<p>Do people with B's get into MIT?!
I'm a ASIAN MALE, freshman, who is taking
AP Calculus AB
AP Computer Science
Honors Freshman Composition (yadadada...)
Chemistry
Random Elective
Foundations of World History
Spanish 3
PE
I have a B in CALCULUS!
Yes, this is only the first semester, but am I screwed!?
I'm ASIAN. AND A MALE.
Sorry for all the caps, I am genuinely freaking out right now.
The only way for me to pull my calculus grade back up is to ace the next two tests, or attempt to, anyway...</p>
<p>EDIT:
Ok, I went and made myself a cup of tea.
I'm guaranteed programming lead for our robotics team, guaranteed position in key club, guaranteed a position in math club, and guaranteed a position in debate club.
Help!</p>
<p>One B isn’t going to kill you; MIT realizes that courses can be unnecessarily challenging. Certainly get a 5 on the exam to prove that you do know the material, though, because calculus is rather important. Certainly worth trying to go for the A, though–you might need your Get Out of Jail Free card later.</p>
<p>Disregard other classes, acquire A in calculus.</p>
<p>Seriously, you should make every effort to get an A in that class, but you’re not screwed if you do get a B, especially since you’re a freshman. You better pwn all your other math classes after this, though. :P</p>
<p>You’re taking calculus as a freshman? I know nothing about admissions, but I am personally pretty impressed with the fact that you are currently taking this class and getting a B. Just putting that out there.</p>
<p>That said, it’s way too early for you to be stressing out about college. You’re a freshman. In high school. Enjoy it. Do your best. Find things that you like to do and do them. Keep college in the back of your mind (in that you should know what kind of standards you need to set for yourself to do the things you want to do in the future). </p>
<p>But if you start actively worrying about it now you’ll give yourself all kinds of unnecessary stress for the next four years. Seriously? I would log off this website until late sophomore year at the very earliest. It’s useful when you’re doing applications as an information resource, but not so useful earlier than that as it begets the drawing of crazy and useless comparisons.</p>
<p>“I have a B-Grade transcript, with a couple of A’s, but no other letters”</p>
<p>There’s no harm in applying - circumstances vary and the transcript is just one part of the application.</p>
<p>That said, unless you go to one of a select few high schools that are known for being extremely rigorous and tough, you really want to have more A’s than B’s. Your transcript should demonstrate that you can handle the workload here. </p>
<p>If you want to go here then by all means apply - but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Find other schools that you would also be happy to attend, apply to a good variety of these, and just see what happens.</p>
<p>I was accepted with a B+ in gym, so the answer to your question is unequivocally yes.</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t think a B in AP Calculus will be looked fondly upon given that it is MIT… Do find out how your school reports grades though, because if they only report final grades (as my school and many others do), then a B in first semester won’t matter as long as you do better next semester and get it up to an A.</p>
<p>Also, seeing that your taking Calculus freshmen year, I imagine you’ve accelerated yourself beyond the normal curriculum path at your school? A non college-related piece of advice, I think you may want to consider if that was a wise choice?</p>
<p>Finally, yes, please stay away from this forum until junior year. It’s way too early for you to be stressing about college. Believe me, it’s bad enough as a senior. If you start now, it’ll start killing you senior year…</p>
<p>You could’ve ended your sentence with “this forum”. I am personally glad that I did not discover this place until I had already been admitted – with so many people proclaiming false absurdities, I’m not sure I would’ve thought I’d stood a chance by applying.</p>
<p>^That’s true, but if you live in a place where barely anyone else applies to MIT/similar schools, it can be hard to find useful information and advice for applications. I thought the FAQ on this forum was particularly useful when I was filling out applications. I think the usefulness of this forum depends on how you use it. You shouldn’t use it to compare yourself to other people or try to figure out your “chances”, but it can be a good source for information/tips.</p>
<p>^ I lived in such a place (more context, I hadn’t even heard of MIT until the end of junior year of high school). I haven’t seen anything on here that I hadn’t seen on the admissions website at the time.</p>
<p>I got into MIT and I had six B’s on my transcript. (Two every year) Two were even in regular non-AP courses (freshman year), and two more were in AP Calculus (AB and BC, junior year). So, yeah. Just saying. It won’t hurt you that much as long as the other parts of your application are strong.</p>