<p>Hi, I'm new to this board. I don't really know how to ask what I'm asking, so I guess I will just list information about me. My ACT is a 26, my SAT is a 1900, and my GPA is a 3.47...I've been an honor roll student for the past 4 years, with no C's other than in Spanish. I have taken 4 AP exams, but only taken two AP classes. I will have taken 6 total year-long science classes, the same for math, five of english, and two of history. Plus two of religion, ethics, spanish, ect. I worked in a chemistry lab at the University of Notre Dame for the past two years working on synthesizing DNA rafts and tiles and also studying the effects of pH on adhesion of plasmid DNA to 3-amminopropyltriethoxysilane/SiO2. I won the Science O. competition for robots twice at state, and also have many other medals from state for engineering devices. I am currently building an underwater robot w/a camera which can "dive" up to 30m and can be controlled from my laptop. I've engineered my own computer cooling system that literally works under a frozen (when I can find liquid nitrogen) flourine based chemical gel that can be cooled down to almost -20C. I don't mean I designed the circut boards, but I can cool/overclock it to those temps. Also, I've made numourous 3d anmiations using 3dsMax and have my computer operationg on an operating system which was created mostly by me. I'm also a big painter, but my art teacher really dislikes me so I paint outside of school. I read chemistry for fun. Do colleges just care about test scores/grades or do they care about the things outside of school? By this I'm asking how critical are tests and grades. I'm not planning on going to MIT or CalTech because I know I'd never make it in, but what exactly should I be looking for? How important are grades in the process that colleges use? Test scores?</p>
<p>oh, also, i speak hindi semi-fluently. but i am fully american with no background in the langauge. i also can speak norwegian and sweedish, but never have been taught in a classroom setting. currently i am trying to learn korean. also i was the bat boy for the chicago cubs last year as a job (i dont know, will that help?!) and i am an excellent cook (i cook soo much). I garden 22 different types of orchids, and raise 15 types of cacti. I am also getting my pilots lisence. but none of this stuff is anything colleges care about, is it?</p>
<p>I bet you could get into MIT easily just by raising your test scores a bit. Just explain all that scientific stuff you did in detail for your ecs on your application or somehow include them in your essay. They dont care about grades when you have that much other stufff!! good luck</p>
<p>It depends how you make your application. You'd need to really emphasize all the devices that you have built. Send in drawings of your devices (as many as you can), pictures, and maybe a DVD of your devices in action. Get your letter of rec from the professor at ND you have been working with. Write your essay about your ECs. If you don't go all out with it, I don't think you can get in. Your GPA and test scores are low for MIT and several people like you got rejected.</p>
<p>A 1900 SAT is really low especially for a student like you who seems to be doing all of these amazing things. Don't you think that if you studied a lot before the October date you could bring it up to maybe a 2100? If you can do that, you'll be competitive pretty much anywhere.</p>
<p>This decrepancy between SAT and EC's is mind boggling. Please tell me you're not a troll.</p>
<p>no, I'm not a troll, but I don't like standardized tests. I easily study for biology, math, and chemisty tests, and pass with 100%+ but not the SAT or ACT. Those tests are wayyy different. On the science part of the ACT, I got a 24, and I've worked in a lab for 2 years plus I studied a few weeks for it. You would think I'd know a little about the scientific method or data anylsis at least...oh well. My GPA is low because often times I find myself thrown off topic by something that is far more intresting than what we are studying. Also, my GPA is low because I don't get along with many of my teachers, and since it is a private catholic school they can control my grades in any way they feel is fit. Maybe I sound paranoid, but there is a corrolation between how much they like you and the grades you get. I know I sound like I'm making up excuses, and maybe I am. I don't think MIT really wants a student like me since I am farrr from perfect and some people on here have so many AP classes and dentless records. I don't really plan on applying there, but I don't know where to start applying.</p>
<p>kinko, try applying to uchicago. you're very accomplished and that school tends to put less of an emphasis on test scores/grades</p>
<p>Is U of Chi a "loner" school? All of my teachers told me not to apply there because they said the atmosphere is hostile or something. I'm actually looking for a good premed school, is UofChi a good choice? I'm kinda an idiot when it comes to schools, i don't really care where i go, i just wanna be a doctor. and maybe make a few toys and a little research along the way.</p>
<p>uchi is not a "loner" school at all... talk to someone that goes there and don't rely on stereotypes. also, OP, you seem like a SUPER interesting candidate who is both extremely unique and extremely good at what you do. i sugges you bust your butt making your SAT/ACT better and you have a shot (nothing guaranteed, but a good shot) at basically every school.</p>
<p>I don't know how unique or rare any of that is, and just because I do this stuff doesn't mean I'm good at it. When I envisioned students at top schools, I always pictured perfect SAT/ACT scores, super GPA's, and perfect records in every which way. Not someone like me who builds science projects in the backyard. Personally, I thought Purdue/IU/UoI were good matches. However, I am going to tour UoChi soon. Do schools like MIT or Harvard/Yale/ect have interviews? I feel I interview very well, and this might benefit me greatly.</p>
<p>Most schools don't place much emphasis on interviews unless you are interviewing for a scholarship.</p>
<p>Yeah the interview won't really matter. Like I said before, you need to go all out in your actual application. I know for a fact that if you did what I posted before to MIT they would at least consider it. If you're looking for a science school that is more lenient with test scores and GPAs, you might want to look into harvey mudd. They put more emphasis on essays and ECs. You also might want to apply to places like Johns Hopkins and Case. You might get in Johns Hopkins and they have excellent premed. You'd get in Case and they also have very good premed (biomedical engineering especially).</p>
<p>kinko: uchicago is a great school but i admit that it's not good for premed. it's relatively difficult (compared to other schools) to get a good GPA at uchicago, so they have a med-school admit rate that's lower than that of other schools</p>
<p>Jimbob, do you know what Chicago students' admit rate to med school is? I think what you said is probably true but don't know to what extent.</p>