how to get in to MIT?
Submit an application and hope for the best.
This has been heavily discussed in the past on this forum.
I just did a search on this MIT forum for “How to get into MIT” and it returned numerous hits.
Spend a few hours reading through that, and then come back with more specific questions.
If anyone figured out a magic formula to get into MIT they would be selling it.
MIT accepted 4.3% of applicants this year. This means that there was not enough space to fit the many very well qualified applicants. Just be the best “you” you can be – do as well as you can in the most rigorous classes you can manage, study for standardized tests, get involved in things you care about – then submit an application that presents your accomplishments in the most favorable light possible and hope for the best.
As some unsolicited advice, I’d recommend that you give up the idea of a dream school and work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (find out your parents’ budget and run the net price calculator for each school) and that you would be excited to attend. The people I see who get hurt by the college admission process are the ones who focus on one or two hyper-competitive schools and then don’t get in. Expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
Determine what is important to you, and create a list of seven to ten schools that meet your criteria. Throw in your in state flagship, always. Thats school 1, then go from there. . Make criteria like: cost, size, geography, programs, housing options as well as academics, clubs, and social life.
Look at the MIT blogs, to see what sort of students attend MIT.
Decide if Boston is your cup of tea. Many students from the midwest and west coast do not like MIT or Harvard,
as they really do not adjust well to Cambridge/Boston. If it is, sign up for your MIT interview early, may help a tiny bit. Interviewers are likely to be enthusiastic in the first half of the recruiting season, September to Nov 1st. As the holidays approach, interviewers may get overwhelmed, so sign up early for the best shot.
Look at submitting a portfolio to MIT. Read the directions on the Admissions website. Follow the directions!
Be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN?
MIT accepted 6.7% of applicants for the class of 2022.
Back in my days at MIT there was a handbook published and given to all students (and there still might be. I don’t know). It included test questions for admittance to grad school in various departments. Although these questions may not provide the exact answer to what will get you into undergrad school, they do provide some insight.
The exam question for biology was:
“Create life. Estimate the differences in subsequent human culture if this life form had developed 500 million years earlier with special attention to its probable effects on the English parliamentary system.”
The extra credit problem was:
“Define the universe. Give three examples.”
So, I guess if you can do well on that exam, you’ve got a real good shot at getting in. Otherwise, your chances are about 4.3%