Hi,
I am an international RD applicant.
My TOEFL is 96
SAT Math Level 2: 700
SAT Physics: 580
(Tests are low because of the curriculum differences)
My GPA was only an average GPA on previous years due to family issues, legal guardians etc. but this year I went through my problems and my GPA raised significantly. I am one of the best students in the school now.
My essays are awesome, with a great life story (Well, I guess and hope)
Extracurricular activities:
Basketball
Archery
Research with a university
Little volunteer work
Science&Technology Club
Mechatronics Club
Project Festival Participation
Class body representative at school government
Playing guitar and singing
I know my stats aren’t great but everybody stands a chance for MIT admissions. Do you think if I do too?
Seems highly unlikely to me, given the low GPA/test scores and ECs, and simply because admission is very competitive internationally. Do you have a backup plan in case you are rejected?
I applied to schools that I stand a very low chance with one or two exceptions,
Do you think if the fact that I raised my GPA significantly and worked on a research project would save me?
I stated on my essay that I wanted to develop my project during and after college.
I worked on the research with a selective university in my country.
Sorry, but you have many things working against you, not the least of which is being an international. Your math and physics scores are too low for MIT no matter what the explanation and not having top grades also can’t be explained away. Hope for the best but be prepared for a negative result. Good luck!
I don’t believe anyone with scores this low has ever been admitted to MIT, regardless of his/her nationality. If there were indeed significant curriculum differences as you claim, you should probably have compensated them by studying the missing topics by yourself, as many international applicants do. Also be aware that even being an international applicant, you should have scores similar to those presented by American applicants, if not higher considering the lower acceptance percentage for internationals.
I think that with you stats, you should probably be aiming for a community college instead of a top university, if your true ambition is to attend college in the US. Even if you genuinely have an extraordinary life story, those scores may make the admissions officers believe you are not ready for college-level work.
Anyway, are you also considering college options in your home country?
@isitan actually yes, skywalker does bring up good points. According to data I looked up, 700 and 580 are only in the 48th and 20th percentiles of all college-bound seniors. Could you have taken a different subject test (E.g. biology)?
Note that, if admitted, you do have to take 18.01/18.02, 8.01/8.02, 7.01x, etc. (or variants like 18.014, 8.012, or test out of), as well as 8 HASS classes, two of them writing-intensive. These are just the basic requirements for all MIT undergrads. Are you sure you can handle that, given your low math and physics scores?
@skywalker11@MITer94 I just checked the level of the classes you mentioned and topics covered, it’s going to sound ridiculous but we see 70% of those stuff in Turkish Anatolian High School Curriculum and they are not a problem for me. I don’t know if they’re equal but curriculum classes here are at AP level or at a higher level without the name of the AP
When I said caused by curriculum differences I meant most topics on the tests were taught us in 12th grade, while and after the time I’ve taken the test. Still learning some of them and will not have a chance to learn some of them regarding the actual differences.
Let me put it like this: I’ve taken the SAT Math 2 and Physics on October, when 12th grade recently started. I was so confident that I didn’t study for them except the night before. I only made 530 on Physics and 580 on Math 2. I have taken the test two months later on December, I made 580 on Physics and 700 on Math 2. Again, I was so confident and only studied the night before (A terrible habit.) Maybe these aren’t great scores but my point is that even without studying but only by learning more of my curriculum topics, my scores went up higher.
Maybe if I knew everything in my curriculum without deficiencies in the end of this year, my scores could be 700 on physics and 800 on math 2.
I could’ve taken biology but I want to major in engineering so I thought physics would be more beneficial for my application.
I consider universities from all over the world, mostly in my country. But MIT has a place in my heart
@isitan:
As others have noted, the odds of you getting into MIT with your current stats are stacked against you. That does not mean getting a degree from a good school could never happen.
My high school verbal + math SAT scores were 930, my grades were mostly D’s and F’s, and I graduated at the bottom of my class. Ten years later I graduated from MIT with a BSEE degree.
It all depends on how hard you want to work for it. It’s won’t be easy. It took me a few years of giving up everything to focus on schooling in order to have a respectable academic profile. Only then I was able to apply to 4-year schools.
Only you can answer: “How badly do you want it?”
The more you put into it, the more doors will open for you.
@isitan I know what you mean saying that you did the tests without having covered the needed topics on school – I did the same. I am an international student from Brazil, and I had to study like 30% of the SAT subjects contents on my own to take the tests, even thought I study in a school whose classes are definitely way harder than any AP or Honors. We have classes from 7am to 7pm, from Monday to Saturday, study 14 different subjects every term (and we don’t get to choose them), and the coursework (and the tests) are so ridiculously hard that the average grade here is around 4.0 out of 10. Yet, there are students who manage to get a 9.98 (I did).
I believe that, if you want to go to MIT, you have to want it VERY badly and put a huge amount of effort towards it. And with the scores that you are showing us, unfortunately you are not demonstrating neither those efforts nor you capability to handle a MIT-caliber coursework.
Remember: anyone can get into MIT. You just have to want it so badly that you’d be putting virtually all possible (and impossible) efforts into it.
@isitan Quite honestly, if the classes you are taking are higher-level, then you should’ve prepared more since the physics subject test is only at a HS level (far easier than 8.01/8.02). If you want to major in engineering, then having the requisite knowledge is a must.
Also, I’m not familiar with the TOEFL but MIT requires a 90, and recommends 100+. Yes, you do have to write a lot.
I’ll have to agree with the rest of the posters in that your low scores will very likely count against you.
I guess I am a little luckier than you were because I started to put my life together a little earlier @jpm50. @skywalker11 the average GPA in my country is about 50-55% and we have 17 subjects a term I was 65% during 9th and 11th grade due to my problems, I wasn’t listening to my classes at all and I was a problem kid. During 11th grade I started to get over my problems, my 11th grade GPA was 69 (Might not seem like a big improvement but this was a GPA from more challenging classes) and this term (senior year’s first term) my GPA went up to 87.5%(Which is considered very high for my country and my school) and I have the most challenging class choice with 17 classes
@candypurple Yes, who knows I hope they’ll consider my improvement.
