<p>Hello there,</p>
<p>I just read few posts on MIT regarding chance me. I usually dont read those posts but I wanted to help you because you are an international (korean) student.</p>
<p>I was an international student too and I came to the states while I was in high school in Korea. I applied to MIT too as an international student. My SAT I score was about the same as yours, and SATII scores were about the same as well. I scored 13 on AIME and went to USAMO (and I scored very high) during high school years in the U.S. I was a club president for four years (math) and I was in orchestra too. </p>
<p>However, I got rejected. I now think thats it is due to my lack of research opportunity. </p>
<p>My close friend in korea , who attended seoul science high school(서울과학고), got into MIT.
His stats were following (I do not know his GPA)</p>
<p>SAT I: 2400
SAT II: Math 2C: 800 ,Korean:800 ,Chinese:790 , Physics 800, Biology 800, Chemistry 800,
US History: 740
GPA: I dont remember his GPA, but he was within top 5 % of Seoul Science high school
(this high school is the best in Korea. most people in this high school are very very bright. therefore, being top 5% is very difficult to achieve).
ACT: N/A (south korea, if i am correct, dont have ACT or they dont offer it alot)
APs:
5: European, Cal BC, Chemistry, Physics (both E&M and Mechanic), Physics B, Biology, Statistic</p>
<p>Award:
-receiving $50,000 scholarship from Samsung (I think you should know what I am talking about, its 삼성장학재단) for the research and academic excellence. (this is similar to INTEL or Simens)
-gold medal on KMO(it is the math olympiad in korea . its difficulty is equal to that of USAMO)
-gold medal on IMO
-silver medal on KBO (Korean Biology Olympiad. didnt make it for the Korean team for IBO)
-silver medal on KpHo(Korean Physics Olympiad.)
- various awards for academic excellence at his high school</p>
<p>Research:
-worked on math project with a professor from KAIST(similar to MIT. But I think you know what this is) (it was about stochastic process/differentiation. very advanced topic you will learn in senior year at undergrad in KAIST)
-worked on physics project (particle physics) with a professor from KAIST as well
- two professors are quite famous in their fields.</p>
<p>Extracurricular activities:
-I dont remember too well.</p>
<p>Letter of recommendation(s):
- two from the professors whom he worked with on the projects (one of them had PhD from MIT)
- one from math teacher
- one from english teacher</p>
<p>I think that was his stat.
He got into all other American top schools such as Stanford, Harvard, Princeton etc.
So maybe you can get some idea what kind of applicants colleges look for. </p>
<p>If you happen to leave South Korea during high school year,
You can ask people in charge of KMO and ask them for permission of taking KMO in Korea. If you happen to make it to the 2nd part of KMO and do well, you can go for the Korean team for IMO. But you should realize that, KMO is definitely not easy because you know korean.
(Korea, despite of its low population, has higher ranking than the U.S on IMO for the past 5 years.)</p>
<p>also, if you know some professors in UCLA or USC, maybe you can email them that you are interested in doing some work / research with them. This helps alot. </p>
<p>I think your ECs are fine. Just work on the research part and math olympiad. You can go to USAMO as an international student but you cant go beyond than that)
If you still have some questions, send me a message and I would like to help you out.</p>
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