<p>Sooo
I'm not exactly your ideal student. But I think I have some stuff going for me. Let's start with the positive- </p>
<ol>
<li>Science fair stuff- 1st place microbiology at my regional/best of fair, thus qualified to Intel ISEF. 2nd in category at state. At ISEF, I won two special awards- a 60k scholarship to University of Sciences at Philidelphia, and a fully paid trip to do research for 3 weeks in Italy. This was my first ever science fair and I did everything with no mentor. </li>
<li>I've worked in a lab year round since summer of 10th grade. I've worked on a treatment for cystic fibrosis and a biophysics in cancer project, and now another CF project. This research is basically the most important thing in my life and I'm really passionate.
3.While in novice policy debate, I won one tournament, was in quarterfinals 5 times, semifinals 2 times (2012). While in varsity policy CX debate, I have been in octofinals (1 time), quarter finals (1 time), semifinals (5 times), and finals (2 times) at debate tournaments on the local circuit. I have also competed nationally at the prestigious Heritage Hall tournament and UT Austin tournament two times, breaking even with a record of 3-3 in 2013. I was also second speaker at the national debate institute CNDI tournament at UC Berkeley, as well as third speaker at a TFA sanctioned local tournament.<br></li>
<li>Member of NHS and Synthethic Biology club- pretty involved. Not as much as in debate/robotics/lab though. </li>
<li>Member of FRC robotics team qualified to Worlds 2 times, lead builder on FTC robotics team 5998 and FTC builder on 4290. </li>
<li>NCWIT- National Computing Women in Technology- National runner up. </li>
<li>Wellsley Book award candidate for my high school which is ranked 37th in the nation by Newsweek, participated in HAS texas aerospace scholars, a NASA program. </li>
<li>Gymnastics for 13 years, random violin awards because violin for 7 years. </li>
<li>I've been learning chinese for 10 years and I maintained an A in AP Chinese. </li>
</ol>
<p>Downside...
I have shit for grades. C in chemistry 2nd semester, C in Algebra 2 second semester, C in pre cal first semester, failed pre cal this semester but passed for the year with a 70 because it rounded up. I fail a lot of stuff. I want to go for engineering. I have mostly B's in general, and my GPA is either a 3.71 or a 3.78 based on whether it's weighted/unweighted, so I was wondering if I had a chance of MIT still. </p>
<p>@howdoischool :
Can you convey a track record that you’ll work hard (very hard) at your course work when your MIT classes will be more difficult than your HS classes?</p>
<p>Congratulations, you’ve accomplished some really awesome things!</p>
<p>As @jpm50 said, you’ll need to convince MIT admissions that you can handle the MIT curriculum - including a year of calculus and a semester of chemistry. It may also be useful to answer the question: why do you want to go to MIT? Academic course rigor may not be the best fit for you – if it is, you may want to explain why.</p>
<p>Are you going into your senior year this coming fall or your junior year? Your junior year is very important, so if you are just now finishing your sophomore year you can be in a very good position if you show positive growth and do very well this coming year.</p>
<p>Are those Cs for the semester or Cs for the school year? If you got a C in one semester of a two-semester course but a B overall, that’s not bad.</p>
<p>Grades aren’t everything. Grades are far from everything. There are superstars at MIT who don’t have good grades but spend all their time doing epic things outside the classroom. Admissions knows this and they’re not going to keep you out if you’re one of those. On the other hand if you can’t pass your classes at MIT then you’re not going to get to stick around for very long if they let you in. So you need to demonstrate that you can pass (preferably more than pass) your classes at MIT, and that starts with managing your coursework in high school.</p>
<p>I recommend looking for a way to make up for the C you wound up with in pre-calc. If you’re hoping for a technical major it’s going to be very math-heavy at MIT, and you might not be able to pursue your chosen field here if math is a problem for you. If math isn’t a problem for you then I recommend trying very, very hard to get an A in calculus. Buy the textbook (used on half.com for cheap) and study ahead over the summer if you need to. Calculus had a few mental hurdles, at least for me, so it might be good for you to get past them before you actually take the course. If it would be possible for you to take math beyond calculus (differential equations, linear algebra, and/or multivariable calculus) and do well that could also very much help your application.</p>
<p>If you wound up with a C overall in chem you could demonstrate a good grasp of the material by studying for and doing well on the chem SAT subject test or the AP chemistry exam.</p>
<p>The research sounds awesome. Keep that up. No pressure, but if you can get a publication it would reshape your entire career in a very, very good way. Not just undergrad admissions.</p>
<p>You sound super. Keep doing what you’re doing. I’m confident that you’re going to make big positive waves no matter where you end up going to college. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I feel like a lot of the time I didn’t work as hard in school as I maybe should have; but I was brought up learning that grades are not as important as making a difference in the world- and I don’t really regret missing homework sometimes to do what I love but I think if I got into MIT I’d 1. not have so many extracurriculars 2. Scheduled time for lab work means more time to go to classes and stuff. We did the first 6 weeks of calculus in our pre cal class and I loved it so much so I hope I’ll enjoy calc, but I wasn’t a big fan of trig…definetely will be doing some review at least because I might take linear algebra with calc next year. I want to go to MIT because almost every software I use or paper I read comes from there, and I’m in FIRST robotics which was designed after an MIT class. It just feels like the right place to be an engineer. Not to mention the enviornment just seems a lot like my high school and I love people who do random crazy engineering nerdy things. </p>
<p>I think with all you’ve accomplished you have a chance, especially if you get good standardized test scores. You could explain in your application (essays or optional statement maybe) why you’ve struggled. The people above have a point, though. The first thing MIT (and all colleges really) is looking for is who can handle going there. This is where your problem lies. But then they look for who would be a great element to the institute, who would bring something unique. This is where you will succeed. But focus on the standardized tests, that’s how they pit the pool of applicants against each other in a comparable way.
But I’d like to ask you, how did you get that lab? I’m looking into doing research, but I can’t find a place they would let me. I would appreciate if you answered.</p>
<p>If I get an A+ in AP Calculus AB first semester senior year, how much will my C in Algebra 1 Honors freshman year matter? I have greatly improved my math skills by now, and while at that point I didn’t like math at all, now I love math and see the beauty in it through Physics</p>
<p>I think an A+ in AP Calc AB this year will mean much more than a C in Algebra 1 Honors three years ago. That said, is this feasible? Presumably you had math as a sophomore and junior – what did you get then?</p>
<p>I know some kids here who got into MIT and Harvard as well as other such schools with your type of profile but they also had the top grades AND top test scores. I don’t think they would have been accepted from here without that . the only cases I’ve seen where exception for those type of grades might be made are when the kid comes from some backwater unknown school where the excuse could be made that the kid was just way too smart and able for the environment. That your school and area are such that the opportunities were right there usually means that you will also be expected to fulfill the obligations and standards there. If you are a true standout in the national scene and outside of the high school world, that might be a whole other story, but otherwise, no, it does not look good. What are your SAT and ACT scores at this point or what are the PSAT and PLAN if you’ve yet to take them? Are you close to or exceeding National merit cutoffs? </p>
<p>@PiperXP I did ok in Geometry, around an A-/A, and I was taken out of the honors track because of my grade. This year in Algebra 2/Trig I have around an A/A+ or borderline A+ (depending on how well I do on my final exam). I’m taking a Precalculus summer course to get into Calc AB and I’m pretty sure I can get around a 100 in that course. Basically I went through a major transformation after the first 2 or 3 quarters of my freshman year. My Physics 1 Honors course went from a B- to an A+ by individual quarters by the end of the year, and that is what got me interested in Math. Now I have a 97 in Physics 2 (No honors and mostly seniors), and I’ll be in AP Physics and Chem Honors next year (no AP), and most likely Calc AB.</p>
<p>I think I posted on your other thread, too. </p>
<p>Any SAT scores? Frankly you are a dark horse for MIT. You sound like an interesting candidate, a kid with lots of potential, but you may be developing your talents at a pace that won’t get you into MIT for undergrad. Do you have a plan B? Like go to a state school and continue with your current momentum and kick butt and then go to grad school at MIT? </p>
<p>I think I said this on the other thread, but your math grades give me pause. Math is the language of science and engineering. Think long and hard about why you have struggled with math in the past. Bad teacher? Poor organizational skills on your part? Weak foundation? You say you failed second semester pre cal; go back and learn the material well before going forward. </p>
<p>To clarify I failed pre cal because we basically did a lot of calc AB and stuff in the second semester and I missed 3 weeks of the last six weeks for competitions/ make up APs. I just took the SAT today and I’m pretty confident; I expect to end up with over 2000. Same for AP’s- I think I got a 5 on English Lang, and probz a 4 on APUSH- 3 if it went really bad. </p>
<p>e.g. SAT math was literally the easiest thing ever- I don’t really think I’m bad at math. I just think doing calculus as a junor despite taking Algebra 1 in 9th grade was over my head in combination with missing a lot of school. </p>
<p>How is your GPA 3.71 unweighted if you have mostly Bs? If you actually attend an excellent high school you should be able to get more accurate guidance from looking at past admissions results.</p>
<p>I’m not sure, it feels like I have mostly B’s but I have quite a few high A’s from debate, robotics, Chinese, etc, then like 81’s in history and Physics. </p>
<p>The difference between a 3.71 and 3.66 is not so substantial; both are quite low by MIT standards but not so low to totally preclude any chance of admission. If the drop in GPA is because of a bad semester things are more grim because it’s easier to explain away low grades early in your high school career.</p>