<p>I think I got this statistic from the MIT brochure, but about 18% (if I remember correctly) of the enrolling freshmen were from private schools. So yeah, a bunch of kids come from 'normal' schools!</p>
<p>I came from a small private non-denominational Christian school. Not a whole lot of MIT people are from that type of school. I didn't have a whole lot of opportunities in high school, but I went out of my way to challenge myself via independent studies/projects. MIT really does evaluate you in context. You don't need to have a lot of means to get into MIT. You just need to show that you've done really well with whatever means you do have.</p>
<p>I think I got this statistic from the MIT brochure, but about 18% (if I remember correctly) of the enrolling freshmen were from private schools. So yeah, a bunch of kids come from 'normal' schools!</p>
<p>Alright, here's my final question? Of this 82%, how many students come from non-magnets?</p>
<p>Well, simply put, they can't all be from magnets! There aren't that many excellent magnets, and they don't feed all their students directly to MIT (and disregarding Stuy, they don't all even feed to top schools exclusively). Anecdotally from running around Facebook, a lot of kids seem to come from either magnet or otherwise specialized high schools, but a fair number come from the middle of nowhere too. The percentages aren't as important as the fact that even if you went to an unknown public school (like yours truly), if you're smart enough, you can still get in. Also remember that not all states have magnets at all, and that magnet schools basically pre-select a large number of the MIT-caliber public school kids from the areas they serve. It's like the correlation between RSI and getting into MIT. It's not necessarily a guarantee to have done the program, but if you were smart enough to get in (to RSI or to a magnet school), you're smart enough to have a good shot at MIT.</p>
<p>My school was established 30 years ago, and I am the first one to get admitted to MIT this year! MIT DO NOT look at the school but the people who apply.</p>
<p>I came from a huuuuuge public high school. My graduating class had 950 people. I wasn't valedictorian.</p>
<p>Yeah, normal people, from normal schools, get into MIT.</p>
<p>Truth be told, five people from my school got in. :)</p>
<p>EDIT: Clarification, public as in public public... not a magnet school.</p>
<p>Yes, Out of HYPSM, MIT is the most welcoming place for normal, hard working students from middle-class families. Yeah, there are a few snooty pricks/b****es in MIT too, but the environment is very best for the public high school graduates.</p>
<p>Olo, are you from Plano West/East?</p>
<p>yes!!! I found the stats I was talking about.. except I was slightly off.</p>
<p>Class 2010 profile
Schooling:
Public school 71%
Private school 11%
Religious school 8%
Foreign school 11%
Home schooled <1%
High Schools represented 793</p>
<p>I am indeed from West. East had two students accepted.</p>
<p>EDIT: I actually visited West yesterday and today, and probably tomorrow...</p>