Hello all,
I am a sophomore in high school, and my dream college is MIT. I have lurked these forums for a while, but I would really like to know your opinion on my chances of getting into my dream school.
I have always been a math and science kind of student. Since seventh grade, I have been interested in technology and computers (even building my own last year). I have developed apps for both the iOS and Android platforms, and I am building a drone.
I maintained a 3.96 unweighted GPA in freshman year. I am currently taking AP Computer Science and AP Statistics. In the next two years, I plan on taking:
AP English Literature & AP English Language
AP Calculus BC & Multivariable Calculus at a nearby college
AP Physics 1 & AP Physics C
AP US History & ECE Macroeconomics/Microeconomics
AP Chemistry
As for extracurriculars, I am a first degree black belt right now, but by the end of junior year, I will be a second degree black belt. I am also a Boy Scout, and I should be able to attain the rank of Eagle Scout by the end of senior year. I volunteer every weekend for the first three quarters of the school year to tutor competitive mathematics as well as science to third through fifth graders.
I feel that my chances of getting in this school are fairly decent, but I would like to consider the opinions of multiple people. I haven’t really decided other colleges I wish to apply to, but they will likely require similar student criteria. Of course, I have not taken the ACT/SAT yet, and those grades also play a role in the road to college.
It’s impossible to say without SAT/ACT scores. Also, your ec’s are pretty light for an MIT admit.
Yeah, that part about SAT/ACT grades is true. I plan on doing a few more EC’s in the next few months/years.
Edit: One of the reasons I don’t have sports on my list is because my school doesn’t have any teams. They make us do sports through our district high school, which I don’t have time for because of martial arts classes among other EC’s. I do, however, play tennis for recreation, and I play the piano outside of school and the saxophone in the school (not marching) band.
Based on the information provided, I rather think that the chance of acceptance into MIT is not really “decent,” if not very slim.
You should be aware of that MIT is NEVER a “match” or “safety” school for any applicant as it is a private institution honored and very well-respected by virtually everyone in the world. Therefore, it is hard to guess the decision result even if an applicant has the perfect SAT score and GPA, as there are many other factors taken into consideration for decision.
However, you seem to be underestimating the intensity. Personally, I don’t see anything impressive about your extracurricular activity history except having a black belt. I suggest that you focus lot more on developing your extracurricular activity background. Just to give you an idea, A LOT of applicants for MIT are like presidents of 3~5 clubs specific to his/her major, have a number of accolades/honors/awards, etc.; yet, only minuscule number of applicants get accepted.
Also, it would be very hard to determine whether you will be accepted into MIT based on your current status and your grade.
The following page will give you an idea as to what to focus/improve on, but, again, do not keep the hopes of being accepted up too high:
http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2016/c.html
First off, I think it’s funny how you spelled out " M a s s a c h u s e t t s I n s t i t u t e o f T e c h n o l o g y" instead of just “M I T”.
Second off, chancing someone during their sophomore year is quite a challenge, because there hasn’t been as great of a time lapse between beginning of freshman year and junior/senior year to know your true chances. This would include unknown ACT/SAT scores, what possible ECs that you could do, what honors/awards you’ll win, etc.
Third off, the 3.96 gpa is great your freshman year, but that means nothing whatsoever. What matters is your cumulative gpas from sophomore and junior year that average up to your total, real gpa. The gpa that counts, really.
Fourth off, I think your 7 AP class plan is a good plan. Too much would be overkill, if you ask me.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I am definitely building up on extracurriculars, and there are a few that I forgot to mention in my original post. One thing I forgot to mention is that I have been doing competitive math since 2nd grade, and I have gotten high scores on the AMC 8 and I am preparing for AMC 10 right now.
As for honors societies, I was invited to join the new Math Honors Society at my school and I am planning on joining the NHS and Science Honors Society.
I plan on working with artificial intelligence, so doing something with that will be a project to add on my resumé.
As for other colleges, I plan on applying to similarly competitive colleges, with my safety being UCONN (it’s my state) and RPI.