<p>@QuantMech, as for the low GPA, I only know 2 peoPle with a 4.0 uw, </p>
<p>idk how to compare my school but in the private school ranking+public school, it’ll probably be definitely top 100 (guranteed)</p>
<p>Maybe ignorant, maybe just confused by your posts. So the 3.7 is weighted, and the 3.3-3.5 is unweighted? And you didn’t know what grades you were getting this year?</p>
<p>Sorry, still trying to get a handle on your scenario. Your university courses count or do not count in the GPA you are listing? Your GPA is based only on end-of-year grades, or it’s done on a semester-by-semester basis? Your school’s weighting scheme is what? You did or did not get weighted credit toward your high school GPA for the Calc BC you took in 7th grade?</p>
<p>Also, I really don’t get it: Your graded tests and papers are not returned to you during the semester? Or you have no idea how much each one counts toward the grade?</p>
<p>Or, another thought: You go to a progressive high school, that never tells the students what their grades are?</p>
<p>@Quantmech, lol it’s fine to question me btw </p>
<p>3.7 or whatever I posted (I recall 3.7-3.8) is the Weighted … And btw im typing on a iPhone so maybe im creating confusion to you</p>
<p>My school has special arrangements and is crediting my math class regularly like 0.5 credit or so (non-AP) but the grade i get is the grade I get in college</p>
<p>So I get both 4 credit in college and 0.5 credit in high school</p>
<p>+1 for AP & +0.5 for honors</p>
<p>GPA are done quartly then averaged all together in the end as final grade of the year of that specific class</p>
<p>Lol basically I thought I have a low grade because I keep getting Bs and B+s on tests so I estimated but my estimation ended up being correct</p>
<p>But besides that I would love some great advices as you have many opinions o_o about my status/records</p>
<p>Some advice, for what it’s worth:</p>
<p>1) You are clearly very bright. In terms of MIT admissions, you are not likely to gain any more “bonus points” for racking up additional course credits in math; nevertheless you should continue with logical college course selections. Ask your professors for advice about the next things to take.</p>
<p>2) You may have just omitted this from your write-up, but the question that stands out to me is: What are you doing with the knowledge that you have acquired? Institutionally, MIT and Caltech are both about using what you have learned to extend knowledge or practical capabilities. The suggestion that you need a research project to become a Davidson Fellow ties in with this. What are you curious about? Have you figured out anything original?</p>
<p>3) In terms of math contests, it does take some time and effort to come out near the top. Also, USAMO and even IMO are not a “lock” for MIT, although IMO would probably be a near lock for Caltech, in the absence of contra-indicators. On the other hand, I think that it would be a mistake to ignore math contests entirely. You might consider optimizing “efficiency” in preparing for the contests: that is, how much can you improve from your current level in the least amount of time. Alcumus on the Art of Problem Solving site is free–you are beyond a lot of it, but in terms of AMC12 and AIME, it will still provide some useful background. A good feature of preparing a little, without overkill, is that it will permit you to draw on your creativity in problem solving.</p>
<p>3) You want to avoid getting C’s in your English, history, and language classes. It would be nice to get the occasional A in those subjects.</p>
<p>4) Instead of thinking in terms of becoming president of math club, think about what you want the math club to accomplish–preferably something novel. Then work to implement that. Ditto with robotics.</p>
<p>5) Just piling up AP courses will not help much (except for your weighted GPA) at this point. Rather than going for 12-14 AP’s and cutting back on the EC’s to accomplish that, I’d suggest that you do the reverse.</p>
<p>6) collegealum314’s suggestion about thinking of relevant ways to become involved in your community, and put your talents to work is a great one, and also important for MIT admissions.</p>
<p>7) Think about ways that you might demonstrate your unique personal qualities to MIT. Now, you might be thinking, “Do you have any idea of how much courage it takes for a 7th grader to take Calc BC?” Well, honestly, no, but I can probably extrapolate to the general ballpark of an idea.</p>
<p>8) Your acceleration in math is a mixed blessing, with regard to MIT admissions. For one thing, it tends to suggest parental involvement, coming that early. How did you accomplish it? Highlight what you yourself did.</p>
<p>9) I think that for you the key questions are: What are you doing with your talent? What do you plan to do with your talent? Think big. Think accomplishments, rather than title or “winner” designations.</p>
<p>Thank you Quantmech, those are all very well said. But could you elaborate on what I can use my talent on, because I’m not even quite sure what I should do… Are there specific programs that you can think of? </p>
<p>Things I’ve done:</p>
<h1>1 (already asked), #2 (I have something this summer), #3 (I plan to make USAMO if possible next year), #3 Of course, #4 I’ll probably offer tutoring along, #5 I’ll probably do a couple , i won’t cut back much because of the credit purpose…I know they don’t reward all of them but its still good to have lots, #6, I guess this will tie to tutoring somewhere… If possible at a local school or something unique >_< Honestly I don’t have a lot of time to be giving out, #8, I guess it would tie to being a risk-taker in life generally and not afraid to do something like that. Also, my parents don’t play that big of a role in my math achievements #9 , Honestly for now…I would say nothing in specific</h1>
<p>Your replies generally look promising, prototyped. I am glad that you have asked about the next college math courses to take, look to make USAMO next year, and have a type of project planned for the summer.</p>
<p>I think your situation is a bit tricky when it comes to “top” college admissions. I would guess that you are able to handle the college math courses, but at the same time that they take a little more out of you than they would if you were taking them in the normal sequence of things. The university students who are taking them are tied to the classroom for far fewer hours than you are, and if your high school is anything like the local one here, you also face far more demands for routine production of written work than the college students face. This increases the challenge level and may lead to your feeling that you do not “have a lot of time to be giving out.”</p>
<p>Yet, at the same time, because of your advancement in math, many admissions committee members are likely, consciously or subconsciously, to be looking for something else, that also stands out, to match the course-work accomplishment.</p>
<p>The MIT people who rove this forum will correct me if I am wrong in that.</p>
<p>So, narrowing the suggestions based on your reply: Whatever your summer project is, take it and run with it as far as you are able. Look around for other projects/topics that interest you. This would be the time to be reading some of the general circulation science and math magazine/journals, keeping your eyes open. For example, Scientific American should be generally accessible to you. The Mathematical Association of America publishes several math “magazines.” I think they have one that is targeted at an advanced high school audience, and a second for college mathematicians (momentarily blanking on the names). From your reading, you may be able to identify for yourself a problem that you could work on.</p>
<p>Secondly, in terms of your community, look around. Identify a need that you can fill. Tutoring is good to do, and I commend it, but I’d guess that 90%+ of the MIT applicants have tutored in some capacity. See if you can look beyond that, to other types of needs. It will take some time, but I think you will find that it is worth it.</p>
<p>While the programs are very good to excellent (RSI, MITES, the Davidson Fellows program, some NIH programs for high school students in the summer, one at CDC, etc.), to my way of thinking, a student looks even stronger if he/she does something truly independent–while staying safe(!), which should not be a problem in math.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advices…
As for the mathematical journals… I think I joined the association of Applied science and mathematics… And I’ve been getting newspaper articles that I read ever so often</p>
<p>&honestly I’ll probably just apply to those SPs… I don’t have anything creative 
</p>
<p>I think you have really good point on the facts too on tutoring so I might make a club that includes free tutoring</p>
<p>In my opinion the best things to do in high school are the things you enjoy, not the cliche college app. boosters. You seem to be really interested in math but also lack direction in the field, so I would definitely start looking for a specific field to start pursuing such as analysis, algebra, geometry, or applied maths. Outside of academics you should find a hobby or two to relieve the stress because “falling asleep due to exhaustion” in your spare time doesn’t sound very fun. Trust me, it isn’t too hard to study and have fun at the same time, millions of kids do it. As for your grades, I wouldn’t worry about them too much because a few bad grades is never the end of the world, but you shouldn’t ignore the importance of humanities and arts just so you can speed ahead in math and science to impress the men and women in the admissions office. Their judgement of your high school record will last a few weeks at the most, but the knowledge you could be missing out on by overworking yourself in the pure sciences and labeling history and English as second-tier courses will last a lifetime.</p>
<p>So can anyone chance me base on these math backgrounds?</p>
<p>GPA is quite low unfortunately, but your math background is very impressive. Competing in competitions like the USAMO and maybe even the IMO if you can get in will help you greatly. Colleges, especially MIT, want to see that you exhibit a passion for something specific; in your case it is math. Start a math club, join a math club, compete in competitions, help other students, etc.</p>
<p>Overall, I’d say you have a very strong chance of acceptance, good luck. :)</p>
<p>@Allergic, but the reason I have a low GPA is because my curriculum and school hours is much more than others. If I was taking regular courses today at my school then I would pretty much have 3.8+ UW guranteed… It’s the fact that I have a different focus… I want to pursue my dream and interest in math&science first.</p>
<p>I’m starting my own Science team/ club :o, math club already exists… I’ll try to make USAMO but no gurantees, the test is knowledge on like Geometry and stuff… Not on Calculus or anything I learned beyond</p>
<p>Also I attend a magnet school that is top 100 school (public+private)… Since people get 2100+ SATs and stuff</p>
<p>If you want to go to MIT, you need to take math every year.
I took pre-calculus in 8th grade only because AP Calculus was not avaliable in my school.
In 9th grade I took AP Calculus AB and AP Stats; in 10th grade BC; in 11th first semester Differential, second semester nothing. In 12th self-study Linear Algebra.
I was the best math student for 4 years at my school.
I had represented my school for 4 years in many math competition ( ARML, AMC, AMIE …)
EC: President of Math Club, President of Service Club, Varsity sport for 4 years, Captain, MVP, tutor, tri-lingual -(English the weakest), 4.00 UWGPA, 4.63 WGPA, scout leader, 500+ volunteer hours, low income < 40K, since 6th grade CTY camps, SET member, 10 AP tests</p>
<p>I just really hope that I can make the best out of my high school & hopefully get into MIT because I would love being there… Sorry to hear that you didn’t get in. </p>
<p>I’m also a CTY member (SET qualified but never “applied” since my parents haven’t given me the paperwork to join). I did go to JHU to get my medal too. Yea, I got a 800 on math portion in 7th/8th grade with efforts and encouragement from my parents. As for clubs… So far it looks like I’ll be a Math Club Treasurer, Robotics Club VP and Science Club founder/President/Captain of Science Olympiad. Summer plans? College-credit based summer program. I never said I was dropping math by the way. Next semester I’m taking Real Analysis or Advanced Calculus 1</p>
<p>Class will be :
AP Physics C
AP USH
English
Orchestra
Dual Enrollment math
AP Chinese or Latin literature (SAT II level)
Free period (2hours) - Study Science bowl/USAMO problems/AP Preparations/Free read books</p>
<p>Club life:
12 hours of club each week
a. math club (1hour)
1.Practice questions & advocate & teach students math
b. Science club (3hours)
- Possible States next year (: & National Science bowl team likely
c. Robotics club (6hours) - World championship qualify (FTC&VEX)
d. Key club (2hours) - Community service help around for school</p>
<p>Sports:
a. Maybe varsity soccer if I can get it
b. Maybe Lacross (?)
c. Fencing (quite likely)
d. Track&field (If I do well on my tests&academics)
e. Basketball (JV?)</p>
<p>APs:
6-8 APs
-All 3 sciences (physics C, chem, bio)
-APUSH
-AP Chinese
-Micro/macro
-Retakes for any bad ones</p>
<p>Free time:
-Relax and sleep
-Play chess for fun
-Go hang out with friends (could be studying sessions too)</p>
<p>School grades:
I’m just going to assume… 3.5 GPA overall (4years of high school) UW… Weighted around 3.8-3.9?
School level around the area: High/Extremely competitive at times</p>
<p>Tests I have taken:
SAT II:
-Biology (800) ecology
-Physics (750, took in 9th grade) need to retake but easily 800 when I review
-Math Level 1 & Level 2 (800) took it in 7th&8th grade. Had to retake M1 in 8th grade cause it wasn’t perfect (790)</p>
<p>APs:
Calculus AB/BC
Statistics
Computer ScienceA
Physics B
(All 4s/5s)</p>
<p>Goals&Not accomplish yet:
-PSAT score did not make cutoff by a little bit. Will try to improve for a 220 (this summer)
a. Hope to make National Merit Finalist
-SAT looks to be 2350 , weakest section - Reading , Essay writing 10/11/12
-Finish taking SAT 2 Subject tests + APs</p>
<p>Camps I plan to apply to:
-the ones listed on MIT’s student life
a. Speifically MITES&RSI (:
b. If not, then summer internship some place</p>
<p>My own:
-American citizen
-Fluent in 3 Languages and weak in one
a. Weakest one being French
b. Strongest/stronger languages are Latin , Mandarin Chinese(fluent, there’s a whole complicated story to this), and English</p>
<p>Family status:
-Scholarship funds from all over
-Low income… Parents are out of jobs/retired status
a.Living on savings & stuff
-Financial aid (For everything)
-First generation (me)
-Parents don’t have a “official college degree”</p>
<p>Some things I don’t have…
- Volunteer hours (0) , I don’t count hours or anything
a. I help a lot but I don’t consider it at all - Tutor my friends and open to all but don’t count hours</p>
<p>Middle school life:
Captain of Mathcounts team (2x)
a. 14th place in VERY competitive place
b. Top math student (kind of obvious)
c. Perfect attendance
d. 3.97, 4.0, 3.98 (6,7,8th grades)
e. Picked for most likely to go to Ivy League
f. Broke 80 year old school record
a.First person to ever take Calculus (Newspaper) as a middle schooler
b.School newspaper not local </p>
<p>I never participated in ARML because the “team” that is closest to me has a requirement that I apparently don’t fit in. I’ll try my best into getting into USAMO (I guess I can start some practice during this summer). I think that’s pretty much it… Its all up to admission officers now :o </p>
<p>Only 2 people got into MIT this year(2012)… 1 rejected out of the 3 applicants I know.</p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<p>Just wondering, do you guys think a 29 on ACT as a sophomore is good? That’s where I stand right now without massive studying(a bit of practice)</p>
<p>23,21,36,36 (last two are math&science)</p>
<p>I don’t think you can retake the PSAT and still make NMS.</p>