<p>I think you have a reasonable chance. Your SAT is fine. Your GPA is a bit low, but if you were depressed from a poisonous relationship in high school, that may be excusable. Things like going to a top HS will not make you stand out in the applicant pool – MIT gets LOTS of applications from those schools. Your other “extreme” stuff (prepared a speech, wore a suit, research in math, helping people, talking about math) is not at all unusual or extreme by MIT-applicant standards, so don’t count on that to get you in.</p>
<p>I would say you have a reasonable shot – I wouldn’t bet against you – but you’re definitely not a shoo-in. The low grades are explained by your issues fresh/soph year, but that may not be enough. 3.1 is VERY low for MIT, even from a top HS. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you! There is maybe 5 people who know about this, and it was because they were directly involved. But when I am talking about being extreme. This is what I meant, my family went on a vactaion, with my extended family. I had football 2 - a - days, so instead of going I stayed at a friends house. I didn’t eat very much, and if I stayed up past 10 because I couldn’t sleep I would have to pull an all nighter, I pulled 2 of them. I woke up at 3 and got ready if I did sleep that night. Now that I am a senior I find it inexcusable if someone doesn’t do it, or complains about it, but at the time, there were respected Seniors talking about skipping practive by faking events with the family.</p>
<p>Also about GPA, I have started proving that I am a good student, and the teacher reccomendations should prove it.</p>
<p>Thank you btw, its really comforting to know I atleast have a shot.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I would have to pull the all - nighter because I feared that I wouldn’t get up in time. I woke up at 3 because I lived a mile from my house, and from my house my high school was about 20 minutes by car, and we had to be there by 7.</p>
<p>I don’t fully understand the football thing but I believe you about being extreme – it just may not make you really stand out for MIT – there are lots of “extreme” applicants Good luck, though! You sound like a good candidate.</p>
<p>Given your low GPA, MIT will be a far reach. Apply to a range of schools, including “match” and “safety” schools. A “safety” school is one where your qualifications almost guarantee your acceptance. Then practice falling in love with one of those safety schools.</p>
<p>This may seem like a harsher response than you’ve gotten from others here, but after several years following threads on the CC Parent message boards about students with high SAT scores and low GPAs, I’ve come to the conclusion that any unweighted GPA below 3.5 – regardless of the quality of the high-school – presents a serious challenge in admissions to a highly selective school.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, my daughter and son had identical SAT scores and equally impressive extra-curriculars and letters of recommendation at a top Silicon-Valley high school – but her GPA was 4.0 and his was 3.44. She was admitted early to MIT and other top schools, and he was admitted to three match and all of his safety schools. One of the safety schools offered him an enormous merit scholarship, and that’s where he chose to go. No regrets, by the way. He’s in his third summer internship with a company he really likes, and since he’ll be a senior next year, there’s a possibility of a job & career he’ll enjoy.</p>
<p>The biggest problem with telling people they are a good candidate for MIT when they are not is that they will continue to follow the path they are on. Sobering posts like Calalum’s are important, I think, to convince the OP to make corrective measures and to be realistic. For instance, the op is still planning on writing a book over the summer, presumably at least in part because he thinks this will help in admission. In my opinion, this thinly-veiled autobiography is going to hurt his admissions results, not help them.</p>
<p>Someone else said that he should go to Georgia Tech. I don’t think someone could get into Georgia Tech with a 3.1 unweighted GPA; in fact, I think the good schools which are slightly below MIT are even less likely to make an exception.
The one asset the OP has besides his SAT is his football prowess. Many good schools almost automatically admit recruited athletes that clear a certain academic index, which is a combination of GPA and SAT score. Maybe a school like Amherst or Williams is a possibility as a football recruit. Even the ivy league <em>could</em> be a possibility if you are good enough to play football. It’s fairly clear-cut to find out whether you can get in if you are a football recruit. If I was the OP, I would find out whether my academic index was good enough for these schools. MIT is the only school that doesn’t use this “slot system.”</p>
<p>The other issue that no one has touched on is that if you actually want to be a scientist or an engineer, you need to actually make school first priority. The OP describes “wandering around helping people.” You’re apparently taking 10 OCW MIT classes even though you’re still not getting a perfect GPA in your classes. Have you thought that maybe focusing on solidifying your fundamentals in class will be more important to “help people” in the future than being so scattered? If you don’t, it becomes progressively harder to do well in higher level classes.</p>
<p>When I taught an intro science class in college, I was struck that everyone had taken the AP version of the course in high school but had obviously never learned it. Most had gotten only a 3 on the AP test. These were people who graduated in the top 5-10% in high school. It takes effort to master fundamentals. Once you truly do, then you carry that intuition for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>@piper & @alum
Yes. Agreed. I third that notion. If the OP is worried about current track options then the OP shouldn’t be perpetuating the continuation of the flawed track. Branch out, take a risk, your GPA requires it.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. I have actually realized what Chris said, about how no can give a true chance for any student. You guys are giving great advice, but assuming things because of my GPA and other numbers. If I was your prototypical 3.1 GPA high sat scorer, you guys are all completely correct. But I am not. For example collegealum assumed that I don’t know my material very well, and also that I am writing the book to gain admission. You have NO reason to believe otherwise. Normally that is a great assumption. But that isn’t me. I know my material very well, and often argue more in depth with my teachers. Also as for the book, it isn’t going to be quite a biography, it will retain similar themes, but a lot of things will be different. Also I will spend a good 2-3 years writing it, so I doubt it will help in the admissions process, even if writing a book would have. There are thousands of little things like that I can’t completely explain, or even realize I am doing that would factor into admissions. In the end I know that my GPA will hurt me, but it is definitely impossible. I do have my safeties(and they are schools that I would love to go to, just not as much as MIT). All that I believe I have to do now is just be myself, not worry about the admissions process, and I will end up at the school that I have always wanted to go to, whether I know it now or not. Thank you guys for helping me out, I can’t thank each and every one of you enough, for caring and doing your best.</p>
<p>If you know the material well and argue in-depth with your teachers, what has caused your grades to not reflect this? Will your teachers be able to write recommendations about how you know more than your grades suggest, and that your grades dropped for good reason?</p>
<p>If the “thousands of little things” that would make a difference are things you can’t explain, then Admissions will never know them either.</p>
<p>“I started playing football and I was humiliated by 8 year olds, while I was a freshman. I worked my heart out and now I am being recruited by MIT to play football.” </p>
<p>MIT is different with recruiting than other Division 3 schools. Your academics have to be on point. Your test scores are good but your GPA is killing your chance. I was recruited by a few D1 and multiple D3 for my sport. I remember talking to the head coach for the sport that I play, and he stated that only about 30% of the athletes that he recruits, get in. He said it was difficult because although he can support your application, the admissions has to approve of it first. You also stated that you might be recruited by a D1 if you have a stand out senior season. Most of the D1 recruiting for football would have already finished by the time the season for football starts because the coaches would already know what prospective athletes they would want on their team. I don’t think you will get into MIT; however, I think there are other schools that you have a chance of getting into. I don’t mean to be harsh; I’m just stating my opinion.</p>
<p>@PiperXP Yes there is a good reason. Yes it will show in my application. When I said “a thousand little things” I meant my small quirks and things I don’t want to make public, which a lot of them should come across from an interview/essay.</p>
<p>@FlyEagle17 I know, the coach told me the same thing. The reason I pointed that out in my first post was to show that I have a good work ethic. As for D1, I am not giving it much thought, and I know it is super unlikely, but I am sure if I had a season like AP’s 2012 season and word got out, I might turn some heads.</p>
<p>It would be different if you had won international math and science competitions etc. In my opinion, a 2300 on the SAT is not the kind of qualification that suggests you would be indispensable to MIT even if your GPA was higher. Furthermore, your GPA was not impacted by circumstances beyond your control. It is low because of your “out of control” passions. you may have to demonstrate you can control your passions at another college and apply for grad school at MIT for a better shot.</p>
<p>one of my senior friends had a 2370 and lots of ECs including sports, was a 12 sport varsity athlete, went to the states in Discus … but he had 2 B’s in his junior year and was waitlisted. He’s a nice guy, people liked him , but he wasn’t good enough to get off the waitlist. maybe they see something in you… but I don’t believe High SATs alone are anything special. Good luck and I hope you write a good essay.</p>
Good luck, though! You sound like a good candidate.</p>