MIT Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, I want some advice on if I can possibly get accepted into my dream school with these stats. I'm a Sophomore right now, and next year I will be attending SCGSSM, which is the most elite and selective high school in my state. </p>

<p>SAT (my first time, I can do alot better) - 620 Reading
700 Math
580 Writing</p>

<p>Freshman year classes:
H Geometry-100
H Alg. 2- 98
H World History- 98
H World Geography- 99
H Eng II- 93
Comp Sci- 100
H Phys Sci- 98
Phys Ed- 100</p>

<p>Sophmore year classes:
H Biology- 94
H Pre-Calculus- 96
H English III- 94
Spanish 1- 100
Spanish 2- 98
Public Speaking- 98
Government and Economics- 98
Art- 96</p>

<p>Schedule for Junior year:
AP Calculus BC I, II, II
AP US History
AP Calculus Based Physics I, II
Honors Spanish 3
AP Biology I, II
Honors Chemistry
Life and Leasure (Required Health Equivalent)
Jr. English (H Eng 4 Equivalent)</p>

<p>Planned schedule for Senior year (prone to change):
Sr. English (AP Eng Equivalent)
AP Chem I, II
H Organic Chemistry
AP Environmental Science
H Spanish IV
H Multivariate Calculus
H Discrete Structures
AP Statistics
AP Applied Statistics
AP European History I, II</p>

<p>So what are my chances?</p>

2

<p>From what I’ve seen from my MIT visits, they are looking for kids who know what they like, resulting in a set of focused ECs. A certain geeky factor definitely helps a lot too.</p>

3

<p>Oh sorry I completely forgot about extracurriculars.
Varsity Tennis 2006-2010 Lower State Champion 2010
Plan to run Cross country next year
Student Council, 10th Grade Representative
DeSassaure Club
Key Club
National Honors Society
Spanish Club
Spanish National Honors Society
Environmental Club
Habitat for Humanity
Science Team
Youth in Government
Acceptance and attendance to the most selective public high school in the country
Weekly charity volunteership
97% on National Spanish fluency exam</p>

4

<p>You have almost no chance with those stats.</p>

5

<p>It will be difficult with your present stats, like silverturtle said. See if you can bring your standardized test scores up :P!</p>

6

<p>Ignore silverturtle and xrCalico23. Your scores would be low if you were a junior, but you aren’t. You have plenty of time to bring them up and , more importantly, to feed your passions.</p>

7

<p>^ You did read my post, right? I said “with those stats.”</p>

8

<p>I agree with silverturtle, you have no chance with that current SAT score. Practice and bring it up!</p>

9

<p>If there’s one thing I can excuse neomom for doing because she hasn’t been in this forum very long, it is that one should never chance people based on anything but the scores they post; the vast majority of the time, large score increases (even those predicted by the OP) do not pan out.</p>

10

<p>That is true silverturtle, but a whole year is quite a long time to improve her score.</p>

11

<p>^ Yes, large score increases are certainly possible. I am merely attempting to convey that we shouldn’t presuppose them: despite what it seems to be on CC, significant score improvements (even from sophomore year to junior year) are rare.</p>

12

<p>^true, but studying may help? I don’t know how effective studying for the SAT is however, seems like a lot of work :p</p>

13

<p>Effective studying can yield great benefits for some students.</p>

14

<p>In the past two years you have taken the courses that teach the material tested on the math SAT so a big increase in math in future tests may be problematical. A700 in math is a good score but may be a little low for MIT. You will probably do better in CR and almost certainly do better in writing as you practice these skills during your Junior year.</p>

15

<p>I thought OP’s math was okay, but writing and CR seem low. </p>

<p>@nemom: hence I said “present stats”! :)</p>

16

<p>My point is that these SAT scores are very reasonable for a sophomore. They would be low for MIT if the poster was a junior or senior. But, scores do tend to improve from 10th grade to 11th. Consider that most kids improve their PSAT quite a bit, many without any PSAT/SAT prep. Kids I know who are smart and at good schools generally improved PSAT scores by 10 to 30 points - equivalent to 100 to 300 for the SATs.
In any case, I strongly suggest that the poster not focus on admissions just yet but just work hard.</p>

17

<p>^They definitely do tend to improve quite a bit from sophomore to senior year. But since the OP wanted “some advice on if I can possibly get accepted into my dream school with these stats”, it would be potentially misleading if we tell him that he has a good chance now under the assumption that his SAT scores will improve, etc. He’s definitely doing great, but I judged his post based on what he has already accomplished, not what he thinks he’ll accomplish in the future. As a sophomore, he really hasn’t done that much yet in comparison to what he will most likely achieve by the end of next year. In other words, we’re saying, “stop worrying about your chances for now and come back again in another year :p.”</p>

<p>“In any case, I strongly suggest that the poster not focus on admissions just yet but just work hard.”</p>

<p>I agree. Instead of worrying about what will help you in college admissions, just focus on pursuing your current interests to some depth and continue with the rigorous courseload you’ve planned.</p>

18

<p>Thank you all for your help, and I’m a guy by the way. haha</p>

<p>But yeah I plan on doing better on my SAT, I’ve been studying ever since I got my scores back and I took a full length practice test yesterday and got
Math - 780
Reading-690
Writing-680</p>

<p>So hopefully I can do even better than that when I take the actual test.</p>

19

<p>Big score increases are possible. I went from 2090 in January to 2240 in March. I’m retaking in October hoping to get 2300+.</p>