I got into MIT EA. Woo hoo!! Wanna know my secret? The end-all be-all tip that will guarantee your success on any college app ever? Here it is:
STOP and START
STOP playing the college game. Really, people! You can’t spend your high school years curled up with an SAT prep book and a private tutor hunched over your shoulder just trying to eek out a few more points. Furthermore, you can’t spend every waking hour studying for classes that you aren’t interested in and you took just because they would “look good.” Finally, and believe me, this is the killer, if someone asks you why you do an extra-curricular and your answer includes “it looks good for college” QUIT IT. Colleges see right through that. Oh, and definitely stop worrying about, obsessing over, and focusing on the absolute DRIVEL that is College Confidential. You will not be accepted to college based on anyone else’s test scores. It is on you.
START something. Anything. Find something (or two, or three, or seven things) your really love and do them because you love them. If you love the harmonica, play it. But don’t stop there. Form a club or a band or take lessons or write a book about it. Chase down your passions and make your life your own. High school is one the only times you will ever have where you can, say, start an Improv Comedy troupe in a week and build it into a lasting legacy or become the Drum Major of the marching band on a whim only to discover that waving your arms is a thrill. In school: take the hardest classes you can in the areas that interest you. School is about learning, not college, and you will not learn unless you want to. As simple as that sounds, I have seen people get destroyed by AP classes and PSEO that they took because it would “look good.” Don’t do it. Finally, get off the computer right now and go outside. Even if it is dark or cold or wet. Just go out and sit for a little while. Breath the air, look around and be happy. When there is so much beauty out there, getting into “HYPSM” doesn’t seem so important, does it?
Wow… you seem to be describing me!!! I have devoted 3 weeks or more to study for the SAT. My head is about to explode!!! I am glad I am free in a few days
Well, I started my own company because I was really passionate about the hobby that I had and it worked out very very well. I beat a competitor friend of mine who received 800 math on the SAT, better GPA, equivalent AP classes than me when both of us applied RD to MIT.
I was wait listed at MIT tho, he got rejected from MIT and is attending Cornell. I’m at Hopkins.
Ultimately, the tipping factor is what you are passionate about. I wrote my essay on my trip to meeting a Chinese business developer in China. I described in depth the 12 hrs flight, how during the flight I furiously vomited out ideas. With a pencil and paper unleashed my heart and soul into drawing my design plan and sketching out in detail the schematics of my products that I want created. This was in preparation with the meeting that was scheduled between me and the director of operations. It was pretty insane
In conclusion, yes, It is easy to tell people to start something. Yes it does help to a certain extent. I does take a lot more than just creating your own club. It takes that and good everything else.
“I love the irony when people on CC tell you not to read CC.”
Thanks for the heartwarming responses I posted (gulp…) one in the “chances” thread a while back, but after reading more and more of them, it just became depressing. There are users out there who claim to work 60 hr weeks and captain 5 varsity sports all while maintaining a 5.0 GPA and other users who will tell that one that Harvard is a “reach.” Just don’t worry about it! Like I said, no one gets accepted (or denied) based on the other kids’ incredible stats. It is on you.
I do want to be clear, though, that I am totally psyched about MIT (and I do realize what the M in HYPSM is :-P) I can never be sure what the deciding factor was, but I hope it wasn’t one thing at all. I hope that it was that, in the end, I stuck to my advice. You should too.
For those of you who didn’t make it, it is OK. Ansel Adams could take a museum worthy shot with a disposable camera - so can you make the most out of wherever you end up. College gives back what you put into it. Any college. If you work hard enough, you can do great things anywhere.
I am aware he knows his decision, my question is how he knows what got him in. For all we know he’s a one legged, URM, legacy, 4 sport athlete from Alaska. He hasn’t set foot on MIT’s campus as a student and he’s going to tell us how to get in?
hmom, there obviously isn’t one thing that got him in. He’s just sharing with us how he handled the admissions process, and it worked out pretty well- for him at least. URM or not, his advice doesn’t necessarily have to be viewed as the be all end all to college admissions. It’s just good advice- take it or leave it.
“I am aware he knows his decision, my question is how he knows what got him in. For all we know he’s a one legged, URM, legacy, 4 sport athlete from Alaska. He hasn’t set foot on MIT’s campus as a student and he’s going to tell us how to get in?”
For those of you who (clearly) didn’t get the memo, this is NOT about how to get into MIT. That is the point. Stop worrying about getting in and start worrying about your life now. Be happy.
And, for the record, I am a white kid from Minnesota who plays no sports, has no legacy, and I don’t even know what URM is (but I don’t think it is me). I tried hard in school, did reasonably well on tests, and fully committed to extra curriculars. If I had’ve gotten rejected by MIT, my advice would still be the same because I have really enjoyed the last 17 years of my life. Really.
JW - yes we all know that you’re happy. But have you imagined yourself holding a rejection letter from MIT? no matter what, some very motivated people don’t like to fail. And receiving anything less than the best is bothersome. Believe me, some of us try to be optimistic
My sincere advice to anyone who wants to get into top school is that to have a plan. It is all probability. Can you get by be yourself?, yes, but the probability is < 10%. But if you have a college plan and execute it well then there is > 90% probability that you will get in.
I posted (gulp…) one in the “chances” thread a while back, but after reading more and more of them, it just became depressing. There are users out there who claim to work 60 hr weeks and captain 5 varsity sports all while maintaining a 5.0 GPA and other users who will tell that one that Harvard is a “reach.” Just don’t worry about it! Like I said, no one gets accepted (or denied) based on the other kids’ incredible stats. It is on you.