Chances at MIT/Harvard/Georgetown

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I go to a pretty competitive college prep high school. Every year, to my knowledge, there is atleast one person accepted into Harvard, but not into MIT. Only one person got into MIT this year, first in 8 years. </p>

<p>Intended Major - International Business (OR) Biotechnology
MIT - Firstchoice
Harvard - Second choice
Georgetown - Third Choice</p>

<p>Test Scores:
PSAT: 1790
Sat I: 2100
Sat II:
-Math II - 720
-Physics - 740
-Biology - 740
-Spanish - 700
AP Exams:
-Calculus AB - 5
-Physics B - 4
-Biology - 5
-Spanish Language/Comp - 4
-Calculus BC - Not taken yet
-Chemistry - Not taken yet
-Economics (Micro/Macro) - Not taken yet
-English Language and Composition - Not taken yet
-Spanish Language and Literature - Not taken yet</p>

<p>Biggest/Hardest workload in my class 3 years straight; sophomore, junior, and senior year</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
AP Economics
AP English Lang/Lit
AP Spanish Lang/Lit
Models of Leadership</p>

<p>School Related:
Rank: No ranking system
QPA: 4.1
Majority of A+ on transcript, excluding several AP's. Nothing below an A.</p>

<p>Freshman year - 3.8
Sophomore year - 3.6
Junior year - 4.5
Senior year - 4.8 First Quarter</p>

<p>Recs - Very good (teachers that like me)
Essays - Fairly well written</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Indoor Track - 2 Years, 1 year varsity
-States 3rd place championship
NHS - 2 years
Attention for Diversity in Action - 3 years, 2 years leader
Academic Decathlon - 4 years, 1 year captain
-some awards
Senior Mentor - 1 year, high level of responsibility
Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter - 2 years, 1 year president.</p>

<p>Community service - 150 hour project
New England Aquarium Volunteer - 150 hours, 21 hour training
-lots of responsibility, "leadership exemplified"
Part time data entry job; 20 hours a week
Habitat for Humanity - Involved with my local branch; on and off work
Student Center - Summer camp for kids; high level of responsibility. 100 hours in a month.</p>

<p>So thats it. What are my chances?
Also, how much does my job affect with the college admission process? Will they see it as a positive or neutral thing?</p>

<p>Thanks in advanced!</p>

2

<p>MIT: Reach
Harvard: Reach
Georgetown: Match</p>

<p>Don't count on getting into MIT or Harvard with those SATs. Also, you didn't do any really nice ECs for math/science.</p>

3

<p>Well, my school doesn't really offer much extra to do. I did take the initiative and took a summer science class. I am the only one in the whole school to ever finish AP Physics, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry. Usually seniors (majoring in science) leave with, at most, two of those classes.</p>

<p>How big of a reach are we talking about?</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>Oh, and should we add an "asian factor" in here? Born Chinese-American. First language was Chinese, second was English, third was (is) Spanish. I plan to continue studying spanish and maybe french in college.</p>

<p>Also, first generation Asian (no, I was not pressured into studying and all of that... not during high school anyways)</p>

4

<p>Your SATs look great to me. A 2100 is good enough for Harvard, but doesnt qualify as a lock. But then again nothing is a lock for Harvard.</p>

5

<p>2100 is below the Harvard/MIT average.</p>

<p>MIT M+V = 1500 avg. (Around 2250)
Harvard M+V = 1490 avg. (Around 2250)</p>

<p>You're a 150 points short of being average. Keep in mind that MIT and Harvard applicants have very strong GPA/SATs and the "getting in" factor is their superb ECs.</p>

<p>You have no varsity sports, no leadership positions, no musical talent, no Robotics team, no science fair, no RSI/ISEF/Siemens/AIME/Olympiad for math or science.</p>

<p>They will understand that your school is a disadvantage, but did it really prevent you from doing all you could?</p>

<p>MIT and Harvard are both the best of their well known fields (MIT = engineering, Harvard = law, English, other liberal arts).</p>

6

<p>Being Asian isn't exactly a plus. I go to a school where 80% of the student body is Asian and everyone has near perfect good grades, SAT scores, and extracurriculars. And all of them are applying to schools like Harvard and Yale. It's ridiculous that people talk seriously about getting into these schools. Everyone is overqualified and so there has to be something that sets you really apart. It's more like the people who think they get in, won't get in. and those who don't, will. It's always been like that, at least that's the experience with my siblings who went to Harvard and Yale....they weren't the perfect students. That isn't what these colleges want....they want people who could offer something to the college in addition to the memorization or high scores on a test. they want people who really love learning and are motivated by it...
Besides...
College is what you make of it and is not an indicator of your intelligence.</p>

7

<p>2100 is below the Harvard/MIT average.</p>

<p>MIT M+V = 1500 avg. (Around 2250)
Harvard M+V = 1490 avg. (Around 2250)</p>

<p>from princetonreview.com</p>

<p>MIT: Average GPA: 4.10
Average SAT: 1467</p>

<p>Harvard: SAT - Verbal Range (25-75%): 700-800
SAT - Math Range (25-75%): 700-790</p>

<p>So I assume 1500 for Harvard and 2100 for the lower 25%.</p>

8

<p>Sephiroth, I was estimating using collegeboard's 25-75 percentiles. I was off about 30 points I guess.</p>

9

<p>Realistically, it's highly unlikely you'll get into either Harvard or MIT. Your SATs are towards the bottom of their applicant pool. You have a shot at Georgetown, though it's not by any means a slam dunk. I hope you also applied to some matches and safeties.</p>

10

<p>but it's not impossible, is it?</p>

11

<p>no not impossible. However, I think chances are extremely low at MIT, low at Harvard, and iffy for Georgetown.</p>

12

<p>You guys kept pinpointing her/his SAT scores as her/his weaknesses. I thought essays were more important than SAt scores?!</p>

13

<p>Above-average SAT scores don't get you in (they are expected of many applicants), but below-average scores can often keep you out. </p>

<p>Harvard: 10%
MIT: 15%
Georgetown: 55%</p>

14

<p>it's not impossible, then. but 10% chance is just too much, dukeclassof09. I would say 2% for both H and MIT</p>

15

<p>Your school is not competitive if your the only one to have done those basic things. Sorry, but I have to go with the majority here, I don't think there is a chance at MIT or Harvard. 2100 is not OK at those schools with a strong hook. A 720 SATII at MIT is highly unusual. No stand out ECs.</p>

<p>Georgetown is a reach, but a more realistic one. Do you have some strong matches where you would be happy?</p>

16

<p>Well i've also been playing the chinese dulcimer for 8 years. im part of an international group and perform on a monthly basis. ive done volunteer teaching with this instrument and also ive been in a cultural chinese band for a few years.
does this change my chances at all?</p>

17

<p>Let's say I had the same exact stats..
But let's say I had a 2220 SAT..
What would my chances then be for:</p>

<p>UCLA
UCB
MIT
Cal Tech</p>

18

<p>UCLA: Match
UCB: Match
MIT: Reach
Caltech: Reach</p>

19

<p>darn it.. but what if I took every single AP offered (like 13), and get A's in all of them, and rank at least 4 out of 250?
but berkeley.. i guess that's good enough for me.</p>

20

<p>^Still wouldn't make MIT more than a reach.</p>

<p>Anything special in scientific research?</p>