Can I still get into MIT without completely stellar grades??

Applying to College
1

Hi, I’m a sophomore in high school. My hope is to get into MIT or Stanford (preferably MIT). However, these are my grades:

Freshman year:
AP World History A- 94%
H. Geometry A- 94%
Chinese I A 97%
PE A 96%
Orchestra A 100%
Theology A 96%
H. English A- 94%
H. Biology B+ 92%
H. Programming A 97%

Sophomore year: (expected grades
APUSH B+ 93%
Chinese II A 96%
H. Algebra II A 95%
H. Chemistry B 88.5%
H. English 10 -A 94%
Theology 10 A 97%
H. Precalc 10 -A 94%

I am really worried about the math/science grades. I know MIT is holistic so here is a little more about me. I have been a rower for two years (does that help with admissions?) and will be attending a summer rowing camp at Princeton and am on my class leadership team. I also am the Chess Club VP and a member of math club. I will be taking physics over the summer and taking AP Physics self study my junior year along with AP Microeconomics. (I’m not crazy about ap’s, I just like learning difficult things!) I also am preparing to apply for two patents (with a third one on the way) in the field of thermoelectricity and have recently won a $20,000 scholarship presenting this in a contest. I have had several family problems also. Do you think I have a good chance of getting in or should I give up because of my grades so far? Thanks for reading and feel free to be brutally honest.

2

What other schools are you considering?

3

Look, no one knows. You have to apply to see. So put it at the top of your list. Now what will the other selections be? Get a Fiske Guide or something and look at some other colleges. Identify a couple of rock hard safeties that you will be willing to attend should you not get in anywhere else, it happens. And you can afford. Learn, learn, learn about what schools are out there. Then you can fill the list in junior year.

4

I’m considering Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, Brown, and U. of Toledo or Ohio State (mostly for safeties). Other than that I still have some more looking around to do. Do you think I have an okay chance at MIT?

5

You are looking for reassurance, but nobody can really give you that. Here is the view from MIT directly:

http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/there_is_no_formula

As BrownParent says, it is a long way away, and the best thing you can do is work on learning about what schools are out there. And, equally, learning about you: ig you don’t grow and change a lot over the next 18 months, something is very wrong. Maybe MIT will be the right place for you then- and maybe not. Fixating on one idea at this stage isn’t just impractical, it’s unhelpful.

6

Yeah, you have a chance at MIT but, I wouldn’t call it “okay”. What’s with your marks in mathematics?

Can you write an excellent essay and how are your recommendations?

7

Do not give up over two B’s in HS. Those will probably not be the last B’s you’ll see if you enroll at MIT…

8

Everyone’s chance at MIT (or Princeton and Brown) is very slim. My friend who hoped for MIT ended up at Johns Hopkins and absolutely loves it so that may a school you can consider. Another idea might be URochester.