<p>Because MIT is an elite school and their acceptance rates are low, this can be harsh. I apologize in advance.</p>
<p>African American Female <--Underrepresented minority, that's really good.
Pittsburgh, PA <-- Large city on the East Coast, not good.</p>
<p>My grades in high school have gotten better every year
Freshman year: 3 B's
Sophomore year: 2 B's
Junior year: All A's
Weighted GPA: 4.0/4
Classes for Senior Year:
AP Bio,H English,Statistics [Then at a local community college]:Calculus,Psychology,English,Sociology
^ Improvement is good. Keep those grades up. However, it tells nothing about you. Did you take the hardest classes you can take at your school? Then good. If not, you're in trouble. GPA tells of almost nothing. Where are you ranked in your school? Top? Kind of top? Middle?</p>
<p>Also, your school is taken into account. Is it in a suburb? Inner-city? Sends lots of kids to top schools? Makes a lotta difference.</p>
<p>Scores:
SAT CR-600, W-670, M-760
^ Your math score is high and for MIT, that's good. But everything else, no. Get them up past 700.</p>
<p>Summer programs:
2005-JHops:study of biotechnology and bioethics (received college credit)
2006-MIT:MITES study of engineering, lasted 6 weeks, very intensive/well-known
^ Good good good good good! Shows long interest in fields. MITES = very good. Did you do well in them? Make any connections? Get good recommendations?</p>
<p>Awards:
Mars High Academic Recognition (2006-2007)
All-American National Scholars Program (2005-2007)
Leaders of Tomorrow Nominee (2007)
Who’s Who in America (2006-2007)
WPIAL Champion for Team Golf (2006-2007)
WPIAL Section Champion-Golf (2005-’06, 2006-’07)
Fall-Festival Honorable Mention (2004, 2005)
GUILD Piano Competition (8-time winner)
National Honor Roll (2005-2007)
Future Problem Solving State Qualifier-(2005-2006)
^Get rid of Who's Who and National Honor Roll, you're going to get laughed at, it's nothing more than scams.</p>
<p>Leadership:
Leaders of Tomorrow (2007)
President of Key Club (2006-2008)
Captain of Golf Team (2007-2008)
Student Council Senator (2006-2008)
Class Council Member (2006-2008)
Interact Club (2005-2006)
Future Problem Solving Head (2004-2005)
^ Stay in power.</p>
<p>EC's:
Golf (7 years)
Track(5 years)
Piano (11 years)
Bible Club (2 years)
^ Those are fine, assuming you're still doing them, if you've stopped doing them, take them off, colleges don't like to see quitters. Nothing that will stand out. Being 8-time winner of just one piano competition might get an (unwanted) eye-brow raise as most competitive piano players will compete in other competitions. And if you're an 8-time winner of one, and not winning others, that's odd. Bible Club - not long enough, unless you're really into it now? But no leadership. Same with track, no leadership, any awards?</p>
<p>Internship at the University of Pittsburgh (shadowing Doug Weber who heads the research into Neuroprosthetics) (2007-2008)
Shadowing Chief of Plastic Surgery (Guy Stofman) at Mercy Hospital (2007-2008)
^ Good. It would be even better if you could get a (detailed and specific) recommendation from one of them.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon Females in Engineering Day (2007)
^ Just one day?</p>
<p>North Texas Junior PGA Member (2004-2005)
^Not any more?</p>
<p>Volunteer:
Key Club
^Everyone does it. I was on a district executive board. Only mentioned it once.</p>
<p>Angel Tree
Baylor Hospital
Interaction with people at Assisted Living Centers
^Is this an ongoing, regular weekly thing? If you're just doing this once a month, no point in mentioning it.</p>
<p>Assisting with mentally challenged at school (5-10 hours a week)
^ How long have you been doing this? Any passion for helping out mentally challenged kids? Want to go into bio to help them out?</p>
<p>“Toys for Tots”
Pasta for Pennies
Collected money for UNICEF (Kenyan kids with aids)
^Unless you raised some significant amount or organized something huge, admissions is going to feel indifferent.</p>
<p>I had a ton of activities where I was head of what-sits. And at that level (Ivies, MIT, etc.), you have to realize that most of your high school accomplishments aren't unique at all when you're competing with the top students around the country. Being captain of a team and president of a three clubs and editor of a publication is not uncommon. I suggest you find a topic or theme for your application, a passion that will make you stand out amongst the other applicants.</p>
<p>I hope that helped! I think you've got a good shot if you raise your SAT scores, have fantastic recommendations, write amazing essays, and give your application a "focus" (which I think you're inches away from). You've already collected the proper building blocks, now build!</p>