<p>The “major” competitions are only a big boost if you do well on them, and there are a very small number of people in the country who have done so. Does USAMO qualification help a lot? Do you need to qualify for USAMO? If that was the case, then MIT’s entering class could only be about 100-125 people. There are very few people with high performance in the marquee competitions (olympiads, INTEL, RSI). Even if all of them applied and they all got in, MIT still would have to admit 1000 more people.</p>
<p>Thank you. That takes a tremendous weight off my shoulders! I live in a small town where no one I know has even heard of AMC, AIME, USAMO, or any other “major” competition. I found them by doing a lot of “how to get into MIT” searching haha, but now I understand that those threads are pointless. The trick to MIT admissions is being unique, honest, and passionate about everything you do, and I hope to find one or two activities that are fairly unique that I am very interested in.</p>
<p>@wellthatsokay</p>
<p>Me too! I had never heard of them before going on this website.</p>
<p>I really think that it helps a lot to apply to competitions like Siemens and Intel. When I look at our 2016 MIT facebook group, I recognize a lot of the names from local science competitions and big ones like ISEF and Intel. Just doing research really is important not only for getting into schools like MIT, but also preparing you for the courseload and UROPs at MIT. A lot of people don’t compete because, like you, it’s difficult in the area they are from. But if it is possible for you to compete and you don’t take advantage of the opportunity, then it will reflect negatively on your application.</p>
<p>I was a recruited athlete at MIT, and I was HEAVILY recruited by the coach. He really wanted me to go, pushed a lot for me, and I still got waitlisted. So, while it definitely helped me even get waitlisted, it is by no means a considerable boost that ensures admissions (and I never expected it to be).</p>
<p>Hey, no awards and accepted. Have faith :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>I did USAMO and some other major competitions and got into MIT. They really improve your chances of admission, but they don’t guarantee it. MIT basically looks for people who can “fit” into the campus; this is where the interview stands out. In my case, it was probably a combination of both.</p>
<p>If you are Asian boys, you definitely need those national level awards. Our school got in 8 this year. 5 of them have intel STS, siemens, USAMO, RSI or other national level Olympiad. The other 3, 2 are girls and 1 is probably URM.</p>