chances of getting into MIT as a transfer

<p>hi, my first post here.</p>

<p>i didn't put this in "my chances" forum, because i thought it was more appropriate to put it here.</p>

<p>can anyone tell me what are my chances of getting into MIT as a transfer student? here's the info.</p>

<p>High School: Advanced Technologies Academy (very high rank in the state of Nevada, i think somewhere in the first 3. very tough school also.)
GPA: Weighted: greater than 4.3
Rank: 13/200. again, very tough school.
TOEFL: 253/300
SAT II: math ic and physics: yet to be taken.
extra activities: JSM for a year. won bridge building contest at the "city" level.
student of the month twice.......</p>

<p>currently at UNLV:
gpa: 3.6 (because of not-good teacher, which is also a reason why i want to transfer)
extra activities: ACM.</p>

<p>any more info you want me to provide?
thanks in advance.</p>

<p>You may want to read my response in the other "transfer chances" thread on this board yesterday.</p>

<p>As I said there, read carefully through the "Transfer Students" section of the MIT undergraduate admissions website. Transfer admissions to MIT are even more competitive than freshman admissions, with acceptances numbering in the single digits for the past several years. You would want to be sure you've covered equivalents to the required MIT core courses in your UNLV coursework (as described in the Transfer Students website section), be sure you have the required math and science SAT II scores in hand along with your TOEFL, and anticipate the possibility of losing at least a semester in the transfer process. Some quotes from the site:
[quote]
We recommend that prospective transfer students take a variety of mathematics and science courses before applying. ... This includes one year each of college-level calculus and calculus-based physics, and one semester each of biology and chemistry. ... It is also very important to understand that the transfer admissions process is highly competitive - even more so than the regular admissions process. Applicants with a wide breadth of mathematics and science courses may be at an advantage. It is rare that a student is admitted without, at the very least, the specified course work in calculus and physics. ... Transfer students typically lose at least one semester of course work. ... Since students lose credit in the transfer, most students enter MIT as a sophomore, regardless of the amount of course work they completed at their previous college(s).

[/quote]

A very few strong students each year do succeed in transferring to MIT, but the number is very small. One thing you can be sure of, though, is that your chances are zero if you don't apply. Good luck!</p>

<p>thanks for the reply. yes, i've read that many times on the website. i should've mentioned in the post. somehow i can't edit the main post, oh well.</p>

<p>more info:</p>

<p>i've taken calculus, and this semester, i'm taking physics and biology.
moreover, i'm in the honors college.</p>

<p>omg, i should've mentioned this also: i'm a big computer person. i've experience in java, c++, flash, fireworks, and some more softwares...</p>

<p>You can only edit a post 20 minutes after you put it up.</p>

<p>Anyway, given the competition involved in the transfer applications, it would be nice if you had some concrete evidence. Competitions/jobs and such.</p>

<p>I thought that Stanford was tough with 50 out of 1,200+ transfer applicants being enrolled, but MIT is brutal with only 2 out of 302 applicants getting in! <a href="http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2005/d.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2005/d.html&lt;/a> (goto D2)</p>

<p>Hey, 6 applicants got in. The other 4 chose not to enroll.</p>

<p>of course i have evidence. i have certificates and such. i'm really amazed at the rate gsp<em>silicon</em>valley, it's sad to see that data.
lol @ xXPhoenixFireXx, i agree.</p>

<p>so, if i have "concrete" evidence and stuff, can anyone tell me about my chances of getting into MIT. i really want to go to MIT...</p>

<p>The chances for anyone are very, very small, and probably depend heavily on the other transfer applicants in the pool the year you apply. As noted above, 6 / 302 were accepted last year, and 5 / 319 for the previous year, less than 2%. I think it should be considered a very long shot by anyone, regardless of qualifications. Definitely try for it if you're interested, but it is never a good idea to get one's hopes up too high: put another way, 98 out of every 100 people who applied for transfer admissions the past two years were not successful.</p>

<p>could anyone please tell me what "more stuff" i should include in the app to make it stand out? and how i should send that kind of stuff? let's say it's a java (computer) program or something like that...</p>

<p>i really don't about about the ratio. i HAVE TO get in, because i hate the university i'm in currnetly, it's something where i totally do not belong.</p>

<p>
[quote]
i really don't (care) about about the ratio. i HAVE TO get in, because i hate the university i'm in currnetly, it's something where i totally do not belong.

[/quote]
well, you need to care about the ratio, because the odds are very strong that you will not get into MIT as a transfer. If you win the lottery, great, but don't bank your future on it. If you really hate where you are, you need to be thinking in terms of other places you can apply.</p>

<p>You cannot approach this as if anyone can get into MIT if they just figure out the magic words to put on their app. It is not enough to do a stellar job on your app. I'm guessing that the people who are admitted as MIT transfers are people with some star quality that would have made them a top admit during freshman admissions (think gold medals in int'l math/science olympiads, or winning Siemens-Westinghouse). The student chooses, say Harvard instead. Does extremely well (think Putnam fellow, A's in graduate courses, stand-out recommendations from Harvard faculty). But student decides after a year or so that they really should have chosen MIT instead.</p>

<p>Look, man, you don't HAVE to get ino MIT. Think of some other schools you might enjoy.</p>

<p>MIT is like the only univ. i want to get into. moreover, i don't want to go to MIT only for enjoyment; i want to go there for better education also. and being a CS major, it sounds like the best place to expand my knowledge. :)</p>

<p>could you guys tell me what other stuff i should include and how i can include it?</p>

<p>

and what makes you say that? and so what else do i need to do to increase my chances?</p>

<p>thanks.</p>

<p>Quoting out of context won't help your case. What texas137 said was:
[quote]
the odds are very strong that you will not get into MIT as a transfer

[/quote]
This is just a fact, when the admission percentage is under 2%. </p>

<p>And as texas137 said:
[quote]
the people who are admitted as MIT transfers are people with some star quality that would have made them a top admit during freshman admissions

[/quote]
If you believe you have what it takes to stand out in this way, by all means apply. Look over the Transfer Students website, write a bang-up application, and attach whatever you feel will make your case. No one can tell you "what other stuff [you] should include": you need to determine what will show your strongest aspects to the Admissions Officers. (And be sure to get those SAT IIs under your belt A.S.A.P.! Your application will not be considered without them.)</p>

<p>Everyone posting on this board wants to get into MIT (except those who are already students, alumni, or parents of current students or applicants). Your interest is understandable, it's a special place. The people posting here are encouraging you to have other schools in mind also, if you're set on transferring, since it is so very, very difficult to transfer into MIT.</p>

<p>kdd - Mootmom is right; I did not say that you personally would not get into MIT based on the information you provided. The odds are strongly against it for anyone, based on the fact that over 98% of the people who apply for transfer admission to MIT do not get in. Have you come up with an alternate plan if you are one of them? If staying where you are is unacceptable to you, you need to be looking at other places that take a larger percentage of transfer applicants.</p>

<p>MIT is only going to accept a transfer who has something unique to offer in the context of the students who are already there. They don't need to fill seats; they have been overenrolled for the past 3 years at least and there are very few people who leave. You are not just competing against the other 300+ transfer applicants. In a sense, you are competing against the students who are already there. MIT does not need to accept any transfer students. They are only going to do it if the student has something exceptional to offer within the context of the students who they already have.
Let me give you some perspective, since your interest is math and CS...
There are 8 Americans currently in college who have medals from the Int'l computing olympiad. 5 of them are at MIT. A similar proportion of the american medalists from the int'l math olympiad are currently at MIT. That does not include the international students with medals from these events. There are probably 20 students currently at MIT who completed the entire sequence of undergrad math courses while they were still in high school, and went straight into grad courses as freshman. There are probably 1000 students with experience in 2-3 computer languages. Half the current freshman class made a 4-5 on the calculus BC exam before they arrived. There are probably over a hundred who had multivariable in high school.</p>

<p>Now, achievements like international awards are not necessary to get admitted to MIT as a freshman. But that's the sort of student you will be compared against as a transfer student.</p>

<p>thank you very much for the info.</p>

<p>kdd - other schools for you to look at include Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, Rice, U. Mich, U Texas-Austin. I'm sure other could come up with more suggestions.</p>

<p>my update:</p>

<p>High School: Advanced Technologies Academy (very high rank in the state of Nevada, i think somewhere in the first 3. very tough school also.)
GPA: Weighted: greater than 4.3
Rank: 13/200. again, very tough school.
TOEFL: 253/300 cbt
SAT II:
math ic: 700.
physics: 540.
extra activities:
JSM for a year.</p>

<p>awards and such: won bridge building contest at the regional level.
student of the month: foreign lang.
student of the month: science.</p>

<p>too many perfect attendance and other related awards.
other awards that i do not remember right now. i'll post them later...</p>

<p>currently at UNLV:
gpa: 3.6 (because of not-good teacher, which is also a reason why i want to transfer)
extra activities: ACM.</p>

<p>ahh, many computer programs i do...</p>

<p>my chances please? thanks.</p>

<p>I think the important thing to remember about transferring is that you're not just competing with other transfer applicants, you're competing with the students already at MIT. That is to say, MIT has overenrolled for the past few years in a row, meaning that for them to admit transfer students, a significant number of students must drop out, or the applicant in question must be absolutely amazing.</p>

<p>I'm a big fan of "anything's possible," probably the biggest, in fact. However, even if you have the qualities MIT is looking for in its students, you may not have the qualities that will make MIT want you more than its current students. Your scores are low and so is your GPA. Neither of these two things defines your application's lifespan, but they definitely hurt it. If you are, indeed, perfect for MIT (your essays and recommendation letters will reveal whether or not this is true), I'm sure the adcom will work as hard as they can to make it happen, but keep in mind you'll likely be competing with people who are a perfect fit for the school and have numbers that impress.</p>

<p>Also, I would recommending focusing more on your current activities. Your high school stuff is important, but you've been away for a year now. Your new experiences and activities at UN will carry a lot more weight than the events of your high school career.</p>

<p>All in all, if you think you have what it takes, go for it. Best wishes to you, and I hope things go well for you.</p>

<p>Adding to Texas' list: CalPoly, Caltech, GA Tech, RPI.</p>

<p>You have 2 goals: one is to leave where you are for better CS courses, and secondly, to find a good school. MIT is not the only one</p>

<p>

From my experience with transfers that is not true. However unlike the freshman admissions process I would think your major would matter and course 6 is fairly popular.</p>