Do I have a chance to get into MIT?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys. So I'm currently a sophomore at Suncoast Community High School in Riveria Beach, FL, and even though I'm only going to be submitting my college app in about 2 years, this is one of the most important years for me to put something "special" on my resume. So far this is the list of achievements I have:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Currently ranked 1st out of 384 students</p></li>
<li><p>I'm very smart at Math</p>

<ul>
<li>Mu Alpha Theta Nationals</li>
<li>10th place in Limits and Derivatives</li>
<li>9th place mu gemini</li>
<li>Mathcounts (8th grade)</li>
<li>1st in Palm Beach County</li>
<li>26th in the state of florida</li>
<li>2nd place in PBCCTM Competition</li>
<li>17th place in individual at FAU Math day competition, 4th place in team</li>
<li>played piano for 7 years, have played at nursing homes and churches, have not<br>
attended any competitions</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>-Started playing tennis 1 and a half years ago, started playing under 16 boys USTA matches</p>

<p>-Owner and Creator of I-phone app UCollege (Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ucollege/id639596350?ls=1&mt=8%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ucollege/id639596350?ls=1&mt=8&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>

<p>-Did taekwondo for 6 years; I've also attended state and national level taekwondo tournaments and won some medals/trophies</p>

<p>-AP's Taken last year</p>

<p>-AP Calc AB (Score: 5)</p>

<p>-AP Stats (Score: 3, didn't believe it at first, but after doing a rescore, score remained the same, was quite shocked/depressed after seeing this)</p>

<p>-AP World History (Score: 3, also shocked when I saw this)</p>

<p>This year I also will be taking my Math II SAT Subject test and my PSAT (very important for national merit scholar). In conclusion, do you guys have anything to respond to this? Do I have any chance to get into MIT? Should I focus on a certain part that I am really weak or lacking in my resume? Any tips/comments? Feel free to respond with constructive criticism, I can take it and plus I need to know what are options for my future ahead.</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

2

<p>Nope, you need something that makes you stand out. Everyone else that will be applying has the same application with a bunch of different extracurricular activities.</p>

3

<p>@TheOmnipotent, could you elaborate on what you mean by that? my achievements show that I that show great passion in mathematics as well as computer science by launching an iphone app.</p>

4

<p>Well, I would focus on your iPhone app. Remember that you don’t have to list every minute thing that you can find in your EC/awards section. That comes off as pretentious.</p>

5

<p>This doesn’t relate directly to your MIT chances question, but I would recommend not identifying your specific high school here. You never know who else is reading this, and it’s not necessary info needed to answer your question.</p>

6

<p>Your math achievements don’t seem that impressive – I know a few people here who have multiple IMO gold medals or have published math research papers in HS. I made the USAMO once, which isn’t nearly as impressive as that, but oh well…Still, I would avoid listing MATHCOUNTS on a college app since it’s a middle school competition (unless you did really well in Nationals or something). Same with 17th place or 26th place, unless they’re more prestigious.</p>

<p>I would showcase your taekwondo experience, the iPhone app you’ve coded, and only a couple of the math competitions. MIT likes people with diverse interests. I never did well enough on PSAT for the Natl. Merit Scholarship, but if you want to go for it, go for it.</p>

7

<p>Let me start by saying that as a sophomore you are at a good place to be thinking - and acting - about these things. But I think your list shows little more than that you are an otherwise ‘normal’ student who excels at math. Based on my interpretation of your achievements, you may be in the top 100? 50? 25? students your age in Florida for math. But MIT takes only around 200-250 students into Math/Computer Science each year, and typically around 5% of a freshman class is from Florida. And what you have listed here doesn’t to me show passion so much as smarts. Passion might be looking for learning opportunities outside of school, for example, or using your facility with math to help others to appreciate it. (The iPhone app is a nice touch, but the link you gave suggests it isn’t that great; and realistically probably more than 10,000 people can claim to have written an iPhone app.) In other words… nothing here suggests you couldn’t make it, but as Omnipotent says, nothing here makes you stand out from other MIT-caliber applicants.</p>

8

<p>Way to go with the nice fake review on your app page. Also fix your Decription first sentence, it isn’t properly written.</p>

<p>Now that you know MIT is going to be on your college list, you can spend time searching for the rest of the colleges to place on your list (I know an app you can use for that…) You will have a better idea Jr year when you know your SAT’s and that is the year that psat counts for NMSQT.</p>

<p>Just continue to push yourself in your coursework, but don’t overload so you can’t do well. Develop your written english skills. Do activities that interest you and make yourself an interesting person.</p>

<p>Oh and MIT answers your question right on the website
<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways[/url]”>http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>After reading the list of comments shown here, it seems that I don’t stand much of a chance compared to others who are going to apply to MIT, but then again, I was skeptical about my “achievements” to begin with. I should probably work on my app more (I never said it was good… i don’t have all the time in the world as it is) and continue to “diversify” through my EC’s. Maybe I could do better in my “math” related sections by making it off to USAJMO, which I’m currently studying for. TO conclude, thanks for all the comments, you’ve all helped me gain a better perspective for my application!</p>

10

<p>Yes, making USAJMO or USAMO will definitely make your application stand out. I also find contest math more enjoyable than the regular HS curriculum. Feel free to ask me any questions about the AMC/AIME/USAMO competitions.</p>

11

<p>I’m his twin brother FYI :stuck_out_tongue: ^
Anyways, he made the iPhone app with me. Would it matter how many apps we made, or should we focus more on quality more than quantity. For example, should we create 3 apps that are useful or just create 10 apps on ideas that may or may not be taken.</p>

12

<p>@MITer94 If we made USAJMO this year, would it help if in the next two years we also made USAMO, would that increase our chances of getting in? Also, what do you suggest we do in addition to just USAJMO, like should we make more iPhone apps, should we tutor kids, etc. Our passions are computer science, and math, so any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>

13

<p>@vishiswoz Focusing on quality is definitely better. You’d be much more successful if you had one best-selling app than ten mediocre apps that had glitches.</p>

<p>Just do whatever you’re passionate about. Making USAJMO/USAMO is definitely nice, if you work at it and make MOP that’ll be very impressive on college apps (I almost made MOP, got a 13/42 when the cutoff was 18 :stuck_out_tongue: ).</p>