<p>Here is the situation. I have now finished eighth grade and am going into ninth, but I am taking no honors classes. I am an American boy of south Korean descent and have interests in math and computer science. I have been placed in an advanced math course for ninth grade but that is my only "good" class and it is not even honors (however it is a higher math class than most of my classmates.) </p>
<p>Do I still have a chance at all for MIT or have I dropped too far behind to even consider it as a possible college? </p>
<p>For added info: I have been recognized by my state as a gifted student and have placed above the 95th percentile in standardized tests for as long as I can remember. I just could not bring myself to work hard and get off my lazy behind to get into the honors classes. However in the last marking period my report card average was a 93 with especially high grades in social studies and math.</p>
<p>I also received an Algebra award from my math teacher and I just spent the first 2 weeks of summer learning C++.</p>
<p>What do you guys suggest I do to get back in the running for MIT?</p>
<p>Take the most challenging classes you can each year, going forward; schools like MIT want to see that you've challenged yourself with what's available. They don't really have an arbitrary list of "x" number of AP's, etc., needed. Improvement from middle school to high school will be looked upon favorably.</p>
<p>Pursue an extracurricular or two with depth and passion. Enjoy the process, and don't set your sights on one dream school, because you're quite possibly going to be disappointed; there are a lot of great schools out there! I certainly wouldn't focus on this now, but, eventually, pick two or three dream schools, some "match" schools, and at least one "safety" school.</p>
<p>Thank you for your quick response it helped ease my nerves quite a bit :)</p>
<p>
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I just could not bring myself to work hard and get off my lazy behind to get into the honors classes.
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You should get rid of this habit. MIT (and most colleges) are forgiving if you didn't take honors classes because your school didn't offer them, but not if you were too lazy to try to get into them. So ditto what neuron39 said. Take challenging classes (that you enjoy, not just for the sake of your transcript).</p>
<p>do you think i still have a chance though?</p>
<p>Dude, you have 3.5 years to show that you're not lazy. Of course you still have a chance.</p>
<p>You haven't even started high school yet. It's so far impossible to judge one's chances as completely squashed (as you are doing here for no good reason), even if you know now you won't be taking advanced classes in (only!) your first year.</p>
<p>Lose the "I think I'm already screwed, even though I haven't had a day of HS!" attitude. I find that way more nauseating for college admissions than a freshman year of only regular classes. And I don't find the latter nauseating at all, so that's saying something...</p>
<p>^Right, there are very few things anyone can do in 8th grade that will totally abolish the possibility of getting into MIT as a senior.</p>
<p>But it is likely that, if you're serious about getting into MIT, you're going to eventually want to take the most challenging courseload available to you.</p>
<p>thank you guys for all the helpful replies</p>