in your machines superstructure? Software correction is the wrong answer.</p>
<p>I don’t have much to add beyond what others have said, except to mention that I’ve known a freshman considerably older than you. He had been in the military as well and seemed very well adjusted to the traditional college lifestyle. I will admit, though, that when I first saw him I thought he was a grad student.</p>
<p>“Confident” in your ability to score well on the SATs and actually doing so are two different things. My guess is that you would need near-perfect scores to get in. </p>
<p>This stuff is great, but it relates to your strengths and doesn’t address the deficiencies in your record. My feeling is that in order for MIT to take a chance on you, you’ve got to take some math and/or science classes and do well in order to show that you will be able to handle MIT. Just something that is the equivalent of AP–junior college might even work, but you had better be getting high A’s. But I think classes at a university would be better–think about taking calculus and a science at a university in the fall term (intro classes that are the equivalent of AP classes are fine)–getting A’s in those classes would do a lot to show that you are ready. You may have to cut down or eliminate some of your outside activities to do so. Also, you should clear the 700+ mark on the SAT2s. By the way the SAT2 are very easy so I don’t think even 800s on those in itself is an indication that someone can survive MIT. </p>
<p>@svdharma @collegealum314 expressed it very well.
You need to have a track record to demonstrate proficiency in all the science and math courses that the rest of MIT’s applicants have.</p>
<p>Although it was years ago, I was in a similar situation as you and got into MIT at the age of 24. Getting straight A’s in a community college was a necessary (small) piece of my overall application.</p>
<p>It is hard to say for an older student what they will look at, but if they do look back at his high school record, he better have something to show he is truly capable of doing the work. He doesn’t have all the other parts of the app to optimize any more (high school GPA, ECs, etc). I also disagree that 700 and above is enough. Not for HYPSM it isn’t. You don’t need perfect scores, but straight 700s would not get you into any of them without a hook.</p>
<p>“Confident” about the sats means that I got 100% on the online practice tests the first time. Also, I did my fair share of EC’s in my day. I opened a mine , which is still in in operation, for example. I also built a rammed earth pumphouse for our well (I am really interested sustainable building technologies), both in highschool. Clearly my biggest weaknesses are my highschool grades and lack of high level math and science classes.</p>
<p>Wherever you wind up, you’ll likely enjoy and do well, imho. Aim high. Just a note about older military in college. What I’ve seen is that such students tend to become very tight with the faculty. They work well with other undergrads, but it seems they have a special connection to the other adults on campus. </p>
<p>I think you should go for it. Have a safety school, of course, but you would be an unusual and perhaps compelling candidate for MIT. Yes, you will need very very high scores on the SAT and the SATIIs, but so do the high schoolers.</p>
<p>I don’t know how you will fit in as a 22year old freshman who has seen the world and sown his wild oats. Ask on the MIT forum. In the Dark Ages when I was in college at an Ivy my class contained one 22 year old vet. He was very popular—we all loved him—but he was much more serious and settled than the rest of us. He kept to himself. My son is a STEM major at a highly ranked Big State U and has become friends with a guy like you, but a Marine. The ex Marine seems to be fitting in very well. He has friends, goes out, but also is more focused and always has some sort of lab job. The Big State U is in a good sized city fwiw (but so is MIT) so if the Marine gets tired of the undergrads he has a way to be with older people. </p>
<p>OOPs! This is the MIT forum! I came from Latest Posts. </p>
The college courses will weigh more heavily than the high school courses. Did you enroll as degree-seeking in college? If so, I think you have to apply as a transfer student.</p>