Hello,
Im currently in Ninth grade im going to take AP Calculus BC in a week (may 5 2015)… I have tried past papers and got 5 in every single one of them. Im also going to give grade 5 guitar this november and my teacher is confident i will get either merit or distinction. Im in the IGCSE curriculum and will take IBDP in 12 th grade. I live in india and am a citizen of the U.S. what should i do after AP calc in order to get into MIT, I really want to get into it and I understand it is very hard.
There is nothing you can do to get into MIT. You can only prepare yourself to be qualified. If there was a checklist to make to get into MIT, MIT would surely publish. But there is not. There are simply not enough seats for qualified students. As MIT says ‘apply sideways’
@DarkEclipse ianarp posted this exact same thread in another sub-forum, which I saw first…
Aside from good marks/grades, essays, rec letters, and test scores, that pretty much sums it up. Furthermore, @ianarp should definitely look into other schools.
Keep your eye on MIT, but also spend the next few years looking into other great schools like Georgia Tech, RPI, WPI, Rose-Hulman, and Purdue that have many things in common with MIT. This will give you options in case your Plan A doesn’t work out.
MIT is not looking for someone who is just loading up on X AP Courses and has this X GPA. MIT is looking for people with a genuine passion. There is no formula. If someone tells you otherwise, saying in the most honest manner, that’s pure bull.
I took Calc bc (got a 5) as a freshman and got rejected. It’s meaningless. And I’m a domestic student, you’re from India, the most difficult place to get into mit from.
Have decent course rigor and test scores, but what’s most important is grabbing a lot of leaderships and having good ECs and PERFECT grades. Tbh your chance is close to 0 (i’d say less than a percent)as an indian unless you make an international olympiad of some sort.
@theanaconda AP test scores don’t really influence admissions that much, because they are not available to a large proportion of the population.
For example, I got a 5 on Calc BC, am a US student, made USAMO (and scored >=7), have a couple other national-level awards, good EC’s and volunteer, etc., and was still rejected from Caltech. I know others with more impressive stats but were still rejected from these schools, and one of the main reasons is that there simply isn’t enough room.
I still suggest simply, doing what you enjoy doing and finding ways to make the most of it. As an international student, you’ll want to find ways to stand out and show that you are prepared (which is not easy).
@theanaconda Not necessarily. There have been a few students in the past who had never won any olympiads, had decent ECs, and were still accepted by MIT. And anyway, a low number of applicants are accepted from each region (3 from India, 5-6 from UK, etc.).
What the OP needs is something to set him apart from the rest of the applicants.
You may wish to look into attending a boarding school in the US, if your parents are supportive. I am not sure how admissions works (i.e. by citizenship or by country of your schooling), but I imagine it is by citizenship; so your chances may be higher than if you were an Indian citizen.
Mainly, follow your passions to depth. Enter into national, regional, and international competitions so you can give context to your achievements and be motivated by like-minded students. Do well in high school. Take all of the math and science courses you can take. Get a MyMIT account and read the bloggers.
And, of course, I am sure you are familiar with the famous quote attributed to Einstein:
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Feed your imagination and your curiosity!
