Hi, I’m an undergraduate (9th grade) from high school. I have lower than average grades but that’s because I like working on my private projects. I study calculus 2 & 3, electrical engineering, physics, and sometimes create things. I’m currently working on the math of 2nd dimension of time. The reason why I study this subjects is that I find school very boring, and useless. However, I don’t know if these personal projects are good enough for me to be accepted to MIT. I got an 800 on my psat and my average grade is a B. So, could it be possible?
Highly unlikely.
lol, true 
To have a chance at a highly ranked university, including but not limited to MIT, you are going to need to start working hard on your classes and pull your grades up considerably.
MIT is a lot more difficult than pretty much any high school. Admissions there needs to see that any incoming students have a history of doing well in school prior to their attending MIT.
Also, if you are interested in STEM, then you want to work hard on your math classes. Algebra and Calculus in particular are a major basis for a lot of work that you are going to be doing in the future.
You sound very similar to my oldest son. He didn’t always do well in the first years of high school even though he was working on his own advanced projects. But after he realized that having the (relatively) low grades would prevent him from getting into his dream college, he made sure his grades were perfect from that point forward. He’s going to his top choice school - UChicago - this fall, so apparently they were willing to overlook his early year Bs.
I don’t know about MIT specifically, but if you pull up your grades and test scores from here on out and your personal projects are interesting and impactful enough, I’d think you still have a shot at top schools.
Thaks everyone. I’ll take your advice, and work on managing my grades better. Just thought that my personal skills could outcome my bad school skills.
@Arturo071
“The reason why I study this subjects is that I find school very boring, and useless.”
This sticks out as a huge red flag.
MIT is a what…
School.
That kind of attitude seems pompous and arrogant, so I question your “personal skills.”
You’re going to have to learn lots of things that you may not see as interesting, but help you be a functional member of society like civics, history, a foreign language, etc.
Even at MIT, 8 subjects of every degree are not going to be STEM related – they’ll be Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
There is a saying that past performance is the best indicator of future performance.
If you cannot handle high school, how do you expect to handle MIT?
You may find school boring and useless but it is trying to teach you skills and give you knowledge. Why fight it? If you really did know the material presented to you your grades would reflect that. It appears from your grades that you don’t know the material. Why would MIT or any other top school want to admit a student who doesn’t want to learn? After all, the role of the school is to teach you.
Because in MIT I I’m going to be selecting a particular class, therefore something I like. It came out the wrong way, what I meant that I found the classes I have right now (majority of them) are pointless, since they have nothing to do with the subjects I’m learning. I also find it much easier to learn this subjects simply because I find it entertaining something most of my classes in high school are not. Either way, I’ll try to improve my grade since this clearly is going to work. A main reason I tried this was because I thought that I could beat the odds and find something, but I’ll do it the safe way and focus more on school.
What is “math of 2nd dimension of time”? Just curious.
You may be one of these people who never attend a prestigious school or even don’t graduate from college but still have spectacular achievements. Figure out your goals. But I’d still advise doing better in school just because at this age you should keep you options open.
By math of 2nd dimensions of time. I’m referring to the mathematics of time in 2 dimensions. According to the string theory 2nd dimensions of time might excist. I want to know if that’s true. I’m no genius so this isn’t easy but I’m hoping that by my 30’s I might finish this.
*I want to know if they do
“Because in MIT I I’m going to be selecting a particular class…”
You won’t be selecting anything, if they don’t select you. And as soon as you look into what *they * want in students, not just what you want, you’ll see why your present thinking is flawed.
They aren’t looking for unilateral kids. Nor kids who only see a tippy top as fulfilling their own needs. That’s simply not the equation.
Miles to go.
See what MIT says.
oh, I thought you could select a certain topic and you will get some classes referring to that topic. I’ve decided I might not want to go to mit. Closest I will get there is cleaning the floors. So I think I’ll rather go to my safe colleges and see how it goes. Meanwhile, I’ll stop working on my private projects and focus more on school.
And also. I agree with what you said. I think I had a misinterpretation on what mit or college in general is. I like learning but only stem related subjects. I find it very difficult to concentrate in a marine science class for example or English class. But I get that mit, by giving me other courses not focused on other subjects are trying to make me a well-balanced person. At some point, just like everyone else, I’m gonna have to do work that I don’t like. But if that means getting to mit, then I’ll try my best.
Admit. If they don’t **admit ** you.
Will do
“I found the classes I have right now (majority of them) are pointless, since they have nothing to do with the subjects I’m learning. I also find it much easier to learn this subjects simply because I find it entertaining something most of my classes in high school are not”
For whatever reason, whatever school you are at, there has been established a core curriculum. Usually that core curriculum includes stuff like (and I’ll exclude physics and math):
English: you have to be able to communicate effectively and English is a pretty complex and complicated language
Some foreign language: because there are many languages and cultures. (Plus learning one or more foreign languages gives you a framework for picking up more languages.)
History: because we need to know how we got to where we are today, learn from mistakes, etc.
Civics: because you need to know stuff about your country and how the government functions
Home/life skills (home economics, drafting, woodwork, metal work): because you should know some of these basic things!
Physical Education: because exercise is good for the body, team sports are a great metaphor for life, and mind and body
Chemistry: because food and cooking involve complex chemical reactions, plus lab safety, …
Marine science: because much of what happens in the water affects us landlubbers.
Education is also not about entertaining you.
Education is about teaching you how you learn, giving you tools to be able to educate yourself, expanding your mind, giving you knowledge and paradigms and reference points and case studies and methodology and so on.
Lots of life is about “putting in the work/effort” because it is training you in various ways.
Don’t forget that applicants NEED two teacher recommendations, and one will be from a non-STEM teacher. If you can’t find two teachers who will sing your praises, forget applying … you’re not going to be competitive.
Being a great student is assumed, although still insufficient. Admits demonstrate that they are a great match for MIT: http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/match
You might be better served by a program more similar to the British universities, where you won’t have to study topics unrelated to your field. As an American applying there, you will still need to do well in school to meet their admissions requirements. But at this point, I’m not sure you should focus on ANY college, due to your attitude about high school. If you think your time is high school is a waste, you will think the same of most colleges. College isn’t for everybody - and that doesn’t just mean those destined to a career in a trade should consider other options. There are many highly successful people who never attended college, or did but never graduated. The main goal of colleges and university is to educate those seeking a degree - and earning a degree requires following a structured degree program.
Look up the Wikipedia article on Multiple time dimensions. Do you understand completely all math in this article? Can you read and understand scientific articles in this area? If yes, you may be better off working on a research project with a university professor. If not, you may be better off actually getting an education that will allow you to know what you’re doing.