Hi, I’m a high school junior and I’m looking into MIT, Columbia, Princeton, Washington University in St. Louis, Tufts, and Dartmouth. I have some simple stats:
I have a GPA of 4.01 (weighted)
AP exams: only EHAP taken so far, 5
I expect to score 5s in AP Physics 1, APUSH, and BC Calculus
My SAT score (received yesterday) is 2320, 800 CR, 780 Math, 740 Writing
I have played the violin for twelve years, and played in the All-State Symphony Orchestra in NY
Varsity track + xc captain and run a 1:59 800 and 4:38 mile (a little under recruiting level)
Summer job as a counselor at a camp for 4-7 year olds
Miscellaneous: Newspaper editor, participate in church community by playing in services, doing charity work
From looking at the forums, most people advise concentrating on selecting a few things to do and doing them well. I have focused on academics, athletics, and music. I might be lacking in volunteer work, so should I volunteer in a hospital or with a charitable organization this summer? I’m happy to spend July & August doing that.
As well, should I retake the SAT to get a “superscore?” How important is a marginal point increase? Thanks for any advice!
What’s your UW GPA because if that is low, it might hurt you.
Your SAT is fine as it is. I would definitely focus on community service and maybe a few academically-oriented EC’s?
I know quite a few track/cross country kids who got into MIT and CalTech. For some reason, it seems that interest in math + good runner = MIT acceptance LOL.
Looks like my GPA is 3.93 unweighted
I’ll find some volunteer work for the summer. Definitely valuable. I forgot to mention in on the school’s academic challenge team but we’ve yet to win something. I guess I’ll work on that.
Thanks for the advice!
Very helpful (and funny) link, thanks. Nevertheless, I feel that I could contribute more to my community and it’s nice to do something in the summer besides sitting around/running. I’ll probably get more involved with my church.
Retaking the SAT for a superscore may be a good idea- if you go in with the focus on writing, its pretty easy to pull a 800 in that section. I retook a 2310 to bring up the CR section and ended with a 2380 superscore. Focusing on one section didn’t take much work, and I definitely think it was worth it.
Your UW GPA will probably hurt- what is your class rank? Maybe your school has a lot of deflation. You also seem a little lacking in the typical STEM stuff: AIME, research, internships, etc. I think your music ECs/athletics make you a much better fit for Columbia and Princeton than MIT.
I’ve heard MIT doesn’t do recruiting (for athletics in general). Can anyone verify/dispel this? Also, it seems like a academically oriented EC is a good thing to try but it’s a little late to start a serious extracurricular and, as CaliCash said, doing something just for the sake of getting into MIT or similar schools does not always work. That being said, any ideas for an academic EC like an internship? Thanks for all the good tips.
