<p>Hi, I'm a senior student and I'm international. I don't know if this question was asked before, even if it did I couldn't find it, so I'm still asking. :)</p>
<p>MIT is my dream for a long time; I will be applying this year. I don't know if my accomplishments so far are enough or not but honestly, I can't say I have much hope. So, I'm planning to wait one year and apply again. I know I can do many, many things during that year. I can higher my SAT score, nearly perfect and I can find very good internships, do better in my ECs.</p>
<p>Now I got acceptance from Harvard-MIT lab for six-month internship, I will be the only high school student there, it will be finished by next year. Also I'm working on a project right now, I'm very hopeful about it and probably I'll be at least ISEF semifinalist with it, maybe I can make a publication. (I'm working with the only Turkish prof. worked in NASA.) </p>
<p>I know you will say that it doesn't make sense to wait one year just to get in one specific school. But I know that MIT is the right place for me, so I just want to know would it be a disadvantage in the admissions to wait one year? </p>
<p>So you are applying this year? I would recommend doing so, since MIT tends to be very much in favor of letting students take gap years, so there’s no harm.</p>
<p>If you have awesome things you want to take a year off for, do it! But if you’re specifically gaming to get into MIT, realize that MIT is a very hard school to get into, and beefing up your resume for a year isn’t going to guarantee admissions by any means. So, do stuff because you want to do it, not because you want to get into MIT - because the odds are, it won’t happen.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply!!! I’m really glad to hear MIT is in favor of letting students taking gap years. And you’re right, doing things only for getting in doesn’t bring anything… You can’t even be successful in something you don’t like… </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t like sports too much, or these leadership positions(even though I have some)… The thing I like to do most is apparently research!!! I have completed 4-5 projects in 3 years and I’m still doing… I love being in a lab, so that’s what I do. I only need one more year to do something significant with my interest. And I hope MIT would appreciate it. </p>
<p>I know MIT is right for me, and I know transferring there is even harder, so I think it’s worth it… But if I wouldn’t be admitted even then, I will always have a B plan. :)</p>
<p>I would suggest applying this year, because there’s no harm in re-applying after your gap year if you’re not admitted. The research internship sounds like a fabulous opportunity, and I think it will be a great experience for you, as well as being helpful for your application.</p>
<p>Thank you molliebatmit!! I’m also very excited about that internship! Hope it helps on the admissions too, especially if I could get rec from the head of the lab there. </p>
<p>So, it won’t be against me on the admissions if I take a gap year, right? As long as I have plans for that year, I will wait.</p>
<p>Can you take one semester of college courses at a community college during the gap year? Possibly taking them without earning credit if you have to</p>
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