Improving Myself for a Shot at MIT

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Hey! I'm currently a high school freshmen, and since my older brother recently went through the admissions extravaganza, I started reading up on some colleges out of curiosity. When I started reading about MIT (which was probably about a month or two ago), I fell in love! I love the culture of the school, and have been avidly reading the student blogs. I feel like the school is an excellent match for me, but I also realize that with a 10% admissions rate, I shouldn't get my hopes up too much. </p>

<p>I unfortunately was not motivated to do well this first year of high school, and it was only when I realized how badly I would love to go MIT that I started to improve my grades. I was able to get all A's and A-'s when I started to apply myself, but it was too late to "salvage" my grades, as there was only around a month of school left at that point. I've gotten an A in math both semesters this year, and, managed to get an A in science second semester after applying myself (I think I had a B+ first semester). If I'm remembering this correctly, I got an A- in history both semesters, and a B+ in English both semesters. I really bombed on language this year, getting a B- my first semester and I think a B second semester (it could be a B+, I don't remember). Anyhow, I was wondering if despite these sub-par (particularly for MIT applicants) first year grades, is it possible to still have a shot at getting in? I believe I can get all A-'s and A's in the next three years, but I'm worried these poor freshman year grades are going to drag down my overall GPA. </p>

<p>As for the rest of my application, I will be doing 4 years of band, 4 years of math team and 4 years of quizbowl (which I will eventually become co-captain of with a friend on the team, and we will likely become one of the top 10 teams in the country by our junior or senior year) for EC's.</p>

<p>I'm also incredibly interested in Computer Science (I hope to major in it and would love to become a software engineer). I've taught myself C and C++ through books (as well as through some MIT open-courseware videos) these past few years. I haven't found the time to produce any large applications yet, I hope too at some point in my high school career, possibly over a summer. I've also begun competing in the USACO, but it's incredibly math intensive, and I'm only a freshman, so that's hindered me some. Hopefully I'll improve at it as I take more advanced math courses (and I'll hopefully eventually get a solid rank).</p>

<p>As for my future course load, I'm signed up for the most challenging courses I can take next year, and aim to take AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry and AP Physics (and if I think I can handle it, AP US History) over the course of the next three years.</p>

<p>And that is pretty much my story, so if you had the patience to read through all of this, will getting good grades my sophmore year and forwards show MIT that I'll be able to handle the workload there, and give me a real shot at being accepted?</p>

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<p>I would think that bad grades your first year won’t be counted severely against you as long as you demonstrated a will to challenge and apply yourself later on. </p>

<p>Some two cents of mine from AP classes I have taken:
If you want to take AP Computer Science, start to get familiar with Java.
AP US History is worth taking–it’s a lot of reading, but will improve your writing and quick analysis skills.</p>

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<p>Okay your on the right track! Do as much as you can and also the first year of your high school won’t can’t that much if you make a difference</p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses guys, and it’s good to know I haven’t bombed my chances yet.</p>

<p>cutesnowfox: I would like to take AP US History, it’s just that I’ll be taking AP Calculus BC and AP Chemistry at the same time and I don’t want too kill myself. I won’t have to decide until next year, anyhow, so I’ll see how I feel then. </p>

<p>And as for AP Computer Science, it’s not offered at my school, though I’d be willing to take it over the summer. I feel like I could pick up Java in about a week or two, anyhow, since the syntax is so similar to C/++ and the OO concepts are going to be the same.</p>

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<p>Are you doing all these things because you think they are good for MIT or because you are truly interested in them? Don’t do something just because it will impress a college. You are too young to be so worried about college, let alone a specific college. Just focus on what you love. Take AP subjects because you will love them, not because they look good on your transcript. </p>

<p>You ask if MIT can see how you can “handle their workload”. More candidates than they accept can handle their workload. As cliche as it sounds, MIT is looking for individuality and passion. They want to see that when you choose the things you love to do, you will succeed in them. They are not looking for you to be able to ace a bunch of classes you are not interested in - what would be the point in that?</p>

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<p>I’ve been interested in Computer Science and programming since 7th grade, so I can promise you I’m not doing that to impress colleges. And the same goes for the rest of my EC’s, I’ve always loved music, and I’ve been playing music since something like the 3rd grade, so I can also assure you there I’m doing it because I love too. Quizbowl, as well, I’m doing because I love learning new things, and It’s gotten me interested in lots of subjects I would otherwise never have learned about (not to mention it’s fun to win :). As for Math Team, well I can’t say I’m crazy about it, but I get to learn some non-curricular math from it and I have lots of friends on the team. It doesn’t require a huge amount of time, anyhow, so I don’t see a reason not to do it. I’m definitely not as enthralled with it as I am with my other EC’s, but it’s reasonably fun so what the hell.</p>

<p>On the matter of AP’s, well my school offers them, I like learning, and from what I understand they’re pretty much required to have a good shot at getting into a lot of colleges (assuming your school offers them, of course), so nothing you can say about passion will make me not take them :p. I looked over my schools curriculum and found the ones I thought sounded interesting, and I’m excited to take them even though I don’t want a career in those fields (asides from AP Computer Science), so whatever. </p>

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<p>I remember reading somewhere on the MIT admissions site that grades and test scores are to show that you’re academically fit for MIT and can handle the workload, and then interviews and essays and the likes are to see if you fit into the culture. So I don’t see what you’re getting at here, all I wanted to know is if good grades sophomore year and forwards will show MIT that I can handle the workload, and that my poor freshman year grades are “outliers.”</p>

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<p>So I’ve heard, I don’t see where you’re getting at here though.</p>

<p>And as for me being too young to worry about this, I don’t see what harm can come from reading about and trying to improve myself to improve my chances at being admitted at a college I would really like too go to.</p>

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<p>ascii234, thanks for your thorough reply. I see where you are getting at now. From your original post it was hard to tell what your motivation was behind listening your possible AP’s and other activities. Good clarification. </p>

<p>It is just that personally I did not know anything about MIT rather than the fact it is a college in 9th grade. I knew literally nothing about the college application process until the 11th grade. I just took the highest classes my school has to offer. I challenged myself to see how far I could go, without having a thought of college in mind. When college did roll around, I simply realized that I was in a rather convenient situation. Many of my classmates who were obsessing about the college process since sophomore year, however, were so stressed and worried about how they look on paper that they forgot their original reason for taking these classes - learning. This was evident to the colleges they applied. I guess what I am trying to say is simply a little bit of friendly advice; don’t forget what is truly important, and don’t lose the love for learning. It is okay to forget about college for a while and get lost in designing that program, solving that integral, or debating that Emerson essay. :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply! You’re clearly a better student than I am seeing as I needed MIT to motivate me to get good grades, and you just motivated yourself.</p>

<p>I’ll try my best not to forget why I’m doing my EC’s and taking the classes I am, thanks for the advice!</p>

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<p>So just as an update, my grades ended up being higher than I thought. I finished with an A in Math and History, an A- in English and Biology and a B in spanish :confused: This came out at something like a 3.7 GPA, which obviously I’ll have too bring up a few points. </p>

<p>Anyhow, I feel like I can get that to a 3.8-3.9 in two years.</p>

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<p>If you’re really interested in computer science I’d suggest you pursue that and enter some programming competitions or join a computer club or something. I live by a huge branch of IBM and they host competitions for teenagers all the time.
Placing well at one of these is definitely something you could put down on your app.</p>