<p>I'm just wondering if it's true that MIT really looks for passion or if it's more about the numbers?</p>
<p>I've got decent grades and 2190 SAT + tons of 5s on AP Tests, but I'm definitely not the top in my class and I don't have amazing math grades. I do however, have a passion and love for programming. I work on programming throughout the year, I get together with a close friend who shares my interest in programming every weekend and we work on programming competitions, android application development, and robots for fun. None of this is through school, all of it is on my free time since my school has no programs in computer science. Will I have a decent chance or will not having amazing grades + math awards mean I have a much lower chance?</p>
<p>I had previously thought that passion was the most important, but the college counselor I went to recently told me otherwise. Has anyone taken the time to analyze the past results to determine what the truth is?</p>
<p>“Passion” is a fuzzy word. If you haven’t read the “Match between you and MIT” page on the Admissions site, you should. They really, really mean it. The scores are there to make sure you’re capable (which, from the info I have, it sounds like you are) - and from there they look for so much more.</p>
<p>Realize that MIT admissions is much different from many colleges’ admissions, and your counselor may not be aware of that.</p>
<p>Yep, I’ve read the “Match between you and MIT,” many times actually. I really feel like I would fit in there; I program usually not by myself but with my friend and like collaborating to solve those problems. I’ve taken initiative and taken the AP Comp Sci test and made several open-source Android applications which are very well rated on the market, despite my high school’s complete lack of computer science classes. I’ve started personal robotics projects not for any competition, just for fun, and done lots of hands on work there. I love competing in programming competitions on my weekend, often on a team with a friend. I’ve learned the linux operating system very well, I enjoy white-hat hacking, and I like fixing computers. I also would have loved to take part in all of the MIT hacks that I’ve read about. Are the students that MIT admits like me though?</p>
<p>^^Admitted applicants are a mix. Although I have disagreed with people on this board in the past about how admitting for “passion” rather than academic performance, I actually agree with it in cases like yours because you have developed measurable expertise in a subject matter that is not really taught or assessed in high school.</p>
<p>That said, you should push yourself to at least get "A"s in your math and science classes. If you have to, you should sacrifice some of your time away from programming to do it. Math is very linear and once you get off track, it is very hard to make up for it. It shouldn’t be that tough to be in the top 1/2 to 1/3 of a normal high school math class. </p>
<p>IMO, High school is the time to first and foremost master* the fundamentals, and secondly, to explore and develop your interests. I took a few classes at a top15 university in the summers, and I was very surprised that people were taking what I thought to be high school classes through the first two years–mainly because they didn’t master them in high school. Maybe they blew it off in high school, but they ended up having to spend time on it anyway. It’s better not to mess it up the first time.</p>
<p>Of course I get As in my math and science classes now, my low grades in those classes were actually 7th - 10th grade ( I was put in a special program in my school district to start taking high school math in 7th grade ), in Calculus BC I had a 95 avg, and Physics B I had a 96, with a 100 avg final quarter 11th grade. I’m just not utterly amazing at it, I haven’t even taken the AIME or anything yet. High school is pretty easy for me actually, I just had to get my ADD under control and my grades shot up 11th grade. I’ll find out what MIT thinks today at 9!</p>