<p>Do they have considerably more academic awards like Intel Siemens, maybe most of them made apps that earned thousands. Or is it the match that matters most again?</p>
<p>I mean of course the match Is the most important factor but do they have considerably far stronger achievements than american students </p>
<p>I think on average they are somewhat stronger although there seems to be large cross-country variation (mainland Chinese students tend to very good technically).</p>
<p>So you mean most Chinese students have extremely strong stats? </p>
<p>Stats is perhaps not the right description. It is hard to compare grades from Chinese high schools to grades from American high schools and their SAT scores often suffer from being non-native speakers (or they submit the TOEFL which is hard to compare). But they generally have done well in international competitions or come from the best high schools in China and then do well at MIT. Not all are academic superstars but a significant fraction are among the strongest students at MIT (in part I would say because of greater emphasis on academics while at MIT). This only describes Mainland China though. The admittedly small number of students I know from Hong Kong/Taiwan are more like most American students in these respects.</p>
<p>A summary and one last question for our discussions (yeah sorry I am annoying):</p>
<p>So according to our discussion so far:</p>
<ul>
<li>There are actually MIT students that aren’t academic stars / won flashy awards</li>
<li>Most CS students know how to program</li>
<li>Calculus AB is not a deal-breaker</li>
</ul>
<p>Now. here’s the final question:</p>
<p>In your opinion, do you think an international student should at least have gone for some internship / lab research experience since it shows that he’s actually interested in that field (which in my case, I never gone for one before.) And do you think having programmed a few games for my TI-84 (although I really am proud of my work), is anything worth mentioning at all. (How does this “achievement” stack up to other CS students in your opinion :P, a few games on the ti84)</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone for participating in this wonderful discussion!</p>
<p>If my odds are extremely against me, I may consider applying to MIT (if I qualify) for grad school instead of undergrad. Also if I go to MIT, I actually need FINANCIAL AID too…</p>
<p>You don’t know until you try.</p>
<p>Financial aid is completely independent, and MIT is committed to meeting the full need of every student. </p>
<p>Piper, you’ve really witnessed people getting accepted into MIT, having only good GPA, good SATs, and having the just the right personality? Having created nothing off the charts, or participated in competitions? But just this personality thing</p>
<p>I grew up in this place where people/universities judge you strictly by how many awards you’ve got, how high your scores are. Like 90% is a guaranteed in, and below that is a rejection…</p>
<p>I would say it’s possible with excellent GPA+good SATs+reasonably difficult schedule (like numerous APs but nothing beyond that)+decent extracurriculars (think member of a decent number of clubs with some leadership positions)+good essays. If some of these elements are weak/missing than other factors need to be stronger or there needs to be some sort of hook. I don’t think personality plays a huge role other than through these factors and letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>I am one of those students that was accepted by MIT with exactly what you described. Good GPA, 2250 SAT M-710, CR- 770, W-770, Chem-710, and Math1- 760. I didn’t win any awards or invent anything, or start a business. I think it was my essays that got me in. I worked really hard on them and made sure my personality came through. Also, my teacher recs probably helped a lot too; they really liked me and not just because I was a great student. I did have some leadership positions and started a high school club, interned in a lab, and volunteered. Everything I did I chose to do because they were things I was very excited about. I didn’t do anything for the sake of it looking good on the application. I didn’t even take every AP class offered because I only chose the classes I was interested in. I even chose regular English over AP English because I wanted the same teacher I had for honors English in 11th grade; she was the best teacher ever! And I asked her to write one of my recommendations. </p>
<p>At least you founded a high school club, and also did an internship at a lab. I didn’t do any of those things at all… </p>
<p>By the way, is it common for a high school student to wait for a year after her/his high school graduation before applying to a university. If I can, I want to take this year, and actually do something meaningful before applying to MIT.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There is a wide range between “did nothing interesting” and “did something internationally renowned”.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You should apply to MIT both times. You have nothing to lose.</p>
<p>Though I think taking a gap year just to get into a specific school is ill-advised. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would not suggest taking calc AB if BC is an option.<br>
The awards you asked about are only given out to a small number of graduating freshman, and that number is less than the 1500 accepted by MIT every year. Intel has 50 finalists; USAMO is only won by ~100-150 of graduating seniors, and there is a good overlap with USPHO. <em>Statistically</em>, it is impossible for the entire class to be composed of people who have won these awards. There are only a few others which are respected as much, like I guess the chemistry olympiad and there is another research competition whose name escapes me right now. </p>
<p>However, I’d say most MIT students have won regional and state math and science awards. Science Olympiad (different from the individual olympiad exams), is a very popular activity among MIT admits. There are local math team contests where you compete against other schools; many MIT people have done reasonably well in. Also, many people have done well at AMC, the first round of the math olympiad. </p>
<p>So most people did more than just getting a good SAT and GPA, even if they weren’t part of the 200-300 people who won these highly prestigious awards.</p>
<p>I would say that the bulk of the awards are on regional levels, but I’d also say a large chunk of MIT students won no science awards at all. There are many people who excelled in other ways - musicians, athletes, artists, makers (now they have a supplement designed for them!). I didn’t win any science awards – I think flying lends itself towards engineering, but it’s not so obviously related to academics as many other things. (I also had things very much out of the realm of science, like acting awards and community service leadership.)</p>
<p>I think if you know about these things and have the opportunity to pursue them, they’re worth consideration. But (1) not all applicants know about these competitions, and (2) some applicants do have better things to do [in terms of what fits them].</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say it is a large chunk that have no math/science awards or at least outside activities; my guess would be 10-20% at most. Maybe that’s what you meant. A lot of people do have other interests, though. I agree with you there. Maybe someone has statistics on this. </p>
<p>I mean, most of the MIT kids will usually get sucked into whatever math or science team the school has for at least a year just because they happen to be the smartest math/science kid in their high school.</p>