Hey guys, I’m currently earning my AA at a local community turned state college. And my question is how can I make myself as competitive as possible for MIT what kinda things do the admission boards look for? I know MIT is a hard school to get into and even harder to transfer to but it’s what I have my mind set on doing. I’m a Mechanical Engineering major. I know odds are against me about being admitted. My high school career wasn’t very stellar because I was in the DEP in the Navy (but I got discharged right before basic training was over) so I wasn’t involved in many clubs but I did take lots of honors and AP classes but my GPA ended up being a low 3.2. so my question is what advice would you give me to do over the next 2 years to have a competitive chance at transferring to MIT or another top engineering school. Thanks in advance.
@Herokid11:
CC is filled with success stories of those who transferred from a community college to a competitive 4-year school. Search is your friend.
You’ll find numerous stories on this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/1032244-community-college-success-stories-p1.html
In your community college (or state school), if you work like crazy to get all A’s, and become very involved in activities on campus, and show your grit is coming from you (vs being propelled by the treadmill your upbringing environment has put you on), then you can expect 4-year schools to look at your transfer application seriously.
I make the above statement with all sincerity. It worked for me.
All the best.
You can take AP exams even if you do not have access to AP classes. Just need to find a local high school that offers them, and take them. Top AP scores will help you get into many colleges including MIT. Community colleges vary all over the place in difficulty but many community college classes are way easier than high school AP classes. So taking the AP exam, you also gauge your mastery and may get credit at a number of schools, including MIT, if you can score a 4 or 5 on the exams. There are many students from California that take 12 to 16 AP exams and get all fives. Not all of those students get into MIT. MIT is a holistic admissions process, so many factors such as talent in any area, advanced math skills, as demonstrated by admission and participation in summer programs such as Hampshire Math, and other factors such as race, go into most admissions decisions today at MIT and most private selective colleges.
You may not qualify for AP exams if you already have earned a high school diploma, but check on that.
There have been lots of posts on CC that taking AP exams without the class is a complete waste of time. It is generally not recommended