<p>As the college applying season approaches, i m feeling extremely nervous about my college choices. Especially because i am an international student and i need some aid. I came to US in 9th grade and have been moved to three different high schools. I started attending my current school since 11th grade.
The problem with this high school is It doesn't offer any science and math APs,ECs, anything. I was the only junior in the district who took science and math APs last year. Should i put this on the application?
Here is my brief stats:
GPA:3.93 (will be better)
Rank:10
SAT: V590 M 790 W560
Toefl:104</p>
<p>SAT2: Math2 800 Chem 800 Phy 770</p>
<p>APs: self studied Chem 5, Bio 4, Calc BC 4 sub AB 5, Comsci A 3. Only took calc AB class. the rest are all self studied.
Recommadations: Hope they are good, as i said i only get to know the teacher/professor for a rather short period of time. But one of them should be very good.</p>
<p>College Classes at local college:
CHE 301 Physical Chemistry 1
CHE 301 Physical Chemistry 1 Lab
CHE 302 Physical Chemistry 2
CHE 302 Physical Chemistry 2 Lab
MAT 213 Calculus 3
MAT 217 Appl Discrete Math
MAT 218 Appl Linear Algebra
MAT 406 Differential Equation
MAT 409 Number Theory
MUS 105 Piano
PHY 201 Intro Physics I
PHY 202 Intro Physics II
PHY 211 Gen Phys I Calc Lec
PHY 212 Gen Phys II Calc Lec</p>
<p>ECs: (not much)
Captin of math league (the only EC the school offers and no one is really interested). Only compete locally.... so i got this tri-county award
Tutor math at college
Habitat for humanity
Church services
Science Olympiad
National Latin exam: silver medal
varsity basketball,cross country,swimming.
martial art (2 years)</p>
<p>So as you can see, i really love math and science. I would like to go to a school that allow undergraduate students to do research and also providing some finicial assistance to international students. Am i a good candidate for MIT?</p>
<p>Regarding a lack of APs offered at your school: Part of the application is a form for your guidance counselor to fill out regarding the highest level of each subject offered at your school, so the adcoms can assess your courseload in context. My school doesn't offer any science APs either, so when my app is reviewed (it may already have been, since I applied early.... <em>pauses to restart heart</em>) they'll see that I took the greatest load of science courses that I could take at my school.</p>
<p>Your drive for learning definitely shows, through your self-study and college classes. MIT likes students who show passion for their subject, and you have done that. They also take into account your high school - it's not fair to compare your high school to Andover, but I feel safe in saying that you are just as bright as most Andover students, and it shows.</p>
<p>Relax; you may not have a mile-long of ECs, but neither do most people. Your test scores are a bit low, but you're more than a number. Tell MIT about your accomplishments, and how unusual they are. How else are they going to know?</p>
<p>Due to your school situation, I'd give you a 60% chance of being admitted.</p>
<p>youknowme - Most schools have what is referred to as a secondary school profile. This provides the colleges with a detailed description of the school from which a student is applying. Since your school does not offer a number of AP courses that will be taken into account. That is why the adcom can not compare one student to the next. Not everyone comes from a similar background with regard to high school. Since you took a number of courses at the local college I would suggest that you obtain a ltr of rec from one of them as well as from your high school. Good luck with the process.</p>
<p>How do you get 60%? MIT has said that something like 90% of the applicants are qualified and they only accept 13% of those who apply. Only 7% of the applicants with verbal scores under 600 were accepted, though the TOEFL may cancel that out? 19% of 750+ math scores were admitted. Unless you are familiar with admissions statistic at the OP's school, it's really hard to say what anyone's chances are beyond the numbers that MIT provides - particulary when MIT says numbers are not the only thing they look at.</p>
<p>60% is an estimate only, as are most "how are my chances" responses. However, based off what I've observed of MIT's admissions process, I would give her a much higher than usual chance of being admitted because of her/his drive to learn. Yes, the SATs are very weak, and that brings down his/her chances, but remember that the numbers we see are median numbers, so 50% has less than that. Given the other information the OP said, I would say that compensates for some of the weak test scores. I could be totally and completely wrong. It's MIT's call, not either of ours.</p>
<p>yea, i know my SAT isn't good enough for MIT. But i hope the toefl score will help, though it's not an excellent score either.
To kylejohnson: i m not bragging about myself. i m sincerely asking for some suggestions for the applying process, not to mention at a school like MIT, no one really can brag about anything.</p>