<p>Hi, my name is Tommy and I'm currently a freshman at LHS in the small rural town of Lunenburg, MA. Ever since the 3rd grade, I have had a deep passion for Science and Mathematics. My dream and life goal for many years has been to one day be able to work with and learn from the some of the most brilliant minds on Earth, at MIT. I have strived to achieve academic excellence specifically in Math and Science, as well as in my other areas of studies. I have been in the highest level of classes throughout my school years, and currently. For the past few months I have been reading (specifically blogs :) ) and researching about the admission process of MIT. After reading for many hours, I still have a few questions left unanswered, and was wondering if someone such as the likes of Ben Jones would be able to answer them. My primary question is that, when reading and sorting through applications, how large of a role do AP courses play? My reason for asking this is that my town is relatively small, and does not offer many AP classes. They mainly have AP classes for the main subjects such as Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, etc. Also, what are the types of extracurricular activities that are taken into heavy consideration, as once again, my school does not offer many (there seems to be a pattern here :) ). I am currently involved with Mock Trial, School Plays, Marching Band, Jazz Band, and a few others. Due to the lack of activities offered, I have also been looking into trying to establish Model U.N. at our school. Also, I have been searching for other Mathematical and Scientific related activities to try and establish, and was wondering if anyone knew of some great ones for High School. One large question that I also still had was that how large of a role Private Schools play in the admission process, as I applied to a few Private High Schools during 8th grade, and was turned down for each of them due to lack of financial aid to pay for the costs. Would this also be taken into consideration during the admission process? Lastly, as an aspiring student heavily interested in Math & Science, what would you recommend for summer courses/activities/labs? I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read my questions,</p>
<p>Tommy, one thing I suggest you do is read this entry on the Parents forum here at CC which Ben wrote in Oct. 2005 about APs and high school classes. The thread was called, sarcastically, "Whoever has the most APs wins", and Ben's comments have been quoted often. I hope you will find his remarks reassuring.</p>
<p>That said, there is no "formula" for getting in to MIT. You have several years ahead of you: the best thing you can do now is follow your passions: there are online competitions you can get involved in, and you could even consider starting an extracurricular activity at your school, if it isn't "offered" and you want to pursue it! (I would recommend looking into Botball[/url</a>] and [url=<a href="http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/%5DFIRST">www.usfirst.org/robotics/]FIRST</a> Robotics competitions, and AMC</a> math and ACSL</a> programming and quiz</a> bowl competitions, if you can find faculty sponsors!) Do well in your classes and make good use of your time. And look for other schools you're interested in also: thousands of excellent students apply to MIT each year, and it is never a safe thing to assume you will be accepted. It's good to strive and apply and hope, but it's realistic to develop some alternative choices where you'd also be happy to attend.</p>
<p>You've got time, make good use of it, have fun, and don't obsess about college applications for another few years! :)</p>
<p>I think I can answer some of your questions.</p>
<p>In terms of APs and extracirriculars, the admissions officers will get info about your school from your guidance counselors. They will know about the limited opportunities availalbe to you. This means they won't hold it against you if you only took an AP class or two if your school didn't offer many. My school only offered handful as well, so I only took two AP classes (and self "studied"...ha...for two others), and I got in. Same deal goes for extracirriculars. If you try to start any type of activity in your school, that's a great way to demonstrate your passion. A great high school science/technology activity is FIRST Robotics Competition. Haha. But starting your own team is HARD. </p>
<p>As for public vs. private, MIT doesn't give more weight to either. Plus there's no reason they'd need to know that you didn't attend a private school you applied to for any reason.</p>
<p>I'll leave the summer activities question for someone else, I always did summer activities in sports or polisci. =)</p>
<p>Everybody else has given some great info, so I'll just say welcome, and that your extracurriculars look a lot like mine did in high school! :) You certainly don't have to do any math/science ECs -- although I think many people who end up at MIT have done them, just because we happen to like science around here. But they're certainly not required for admission.</p>
<p>I always thought it would be fun to start a club that went around doing science demonstrations for the younger students in my school district.</p>
<p>If you get bored with the coursework offered at your school, you could try taking distance courses through a number of schools -- Stanford's [url=<a href="http://epgy.stanford.edu/%5DEPGY%5B/url">http://epgy.stanford.edu/]EPGY[/url</a>] program comes to mind. You could also take a course or two at a local university, if your schedule permits.</p>
<p>We live in a small rural town where public education is the only option available. Our high school offers a total of three AP classes and two honor classes. Research opportunities are virtually nonexistent. None of these "limitations" has hurt our D's "competitiveness". What is available is an environment conducive to learning. That combined with a passion for knowledge is what produces a student able to compete in a highly selective college admission process and ultimately succeed where ever their interests and ambitions take them. Bottom line work hard, have fun and you will do just fine regardless of where you live.</p>
<p>Jashper - Lunenburg? No way! I go to school in the next town over and am applying to MIT this year. It's a small world. And from over here, looking at Lunenburg, I wouldn't say you guys have a dearth of AP classes or activities. </p>
<p>Don't worry about it so much - especially not yet. OCW is cool though. I'm supposed to be working on it right now, in fact...</p>