I’m a senior in high school and I’m applying to MIT. While I think that my essays and my grades are decent (4.0 unweighted GPA, 6.94 weighted on a 0-7 scale), my extracurricular involvement is, at best, lacking. I was district and region champion and top 5 in the state for an academic competition and I’ve taught basic algebra to a good 98% of the sophomore class in my school in a classroom alongside a teacher. Also, I’m a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Besides drawing and such, there’s nothing. No sports, no NHS, no band, no research, no nothing. There’s a reason behind this: I’ve lived in the US for only a year and 7 months after I migrated legally from a third world country. I live in a very remote area almost 15 miles away from my school. I just can’t really get a ride anywhere because my parents work and I have to go straight home after school. I think my excuse is uh… lame, yet I want to convey it in the optional essay. However, I really don’t know how to make it sound not pathetic. Any tips? Will it even help to address it, or am I condemned to rejection?
The idea of a college application is to present who you are and what you have done in the best possible light. It seems to me that you have good grades and an interesting back story – at this point all you can do is to let admissions officers know who you are, where you have come from and see how things play out.
Keep in mind that the admission rate for MIT is well under 10% so the school is a long-shot for pretty much everyone. As I tell all CC posters, be sure to come up with a list of reach (including MIT), match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend.