<p>All I've been hearing, maybe it's true, is that MIT accepts kids with near perfect grades/scores. Does that mean MIT doesn't accept students with grades/scores lower than average?</p>
<p>Also, does MIT re-calculate GPA?</p>
<p>I'm an "okay" academic student, with a GPA weighted at ~3.8 and SAT scores at 1350/1600. I have had one of the hardest course-loads during my sophomore/junior/senior year. My grades arn't that great because I tend to get bored with the 8:30-2:30 routine with class after class. I enjoy activities after school, I hold positions in 4 clubs and I love doing what I do. I've been a musician for 12 years and a performer for six.</p>
<p>On paper, I am not science/math strong. I want to go to MIT for business. Where would someone like me stand in the applicant pool?</p>
<p>From what I've heard there are two main pools of accepted applicants--the perfect scorers and those in range but stronger in other fields like humanity.</p>
<p>Statistically, no they don't. Perusing the data posted by mollie, if you aren't in the top 5% of your class you might get more use out of the admission fee by using it to take your family to the movies.</p>
<p>Read other threads on this forum, including the admitted students threads from EA and RD last year, and you'll see that the "everyone is a perfect scorer" myth is far from true. That's not to say that MIT admits a lot of "lower than average" scorers, but by no means is the deck stacked with perfection. (Scores for the Class of 2009 can be reviewed in the most recent MIT Common Data Set.) The 25th %ile for SAT I was 740 M, 690 V/CR, so perhaps 250 students in the class had SATs in that range. </p>
<p>Note that even if you're looking to study business, there's this little thing with the GIRs which every undergrad has to take (currently 2 semesters of calculus, 2 semesters of calc-based physics, a semester each of bio and chem, and a humanities and lab distribution), so if you're "not science/math strong", you might not feel there's a good fit with MIT. But if you're OK with that, you'd certainly be given consideration in the admissions process.</p>
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Does MIT accept students with "okay" grades/SAT scores?
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In one word- No.</p>
<p>EDIT: So I'm adding to my one word. :D. Admissions officers frequently cite cases in which students who have less than stellar SAT scores and GPAs have been admitted but these cases are exceptions rather than the rule. They have probably demonstrated some extraordinary talent in a specific field or have some other kind of "hook" that gets them in. I'm not sure if MIT recruits athletes-maybe Mollie could shed some light on this.</p>
<p>An average student with OK SAT scores has very little chance of getting in. That being said, you should always try- the only thing you lose is your application fee.</p>
<p>Athletes can be "recruited", but a letter from an MIT coach is seen in the same light as an achievement in something else. Athletic ability is evaluated along with other abilities, and it's not seen as superior to, say, musical ability or something. Being recruited for an MIT sport won't save a mediocre application [insert obligitory snark about Harvard].</p>
<p>That said, people with either less than stellar SAT scores or less than stellar grades are admitted all the time. I will bring up my poor embattled fiance again -- he got a 710 on math, 690 on verbal, and a 450 on his writing SAT II, which would be an 1850 on the new scale. He's a white middle-class male from MA, and the rest of his application was strong, but not mind-blowing.</p>
<p>One poor component of an otherwise strong application isn't going to by itself sink the application. MIT admits kids who make mistakes. It's just that when you start having several weak points in a single application, things aren't looking so hot.</p>
<p>EDIT: I also think it's important to distinguish between average average and applicant pool average. Truly average high school students don't have much of a shot at MIT. Kids who are great but not perfect tend to refer to themselves as "average" because they aren't 2400/800*2/4.0uw/9.75w clones; these kids often have a great shot, they're just underestimating themselves.</p>
<p>In response to the comments about athletic recruiting/music talent and average scores:</p>
<p>I am definitely a test that will show if MIT looks past the stats because:
1) I submitted piano music that was pretty advanced
2) a coach is writing me a letter of recomendation
3) my interviewer said mine was the best interview she's had in seven years
4) my essays really displayed who I am, but it also really matched what MIT looks for
5) im really active in the community, doing peer tutoring/counseling/mentoring, playing piano for rest homes, and being the president of a fantastic Environment Club at my school</p>
<p>The bad:
2180 SAT
M 760 CR 710 Writing 710
3.8 UW GPA
White male!</p>
<p>If Im not accepted, I bet its because of those scores :)</p>
<p>"That said, people with either less than stellar SAT scores or less than stellar grades are admitted all the time. I will bring up my poor embattled fiance again -- he got a 710 on math, 690 on verbal, and a 450 on his writing SAT II, which would be an 1850 on the new scale. He's a white middle-class male from MA, and the rest of his application was strong, but not mind-blowing."</p>
<p>This is undoubtably a random card non-URM admit -which provides the basis for a possible legal strategy which these elite (and very race conscious) schools are constantly preparing for -should for example a future litigant down the road claim race was the sole factor in being denied admission</p>
<p>For example it allows a school to make the argument "If race were the deciding factor, then why are we admitting Mr Johnny White Middle Class along with his (URM level) relatively low SAT scores </p>
<p>Every single elite schools seems to have a handful of cases like this: basically URM stats added to a middle class background with no obvious "X" factor</p>
<p>"CITATION X, let me ask you this. Is there some evidence which you would accept as refutation for your argument?"</p>
<p>Yes, it could be refuted very simply: release precise number of URM admits along with SAT scores and ranges, GPAs, class rank etc and show us corresponding non- URM white or asian admits with a comparable range of scores and grades</p>
<p>However, if it turns out for example there are 10 to 20 URM admits for every ONE comparable (apparently non-qualified by conventional measures) non-URM middle class white admit - it will be evidence that these colleges are using a TOKEN system - just as I've described</p>
<p>It would be interesting if you would post for us a list of schools which provide this sort of data. I can't think of a single one off the top of my head.</p>
<p>I had a question.. I got a 650 in the SATII Physics and SATII MathIIC ( with an ACT score of 30 ). I have been torn between Engineering and Business for the past few months. However, in the case of MIT, I figure I should indicate a business major so that my SATII scores dont look as bad as they would for an engineering major! What do you guys think?</p>
<p>
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However, in the case of MIT, I figure I should indicate a business major so that my SATII scores dont look as bad as they would for an engineering major! What do you guys think?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think it will make any difference, except that if you are interested in business and can write good essay that show why MIT would be the right place for you THAT would make a difference. MIT doesn't accept people by major, but they do read your essay - that's your chance to sell how you fit.</p>
<p>I have already written my " Why Engineering?" essay wihch talks about my love for machines as well as my "entrepreneural ambitions". I am just afraid that a SATII Math score of 650 will look really bad for an MIT engineering.. It might be alright for business since its not as science intensive. </p>
<p>So essentially, the essays will make or break the deal and not what my stated major is?</p>
<p>I have already written my " Why Engineering?" essay wihch talks about my love for machines as well as my "entrepreneural ambitions". I am just afraid that a SATII Math score of 650 will look really bad for an MIT engineering.. It might be alright for business since its not as science intensive. </p>
<p>So in your opinion, its the essays that will make or break my application and not the major ( relative to the scores I got )?</p>