Are my ECs too weak for MIT? Any advice?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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I’ve been in the art club for 2 years from 9th to 10th grade, and won a local art competition (2nd place for self portrait). In my spare time as a hobby I do draw and teach myself to draw. I also took AP Drawing in 10th grade (normally only offered to 11th and 12th graders in my school but I negotiated). Due to some circumstances I couldn’t continue going to art club in junior year.

I’ve been involved in the chess club since December and manage scores and rankings every week.

Right now I recently started up a Kendo Club (Japanese sword fighting) due to my friends and I’s interest in Japanese culture and history and teach Kendo every Friday. I’ve raised $400 in donations for armor and suits so far. On top of that I do self study and am learning the Japanese language and immersing in it (built a Japanese speaking robot from a raspberry pi, Genki I self study, trip to Japan this summer along with a research project, certification from TokyoTech on an electrical engineering course taught in Japanese)

I also recently started a hack club where I teach people how to use Linux, learn ethical hacking, and participate in CTF and bug bounty programs as well as networking and other cybersecurity concepts due to my interest in the field. I’m also working on getting a few certifications in ethical hacking and cryptography, and read a lot of books and tutorials in my spare time on ethical hacking and cybersec. I also work with the IT admin who’s the club’s sponsor.

I’m currently collaborating with my chess club sponsor and science teacher on a research paper on magnetically levitating robots, which I hope to get published soon.

I’ve been taking piano lessons since the beginning of freshman year (3 years) though I still am not yet skilled, however it’s one of my favorite hobbies as well to play the piano.

I’ve helped out at my parents’ small business since 7th grade about 8 hours a week on the weekends.

My study of interest is computer engineering, and I know my ECs don’t exactly show that, however I don’t have much opportunities around me (competitions) due to living in an extremely small town, so I’m working on getting certifications on robotics and stuff related to engineering to learn more, as well as planning to dual enroll in an engineering course next year at the local college. I guess from reading this my main peaks are in Japanese culture, cybersecurity, and the arts and music.

Any tips? Thank you.

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Look in the MIT forum …take a look at the ECs of the students who were admitted this year and other years for example

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/2063828-official-mit-rd-results-class-of-2022.html#latest

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Also are your grades/SATs right for MIT?
The Math SAT has a 25%tile of 760 to 75% of 800

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My recommendation(s) for extracurriculars are always some combination of “do what interests you” (what you are passionate about) AND “do things that will teach you stuff.”

I know the last is vague, so I’ll clarify a little on both:
“Do things that will teach you stuff”

  • you joined Toastmasters to work on your public speaking skills and delivery
  • you joined French Club because you wanted to work on your French language skills and to learn about France
  • you joined a calligraphy club to work on your penmanship and/or to learn and/or to practice calligraphy
  • you joined a Debate Club to learn how to think critically about issues and also to learn how to debate

“Do what interests you”
MIT has alumni who have exhibited all kinds of extracurriculars. Cheerleaders? Yes. Recycling? Yes. Olympiads? Yes. Really good at athletics (and after graduating from MIT, went into professional sports)? Yes. Music? Yes. Tutoring students? Yes. And everything in between.

Do not think that you have to have STEM (or whatever) extracurriculars or research projects to demonstrate you belong at MIT.

Let’s talk about a buzzword that gets tossed around when talking about MIT (and Ivies and Stanford): Leadership

Leadership means many different things:

  • you can demonstrate leadership through charisma, being elected to the top positions in student government
  • you can demonstrate leadership through showing initiative, say starting a club or clubs, and organizing meetings
  • you can demonstrate leadership through seniority: if you were part of a club for several years, you would likely be the member with the most institutional knowledge and possibly responsibility (e.g., “lead by example” and de facto leader)
  • you can demonstrate organizational ability (say, arranging events)

Playing piano for yourself is a hobby, not an extracurricular.

You’ve got a lot different hobbies and interests – and you admit: “Japanese culture, cybersecurity, and the arts and music” –

  1. What do you spend the most time doing / thinking about?
  2. Is this what you are most interested in / most passionate about?

None of these is particularly unique for MIT (plus there are other specialized cybersecurity programs in other colleges) so I hope you spend some time thinking about your fit with MIT.