<p>I've come to this fantastic site with a few questions in hope that this community can answer them.</p>
<p>I'm currently a first-year CompSci student minoring in Econ in a top Lebanese university. I'm assuming that I'll get a very high GRE score and excellent recommendation letters. My interests in Econ are trading algorithms and game theory; in Linguistics, I'm interested in morphosyntax, grammar, CompLing, and other fields.</p>
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<li>Due to a combination of health and personal reasons my CGPA dipped below the 3.5 required to maintain my scholarship; it is currently at a 3.39. By the time I graduate I should be able to get it back to at least a 3.7, possibly a 3.8, graduating with either Distinction or High Distinction on the Dean's List. I will likely secure another scholarship by then.</li>
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<p>Should I log the scholarships on my application or would it be a negative if it's clear that I lost my first one? If I gain another would it offset the negativity of losing the first to the admissions office?</p>
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<li>My math grades so far aren't representative of my mathematical aptitude so far. Here are my grades so far:
CalcIII: B.
Discrete Structs I: B+ (The teacher gave higher grades to people with lower scores; she did not like me.)
Linear Algebra: B-. (Health reasons.)</li>
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<p>I still have Probability and Statistics, and Discrete Structs II. I should get an A on those courses. I might also be able to retake Linear Alg and get an A on it, as well as an extra Graph Theory course.</p>
<p>Would those grades make up for the first math grades?</p>
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<li>I have a few projects (like a Graph library in Java implemented from a Linear Alg perspective and a trading alg) and I will be enrolled in a few extracurriculars (like the national programming competition and the Debate Club.)</li>
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<p>Furthermore, it is likely that I will have a paper published by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>Would those be of any help in my application?</p>
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<li>To sum up, are my prospects of being admitted into a Linguistics or Econ Phd in either MIT or UChicago (or some similarly-ranked university) high? If not, what should I do, and what should I aim for?</li>
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<p>Thank you in advance for your input!</p>