Clubs and community service

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Hi, im a freshman in highschool and am planning ahead for college. Im deadset on going to MIT, and have plans to get 80+ community service hours, and am the president of a club called the gay-straight alliance, or GSA, which is in motion to having a pride parade in our own small town, the first ever here. Im mostly wondering if these two details will look good on a college application, and im really wanting to speak to a student at MIT to learn more about my chances of getting in.

2

Alright, a couple of things:

  1. I’m pretty sure that you’re posting this in the wrong section. I’m guessing if a mod sees this, they’ll probably move it to the MIT forum for ya.
  2. 80 hours of community service is nothing. I graduated with over 120 and I still didn’t end up at an ivy league. I have friends with over 150 hours and still didn’t get into an ivy. Yes, being an active member of your community and in your school is important, but there are lots more that college admissions generally look at and I think you might be underestimating how competitive these schools are and how accomplished your competition will be when it comes time to apply.
  3. You know MIT is a STEM school, right? If you want to get in, show them that you have technical acumen. Do a low-level tech internship, participate in tech camps, build things, or if you’re more interested in SWE and the likes, create open source projects that has impact. I know this is a lot to ask for someone who hasn’t even gone to college yet, but this is generally the type of stuff that it’ll take to get into a school like MIT.
  4. Finally, and I don’t mean to be rude, but do you even know why you want to go to MIT? (And no, just “because MIT is a high ranked school and is very prestigious” is not a good enough answer.) I generally say it’s never too early to start thinking about colleges, but in your case, I think it might be. Do you know what you want to major in, if there are any other options out that that might be a better fit, if you fit into the culture that the school has, and most importantly, if you can keep up with the workload (MIT might be the most rigorous ivy that I have ever visited, and it really shows when you talk to some of the students).

Overall, I think you should take a step back and really see what you want to do in the future. You got 2 more years before you have to decide, so take that time to really discover what it is that interests you before you start looking at the type of colleges you want to go to.