<p>
It depends how you define high match. There is also no standard. If you call 30% chance a high match, then it is.</p>
<p>@manwiththeplan
Having no medal compared to having a silver medal is a big difference. </p>
<p>well personally i doubt a silver alone is going to increase my chances tremendously.</p>
<p>Everything depends on the SAT and you should get that done soon as possible. I personally thought I was going to get 2250 but the real thing is more of a mental hurdle and you don’t want to take them the last possible date and come out disappointed. </p>
<p>That being said, everything else looks goods. Great ECs, and you are likely a low reach for all the schools.</p>
<p>I’d say everything looks great-- you have a fantastic shot at MIT (better than a normal applicant). </p>
<p>Another brief note about college admissions: people on College Confidential tend to be overly pessimistic when it comes to the selectivity of the “top” colleges, so don’t let any negativity on this site get you down. You definitely do NOT need multiple International Olympiad Gold Medals to be considered a high match for a school such as MIT; personally, I know multiple people I think would more likely than not be admitted to MIT, and none of them have cured world famine. Best of luck!</p>
<p>@RandomHelper
You kind of do. A “high match” is referred to a university to which you have good chances of being accepted to. Referring a university with a 8% acceptance rate as “high match” for someone would require something exceptional. Many people are accepted without anything really exceptional, but we can’t predict that. </p>
<p>I totally agree with you-- to have a very very good shot at admission into MIT, you do indeed need something exceptional.</p>
<p>Where my opinion differs slightly with yours, I believe, is how I define “exceptional.” Multiple gold medals at an International Olympiad is something only a handful of students worldwide have, so I would consider “even” a silver medal at a very well-regarded international competition such as IPhO “exceptional.” I’m not sure how being Canadian would affect his application (do they apply as international students?), but if he were domestic, considering his other scores/academics/awards, I’d say he has a very good chance. </p>
<p>@RandomHelper
I do not think that is the only way to be deemed as having a very good chance of admittance. Having one of multiple medals at international Olympiads is one of them. The others could be programming a popular website/program, starting a business etc. There are numerous ways to make someone stand out - which should be the aim of applications to universities such as MIT. </p>
<p>All of this applies especially to international students, as universities like MIT only accept a handful. For example, in 2013, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had an overall admit rate of 8.2 per cent, however the admission rate for international students was close to three percent, considerably lower than the domestic student admission rate of 9.9 per cent. University of California, Berkeley had a regular admit rate of 20.8 per cent, but the school’s international admit rate was just 14.6 per cent.</p>
<p>MIT and most other universities consider any student who does not hold US citizenship or permanent residency to be an international applicant, regardless of where they live or attend school. In other words, those students who have an official copy of their Green Card in hand. If they are even in the process of obtaining a Green Card, then they still are considered to be an international student, regardless of where there high school is located. If you are an American citizen or permanent resident, then only are they considered a domestic applicant. So I would anticipate @manwiththeplan to have no Green Card and therefore be considered an international applicant. </p>