Hi all prospective or current MIT student-athletes! I’m a PSA for womens swimming and I want to know “what it takes” to get into MIT, given that the school does not issue likely letters. If you are a current, potential, or rejected student athlete for MIT, could you post the following stats? It would help me a lot in my college search 
Sport:
Gender:
Race:
Intended Major:
GPA:
Testing (ACT/SAT):
SAT IIs:
Other ECs:
Once again, thanks so much!!
You need to have top SAT scores 720-760 English and 740-780M, High GPA basically close to 4.0 unweighted and no B’s in any STEM class ever, SAT subject tests over 760, with plenty of AP classes taken especially in STEM.
Athletically they look for immediate players or points earners in individual sports.
My son has talked with the track coaches multiple times and they’d like him to be part of the team, but he just doesn’t have those kind of stats. He’s sort of close, but there’s basically zero leeway given. He would be one of the top performers in their league. He really likes the school a lot, but it is unrealistic at this point in time.
Bottom Line: you need to be wicked smart and a decent athlete to get in there as a sports recruit.
Good luck.
Shoot for an average of 750 on SAT math and the 2 subject tests. The higher you are on the coach’s list the better. Spend a lot of time on your essays to show them who you are. Apply early action. Good luck.
Are those requirements for athletes who want to be engineers/scientists. Are there different requirements for athletes in management or humanities ?
^^^^^I don’t think so at MIT. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology does not slack in any major. Same with CalTech, UChicago, CMU, Emory, etc.
Doesn’t matter which major because everyone has to take general institute requirements in science and math so you need to be able to handle that.
Those scores/GPA listed above are not requirements. It is absolutely not true that one B in a STEM class will exclude someone from MIT. Shoot for above 700 in each subject test, but rest assured that if you have an amazing application with excellent teacher recommendations and great essays that showcase your passions/ talents/ and love for learning, you will still be considered even if one of your SAT scores fall below a 700.
I am speaking from experience.
I know someone who was fairly recently recruited at MIT for basketball and did not have anywhere near those stats. He had to do a PG year first at an elite boarding school after his public suburban high school. Scores did not go up, can’t say about the GPA first half of his PG year because I don’t know but HSGPA was in the 3.7 range (unweighted) and not particularly rigorous (some APs in science, Calc BC only and AP Lang and APUSH).
White Male
GPA 4.0 (Everyone in our HS with a 95+ is equated to a 4.0)
ACT 34/SAT 1500+ (When you only have one green mark in 7 years, Naviance gave it away. I think he was also a NMF so you kinda know what the SAT score was anyway)
Engineering or a hard science (I don’t remember)
Really good athlete locally. He probably could have played for one of the big programs in his sport (Not football or basketball though)
I heard he was a great kid so really happy for him but no way he gets in without the athlete hook.
@turtlecheez:
As you’re seeing from several replies on this thread, you’re getting conflicting advice. Some of it is just wrong.
Please don’t let any of the critical advice dissuade you. Let it firm your resolve to do more research, to try harder, and to be more objective in your pursuits. There is no magic bullet for hard schools like MIT. Do pursue them with everything you have, but be sure to keep your “Plan B” school applications in shape.
I had an academic profile that many of this MIT CC forum would have laughed at. If I listened to the advice here, I would have never graduated from MIT.
All the best.
@UglyMom I can assure you with 100% certainty that the head coach at MIT told us that directly. That’s what he said he looks for and will NOT consider anything less, EVER.
This is an exact coach from the head coach:
" We have no picks, slots, or likely letter possibilities. We do not even have legacy options. With that said, admissions does try to help, but only when the academic criteria is met. No, a 3.5 and 1350 would have a zero chance of admission. The minimum standards I will successfully recruit are 3.9 unweighted with all A’s in math and science while taking at least AP Calc and AP Physics and the most rigorous curriculum available. Scores would have to be 770 or higher for math and 720 or higher for reading/writing with subject test scores of 780 or higher for math and 760 or higher for science. Because we have no early reads and no slots we have to recruit high volume to hope and get a reasonable number when all is said and done. Hundreds of emails, texts and at least 200 phone calls a month are what it takes to get the job done, and I am not sure that is enough. We still lose quite a few to the Ivies with their early likely letters."
So, as some of you think you can get it with lesser scores, sure maybe. But as an athlete you will most likely NOT be recruited at lower levels, they are not going to waste a lot of time trying to lure kids who they think will never get it.
Should the OP apply? Sure why not. Maybe they’ll get in. Maybe some of their sports have slightly lesser academic standards. Maybe the standards are lowered for someone that brings something else to the table like URM status, first gen, low income, National Award winning science researcher, etc.
But for the average HS kid who wants to go to school as a recruited athlete the bar is set very very high. I wanted to set the expectations for any kid or parent that reads this thread.
@RightCoaster Coaches don’t admit students. The admission’s office admits students. I will not dispute what the coach told you, however, you are making it sound like it’s harder to get into MIT as an athletes than it is for a non athletes, but that doesn’t make any sense. MIT loves athletes that are also smart. Maybe the coach won’t try fighting for someone with lower scores than those mentioned, but this student can still apply and get in on her own merit without the coaches help.
My daughter graduated this past June from MIT. Her SAT score was a 710 in math and a 780 in verbal. Her chemistry subject test was a 720 and her physics subject test was even lower. MIT was her dream school, and I am glad no one discouraged her from trying because MIT turned out to be as amazing to her as she had dreamed it would be.
^^.
That’s what I said, Apply, go right ahead. There’s nothing wrong with trying to get in. But at least one coach has said he’s not wasting any time trying to “recruit” kids without the scores I posted above. So as an athlete, you need to take that into consideration. If your scores do not fall into his specified range don’t expect any sort of help or boost to get in. You are on your own. And then depending on if you get in on your own there is no guarantee there is a spot for you on the team. You can try to walk on and make it, just not a sure thing. This may be important for a kid that really wants to be a “student athlete”.
The recruiting stats I posted above were for an individual sport, not like football or basketball. I imagine it might be hard to fill a entire football team with recruits at those levels.
My son may apply anyways, if he doesn’t go somewhere ED. Of course he’d be applying without any sort of "coach support so his chances would be about slim and none.
@UglyMom
Congratulations to your daughter. What was her major?
@brassratter Thank you! Coarse 6
It’s not clear if the OP is asking about MIT admissions in general or athletic recruiting in particular. For the former, by all means she should pursue an application, and can look at the range of scores typical admits have shown. Just be aware of the <10% admit rate. For athletic recruiting, she needs to contact the coach directly and also understand that while the coach might be able to improve the admit odds for her, the success rate for coach support at MIT is relatively low compared to other options available to recruitable athletes. NESCAC and Ivies offer a far more reliable process. That’s probably why the track coach isn’t going to waste his time on athletes without top scores; sure, they might get in on their own but his time and support are better spent on athletes with higher stats and therefore better odds. The swim coach is going to be the best source of info for a swimmer.
@RightCoaster ‘s quote from Taylor pretty much fits what I’ve heard, although I think for the high stats kids he shifts the emphasis to ‘admissions helps me out’. Still not nearly the level of certainty Harvard or Williams, for example, can offer.
It depends on the sport and the talent level. The coach quoted above can say he won’t recruit anything below a 780 on the math subject test but I would bet dollar to doughnuts that coach would push for an Olympic-caliber talent with a 750. Don’t kid yourself, you still need to get past admissions with great test scores, awesome essays, solid recommendations that show you will fit in at MIT, but if you are a special talent above and beyond, the coach will want you.
Ok, you can see from my profile pic that my kid is a swimmer.
Start by looking at collegeswimming.com. Pay for the full membership, it’s worh it. Compare your stats to MIT’s - you want to be in the top 3-4 time-wise in your best events. You ought to be in a potential scoring position for their league champs, and ideally a potential scorer at NCAA DIII champs as well.
Wat we were told redruiting wise is that the coaches have limited pull - it’s basically like an additional letter or recommendation added to your application packet.
Swim fast, study hard and don’t slack off. Take the hardest classes you can to give yourself the best chances. And have some realistic backup options in place. Even with coach support admissions is not a shoo in.
@RightCoaster From what you said, if the child is being recruited (may be with an invite for a recruiting overnight visit) , does it mean that at least the basics (test scores, GPA, academic rigor) are met from the coach’s POV?
Yes, here is an academic pre-read done before an official visit invite is extended. Unofficial transcripts, screen shots of test scores, a listing of senior year classes and a brief list of other extra curriculars are needed. I fully expect that if you do not meet the minimum recruiting standards for the school and the team, you don’t get an invite.
That said, just because you get an official visit invite and coach support on your application, that doesn’t mean you’ll get admitted to the school. At the DIII level, with schools like this, coach support gets your application a boost, but not a guarantee.