Could Use Some Advice to get into MIT

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Hello, everyone. I am a bit worried - I am a Junior in High School and I want to apply for early admissions at MIT. I know most of my time to do stuff is gone now, maybe I have waited too long?</p>

<p>I am really interested in technology. I have always loved computers, and have grown up with them; I have a sort of peculiar reverence for technology and science. But I honestly can't find stuff to do this summer. I don't know what I could do... internship at a nearby popular private university? I did that last year in biotechnology and nanotechnology, but I don't want my application to seem repetitive. I also was sort of a klutz, as it was my first time in a professional lab and research setting, and I'm not sure if they'd want me back.</p>

<p>I've been looking at a few volunteer programs... humanitarian ones, such as ones in which I can help disabled people do things they want. Again, I'm not sure which MIT would consider "better". I really want to do something that would "shine" on the application, but right now I must seem like just another Asian kid with average (or below) academic scores compared to the current pool of applicants at MIT.</p>

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<p>And, lastly, here is how I am doing academically:</p>

<p>Awards: Basic school awards - distinguished scholar in my Social Studies class (10th grade). Honor Roll student, will probably make the AP Scholar role. But I need some advice here - what should I focus on? I am in Mu Alpha Theta but have never placed in a competition.</p>

<p>GPA right now: 3.81 or so
Weighted GPA: 5.15
Class Rank: It's fluctuating between 3 and 4 out of over 700</p>

<p>ACT Scores: I scored low my first time (barely any prep) - a 30. (33 English, 29 Math, 28 Reading, and 11/12 on Essay). However, I had never timed my self on the little prep that I had done on that ACT - I am taking the next 2 ACT's and I am scoring a 34 across the board on my practice tests, and sometimes a 35 in Science and Math, and occasionally a 33 in reading comprehension. Hopefully I do the same on the ACTUAL thing.</p>

<p>Classes: I took 2 AP's Freshman year, 4 Sophmore year, and am taking 7 this year, and a bit less than 7 next year (school ran out of good AP's - only one left is, like, AP Studio Art or Art History) and I have been passing every exam with a 4 or 5 - lowest score was a 3 on my Stats exam.</p>

<p>Clubs: Founder and Co-President of Chess Club; Founder and President of Rocketry Club (to start next year); Founder and President of Model UN (to start next year).
I recently restarted these clubs in my school after they fell apart a long time ago due to stagnation. I look forward to taking part in competitions next year.</p>

<p>I am also a member of National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, and Key Club; but I have not held any significant position in those clubs, or done anything significant.</p>

<p>Volunteering: Did about 300 hours of research at the private university I mentioned above (last summer). Did about 200 at my local temple.</p>

<p>I am sort of lost and confused on what to do next. I have no place that I can find help - no brothers or sisters, and I am sort of a social "outsider" in my school because my interests and personality is very different from the "yolo" personality many others have at my school.</p>

<p>I hope some of you can help guide me here. What I have above is basically all I've done throughout high school, and this is depressing - many applicants seem to have FAR, far more than what I do.</p>

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<p>I am a high school junior myself.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would take college out of the equation. Say that you are not going to college, what would you do? Would you still take all those AP’s? Would you continue all those clubs? Sometimes I think that people should take college out of the equation when deciding what to do. That way, they actually get to enjoy what they are doing and they will have no pressure in succeeding. People shouldn’t decide whether to do certain activities based on what they think the college would think of it. Do something that you would enjoy, and don’t worry about what is best for college. You only get to experience high school once, so don’t get caught up with college and go enjoy it! If you’re interested in technology, learn how to code and create something.</p>

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<p>It won’t seem repetitive if you work in the same place for two summers. It’s ok to do something else if you want, though.</p>

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<p>“advice to get into MIT” is the wrong way to think about this. cf: [Applying</a> Sideways | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways]Applying”>Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions)</p>

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<p>Working the same job doesn’t seem repetitive, it shows dedication. And if it’s in a lab then you should be gaining more knowledge/expertise the whole time, which is great. :)</p>

<p>As for the clubs that are starting next year, you need to keep in mind that you need to follow through on leading them – if they fall by the wayside during senior year, you still put them on your application, and your interviewer asks about it and you have nothing to say, you’ll be in trouble. It’s a little iffy that you’re starting those clubs senior year (it may look like it was last-minute resume-padding), so make sure you do a good job and follow through, and you’ll be fine!</p>

<p>Your ACT score will be fine. Your grades will be fine.</p>

<p>You also need two SAT IIs - one in math (math 1 or 2, doesn’t matter) and one in a science (Biology - ecological, biology - molecular, chemistry, or physics). You should shoot for at least a 700+ on those.</p>

<p>Edit: Forgot the most important part. If you are doing these things (starting 3 clubs your senior year, research, etc.) because you want to get into MIT, that will probably come across in your application and work against you. If you’re doing these things because they are what you want to do, then by all means, do them, and you have a good shot.</p>

<p>Do what you want to do, not what you think MIT wants to see. If those two things are the same, then congrats, you have a strong chance. If they aren’t the same, then MIT probably wouldn’t be a good fit for you.</p>

<p>Edit 2: that last sentence was confusing. I meant that if you didn’t take hard classes/didn’t work hard/etc. in high school because you didn’t want to, then you would suffer at MIT. So a strong applicant should generally be someone who is naturally a good fit for MIT, not someone who strives to fit into what they think is the mold of the ideal candidate.</p>

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<p>ammaram, I don’t take all those AP’s for college. I know if I merely wanted to take a few AP’s to get in to college, I would take less… maybe 4 this year instead.</p>

<p>I know I sound crazy, but I love the flow of so much more information - I learn SO much more in an AP class (they are the only “real” classes at my school; many of the honors classes are basically the exact same thing as regulars classes at my school but with an “honors” tacked on to the name), and thanks to the great AP teachers I have, I rarely get bored in class. And even though the last month before AP exams, I have a wierd stress-pleasure feeling - even though I stress about the upcoming exams, I feel happiness in my accomplishments and reflecting on what I learned. I approach the AP exams as a challenge, and during this last month I imagine my self as

<a href=“http://ragefaces.s3.amazonaws.com/503e2bb5ae7c700dcb00000b/challenge-accepted.png[/IMG]”>http://ragefaces.s3.amazonaws.com/503e2bb5ae7c700dcb00000b/challenge-accepted.png

</a>.
Also, for the top few students, my school takes a more liberal view on how many AP’s one can take - they actually suggest to take the AP versions of any class instead of the honors classes if class ranking is high. (Eg. Why take Bio II Honors if the school covers the more material at a greater depth in AP Bio?)</p>

<p>TL;DR: I DO enjoy what I’m doing! I was just wondering how I can let this come across in an application, and how my interests can stand out from the rest. Thanks to the link MITChris posted, I’ll be expanding on activities I liked, but that I thought colleges would not care about or pay attention to.</p>

<p>collegealum: Thanks for the advice! Even though I am interested in going back to the university, I might just try something new this summer and try volunteer at the summer camp to help disabled children, while doing something similar on the side.</p>

<p>MITchris: Thank you for the post! I understand the admissions process better now - it seems to take a much more holistic view than most colleges. I’ll admit I thought my ACT scores would play a much larger role in determining my acceptance or rejection! I wish I saw this earlier. I’ve seen other posts on the blogs, but not this one. I have been doing activities I love in my spare time, and I’ll be sure to expand on those.</p>

<p>luisarose: Your post was extremely helpful! As I stated above, while I loved volunteering at the university lab, I will probably explore more this summer. About the clubs - I wanted to start them this year. Actually, two of the three clubs I talked about were already “started” 2 months ago, but we’ve not made much headway at all as the clubs are relatively new, we have to do more fundraising for anything significant to happen, and we also are getting new members. </p>

<p>While I am doing what I <em>want</em> to do, I sometimes feel that in grades, it is important to keep on par with applying students. I also keep high standardized test scores as a “challenge” I put myself up to.</p>

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<p>Read through many of the “admissions” blogs today. I am loving this place more and more (it was already my 1st choice, but I was using [Admissions</a> Statistics | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats]Admissions”>Admissions statistics | MIT Admissions) as a guideline before)- it seems so different from more colleges, it places our intellectual curiosity and passion above a SAT score, unlike so many other universities! The students and school seems to share the exact same ideals as I do - to change the world for the better with science and technology.</p>

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<p>You are doing the right stuff academically to be appealing to top schools but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Start looking at lots of other schools. MIT is wonderful but it’s not perfect for everyone and everyone isn’t perfect for MIT.</p>

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<p>You will have to do #1 and #2 yourself. For #3:</p>

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<p>My D was at a local get-together for admitted MIT students. 2 of the 3 kids did US First Robotics.</p>

<p>What can you do? Start right now, and find as many kids as you can to get interested in forming a robotics team. Visit USfirst.org, and find out about the FIRST Tech Challenge (easier to do than FIRST Robotics Competition). Spend the summer with the core kids figuring out the kit of parts. Try to build a robot to do this year’s challenge. Figure out the programming. </p>

<p>For bonus points: Try to involve Junior High kids.</p>

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<p>Oh! FIRST! That is a GREAT suggestion :slight_smile: I’m sure some of your other club members would be interested, and starting a FIRST team is a classic for MIT hopefuls. But the important thing is that you will probably love it!</p>

<p>Best of luck to you! I had doubts about whether or not you were overloading yourself for the right reasons, but your long post proved to me that you did it for the same reason I did: to improve yourself and because we love the challenge! You will end up doing great things in college wherever you go :)</p>

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<p>This is all great advice. My DS was accepted to MIT, even though he was never aiming for it. He thought he wouldn’t have much of a chance so he chose his high school activities and classes solely based on what he wanted to do. However, he ended up doing everything MITChris and others on this thread listed cause that is the kind of kid he is, naturally. If he had not been accepted, he never would have thought, “I wasted the last four years of my life.”</p>

<p>BTW, he spent last summer in band camp, training younger kids how to make robots for his FIRST FRC team, traveling, taking MIT and other online courses, and making a theremin from scratch with local engineers as mentors. I don’t think he even mentioned making the theremin on his application; he makes things like that for fun, not because he thought it would look good on an app.</p>

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<p>This FIRST stuff looks amazing! I would love to do this but I have absolutely no experience in programming… </p>

<p>EDIT: If I register for the 2013-14 team then I can learn programming over the summer! A lot of people in my school’s SNHS/Rocketry club will also interested in this!</p>

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<p>The Team requires a lot of different skills. That is why it is a Team. Programming is just one skill. Most of the time the team need a Mentor that knows programming that helps the kids learn how to do it. The team also needs mechanical and electrical people to build the robot. People to build the game field. People to think about game strategy. Organization of the team (keeping team on track, getting to/from the competition, set up of the pit at the competition, budgeting, etc.). Promotion & fund raising.</p>

<p>Each person can do multiple things, but those are the major areas you need to cover.</p>

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<p>tusing: If you want to start a new FIRST team, find a mentor team. There may be one at a neighboring school. If not, contact your state’s Regional Director and let him/her know you need mentors. The Regional Director will be able to put you in contact with a couple other established teams (hopefully nearby) to give you advice and maybe training. Part of the competition is for veteran teams to help establish new ones, so they will be very happy to do this for you if at all logistically possible. There is also a massive amount of online advice. Good luck!</p>