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It seems to me that MIT is really good at figuring out the context of an applicant, then evaluating him/her based on that. They certainly try as hard as they can to.
I doubt it. One award shouldn’t make or break you.</p>
<p>“If I simply were just to guess who would do best at MIT, the candidates from less stellar high schools in the area I cover would not stand a chance at admission. They are less polished, have no research experience, less access to AP classes. They can’t afford test prep or fancy summer internships.”</p>
<p>…Well, I went to an unknown rural public school that had limited AP offerings, had no research experience, and had no test prep or summer internships (fancy or otherwise), and I’m currently typing this from an MIT dormitory. Such a description could apply to a lot of my friends here as well. So, I would say that insinuating that such candidates “would not stand a chance at admission” is quite off base.</p>
<p>I don’t know what exactly you mean by “normal”, but I know a lot of people here who would fit my definition of academically normal. That is, they haven’t won (or even heard of) academic international competitions.</p>
<p>Six people got into MIT from my high school – all of them were “normal.”</p>
<p>MAN O MAN … these big posts … well i just hope above all that I get in … and everybody else should get in too … and just keep posting arguments like these so that we can find solace by the time we get our decisions … !!! chheerio !! :D</p>
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<p>I will add that to my list, “go to an amazingly well regarded high school”.</p>
<p>cellardweller,</p>
<p>Thank you again for your comments. Ten students from one high school seems like quite a high school to me. Between you and IV you’ve got 1.5% of the MIT freshman class covered from just two high schools. It think these kids are probably not as normal as you guys think they are. 97%+ of high schools send zero kids to MIT in a given year. I hear what you are saying though and I appreciate your perspective.</p>
<p>yeah…i’d like to know what high school this is lol</p>
<p>What about factors that aren’t so commonly discussed, like family illness, my sister has been debilitatingly epileptic since birth, and my grandmother who lives with my family has been in the hospital at least once a month for the past 4 years.</p>
<p>I wrote about this topic in one of my short essays, but I’m not sure how much it will affect my chances of getting in, since it’s the only thing “unique” about me…</p>
<p>I don’t know what high school the poster was referring to, but there are certain high schools with high representations (TJ, Exeter, etc.). Still, the vast majority of people here did not attend such a high school - most people do come from average public schools</p>
<p>I am one of the “normal people,” and I got accepted</p>
<p>In comparison to the whole class, I would say few are ‘normal’ and are without some outstanding math and or science achievement or have some other hook and got in onhigh test scores good grades and good essays alone</p>
<p>By normal what do you mean? Nothing is ever black and white.</p>
<p>As stated above and multiple times before, normal as in no Major math and science awards and honors or some other kind of hook</p>
<p>Then, from having attended MIT, I would say you are incorrect. Most of the people I knew at MIT were smart, but very few had major math/science awards or anything in high school.</p>
<p>Even looking at non-anecdotal sources, [Chris</a>’ numbers indicate](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/882019-statistics-mit-2014-admissions-cycle.html]Chris”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/882019-statistics-mit-2014-admissions-cycle.html) that less than a third of the class qualifies as “academic stars”.
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<p>I concur with the idea that normal people don’t get into MIT, if by “normal” you mean population median, IQ 100, public high school B average people. But if by “normal” you mean smart kids who got good grades and standardized test scores, but didn’t do anything amazing in high school, then I can tell you unequivocally that those kinds of people do get into MIT – after all, I was one of them.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d never heard of these math/science competitions until it was way too late, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to do the Intel competition because I would be volunteering abroad, though I did look at it.</p>
<p>I was worried that not winning Teen Jeopardy would keep me out of MIT, but as it turns out, something about me showed potential anyway.</p>
<p>wow, a lot of posts here and all of them to some extent make me feel better… so thank you people =]</p>
<p>But you know as an international applicant, it’s very difficult to judge yourself based on the criteria you guys always mention… i mean other than personality, these olympiads, or intel or national math/science competitions, we don’t have any here at all! </p>
<p>Plus being in a british curriculum, we don’t have AP or honours classes… it’s just A levels. There are so many uncertainties and they scare me, and what happens if you mess up in one year of your high school academically? Even if you score best at your school, what if you don’t do well over all for that one year? How low do your chances get?</p>
<p>I also think it is a misnomer to call people who didn’t make USAMO or some such thing all normal. Maybe they didn’t try to, and maybe they couldn’t but are independently talented.</p>
<p>Doing well on such competitions is undoubtedly very prestigious, but it is clear a lot of far from normal students do not have those accomplishments. </p>
<p>MIT is obviously not normal, and one should not plan on being normal to get in. Most simply will not get in. </p>
<p>It seems it is more accurate to say the notion of “pleasantly abnormal” is more encompassing, rather than that claiming “normal” constitutes a majority of a super selective school. This might explain why Mollie put quotes around the term normal.</p>
<p>How is NORMAL defined for internationals with weak socio-economic background ??</p>
<p>Same here. I was just wondering, I am also a normal person who is currently attending the University of Central Florida and I am a freshman in Mechanical Engineering. Never have won any big awards (at least in the math and science field although I have won music awards) and have never built anything that is out of this world. What I am though is hard working and dedicated and want a chance either into MIT or CalTech for graduate school. Am I setting my goals to high? Or is there a chance?</p>
<p>I am up with ralfsk8 with two minor differences … Neither I am in University of Central Florida nor do I aim for CalTech !!</p>
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</p>
<ol>
<li>I don’t have any major awards.</li>
<li>I chose band over Science Olympiad.</li>
<li>I’ve taken an online college course, that’s it.</li>
<li>I’ve never invented anything.</li>
<li>Well, my flute CD was good quality, but that’s about it.</li>
</ol>
<p>And I got into MIT today.</p>
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</p>
<ol>
<li>I’m definitely not a slacker. I’ve worked hard. Senioritis? Not me haha. After college apps, I’ve applied to 15-20 scholarships because I won’t get any need-based financial aid.</li>
<li>I’m well-rounded: I love music, I write poetry, and I want to be a doctor.</li>
<li>In my essays, I didn’t have any amazing scientific endeavor do expound upon (i.e. no summer research, volunteering in a foreign country, etc.). In fact, I was rather candid - I explained what was important to me (how writing prevents me from ever being boring, how I grew up in China, how I learned a lesson from a failure, how completely unrelated events in my life led to my interest in becoming a doctor).</li>
</ol>
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<p>It’s been said before, but never lose hope. To be quite honest, I never felt I was a spectacular student with a closet of SciOly trophies or a major research project or some extraordinary talent. But I’ve always worked hard, and if you keep working hard, good things will come to you :)</p>