For the past semester I’ve been having miniature panic attacks and freak outs. Ever since I started programming and getting into computers in 7th grade I’ve wanted to go to MIT, however I never really knew what it took to get into MIT or what they would require. Now I’m finally waking up sophomore year and I’m afraid it’s too late. I’ve got a 3.66 GPA, which should be up to a 3.9 area by the end of the year, but I’m still afraid I’m not good enough. I’ll list some things and then I was hoping someone could give me insight as to what I need to do and what my chances are.
I’ve got mostly Bs (in math and science as well) but am taking a lot of AP classes. I took AP human geo, AP world history, AP computer science (got special permission to take it sophomore year), and AP spanish. I plan on taking AP chem, AP psych, and a couple others junior and intend on actually getting straight A that year.
I used to play lacrosse until this year but quit because I didn’t like the general group. I’m a computer geek, I love programming and know many many languages. I am into security and specialize in reverse engineering and software cracking. I work for a game development company part time and had an internship with Interactive Achievement last summer (and will this summer) developing software for them. I was a state finalist for video game development in TSA for the past 3 years and intend on going to nationals next year; I always program my game from scratch in Java using my game engine written in OpenGL.
It’s my dream to attend this university, so what are my chances if I bring my GPA above a 4 with the resume you saw above? Thanks so much. Any response would mean the world to me.
Well, it’s nice that you know what you are passionate about already. Keep developing that passion but you also have to make sure you get involved in some other activities where hopefully your character and leadership abilities become evident. If you have “mostly Bs”’ I don’t see how your gpa can get to a 3.9 or 4.0 as you hope. Unless, you are talking about your weighted gpa, in which case, I would have to believe your chances of getting onto MIT are pretty slim. Good luck with everything!
“It’s my dream to attend this university, so what are my chances if I bring my GPA above a 4 with the resume you saw above?”
Low. It is possible you might get in. You need to apply to a range of schools, including a safety or two. MIT is a “dream school” for most its applicants. But very few are admitted.
Also, you specify neither an SAT nor an ACT score. These will be critical for your chances.
GPA and test scores are the least considered factors in admissions. Don’t believe me? Read MITs blogs.
“I hope you understand that without serious accomplishments in extracurriculars, it’s quite difficult to get into MIT with such a GPA.” - This guy knows what he’s talking about. People do in fact get into MIT with low GPAs (2.0- 2.6 range) because they have an amazing story accompanied by amazing accomplishments.
Please read this blog post: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/many_ways_to_define_the_best and the other MIT admissions blog posts. This is a great except of the blog: “I’ll pause here to add that I frequently saw kids with perfect SAT scores and perfect grades and a gazillion AP classes get rejected. Why? Because often these kids knew how to grind, but brought nothing else to the table. And that’s not who we’re looking for at MIT. We admit kids who show genuine passion. Sure AP’s can be one of many passion indicators - but I emphasize one of many.”
But who cares if you may or may not get into MIT? It sounds like you’re dedicated to programming. You are the type of people companies are looking for.
I encourage you to take a look at UIUC - where they are currently number one for the Major League Hacking - and UMich (which hosts MHacks, another great hackathon where companies come to recruit). UIUC and UMich like to see initiative in learning CS - and you’ve done that already. Your ECs will blow those out of the water that are applying to CS for monetary reasons and took no initiative to learning it, despite the internet being one of the best resources to learn how to code…
@StanfordSwag UMich lists GPA as the most important factor for admission though. Check their CDS. 21% of enrolled freshmen in 2014 has GPA 4.0 from high school. For UIUC, the average ACT for CS admission was 34+ last year. So you are listing two bad examples trying to support your argument.
I am sure winning a math contest or something is huge for MIT, but generally you need really high GPA and test scores, preferably with almost all AP classes at a tough school, and very high math and science SAT IIs. It is similar for all top schools. They will obviously overlook some of this if you show great promise in other areas, as well as for hooks and so on.
You are totally kidding yourself if you don’t think the usual way to top schools is a very high GPA in tough courses and very high scores on exams. Those are certainly not the only factors though.
" So you are listing two bad examples trying to support your argument."
@billcsho Where the hell was I talking about ACT or did I say that GPA wasn’t the most important factor for UIUC or UMich? OP was talking about MIT so I was originally talking about that. Before you start with more bs, read the MIT blog - he says that himself.
All I said was “UIUC and UMich like to see initiative in learning CS”. Go outside and take a deep breath. You sound like you need it.