Chances for Northwestern and MIT?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I go to a small public high school in rural Wisconsin without many opportunities, unfortunately :( And I am also a senior, and just finishing up my college apps now... Which will also hurt my chances, oops :/</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.013, UW: 4.0? I've had all A's in everything, so I would assume that's it lol?
ACT: 32 (31 Math, 35 English, 33 Reading, 28 Science, 8 Writing)
SAT Subject Tests: Chemistry-690 ; Math II-710; Literature-730 (unfortunately I have to send the Chemistry and Math to MIT!)<br>
Projected Class Rank: 2/100, unless the valedictorian really screws up before the end of the semester
AP's: Calculus AB (will take BC second semester!), US History, Chemistry (my school only offers 4 AP's; the fourth is Studio Art, which I got accepted into and really wanted to take, but it conflicted with the rest of my schedule :( )
I'm also taking British Literature Accelerated (the highest English course my school offers) and will take two college writing classes second semester!</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
-Varisty Swimming (3 years)
-4-H (Horse and Pony Club) (all four years of high school, lots of years outside of highschool!)
-National Honor Society (10th-12th)
-FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) - 2 years, Treasurer
-Numerous, random volunteering
-Went to two engineering summer camps (if that counts?)
-Did a few other high school sports (Track, Softball, etc... I wanted to try everything!)
-Math Team (3 years) - Third overall in conference last year, Second Team All-State
-Church Youth Group
-Manager for Boy's Swim Team
-Had two paintings featured in the local library's art exhibit</p>

<p>I also work as a lifeguard and swim instructor about 15 hours a week.</p>

<p>I'm applying/have applied to:
-UW Madison
-Michigan Tech
-Northwestern
-MIT</p>

<p>I know MIT is a bit of a stretch! Should I even bother applying? My SAT subject test scores don't even fall in their middle 50% (although 800 is included in the middle 50%, which is insane).</p>

<p>Oh also, I am a Caucasian female with an interest in chemical/nuclear engineering. I'm about average income, but I live on a small farm! Both of my biological parents went to college (both at Madison) and my step-dad (the farmer lol) finished night classes a couple years ago for his Bachelor's.
Thanks for your time for those who read and chance! (:</p>

2

<p>Also, my essays (the ones I’ve done so far) are fairly decent, imo (I’ve rewritten them about five times each–that’s probably why I haven’t finished my applications yet) and I think I have some really good letters of recommendations, though I haven’t seen any of them.</p>

<p>And for the past two years, one person from my school district (not my school–a smaller one with even less opportunities) went to MIT! They didn’t have the chance to like study stem cells or anything, as we have a painfully small community, though they were amazingly smart and involved. Still, it’s possible to go there without being like bred and groomed for college, at least!</p>

3

<p>APPLY.</p>

<p>You have a shot. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. If you’ve made the most of your opportunities in rural Wisconsin, that will look favorably on you.</p>

<p>Don’t let the statistics faze you. The people who get admitted don’t get admitted because of their stats, they have kickass personalities to go with them. They are great fits for MIT and MIT subsequently realized that. You have an interesting story, make full use of it when you write. Horse and Pony Club? Now that sounds like a great fit for the “What You Do For Pleasure” Prompt.</p>

<p>This is coming from a recent EA admit into MIT. You can do it, have confidence in your self and let it shine through your essays like you let it shine in your chance post there.</p>

<p>Will be rooting for ya Vievee.</p>

4

<p>Thank you! (: I definitely will, thanks for the advice! And congratulations, too!</p>

5

<p>Your Weighted and Unweighted GPAs are very close, which means that you didn’t take many honors/AP classes. Unless your school doesn’t offer many honors/AP classes, this might be a problem for you. </p>

<p>Northwestern: Low reach/Reach
MIT: High Reach</p>

6

<p>Yeah, my school only has four AP classes and I’ve only had one that’s been counted in my weighted GPA right now (I will have three at semester). But my school only adds an extra .013 for every AP; I don’t think there’s any way for people to get like 4.6’s or 5.0’s like over people on CC have. Thank you, though!</p>

7

<p>MIT and Northwestern are indeed reaches for you, but don’t be discouraged! The only way to have a 0% chance is to not apply at all, and if MIT is your dream, you should definitely give it a shot. It sounds like you put a lot of effort into your essays, which is important, and if your personality shines through your essays, your chances will be that much higher.</p>