<p>Oh gross, gross, gross. There are so many things wrong with this discussion!</p>
<p>Math at MIT starts at 18.01. This is single variable calc. Taking calc in HS is recommended but not required. I know people who started in 18.01 never having seen calc before. They lived.</p>
<p>Please don’t ever say things like “You said you wanted to go to MIT since 9 years old. I guess you could have planned ahead better.” Uck. When you’re nine years old, be a kid. If you like math, do math. Otherwise chill the ?!#$%^! out. There is nothing worse in the eyes of an admissions officer than someone who planned out their life for the past 9 years with the goal of impressing said admissions officer.</p>
<p>Also, yeah, 6/7/8 grade was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter. You’re going to penalize someone applying to college because of something they did in the 6th grade? Give me a break. Good for you, you’re math genius, but there are normal people out there too who deserve to not be judged just because they didn’t argue with their principal in 6th grade because they thought that the work they were doing was below them.</p>
<p>I never self-studied math or took classes over the summer. I took AP Calc my senior year and got a 3 on the exam. GASP! THE HORROR! How will I ever pass math classes at MIT? It’s going to be imposs- oh wait, I already did it, 2 years ago.</p>