Hi my name is Bo, I am a Canadian immigrant and go to a normal high school in Toronto.
Can someone help me determine my chances of going to MIT?
My ECAs are…
Playing my Chinese Violin (Gr.8 in the Royal Music Society in China)
Preformed my instrument at local seniors home, school talent show, Drama Festival as music background, TDSB event know as PRISM, Youth Day (something in downtown Toronto), and my local mall for the annual BBQ.
I play Alto and Soprano Sax for my school band.
I started a camping club (we camp and do outdoor activities) and a history club (we do model UN and the Canadian History Olympiad, history bowl)
I was Captain of Seniors Boys Rugby 7s
Math Club Executive
Participated in a bunch of Uni of Waterloo Math Contests
AMC12B score was 70.5
Participated in design competitions for Architecture, Sears DX Design.
Learned how to use AutoCad, Revit, Blender, and Google Sketchup
In terms of grades
Averages (all of my years in high school my grades for English were 75-80%)
Gr.9 93%
Gr.10 92%
Gr.11 90%
Standardized testing
SAT Math Lvl 1 740
SAT Physics 710
SAT Reasoning (new one) Probs 1400/1600
So here’s a summary of the points that i’ll most likely put on my MIT application, please help me determine my chances of getting into MIT. Thanks!!
If you are considered an international applicant by MIT, so not a US Citizen or permanent resident in the US,
then the chances are extraordinarily low, because MIT accepts less international students than most other technical colleges in the USA. MIT limits international students to 10% of the incoming freshman class. This makes the competition very difficult, for international students to get selected for undergraduate seats.
If you are a first generation college student, meaning neither of your parents attended college, that might help a little bit. About 16% of the MIT freshman class is first generation college students. Essays and interviews matter for MIT, be sure to request an interview early. In Toronto , they should be available but ask MIT early about that and schedule the interview early in September. The interview is optional but suggested.
However, I will ask questions and also make observations.
Let’s assume Bo is in “Grade 11” or 11th grade. My Canadian Educational Counselor counterparts indicate that especially for Canada, the acceptance rate is extremely low. The 2016-17 overall international acceptance rate was 2.9%. It’s lower than that for Canadians. And that is not against pathetic or terrible applicants – one interviewer said “amazing kids … many of them would have been admits had they been [US citizens]”.
I just searched against the directory and I see 21 records for current Canadian students (Class of 2018-2021), and most of them are from the Toronto area.
Given that the acceptance rate is so low, Bo, have you 1) thought about your fit with MIT and 2) have you looked into alternatives (McGill, U of T, Waterloo, Queens, UBC, SFU, etc.)?
You have a lot going for you – what gets you up out of bed in the morning and what motivates you?
To be honest I think I fit very well with MIT, I wake up in the morning thinking of how to build a better club within my school and develop a better community within it. I take risks in my different aspects of my life whether it is preforming my Erhu in front of a massive crowd to conquer my anxiety on the stage or starting those clubs even thought it may sound cringy or have a low chance of success. I want to become an Architect so that I can build communities through constructing libraries or recreation centres or houses and the one of the reasons I want to goto MIT is to learn how to design these good communities.
Yea I think of my options in Canada too, I plan on applying to Waterloo, UofT, McMaster, and Ottawa.
Please excuse me for being blunt but your stats (GPA and test scores) are a bit low. If you really want to get into MIT, make sure your essays are stellar and clearly articulate what you intend to do at MIT.
Between your statements on this post and your original post, my observations:
Recognize you have cognitive bias. You THINK you are a good fit for MIT. You may not be. That’s up to MIT Admissions to decide.
This is a great start (all your talents and organizations), and you would do well in a number of different college environments.
However, there’s nothing specific that says that you have to go to MIT – i.e., there’s nothing you have said that is compelling for MIT.
One can be an architect student at RISD (probably an even better program for architecture).
There are lots of great programs for architecture all over. Another example: the Wentworth Institute of Technology. In fact, they have a professor who does East-West [East Asian, Western] architecture: https://wit.edu/directory/jennifer-lee-michaliszyn
It is hard for anyone to chance you on these threads. Many top students with stellar grades and even research are declined. Grades get you to the table. It is the rest of the components that can help or hurt you. Essays, recommendation, interview as well as fit. These last components are big and no one here has access to these important details. Cast a wide net to allow yourself choices in the spring for both financial and educational opportunities. Best wishes
