<p>Okay I know you guys get posts like this often. People ask "What are my chances of getting into MIT?" But lets be honest, no one really knows. To me MIT seems to be a school were, when it comes down to it if your grades are decent, your SAT scores 2000+, and your GPA above a 3.3 then your fine. What really matters at this school is your EXTRA CURRICULARS. You see, at MIT they don't want some kid who is fantastic at math, but never does his work, sleeps in class, and then aces the test. MIT wants hard workers, kids with a passion for their main subjects: Science, Engineering, and Math. Your grades, class selection, and GPA are subjective to your school. But your extra circulars show you as a person. For me, a Junior (almost senior now) in high school, I have taken AP classes, I took Algebra 2 over a summer, and then turned around and failed did horrible in Precalculus. I am not dumb, I am not bad at math, I was not trying. Now, I try so hard that I will be able to take AP calculus next year. I am a really hard worker. I don't give up, and I am not afraid to try new things. My extra curriculars are:
-Eagle Scout
-Robotics Club Team Captain
-Co-Chair of Board of Directors of my High School Engineering Club
-Washington State Aerospace Scholar
-High School Tennis Team Player</p>
<p>What do you guys think? In the end... your basic requirements like 2000+ SAT score, and a decent GPA matter but I think in the end your Extra cirriculars are the determining factor. </p>
<p>I'd love to hear your opinions.</p>
<p>While GPA&SAT scores are important to determine your abilities. MIT is a place where you demonstrate you best interest, passion and taking advantage of the resources given to you&giving back. I think MIT is a school where people feel much closer to each other because everyone has something in common. My friends who attend there seem to be really happy instead of stress(even though they are really smart). </p>
<p>It looks like your stressing out about GPA&just test scores… Those really do matter in the sense that MANY other applicants have perfects&all. But then in my opinion, lots of applicant get involved around the school.</p>
<p>Your ECs sound like what I have…& I bet many others too</p>
<p>I think you should just try to get help on math if possible… Even though MIT has a minimum requirement of calculus… Lots of people go beyond it. If math isn’t your strength, do you have a reason why you REALLY love MIT? Just a question?</p>
<p>Is it for the campus life? The students there? Friends? The business program?</p>
<p>My Strength is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.</p>
<p>SAT scores 2000+, and your GPA above a 3.3 then your fine.</p>
<p>MIT is just not happening at this level. </p>
<p>MIT is also not for a student who did not do well in Precalc because he/she was not trying. Math is the cornerstone of their curriculum and if someone is not into Math for the fun of it and not because they are required to do a class in school, they are probably not suited for MIT.</p>
<p>My point was, I worked to fix the issue, and its resolved. I took a whole years worth of math over a summer to challenge myself. I had a severe error and corrected it. I think math is fine.</p>
<p>Yea… I mean math is really important in MIT life… I bet all the science classes require Calculus 1/2…along with Engineering (usually also DFQ)</p>
<p>Yea, I am in a STEM Course which is an engineering class that rolls up math,science, technology, and math into one.</p>
<p>Feel free to apply but… MIT is SUPER competitive in the categories you mention… I don’t know you well enough to judge 
anyhow do the best you can&work harder</p>
<p>Well do you have a plan to get a good AP score? It might be good to try&get a 4/5… So it fits there AP credit policy</p>
<p>Hey Pederson… I’m guessing your a Junior(1995?), could you also checkout my thread?</p>
<p>shoot me a link and I will</p>
<p>Frankly, raw numbers DO matter at MIT and all the elite schools. Your grades, class rank and SAT scores represent “the floor” from which the rest of your application will get noticed for extracurriculars and those qualities that make you special in the eyes of the admissions committee. Thus, if you do not rank in the top 5% of your class having studied a rigorous array of courses at your school with an SAT of AT LEAST 2250…however else you may brighten your application will not matter at MIT…</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Go to my profile or go to the MIT category it should be on top</p>
<p>@Barrister … Well like my school doesn’t give out ranks…& I bet people take “harder classes” than me but test scores don’t say so… Like APs/SAT subject test…so it really depends on the resources your school gives to you… The topic starter seems to be struggling in math… For some reason but his EC show his really involved I bet (:</p>
<p>The OP should definitely emphasize being an eagle scout! Some folks believe that is worth an extra 150 SAT points!</p>
<p>Hi OP:</p>
<p>You’re right but in the following context:</p>
<p>When I was applying to MIT, I was freaking out like everyone else. I remember calling the admissions office to ask if AP or IB was better and when they said “we don’t care” I said: “No REALLY, which one?” After 2 years at the Institvte, I really think this:</p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter. </p>
<p>What do you do to get in?</p>
<p>You’re right. Follow your passions and excel at them. Show a lot of initiative and leadership in your passions. But I don’t have to tell you to do that because if they really were your passions then you’d be doing them on your own. Then you’ve done all you can do and you should be good to go…</p>
<p>except that when I’m making this recommendation, I’m totally assuming you have a perfect (or super close to perfect) SAT score, a 3.8+ GPA, the hardest possible classes and a lot of them, and overall just perfect. So when I say “follow your passions and you’ll be fine” I really mean: “be perfect everywhere else, THEN follow your passions, and you’ll be fine.” </p>
<p>So. Strive for perfect everywhere. </p>
<p>So you screwed up a math class. Make up for it. I did. </p>
<p>P.S- I got a C in my first semester of pre-calc in high school. I didn’t make MIT right after high school, but I did make it 1 year later as a transfer, which apparently, is a lot harder admission. So. If you’re serious, strive for perfect. Work for perfect. And apply. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>An important thing to keep in mind, is that MIT (as with almost any elite American university) is looking at the decisions that a student took, as a way to understand who the student is and what they might bring to the university. The choices that were made for them, say nothing about the student and consequently have very little value in admissions. </p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of students have no choice as to whether their school offers AP’s, A-levels, the IB, the Cambridge Pre-U, or any other curriculuum. As such, which the student took tells MIT little or nothing about the student. Therefore, they literally do not care.</p>
<p>At a more extreme level, consider the case of a student who applies never having taken Physics. The key question is what that tells MIT about the student. A student from a suburban New York high school who elects not to take Physics because he thinks that it might be hard, is giving MIT a very strong signal that he is not a good match. Whereas an international student applying from the fictitious land of Lower Klaxon where the government has determined that Physics should not be taught in secondary schools is giving MIT no signal at all (or at least a very weak one).</p>
<p>The problem most commonly arises with the question “How many AP tests do I need to get into MIT (sometimes how many A-levels?” If you go to a school that only offers 3 AP-classes, you took all of them and graduate with 3 APs, then graduating with 3 is great. If you go to a school which offers 30 AP-classes, and you only took 3 of them, that is suddenly a lot more suspect. The absolute answer is meaningless. What matters is what that answer means in terms of the context in which it was taken, and the decisions that were taken by the student.</p>