<p>Agreed with the other posters who said your transcript needs to demonstrate academic rigor. That being said, “academic rigor” is a value relative to what your school/community offers. It might be helpful to know what AP/Honors options you HAD but didn’t take advantage of your junior year. Taking 3 AP classes your senior year, even with stellar grades in each subject, might not make up for it. Your performance in your math courses at your community college will also be something they’ll look at. However, it is clear that your low grades freshman year were circumstantial. With a proper explanation (MIT gives you a place in the application to do this), I doubt it will count against you. </p>
<p>You should also let MIT know what you did during your summers after freshman and sophomore year. If you took this time to teach yourself a programming language or pursue an individual project, that’s great. Summer activities are viewed in light of your financial means and family culture. If you were not able to attend a summer course at an Ivy League school because every summer your work for your family’s local business, that’s really okay. But those kinds of things need to be explained. It would also help if you had something to demonstrate to MIT what you’ve done with your free time. MIT has an (optional) spot on the application where they ask you to describe something you’ve created. Think wisely about your answer.</p>
<p>All that being said, it is also important that you are a good fit for the MIT culture. A straight-A student with a 2400 on the SAT is in no way guaranteed admission to MIT if the admissions committee does not believe they would be able to thrive in the unique MIT environment. To find out more about this, I would recommend this website:</p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions: The Match Between You And MIT](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/index.shtml)</p>
<p>If you get good scores on your SAT and SAT IIs (be sure to at least take the ones MIT asks for - Math lvl. I or II and one science subject - doesn’t matter which), I think you have a chance. I’m not an admissions officer, its just my opinion. And most importantly, be genuine in your application. When answering the questions on the application, just write what feels good and what isn’t burdensome to write about. If you’re struggling to think of what to put in your next sentence, you’re doing something wrong. That’s my view, anyway.</p>