I am motivated, and want to know if MIT would be impressed or not,

Colleges & Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>I am a incoming Sophomore in High school, I go to private jewish school with subjects in religion and secular studies, contrary to public opinion my school 'Yeshivah of Flatbush" leaves much to desire, and despite my hectic schedule from 7:05 AM to 5:30 PM, plus the homework and studying, I have devised a plan below, with my extra academic stimulations,</p>

<p>Most people tell me I'm crazy, but if this is what it takes to get into MIT, i am willing to do it. I would describe myself on high intelligence, in all areas primarily mathematics, and politics, however I am also a history buff and avid reader of good literature. But at same time you won't faint out of shock when you meet me. I am deaf which is pretty amazing considering I have won 6 awards in debate and model congress last year, see below my plans and attack/criticize/praise/encourage me, after all you've read through this much just for my sake, so pat yourself on the back, :)</p>

<p>AP</p>

<p>World History
US History
European
US Government and Politics
Comparitive Government and Politics
Statistics
Psychology
Physics B
Macro-economics,
Micro-economics
Computer Science A
Chemistry
Art History
Calculus BC (and AB if I'm allowed)</p>

<p>SAT 2's</p>

<p>Chemistry
Physics
Math 1
Math 2</p>

<p>US History
World History</p>

<p>Regents
Physics
Chemsitry</p>

<p>Contests,</p>

<p>AMC 10/12
USMAT
AIME
Olympiad (Doubt it)
Physic QuizBowl
F=ma exam
WestingHouse Competition</p>

<p>ExtraCurricular</p>

<p>Boy Scouts
Debate
Mock trial
Moot Court
Model Congress
Model UN
MSG Varsity
Math Team
CollegeBowl (The Challenge)</p>

<p>Personal Quests,</p>

<p>Solve Rubik's Cube faster
Learn Programming - C++, Objective C, Cocoa programming,
Python and MySQL.</p>

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<p>my grammar is pitiful, hope MIT can forgive me, since I am looking into a math/computer science major and not Pragmatics, :)</p>

3

<p>Okay, I was very much like you, motivation wise, as a sophomore.
Now, I was probably less fortunate than you when it came to schooling, e.g. less than 50% of my school passes standardized exams mandated by the state, I live over 2 hours away from the closest big city, no one has ever qualified for the olympiad in a 50 mile radius, etc.
This what I suggest:
Goto AwesomeMath Summer Program.
You will learn tons there and your motivation will increase tenfold.
Forget being so well-rounded! What you are doing is overkill. Do what you like! I went the math olympiad route. In one year (end of my fr to end of my soph), I went from not knowing what the AIME was all the way to becoming a USAJMO qualifier. To qualify for the Olympiad you don’t need natural talent, you just need hard work.
Keep some other ECs though too; I am Class President, Key Club President, StuCo Parliamentarian, and Newspaper Chief Editor.
Keep working hard and you will make it.
And one last thing, don’t make what you do about getting into MIT; make what you do about what you like, what interests you, and if you don’t like something, don’t hesitate to quit.
Good Luck!
Hopefully I’ll get into MIT this year!</p>

4

<p>Don’t focus solely on getting into MIT. You’re only a sophomore. Have you even visited MIT? As you get older and investigate all your options, you may find it’s not the right fit for you. Or, they might even reject you and you have to settle for Harvard or Princeton.</p>

<p>That said, as long as your GPA and SAT end up in range, you are a great candidate for MIT (or any top school). Hopefully Chris or Mollie will chime in here, but I’ll give my opinion. Their adcoms say they look for a passion for math and science, which you show. They want to see you succeeding with as rigorous a course load as available to you. Check. They also look at what you have done with the opportunities available to you. Your success and dedication show that deafness is not a handicap to you, but just another challenge to tackle. As long as your essays reflect what you have accomplished and what you’re all about, you should expect nothing but fat envelopes.</p>

5

<p>MIT is never impressed.</p>

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<p>I don’t think you’ll stand out to any extreme degree, but you would certainly be a competitive candidate.</p>

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<p>I laughed at the “MIT is never impressed,” and that’s a sign of its high standards,</p>

<p>I visited it this summer, and you are right, i don’t know if it’s the college I want to go to (I feel 95% I do) but until I actually have my college acceptances I am not going to rule out any college, I will do what I think is best, and the college that likes my fit will pick me, did i do a research project on MIT? No, but I think with basic common sense they appeal to me more than say most Community Colleges, it may be slightly elitist but there’s something to it, and I am currently looking at about 11 colleges, </p>

<p>and I am not a wonder child so i don’t expect to be buddy buddy with the dean of MIT, and I can live with that (suicide would be the REALLY stupid other option), Thanks for your inputs guys!!!</p>

8

<p>Haha, MIT really is never impressed. But you are quite an impressive person. Do not worry yourself about MIT, etc. too much. It has made me emotionally confused at this time, as I am not so sure whether it is a fit for me, but it is what I want.
Hmm…time will only tell what happens in the next few months.</p>

9

<p>I agree with Piper. You’re definately competitive, but no one at the adminission office will be taken back.
Btw, why do you want to learn MySQL. It’s a server-side database access language. Unless you combine it with something else (like PHP, ASP), it’s pretty much useless. It seems all the other computing languages you’re trying to learn are client-side languages… which has nothing to do with SQL.</p>

<p>And an advice… ditch C++ and focus on Python; You’ll get anything done faster.</p>

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<p>I am ditching C++, I meant Objective C, since my goal is to eventually learn Cocoa Programming and soon make IOS 4 (or soon 5?) Applications, and java is for the computer science A AP. MySQL is for a website project i am doing, and yes I realized PHP is a must to go with it as well, although i am exploring new options for new web page programs, (python seems best for now, any advice on html 5?? or flash catalyst?</p>

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<p>Arg. Websites should be php/MySQL or Ruby on Rails.</p>

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<p>:D thanks for the advice, :D</p>

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<p>For websites, static HTML all the way. Check out scripts like ‘werc’ or ‘webby’ that can help with that.</p>

<p>And about languages, ‘Python’ is great for scripting and stuff, but I couldn’t really imagine managing large applications in it. I’ve found ‘C’ and ‘C++’ to be quite awesome and I’m sure you’d find the same. C is basically just macro assembler - coding in C you can almost directly predict what the generated code underneath would look like, and that is pretty cool, and necessary in some cases such as embedded programming or systems development. C++ is good if you want some more abstractions on this but want to retain performance.</p>

<p>Soon it becomes not about languages but more about what you do with them, how you implement algorithms and how you organise, structure and design your code.</p>

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<p>I totally disagree that you should ditch C++ and focus on Python - having a handle on a lower-level language is great. Experience with C is also heavily sought-after, and if you know how to code, you can pick up Python pretty easily. C++ is also more difficult to learn and master (in my opinion), so I’d start with the harder language first :)</p>

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<p>Back to the broader issues…</p>

<p>Don’t get fixated on any one school; a sure route to disaster. To get in a top technology school (MIT, Mudd, CalTech) you want depth and accomplishment, not breadth. Start cutting back on humanities APs and focus on the competitive opportunities in math. Plan to apply for one of the premier competitive summer programs like RSI.</p>

<p>Don’t do things because you think schools will like it; do what you have passion for, and that passion will make your application stand out.</p>

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<p>@nikki93 and @k4r3n2</p>

<p>Your tech advice is awesome, and while contradicting, I don’t think either of you are wrong, but you just have different priorities and thought flows, I will do what bests works for me, from in between the advice both of you (and everyone else) gave me</p>

<p>@UT84321</p>

<p>I am cutting down on many of programs and goals, to be a more pure concentrated passionate person and I am leaving this forum open still for last day comments, but soo will close this forum and post link with my new college plans,</p>

<p>thank you everyone!</p>

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<p>I have finished my new updated list, and want your opinions on this!!! I will be closing this forum soon, so please transfer your attention to the new one, with link attached under</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/999819-i-am-dedicated-want-know-if-college-would-agree-not.html#post1065610377[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/999819-i-am-dedicated-want-know-if-college-would-agree-not.html#post1065610377&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Agree with UT84321, do what you have a passion for. If MIT turns out to be the right school for you, so be it. If not, you’ll find somewhere else that is. </p>

<p>One other comment: You seem to have an impressive list of ECs. I wonder what level of participation you can really have with so much going on. If I were (and I’m not) an admissions person, I would think that it would be better to get really engaged with a smaller set of ECs.</p>

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<p>@shushugah: Were they really contradictory? They look compatible to me. :)</p>

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<p>Hello fellow CCer’s, just an update on how plans have changed for the better and worse, </p>

<p>AP’s: Dropping Psychology, Art History and CS (I prefer C programming, so maybe next year) as i see that this is simply resume padding and unnecessary, </p>

<p>School wouldn’t register for any of these contests, Physic QuizBowl
F=ma exam
WestingHouse Competition</p>

<p>and I personally dropped USAMTS, i admit it was too ambitious for me, </p>

<p>I am not in Model UN, College Bowl, or MSG Varsity,
Forget about MySQL and C++ as well, </p>

<p>and SAT 2’s and Regents aren’t that important, will take whatever I feel proficient in, but it’s not a big priority, mainly I wish to take 2-3 SAT’s by the time I graduate, hence I have plenty of time to split it up, </p>

<p>On the positive side, I just registered for Olympiad Geometry in addition to WOOT (World Online Olympiad Training), since W.O.O.T. has very little Geometry, hence I took care of that,</p>

<p>Signed up for NYU Math Circle Course and Pushkin Academy (both are olympiad centered math) </p>

<p>I am also going to be home schooled this semester, so am considering taking some courses on CTY some other online courses

and tutoring from Physics Professors I know. Any questions or “See I knew it!!” comments are all welcome, Thank you guys for giving me hope and support, your comments really had deep impact both consciously and subconsciously. Thank you, :)</p>