<p>I really want to apply to MIT for the ChEg Phd program and apparently they look at your class rank quite a bit…I might not have a very good class rank, let alone be the top student!!
What are my chances going to be if I spend about 2.5 doing research and get a publication or 2?
Did anyone actually get into mit with not so stellar grades? If so what did they do?
On average how many publications should I aim for?</p>
<p>I am doing Maths Honors currently… what should i do to try for mit for my graduate studies?</p>
<p>Is it easier or harder to get into than as an undergrad? </p>
<p>Much much much easier than getting in as an undergrad unless of course you ARE an MIT undergrad and then it is much more difficult and in some majors nearly impossible.</p>
<p>Mia is right. My daughter won the Malcolm Cotton Brown award in experimental physics at MIT but would not have been admitted to graduate school there, because MIT’s physics department wants its students to go elsewhere for graduate education. Something about broadening one’s horizons through exposure to other research cultures. She had to settle for Harvard, which is where she is now.</p>
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<p>I think this is quite discipline specific, and also not quite a fair comparison to make, because they are fundamentally different admissions processes. However, this doesn’t discredit what you’re saying, because I think there are potentially strong elements of truth to it if you make more specific comparisons.</p>
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<p>Given it was your first post, if you want a serious answer perhaps more information about you would be helpful.</p>
<p>My advice based on what you’ve asked is to forget doing graduate studies at MIT and instead consider what you want to study. If you already are at the stage of answering this question, chances are you would not have asked what you should do to be able to pursue graduate studies at MIT.</p>
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I would disagree with this – it’s easier to get into MIT for grad school than for undergrad, if you have the appropriate qualifications (research experience, professor recommendations, etc.). And if you are an MIT undergrad, it’s very much easier to get into MIT grad school than MIT undergrad, though for some majors it’s not an option.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s possible to make the argument that it’s harder for MIT undergrads to get into MIT grad school than a) for them to get into other top grad schools or b) for other undergrads to get into MIT grad school, except for specific majors with no-inbreeing policies.</p>
<p>hey… my question is simple.
can an average student get admitted into the MIT grad program for comp sci and engineering ? </p>
<p>i come from a very different type of education system where undergrad research wasn’t given importance (we have classes 9 to 5 and i live 4 hrs away from college) i have a good rank (top 5) in class and have participated in every robotics event i have come across ( hope to apply for robotics and ai) my teachers think i’m pretty smart and i don’t want to be a scientist per say, but i like making stuff. so wad u think ? am i good enough for the prestigious MIT ?</p>
<p>thanks
PS: want to apply for M.S (master of science) and not PhD</p>
<p>With regard to the OP’s question, after first factoring out effect of departments that preferentially take their own undergrads and departments that encourage their undergrads to go elsewhere (famously, Feynman, physics), I think that admission is easier at the graduate level than at the undergraduate level for some people and harder for others.</p>
<p>For international students, it is almost certainly easier to be admitted to MIT as a graduate student, because so few per country are admitted as undergraduates (relative to the student population).</p>
<p>For an American student who was bypassed as highly qualified academically but personally uninteresting, in terms of undergraduate admissions, it may be much easier to be admitted as a graduate student. On the whole, the faculty care more about the quality of the graduate students than they do about the quality of the undergrads (with the usual assorted disclaimers attached to this statement), because the grad students have a strong and direct impact on the research that the faculty can accomplish. Therefore, research potential is the sole key to graduate admissions. This is generally demonstrated by participation in research as an undergrad, usually with publication(s). It would be an odd undergrad institution where a student would go through with a 4.0 average in science or engineering, and not have undergrad research experience–this profile would probably be limited to a few pre-meds. A student who wanted a career in science (or in engineering, of the type requiring a Ph.D.) would almost certainly become aware one way or another that undergrad research experience was essential.</p>
<p>For students at third tier colleges, whose home campus research opportunities are limited, there are many undergrad summer research programs that will offer spots to strong students from colleges of that type–and students should take advantage of these.</p>
<p>On the other hand, forming your own band, participating in sports, or writing a fascinating, quirky, offbeat essay will have zero impact on graduate admissions at MIT, although I think all of these could be helpful in terms of undergrad admissions. Also, volunteer work that is unrelated to your proposed field of research will have marginal or zero value for graduate admissions. In this part, I am not throwing rocks at the undergrad admissions criteria, just suggesting that in grad admissions, the focus is on different qualities. People who like to work 24/7 and have accomplished something significant by doing so would be sought after at the grad level.</p>
<p>The GRE is essentially irrelevant for grad admissions. The math level is extremely low. 800 math is something like 84th %ile, and that includes people in very non-mathematical fields. The scores on the verbal part aren’t taken seriously in science/engineering fields, for multiple reasons. If your area still has a subject test at the prospective grad level, it may be advisable to score in the 95th %ile on up, for an international student. For American students, the significance of the subject test varies quite a lot from field to field.</p>
<p>The fact that the undergraduate admissions criteria are non-academic in part also explains why occasionally a student who has not been admitted to the top academic institution in his/her home country (based on exam results) will be offered admission to a top US undergrad school.</p>
<p>“For students at third tier colleges, whose home campus research opportunities are limited, there are many undergrad summer research programs that will offer spots to strong students from colleges of that type–and students should take advantage of these.”
I wish this was actually true.You see the U.S has this beautiful thing called a recommendation letter,so when a school really thinks they will lose you if they let you take a summer internship at a top school,they just do not recommend you or write bland letters that will not get you accepted.I know.It happened to me and to scores of fellow international students with 4.0s.No,i am not saying the school is bad.They are just too loving and overprotective and we suffer accordingly.</p>
<p>Sorry for the lack of clarity in my post: I meant undergrads at American colleges/universities where there may be limited opportunities for undergraduate research at the scientific frontiers. In fact, some of the programs I mentioned may have citizenship requirements.</p>
<p>You are good.We are actually internationals at an American university&we cant even get the ones without citizenship requirements.It is not you,it is not the “system”.Just my small college performing an elaborate “quarantine”.</p>
<p>That would be super-annoying, villager. I am not sure what to suggest, other than that you try to maximize the research experiences you can have where you are.</p>
<p>I assume that you are planning to continue for graduate work in your field? If so, aside from applying to places like MIT, I’d advise you to look at top-50 research universities in your field for graduate work. The large public research universities, especially, would be a good bet, particularly if you can find someone whose research interests you.</p>
<p>Another thing that would be worthwhile: Flip through Science each time it comes out, and see if anything catches your eye. Ditto for Nature and Nature [fill in subspeciality here]. If you email a faculty member with an intelligent question about an article, you will probably get a reply about 50% of the time. Even if you don’t get replies, you will become more knowledgeable about the frontiers of the field. </p>
<p>In terms of course preparation, you can take advantage of the online material from MIT. I am not sure how Coursera (Corsera?) is going to run, but if it is not expensive, it might be another option.</p>
<p>I am taking an algorithms class on Coursera,and i will most likely be applying to top 50 programs,but not MIT since i am guessing they are into demonstrated research which i am unable to provide.I had not thought of the Nature and Science part.Thank you for the idea.</p>
<p>Best of luck, villager!</p>
<p>Can someone on this forum suggest a research news journal in Computer Science that would approximately correspond to Science? They don’t carry a whole lot of computer science.</p>
<p>hii
i am an indian student, and really interested to get into city planning in MIT.
what is the rate of selection in MIT for this particular field.<br>
please do answer this. my hopes are all in this 
thank you</p>
<p>hey hi
i am an indian student, really desperate to get into MIT. my college stands in top 5 colleges in Indian architecture colleges. But the biggest problem we face here is the marks. the average percentile in our college is 50%. mine is above average about 65%.</p>
<p>Someone please tell me what will be the selection percentile for the city planning in MIT as a graduation coarse and can i be selected.
will be waiting for your reply :)</p>
<p>A thread that i probably needed to be a part of…
Mollie, I’m a current UG student doing my Bachelors in Electrical and Electronic engineering in my third year. I’ve got fairly good scores and Im interning at a research based company where I’m a part of various projects in the R&D department (one after another of course). I’m also working on two other innovations with a friend which are basically my ideas in the field of programming and another on energy management about which i plan to write and present papers, try to get them published and develop prototypes within the next year. How good are my changes of getting into the EECS depatrment? Any advice and information is appreciated. Thanking you in advance.</p>
<p>This is a better question to ask a trusted professor or two, rather than me.</p>