Hey guys, I’m a senior about to graduate high school and planning to take a gap year.
SAT score: 1370 (first try, probably taking it again)
Extracurriculars: several years of tennis, programming, art, that’s about it
AP classes taken: Calculus AB and Eng Comp
I travel back and forth two countries, goes to school in one and homeschooled in another, so the GPA may not be so accurate, but last time I checked my school GPA is around 3.9 unweighted.
HS is a religious private school, not very competitive. I skipped 7th grade there.
Due to travelling I have not been able to participate in a lot of my school’s activities and my school didn’t open any AP options for me on my junior year
But because of the experience in two countries I know both languages fairly well.
Dad is MIT graduate but I don’t think that is going to matter at all lol-
Probably going for a major in CS.
I know my application is not very strong overall, but if you can give me suggestions on what activities I should be going for on the gap year it would be great.
Your SAT is low for MIT and the equivalent. Definitely focus on getting that score up. Did you take your SAT subject tests as they are required (one math, one science). Try to make your gap year as meaningful as possible. Work, code, tutor, volunteer…whereever you are feeling most inclined. Cast a wide net when you are ready to start your applications. MIT is a high reach for everyone and I don’t think the legacy nudge is much help.
@voidmainx
Your chances a slightly low due to a low SAT score. In addition, I don’t see too many EC’s on your app that talk about computer science, but then again you may have stuff you did not post. I would say MIT is an ultra reach (sry for being too harsh)
Okay! I would definitely consider doing something that is related to CS and try to get that SAT score up. And yes I did take the subject tests but I still haven’t gotten my scores. Thanks for the help!
It’s okay I understand, I know it’s not the best profile out there…
I’ll try to look for something related to CS and also get my SAT scores up during the summer.
Thanks for the info:)
Yeah I know I will definitely try to boost that score up…
I don’t know if I’m replying the right way(the page doesn’t seem to show who this is replying to)
But thank you for the info!
You’re wasting a perfectly good year of college by taking a gap year. If you’re doing computer science, there’s absolutely no need to go to a school like MIT. A college degree gets you into your first job, nothing more. Most of your real education is learned on the job and that’s what is going to get you ahead in your career. In fact, in my current job, they didn’t even ask about my education. I have one, but the question never came up. All they asked about was my experience. Take a scholarship and get your degree.
I’m sorry to say but from what I see you don’t have the HS course rigor, standardized test scores, or ECs to make you a competitive candidate at MIT. In 2018 MIT accepted an astoundingly low 4.3% of applicants. There is simply not enough room for the school to accept all of the incredibly well qualified candidates (including people with perfect grades and test scores). I don’t think MIT factors legacy into admissions decisions.
IMO you are doing yourself a disservice by focusing on MIT. The people I see who get hurt by the college admission process are the ones who pin all their hopes on one or two hyper-competitive schools and then don’t get in. I’d strongly recommend that you give up this idea of a dream school and work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (find out your parents’ budget and run the net price calculator for each school) and that you would be excited to attend. There are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there which you would be qualified for, can give you a great 4 year experience, and can get you where you want to go in life.
I also would have recommended against taking a gap year, but it seems you have already made that decision.
I will definitely try to boost that score up…