Hey all. I am a Sophomore in hs looking to go to MIT. However, I am in a predicament. I have pretty good extracurriculars and test scores however my GPA is not very good.
Here are my stats:
SAT practice 1550 (Prob going for perfect score on the actual test)
Bio SAT II: 800
I’ll take math II and chemistry next year as well.
Fr GPA: 3.65
So GPA: 3.75
I have only taken 1 ap and 1 honors so far (Bio and English) and next year will be taking ap calc, ap chem, h us history, h chinese iii and h english.
Extracurricular:
- Varsity xc and track since start of sophomore year (my times are up to the standards for MIT recruiting)
- Math Team Secretary - scored a 140/150 amc 10
- Starting a chemistry club next year - will be trying for chemistry olympiad competitions
- Started my own yt channel for piano but only has 100 subs
- Started a running charity that donates shoes
- May start on writing a blog, not sure yet
How would I do if I applied to MIT?
Give me an approximate % chance you think I have.
Thank you
The acceptance rate for MIT is approx. 6%. It is a huge reach for all students and they routinely reject perfect stat students.
If you become a recruited athlete chances are better.
Do not spend your time pining for a school with single digit acceptance rates. Spend your time looking for match and safety schools.
I understand that MIT is a reach school and I have varying options in mind such as WashU and Uc Santa Cruz.
Yes, I will likely be a recruited athlete with my times, however, MIT will only see that as a slight hook with admissions. They want to be academically strong enough to get into the school without recruitment in the question.
But based on everything else how do you guys think I would do with MIT’s admission process?
I think that you already know that your GPA, and MIT’s low acceptance rate, are the issues. Your chances are no better than the percentage of students that MIT accepts unless there is something important that you are not telling us.
To me it looks like it is worth sending in the application as long as (i) Your GPA does not slip; and (ii) Your math and science GPA is better than your overall GPA. However, as @momofsenior1 says, you need to focus on other universities.
Also, you should be careful what you wish for. If you really want to attend MIT, then you should visit and should spend some time finding out what it is really like being a student there. MIT is a great fit for some strong students, but it is definitely not a great fit for every strong student.
There are a lot of very good universities in the US, and more elsewhere. Keep an open mind and you should do very well wherever you end up. Be very aware that people are talking about your GPA in the context of applying to MIT. There are many very good universities for which your GPA would be fine.
In the worst case, “holistic admissions” is a black box combination of quantified and arbitrary selection, mixed with near guaranteed admission of children of major donors. But done right, holistic admissions involves careful evaluation of individual applicants for institutional fit. MIT is regarded as being in the latter category. In a funny way, you should know yourself what your chances are for admission. You are either MIT material or you aren’t. Having said that, MIT receives far more applications from qualified students than it can accept, so you really have to shine even being an MIT-type of student.
The track coach has been at MIT for 29 years. He can tell you exactly where you stand. Reach out to him if you want to be a student athlete.
Have you been in touch with the coaches?
“How would I do if I applied to MIT?”
Not great, you’re a soph.
Get my drift? This is premature. Spend time learning what MIT wants from candidates. Track for part of one year and founding clubs isn’t it. Same for a YT site, even if you had 20k followers. Nor blogs.
Start at the bv beginning. Read what MIT says and shows.