Hi
I’m still in middle school so I still have a long ways to go. I was wondering if you guys could advise me on what to focus on to get accepted to MIT. Besides School, I want to know what other things I can do like robotics competitions or internships.
Main Interests: Comp Sci, Languages
Currently:
Fluent in English, Spanish, Mandarin
Learning French
Participate in FLL, FTC, VexIQ (Robotics Competition)
Programming in JavaScript and RobotC
Future:
I plan to take French and Spanish in HS, Chinese out of school.
I will also take all the Comp Sci Classes my school offers.
@maneki:
Take the previous post about applying_sideways seriously.
If you seek to live your next few years via a game plan/recipe for what you have to complete to get into MIT, you’ll not only disappoint yourself for using the wrong approach, but you’ll miss out on many experiences and opportunities.
^ Yup. There is no sure path, and the best approach is to do those things that truly excite you without consideration for how they will affect your chances for college admission.
@maneki It is too early for you to be focusing on MIT or any particular university. It’s possible that your interests or where you want to study could change during HS (not saying it will, but it might as it did for me, even as a recent MIT grad).
I do not think it is too early, if you are an 8th grader and know your interests are in technical subjects like robotics. Make a sensible college list now and refine it once you take the ACT/SAT. Look at scores and compare, for a rough idea where you can get in. MIT does not focus on scores, though, but its still a good first pass to figure out where you will fit in academically. Taking the SAT or ACT early may be a very good plan so you can gauge your list and realize what you are up against. Don’t worry too much about MIT blogs about admissions, just do what you like to do and see if your scores are anywhere close to average scores. Its not fun to go to college where you are struggling, is why I recommend using your scores. Some posters will disagree with my approach.
Being a big fish in a small pond suits some students. MIT is an ocean. Do you want to be dog paddling around in an ocean? Enjoying exotic fish? Then MIT may be for you.