Kinda a chances thread...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Okay im a sophmore in a highschool that is way overly concerned with going to college. I want to go to MIT for Computer rngineering VERY BADLY. But i know that there are so many people better than me that my chances arent amazing. So i want some class schedule help. </p>

<p>POINT OF THIS POST: The point of this post is for me to find out, am i taking the right classes? I currently attend a decent high school and Im a 10th grader. I want to know, if this was my schedule and I got the gpas marked for that grade, what would my chances be at MIT? In other words I just want to know if this schedule is good enough. Go through the list and tell me what you think. By the way I attend Thousand Oaks High School so if youd like to see the classses offered go here : <a href="https://admissions.ucop.edu/doorways/list/%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://admissions.ucop.edu/doorways/list/&lt;/a>
And type my schools name. There are some descrepincies (we dont have IB courses for example) </p>

<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9th : 3.75 uw – 3.75 w
English 9cp ( 2 B's)
Algebra 1cp (1 B)
Health/Geography/Careers
PE
Spanish 1
Physical science cp </p>

<p>9.5 (elearn.byu.edu) ^^^ 3.5 (not counted in HS gpa)
Geometry semester 1 (B+) and 2 (A-) taken ONLINE over summer</p>

<p>10th: max 4.0 uw – max 4.0w
ACD English 10cp
Algebra 2cp
World history cp
PE
Spanish 2 cp
Biology Cp
Theater 1 (UC approved art) </p>

<p>11th : max uw 4.0 – max w 4.66
English 11 cp
Math Analysis H
US history AP
Spanish 3 cp
Chemistry H
computer science ap</p>

<p>12th: max uw 4.0 – max w 5.0
English language composition AP<br>
Calculus AP
Physics AP
Computer repair ROP OR Spanish 4 AP
Economics and Politics AP </p>

<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ACD = Academy. I am in the academy which changes certain courses to be acd courses. These courses are focuses on my choice of topic, for me computer repair specifically and business and IT in general. So my essays in English for ex. would than be based on computers.</p>

<p>ROP = Off campus class with hands on training. </p>

<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^
ECs :</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Plan on over 100 hours of community service (20 already) </p></li>
<li><p>Became comptia A+ certified (certified pc technician) at 15</p></li>
<li><p>Getting a job at the geek squad my 10th-11th grade summer (may stay much longer, and i have already secured the job) </p></li>
</ul>

<p>*Business and IT (Computer technician emphasis) Academy student 10-12
---Academy program includes job shadowing, internships, and interviews of professionals. Also includes field trips to businesses, museums, libraries etc focused on my topic. My focus is on computers and business (however at any time if i choose I may go into the engineering academy) </p>

<p>*Creator and President of FCEF (future computer engineer forum) This is a club i am making this year (10th grade) where we discuss new and upcoming technologies and design (realistic) products ourselves. We even try and sell one product to a company (like Toshiba, Samsung, lg, etc.) every semester!</p>

<p>*Creator and President of TOHS donation club. I am also creating this club (this year) where every 4 weeks we will run a donation drive to help those in need. At the same time we collect boxes from every class room for food donations every 2 weeks. Proceeds go to food share. I have a partner ship with food share already. </p>

<p>*National honor society (member) (requires 3.5 gpa and leadership skills) </p>

<ul>
<li><p>Member of CSF (requires 3.5gpa and 10 hours of com. service a semester)</p></li>
<li><p>Created websites for both of my clubs fcef and tohsd. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>EC’s Cant really count yet</p>

<p>*Plan on RSI summer program 11-12th grade summer</p>

<ul>
<li>Plan on taking more technician tests from comptia.org(network+, project+,etc)</li>
</ul>

<p>*Starting to program so ill have some programming ECs hopefully!</p>

<ul>
<li>Was 5th class president, not sure if colleges care because some people say it does matter while other say they don’t really consider it a good sign of leadership
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AP tests: For the sake of this thread pretend i scored all 4s and 5s. </li>
</ul>

<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>

<p>SATs: I plan on taking the SAT and the SATII at the end of 10th grade and/or the end of 11th grade (not sure yet) Have yet to take any PSATs but ill update after i take some from books i have. Yes, I am already studying. Taking a practice SAT from a book I have in the coming weeks. Ill let you know my current score.</p>

<p>However for this thread pretend this happened.
800 on all 3 sat 1 tests. 11th grade</p>

<p>800 in math L2 , 800 in Spanish (with listening) , 800 in English , 800 in history , 800 in chemistry 11th grade. </p>

<p>{remember this is simply for me to determine if my schedule will work) </p>

<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Application : obviously haven’t written an essay. Ill have good recommendations . </p>

<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Me: Live in southern California (30 min to LA) and I am male of Italian ancestry (born in new York) .
Legacies : Dad went to Hofstra. That’s it I guess.</p>

2

<p>My suggestion: print out your post, and hang it up around your room to keep yourself busy in case you ever feel you're "slacking off". Tape some to your ceiling too, so its the first thing you see when you open your eyes in bed. Inside of the refrigerator may keep you on target. Body tattoos wouldn't hurt either.</p>

<p>Kidding aside, RELAX. Don't get worried about the whole college admissions circus for another 2 years. Enjoy high school, get as much out of it as possible. These are the best years of your life. Bottom line: stay driven and follow your "map", but don't go overboard trying to "cater to" colleges. Cater to your passions instead, college will follow.</p>

3

<p>yes abhim i know.
However im concerned about my 10th grade schedule. I dont want schools like MIT to see it and say " Oh well here we have student A with the same scores and grades as mtf612. But student a has some tougher courses in 9th and 10th grade. Although mtf612 has better ECs we should take student A. "</p>

<p>I just want to see, will this schedule hinder me later on or if i acheive top marks will it look fine?</p>

4

<p>Just take the most difficult classes that are offered and as long as you get good grades, you should be fine.</p>

5

<p>Can you take AP Chemistry or AP Biology? Also, do you plan on taking AB Calculus and B Physics or BC Calculus and C Physics? I think the EC's are your strength, but your schedule isn't bad by any means. </p>

<p>Two little bits of advice:
1. Don't start scheduling your 11th-12th grade summer around RSI because no matter how talented you are, that is never a sure thing.
2. Don't be too upset if you don't get a 2400. The admissions committee is looking at a lot more than test scores, and even if you do get a 2400, that won't guarantee you admissions. Stay focused on your EC's because I think they will have a lot more weight than the difference between a 2250 and a 2400.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>I know i wont get a 2400.
RSI is something id love to do, but if i cant go i will continue academy work (job shadowing, intern, etc. ) or teach myself some new programming languages and get some new certifications.
Also my school only offers physics and calculus (no AB calc , B phys and C phys here ) . I can not switch into biology AP as they dont allow sophmores in it (not sure why) . I also MIGHT be able to take AP chemistry but ill have to be lucky with the petition much like AP us history .</p>

<p>So you guys think my lack of challenges in 9 and 10 wont effect my chances?</p>

7

<p>So long as you are taking the most difficult curriculum your school offers, you will be fine. It looks good that you took Geometry over the summer to get back on the standard math track.</p>

8

<p>Good news on the geometry.
Again these classes arent the toughest but i cant change 9th grade , and the only thing i can change according to my counseler (for 10th grade) is i can drop theater and make history an acadmey class (you can only have hist and english as acd. courses) </p>

<p>Also will it help me out that im taking an extra course this year (most sophmores have 5-6 classes, on average juniors have 4-5 , and on average seniors have 3-5) Im the only person my counseler knows that has taken 7 at my school in one year.</p>

9

<p>Why drop a theater class? Don't try to second guess what MIT is looking for. Take classes you enjoy as well as the most challenging math and science courses. Education should be well rounded and be used to explore your interests not resume building.</p>

10

<p>MIT will be much more interested in your science and math classes, so I don't think they will care one way or the other about your theater/history dilemma.</p>

11

<p>I dont love theater im taking it because of the UC requirement (if i decide to go to uc berkley) . </p>

<p>Also do i need that 4th year of spanish??</p>

<p>So my 10th grade schedule EVEN with a lack of honors and ap WONT matter ?!?</p>

12

<p>i dont even need to look at your post, i can tell you your chances already. barely ten percent of applicants get accepted, and if you were really amazing you wouldnt even need to ask, so chances are you wont be accepted. of course, i'd say that to everyone, so 10% of the time i'm wrong. o well.</p>

13

<p>greenday fan im in 10TH grade. I want to know if my shcedule is good enough. I know its hard to get in MIT i just want to know if my schedule will hinder me.</p>

14

<p>I think the general advice is, roughly in this order:
- Take what you're interested in.
- Take the hardest courses your school offers that you can work into your schedule.
- Do well in them.</p>

<p>Other than that, your chances will be about 10%, just like everyone else's. Don't arrange your school schedule around what you think MIT wants to see: they'll look at what you do in the context of what your school offers and what you've done with the opportunities available to you. (And people with a passion for theatre or history do get admitted to MIT every year, although an aptitude and achievement in science and math have to be demonstrated also.)</p>

<p>MIT does not require 4 years of language, but take it if you are interested and want to pursue the subject. Also look at the requirements of other schools you will apply to and see if they'll require a 4th year of foreign language: I don't believe there are many, if any, schools that have that requirement.</p>

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<p>What would have been the toughest possible schedule for 10th grade?</p>

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<p>The toughest possible schedule really depends on your school. Many schools won't let freshmen and sophomores take AP courses. In our system most honor track kids already have a year of language, algebra 1 and high level biology in 8th grade which makes it it standard to have at least 3 APs as a senior. They've also now made the Physics B AP the honors sophomore science course and have also just started having sophomores do a World History AP. (Not sure how kids are scoring on these.) My son was lucky to have taught himself enough computer programming to take the Computer Science AP as a freshman, and he took Chemistry through CTY and was able to get an extra science AP in as well.</p>

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<p>Weasel it depends. You can take English H (although academy is kinda like cp but harder) , any math level, any language level 1-5 all cp , European history AP , any science level up to AP , and a sport/pe. </p>

<p>My counseler also said i cant go into BIO ap as a sophmore. And euro ap is full. And i like academy english. I cant go into algebra 2 h since i just took geometry online. Spanish is cp only until 4. And pe should not matter much. </p>

<p>Also i guess you could take a 7th class but as i said im pretty sure im the only 10th grader in my school with 7 periods.</p>

18

<p>Taking that into consideration, I don't think your schedule will hurt your chances, but I doubt it will help you much either.</p>

19

<p>Cool thanks weasel.
Any other comments people?</p>