I have a few questions...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>I'm planning on applying to MIT for early action, but I have a few questions before I do...</p>

<p>1.) Will a 670 on the SATII Physics test get me rejected? I have pretty good scores on all of the other tests, but it's this one bad score that bothers me... Due to scheduling conflicts, I needed to take regular physics instead of AP physics, and a lot of what was on the SATII Physics test wasn't taught in the regular physics class at my school. Will I get a chance to explain this in my application at all? And if so, will they consider this? Like I said, all of my other scores are in range, according to their admission statistics.</p>

<p>2.) If I submit two arts supplements for music, can I use one letter of recommendation for both of them? Because I only have one high school music teacher...</p>

<p>3.) As far as letters of recommendation go, would it be a good idea for me to get a letter of recommendation from my honors English teacher from freshman year? I know freshman year is a while back, but I think she's the only one that can write one for the second letter... I need my art teacher to write a letter for the arts supplement, and my music teacher to write a letter for my music supplement. I took all of my history classes online, and I haven't taken my foreign language classes yet (I'm taking both of them this next year, one first semester and one second semester). My other English teachers don't work at the school anymore, so that just leaves my English teacher from freshman year. Would that be okay?</p>

<p>4.) My guidance counselor would have been able to write a great letter of recommendation for me, but she got a different job teaching, and won't be my guidance counselor anymore. I've got a new guidance counselor for my senior year, but she doesn't know me at all, and probably won't by the time I need a letter of recommendation... Does she still need to write one for me? I assume my old guidance counselor can't write one now that she has a job teaching instead, right?</p>

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<p>

Yes, you can explain it, and everything on your application is taken in context of what was available to you. Your score won’t do you any great favors, but it won’t get you automatically rejected, either.</p>

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Yes.</p>

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It’s not a problem to have a letter from a freshman year teacher. If you’d prefer to have a letter from one of the teachers who has left your school, it also shouldn’t be a problem. (It also wouldn’t be a problem to have your music or art teacher write the academic letter even if he/she is also writing the supplement letter – those letters go to different people and are for different purposes. I’ll also note that it’s unusual for applicants to submit both art and music supplements.)</p>

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Yes, you still need a GC rec. Why don’t you talk with the GCs – they might be perfectly happy to have the old GC write the letter, and the new GC put together the administrative/school record-type stuff.</p>