Chances at MIT

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm planning to apply to MIT early action in November. What do you think my chances are, given the following:</p>

<p>Numbers:
- Unweighted GPA: 3.98/4.00
- Weighted GPA: 8.0/8.3 (8.3 is an A+ in an honors class and an 8.0 is an A in an honors class)
- Class rank: 1/~250 by unweighted GPA; weighted rank hasn't been calculated yet, but it is probably the same
- PSAT as sophomore: Math:80, Verbal:67, Writing:74, Total:221
- PSAT as junior: Math:73, Verbal:65, Writing:72, Total:210</p>

<p>AP Classes:
- AP US History this year (5 on practice test)
- AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and AP Calculus next year
(It is basically impossible to fit any more than five AP classes into my school's trimester schedule)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Math team - publicity director, probably captain next year
- School newspaper - news editor, editor in chief next year
- Student Council - elected sophomore class president, student body vice president
- School co-Webmaster and member of technology steering committee
- Amnesty International - publicity director
- National Honor Society - member</p>

<p>Awards:
- Winner of 2001 ArsDigita Prize
- Second highest scoring freshman and highest scoring sophomore in Tri-State Math League
- Third place in DuPont Challenge Science Essay Awards Program 2003
- Honorable mention in Macromedia Student Web Design Contest
- Recipient of American Legion Award
- Life Scout</p>

<p>Work:
- Freshman summer - paid internship at local communications firm, developed script to generate results of a survey for a large insurance company
- Sophomore summer - worked with high school computer department
- Junior summer - waiting on summer program admissions
- Freelance - have accepted five freelance Web site clients over past four years</p>

<p>Community service:
- 150+ hours of community service in band, various fundraising activities, and technical crew for five school plays</p>

<p>If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Just so you know, I will be taking the SATs in May and the SAT IIs in June.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for your consideration.</p>

2

<p>I would say your chances are better than the average applicant, but I cannot really say w/o SAT scores. keep in mind, tho, that mit's acceptance rate is pretty low and many exceptional people are rejected, so u should apply, but it is still a reach as there is nothing that really stands out in terms of MIT (no national awards or recogntion or something like that) also, how come u scored lower as a junior on psat?</p>

3

<p>You dropped your PSAT from 221 to 210, how? As long as it is national merit in your state it really doesn't matter...</p>

<p>You don't have any SAT or ACT scores and you don't have any AMC or AIME scores...you gotta get them</p>

4

<p>I made two mistakes on the math section, which accounted for most of my 11-point drop. I'll post another chances thread after I take the SAT, to be sure.</p>

<p>I'm planning to take the AMC12 next year.</p>

<p>As far as national awards and recognition go, are you familiar with the ArsDigita Prize? Check it out here: <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20020201213602/www.arsdigita.com/prize/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.archive.org/web/20020201213602/www.arsdigita.com/prize/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks for the comments! Any other opinions?</p>

5

<p>also if i might add, the PSAT changed this year and it got harder, so if unless he studied, that accounts for the point drop.. same happened to me, i didnt study and my score dropped although the math went up</p>

6

<p>One of the most important things in your application to MIT is context: I see all your accomplishments and they are outstanding. Congratulations. But what is your town like? Is there an expectation for students like you to go to the best colleges in the nation? What is your school like? Is it an extremely competitive school? Finally, and I hate to bring this up, what are you going to put for your ethnicity on the application? MIT wants someone who takes on challenges and overcomes obstacles. AdCom looks for independent and free thinkers who don't just do what is expected of them. I know this stuff because I've been studying how to get into MIT since my junior year. I've talked extensively with people from MIT's adcom. I carefully put my application together to create the picture I thought would best represent how I was a good match for MIT. I applied Early Action last November and was accepted last December.</p>

7

<p>Also, 210 rarely is high enough for Semifinalist. I was 217, which is barely high enough for Texas, a state on the lower end of the spectrum. Good luck, though. Certainly, not being Semifinalist means nothing to MIT, just like being Semifinalist doesn't mean much either to them.</p>

8

<p>It's really hard to give chances for MIT- have you looked at the RD decisions thread in the MIT forum? Some people with perfect scores and great EC's were rejected, while others with less apparent excellence were accepted. It seems as if MIT weighs heavily the intangibles such as essays and recs as well as factors that hikkifan described. </p>

<p>Also, some of your positions look kind suspect. What exactly do you do as "Publicity director" for a math team?</p>

9

<p>First to Asterstar:
You're right, I can see why "publicity director" for math team sounds suspect, but it is a real job. I submit a story to the local newspaper after every meet telling about the team's latest successes. Also, I have looked at the MIT RD thread, which is what made me want to start this thread.</p>

<p>Hikkifan:
My town is relatively affluent. I attend a public high school in New Hampshire. Competition is relatively fierce among only the top students, but it's certainly not as intense as it is at private schools. I'm not sure if there's an expectation for top students to go to the best colleges. If you want to get a sense of where the top students usually go, I can tell you that the top ten students (by weighted GPA) last year went to Smith College, UNH, the US Naval Academy, Colby College, Penn State, Stonehill College, Cornell, and the University of Notre Dame.</p>

<p>I would have to check "Caucasian/White" for ethnicity (unless I wanted to lie... just kidding). Would it be better not to check anything?</p>

<p>Can you recommend books or things I can do to carefully craft my story and my application (not to the point of being unethical, of course)?</p>

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

10

<p>Anyone have a link to the MIT RD?</p>

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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=40411%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=40411&lt;/a> (The Official Regular Action Results Roster)</p>

12

<p>well, I bet your name makes it pretty obvious that you are white, and, if not that, then your application will make it come out somehow. So, it's probably better to put down white - though if you could make yourself mexican that would help, too. My biggest suggestion in looking at how to craft your application is hiring one of those college consultants, but just in case you don't have 20 grand lying around, skim thru the books at your local bookstore - they ALL say the same stuff, and it's all mostly true. It's really all about making a connection to the committee. The most important thing you can do, though, is make sure they know you. I went to the mit meeting s that came through texas and made sure to shake hands and introduce myself to the adcom people. I e-mailed them afterwards with any questions i could think of. I hope this helps, I tried to find articles I read in the past, to no avail, but there's good stuff on the internet too. I wish I still had them.</p>

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<p>the AMC 12 is amazingly easy. whats hard as hell is the AIME. -.-
i know i failed that crap, haha</p>