MIT Class of 2020 EA Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
21

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2300
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2350 (800 M, 760 CR, 790 W, 11 Essay)
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 800 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Weighted GPA: 4.55
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (4), Calculus AB (5), US History (5), Environmental Science (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Physics 2, AP US Government and Politics, AP Calculus BC, Economics, Expository Writing, and a couple classes at my local community college: Business English and Business Law
Number of other EA applicants in your school:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): 2015 Siemens Semifinalist, ReelMath MathCounts National Winner 2012
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar w/ Honor, honor roll, etc.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Competitive year-round swimming. I train 30+ hours a week and three times in the morning before school. Needless to say it takes up most of my free time and leaves room for little else. I’m hoping to swim at MIT, too, been talking to the coach but not being supported. Captain on my HS team. VP of my town’s youth council. Some speech and debate. And a YMCA youth government program
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: Community Reading Buddies (10) helped underprivileged kids learn how to read
Summer Experience: More swimming haha. Research internship at UCLA Biology (10) and UC Berkeley Materials science (12), this is where I did my research for Siemens. ATDP Berkeley Analytical Writing Class

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 8, swimming. Thought it was good I really painted a vivid picture of the sport
Department at MIT: 7 talked about why I’m fascinated with Biomed Engineering
Trait Most Proud Of: 8 Tutoring my brother who has an audio deficiency disorder
World You Come From: 9. a different aspect of the sport of swimming. talked about character and humility and how that’s shaped me into who I am today
Significant Challenge: 8, talked about doing research and the daily challenges I faced
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: 7/10. APUSH teacher, I knew him well but we weren’t that personal
Teacher Recommendation #2: 8/10. APES teacher, a little better than APUSH but I really did not choose my teachers well for recs
Counselor Rec: N/A. Super mad about this one because it was probably very generic…I got a new counselor this year because my old one left
Additional Info/Rec:10/10. From my swim coach who I consider a friend, role model, and father figure of sorts. He spoke very highly about me and my personality
8/10 Rec from my research mentor, I had to submit this one along with the Research Slideroom Portfolio
Interview: 9/10. Thought it was fantastic. We talked for almost an hour and a half, talked a lot about how cool a Northeastern college experience is, and how I want that for myself being from California

I also got another interview with the head of the Mech E department at MIT because my dad is really good friends with him, I thought it went well also, only about 30 min over skype though.

Research Supplement: submitted one from my research at Berkeley

Other
Date Submitted App: 10/25
U.S. State/Territory or Country: CA
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: $300k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

Reflection
Strengths: Honestly I thought my test scores were amazing. I brought my SAT up from 1600 to 2350. I thought being a Siemens Semifinalist was a huge plus, as all the finalists got to do a video chat with an admissions counselor
Weaknesses: Not diverse EC’s, all my time was literally spent swimming, don’t really have that “wow” uniqueness factor that I see some applicants have, and also my race/socioeconomic status
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Pretty sad about this one…I really groomed my MIT app and thought I had given myself the best chance to succeed. Ah well…
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply? Got into Georgetown yesterday, UChicago, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, UMichigan, UC’s, Columbia

**Other Factors: ** Big question here…I marked Biomed Engineering as my main interest for a major at MIT, but I also submitted all my SAT II scores which included a 730 Bio M from freshman year. Do you think they reviewed this and saw that it didn’t fit with my intended major? It’s the little things that I’m worried about.

General Comments & Advice: Huge congrats to all those accepted! A huge accomplishment, enjoy it!
As my coach told me today, I am blessed with the opportunities I have received thus far, and it would be a shame to not appreciate it. On to the next!
[/noparse]

22

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Didn’t submit
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Didn’t submit
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36E, 35M, 34R, 35S)
ACT superscore (breakdown): 35 (same, but with 35R, didn’t submit)
SAT II (subject, score): 780 Math II, 780 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.34
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 2%/720
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (4) World History (5) Lang (5) Latin(4) Chemistry (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Differential Equations/Linear Algebra, AP Physics C, Latin V, AP Lit, Virtual Gov/Painting II, Swimming
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 4 (1 other accepted)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National Chemistry Olympiad Finalist
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Semifinalist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Engineering Club 10-12, Project manager 12
Swimming 8-12, 200 Breaststroke record holder, placed top 8 in state, competed at both 2015 Speedo Sectionals
NHS 11-12
Latin Club 9-12, Consul 12
Tulsa Honors/Chamber Orchestra 10-12, Violin I/Violin II
Job/Work Experience:
HAHA, nope.
Volunteer/Community Service:
Just NHS, really
Summer Experience:
Swimming, Day camp counselor for Christian camp, Summer Sectionals

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 9/10 This one was great. I wrote about hanging out with my friends, pie, and self-impalement by lightsaber. Really brought out my nerd.
Department at MIT: 10/10 Wrote a bit about the development of my passion and such. I never explicitly used passion, however.
Impact on others: 7/10 I wrote about tutoring… It was a bit cliche.
World You Come From: 10/10 I wrote about Peter Pan and how my love of space developed.
Significant Challenge: 9/10 I was very self-conscious while writing this and won’t bring up many details… But it was very personal, and I think they saw that.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: None

Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Teacher Recommendation #1: Latin teacher, I’ve had her for the past 4 years and she let me skip Latin III. She loves me. 10/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: Chemistry teacher, thinks I’m a genius. No idea about how good the rec was, though… good enough to get in!
Counselor Rec: Counselor knows me, but the letter was probably a bit generic.
Additional Info/Rec: None
Interview: AMAZING. We accidentally talked over the time limit (she had someone scheduled behind me) about roleplaying. We really clicked… Within a few minutes, she was telling me which dorms I would fit into at MIT, and we got into a pretty deep conversation about shifting personalities and creativity within STEM.
Art Supplement: I’ve never seen someone draw space pictures (Digital Painting) the way I do. I also submitted Einsten (profile pic).

Other
Date Submitted App: Oct 31
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Oklahoma
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: 80,000-100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): I tried for athlete, but wasn’t recruited.

Reflection
Strengths: Well rounded, defined writing style, good scores
Weaknesses: No real hooks
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly think my art supplement and my interview really got me in.
What would you have done differently?: Nothing!
Where else did you apply?: Caltech (rejected), Colorado School of Mines (accepted), University of Tulsa (accepted), OU, CU-Boulder

**Other Factors: **
Not really. I identify as Native American, and I told them that, but I also told them that I have no card. My grandfather never bothered to get one and we don’t have much contact with him.

General Comments & Advice:
I was so surprised. Honestly, being an athletic recruit at Caltech, I thought I would be accepted to Caltech and rejected from MIT. Turned out to be the opposite. No matter what school you get accepted to/rejected from, however, remember that you will always be you! Also, if you’re proud of some art/music/project… SUBMIT IT!!! I am almost positive that this is what set me apart from other people with great scores, along with the interview.

23

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):800/770/800/10
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1 sitting :smiley:
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Math II 800, Physics 750, Chem 720, Spanish 790, World History 760, US History 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.15
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses): World History (5), Calc AB (5), Stats (5), Physics C Mech (5) Physics C E&M (5), Us History (5), Spanish Lang (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci, AP Chem, Puerto Rican History, British Lit, Spanish Lit 12, Worldwide Online Olympiad Training
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1 (my brother)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): IMO Bronze Medal, 2 Bronze Medals at the IberoAmerican Math Olympiad, Silver and Bronze Medals at the Central American Math Olympiad, USAMO Qualifier (6 pts), Most Improved Team at the IberoAmerican Math Olympiad
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National Hispanic Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, PIENSE (Puerto Rican PSAT/PLAN) top scorer for 10th grade private schoolers, 3rd place level 2B on the AATI National Italian Exam

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Math competitions all 4 years, in addition to the ones above I’ve gotten Gold Medals every year at the national olympiad, helped give Saturday classes and taught a colloquium about the problems from the 2013 Central American, competed at a ton of interscholastic math competitions where we usually get 1st or 2nd place team
Model UN: in the local league I’ve gotten a few top 3 awards and a bunch of 4th/5th place awards, have also gone/will go to 2 national competitions with my school, Activities Director of the club this year
Played Trumpet since 4th grade, In Boy Scouts I’m a Life Scout with around 25 merit badges
Boy Scouts
Job/Work Experience: Math Tutoring 2 hrs a week for 3 months
Volunteer/Community Service: almos nothing :frowning: i wish i had time
Summer Experience: E2@MIT, Math Olympiads and Math Camps

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 10, I wrote about fantasy football and it came out great
Department at MIT: 9, wrote about foreign language and MISTI since I have no idea about my major
Contribution to the Community: 6, I wrote about Boy Scouts but I’m not really that much of a leader in it so it was hard
World You Come From: 8, copy pasted the essay I wrote to get into E2 but it’s worked like a charm in a bunch of circumstances, talked about my mixed Puerto Rican and American heritage
Significant Challenge: 9, talked about failing to make the IMO team in 10th grade after making it in 9th and how that motivated me to work harder in math
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10, this teacher has been my math teacher for 4 years, knows me inside and out, and supposedly writes awesome recs
Teacher Recommendation #2: 5, eesh this was my History teacher who had to quickly replace another teacher 6 months into my APUSH class and is my PR History teacher and I’m really bad about turning his stuff in
Counselor Rec: 10, my counselor is actually my mom’s cousin so she has known me for a while and loves me
Additional Info/Rec: 9, i had my 10th grade english teacher write this one and she’s been my Model UN teacher for 4 years so she knows me very well, she wrote my rec for E2
Interview: ah 3 I guess? Me and the interviewer did not click at all, the interview was just awkward and he got really weird when he asked about what could be bad about MIT and I talked about suicides. I also forgot to confirm that I received his email about what time to meet so he got confused when my brother also emailed him to schedule an interview
Art Supplement:

Other
Date Submitted App: Nov 1 lol
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Puerto Rico
School Type: Private secular bilingual
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican/Dominican/White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: lets just say more than 150k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Latino

Reflection
Strengths: Honestly my entire application was strong except for a couple weaknesses
Weaknesses: the interview, Evaluation B, contribute to the community essay, lack of work/volunteer service
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’d say the international medals gave me a huge boost along with some well written essays
What would you have done differently?: Tried to get a different interviewer and turned in my PR history research paper on time
Where else did you apply?: EA Georgia Tech, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, Michigan, Case Western, UPR-Mayaguez, still need to submit CMU, Columbia, Harvey Mudd, Stanford, and Caltech

24

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2310 (780/730/800/10)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2310 (780/730/800/10)
SAT II (subject, score): M2, 800; Physics, 800; Chem, 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%, at least.
AP (place score in parentheses): Self studied. Calc BC (5), Biology (4), Comp Sci A (4), Physics:E&M (4), Physics:Mech (3)
Senior Year Course Load: Cambridge A-Level Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, Biology
Number of other EA applicants in your school: None for MIT.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Nothing
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Wrote two research papers relating to my desired field of study.
Piano, 7 years.
Varsity soccer, 4 years.
Physics club (founder).
Developed app related to my desired field of study.

Job/Work Experience:
Research internship at esteemed university.
Internship at hospital.

Volunteer/Community Service: Tutored underprivileged kids, painted schools, etc.
Summer Experience: Research

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 9, sudoku.
Department at MIT: 8, course 9
World You Come From: 10. One of the best I’ve written.
Community: 8.
Significant Challenge: 7. Weak.
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Physics teacher, 10
Teacher Recommendation #2: English teacher, 10
Counselor Rec: Not sure how great this would’ve been
Interview: Was only half an hour. I didn’t really connect with my EC. Oh, well.

Other
Date Submitted App: 10/30
U.S. State/Territory or Country: India
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian Indian (US Citizen)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: $150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Nothing at all.

Reflection
Strengths: Research, perhaps.
Weaknesses: Not many significant ECs, some terrible AP scores, not too unique overall.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t think I put enough heart into my essays.
What would you have done differently?: I’m quite happy with this outcome. So, nothing.
Where else did you apply?: Accepted at Columbia! #roar2020 :slight_smile:

General Comments & Advice:
I hope this information helps someone.

25

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800/750/770/9 2320 (two sittings)
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 790 Physics, 750 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
Weighted GPA: 4.31
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 3%
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses): Total (with bonus points): 44/45
Senior Year Course Load: IB Math HL (7), Economics HL (7), Physics HL (7), Chemistry SL (7), Spanish Ab Initio (7), English LL SL (6), Theory of Knowledge (A), Extended Essay (B)
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 2
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): N/A
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Waterloo Math Competition Honors, High Honors with Distinction, National Spelling Bee Top 20

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Varsity Tennis Captain 4yrs
Varsity Badminton Captain 4yrs
Academic Bowl Team Vice Captain 4yrs
Mu Alpha Theta Founder and President 2 yrs
Art- exhibitions and small auctions >4yrs
Job/Work Experience:
Internship at a retail firm
Volunteer/Community Service:
Nothing major, the usual.
Summer Experience:
UCLA SciArt Nanolab summer course

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Cooking nonvegetarian dishes using only vegetarian ingredients (8)
Department at MIT: Mechanical Engineering (6)
Trait Most Proud Of:
World You Come From: Constantly pursuing knowledge in different ways, through Wikipedia and books (9)
Significant Challenge: Having to stay calm when a robber entered our house (8)
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Math Teacher. I think this was really good. 9-10
Teacher Recommendation #2: Economics Teacher. I’m not so sure about this one. 5
Counselor Rec: Probably cookie-cutter, he has to deal with 60-70 students. 6
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: I thought it went quite well. We talked about tennis and other random stuff. I showed him some of my artwork and a board game I made.
Art Supplement: I should have submitted one.

Other
Date Submitted App: Late October
U.S. State/Territory or Country: UAE
School Type: International Private
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: Pretty well off
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): No hooks. Me being an Indian male probably went against me a little.

Reflection
Strengths: Test scores, essays, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: Recommendations and no olympiads
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: The absence of an olympiad medal as I am an Indian.
What would you have done differently?: Gotten an olympiad medal
Where else did you apply? Stanford RD, GATech EA, UIUC EA, Columbia RD, UPenn RD, Michigan EA, CMU RD, Berkeley, UCLA

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice: I was expecting this. Fingers crossed a miracle happens. Congrats to all those that got in!
[/noparse]

26

S2’s stats:

Deferred

Stats:
SAT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics
ACT: 36(36,36,35,35)
GPA: school doesn’t report (one B+ in 10th history, otherwise even mix of A-, A’s, A+) School gives out very few A+'s and has no grade inflation.
Rank: school doesn’t rank
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): US Physics Olympiad Semifinalist, AIME Qualifier; AP US History, AP Latin, AP CS, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1: all 5 except 4 in Latin. Taking AP Chem & AP Physics C

Subjective
Essays: just okay?
Supplementary Material: Research paper
Interview: Went well.
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): support from coach (but probably not high on his list)

Personal
Location: CT
High School Type: Private
Ethnicity: white
Gender: Male

Other
Extracurriculars: Summer Intern w/ college professor, Swim captain, Water polo, Lacrosse, Science Olympiad A team, Head of Computer Science Club
Awards: Siemens Semifinalist, US Physics Semifinalist, NMSF, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Latin Gold Award
Income Bracket Range: lets just say high and no financial aid needed.

Reflection
Strengths: Research with college professor. Had a really good recommendation letter from Math teacher since he let him skip two years of math and has taught him college level math (Number Theory, Real Analysis…) for past two years. He is the definition of ‘naturally’ gifted mathematician. Sorry mom bragging!
Weaknesses: Have been advised that MIT doesn’t go for affluent males from over represented states.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Coach support was good but not good enough.
What would you have done differently?: I’m quite happy with this outcome. So, nothing.
Where else did you apply?: Accepted at Columbia and Caltech. Since Columbia is binding that’s were he will go. May try to transfer to Caltech after freshman year. Wrote a letter to coach to keep options open.

General Comments & Advice:
I hope this information helps someone.

27

Decision:Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2280 (770/720/790 (11))
ACT (breakdown): N/A
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Math 1(790), Chemistry (770), Math 2(740)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Weighted GPA: 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): my school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): Language&Composition(4), Chemistry(3) (see senior year AP’s in senior course load)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Physics I, AP Literature, AP Government, French IV, Women’s Spirituality(I go to a catholic school), Self-Defense(P.E)
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National Merit Scholarship commendation, NHS, scholars program at my school, academic achievement award for ski team and softball team, ski education scholarship for club racing

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Varsity high school ski team all 4 years (Captain senior year), Club ski team (loon mountain) outside of school up until junior year, Robotics(11,12), Newspaper(11,12, Athletics editor 12), , Documentary Club (founder 12)
Job/Work Experience: Ski instructor senior year at Loon Mountain
Volunteer/Community Service: CIT at a local summer camp, Elder’s services, Volunteer trip to India during the summer before senior year (I do have more community service than this, but this is all i could fit in the application)
Summer Experience: Summer softball team for my town all 4 years, Mt. Hood summer ski camp, + CIT and volunteer trip from above

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 9, I wrote about watching documentaries
Department at MIT: 8, physics, wrote about how much i love physics/astronomy and space and how MIT has incredible resources for that
Trait Most Proud Of: ???
How you improved lives of others: 10, wrote about elder services and how just being there for someone/being a friend can make a huge difference
World You Come From: 8, wrote about my school and how it shaped me into who i am today
Significant Challenge: 7, wrote about when i first started ski racing
Additional Essay/QB Essays: wrote about my ADHD for the extra info optional part and how it has affected my grades/scores, and how i never accepted any accommodations for it
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):
(I didn’t get to read these, but my counselor said they were good)
Teacher Recommendation #1: H geometry and H precalc
Teacher Recommendation #2: AP language&composition
Counselor Rec: no clue
Additional Info/Rec: I had my AP chem teacher write one and my counselor said it was very good
Interview: did not go that well. The entire first hour was me asking questions because the interviewer WOULD NOT ask me anything about myself. I literally had to ask the guy 40 questions and say “i’m running out of questions!” 5 times before he caught on!! I also asked him about political involvement and school spirit, to which he answered that MIT has no school spirit and students aren’t very politically involved, but I let him know that I am very much politically involved. The interviewer was a really strange guy and I don’t think I came across as a good fit for MIT, but i didn’t come across horribly either. I think I just seemed like I wasn’t similar to a typical MIT student. also, the interview LITERALLY lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. Afterwards I felt like i had just fought in a battle!
Art Supplement: none

Other
Date Submitted App: day before the deadline
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Massachusetts
School Type: Catholic all-girls
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket Range: very high
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): i’m a first generation american but not a first gen. college student. Also, my physics teacher said he would ask someone he knows in admissions to flag my application but I’m not sure if he actually followed through with that.

Reflection
Strengths: SAT I score (specifically M and W), SATII math 1 and chem, course load, extracurriculars, essays, GPA progression (strong upward trend from freshman year to senior year)
Weaknesses: AP chem exam score, overall GPA, all my extracurriculars besides skiing started in junior year, lacking racial, geographic, and economic diversity.
Why you think you were rejected: I think my GPA was too low
What would you have done differently?: actually try freshman year haha
Where else did you apply? University of Florida(nov. 1st deadline), RD: Brown, Upenn, Umass Amherst, Boston University, Princeton, University of Rochester, University of Miami, UVA, Mcgill, Cornell, University of Michigan

**Other Factors: **
Not many people from my high school get into top-level schools. I think it doesn’t really have a great reputation among colleges. My school also didn’t let people take AP’s until junior year which is why my # of AP’s may seem low.

General Comments & Advice:
I honestly was expecting to get deferred due to the sheer amount of people that MIT defers, and considering that i’m not THAT weak of an applicant, I was kinda surprised that I was outright rejected.

28

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2370 (800/800/770/11) <-Superscore
ACT (breakdown): 36 C
SAT II (subject, score): 780 Chem and Math II, 760 Physics and USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
Weighted GPA: 5.51
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): no rank, but ~4/196
AP (place score in parentheses): 16 APs by end of senior year, all math and science taken except for Bio and Enviro
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, Linear Algebra, Physics C M/E&M, AP Lit, Biomed 4H, AP Gov/Comp, AP Psych
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Not really, National Hispanic Scholar, National AP Scholar, Commended, DECA State Runner-Up in finance

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Link Crew, Varsity Lacrosse (Captain 1 year), DECA, Stem Cell Research, Biomedical Club
Job/Work Experience: Paid Tutor (SAT/ACT/Math)
Volunteer/Community Service: Stem Cell Research got me 200hrs, Link Crew ~75hrs
Summer Experience: Two math courses, Stem Cell Research, travelled for pleasure

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Collect old video games and consoles with my little brothers, 10
Department at MIT: Biology I think, 7
Trait Most Proud Of: Don’t remember TBH, but probably 8
World You Come From: Hispanic, conservative, ignorant, religious world while I have turned into the opposite (or so I’d like to think), 10
Significant Challenge: Homeless for like half a year, 10
Additional Essay/QB Essays: No
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Physics, 9 (guess)
Teacher Recommendation #2: Eng Lang, 10 (guess)
Counselor Rec: 9 (guess)
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: Lasted for 2 hours, have never met such a pleasant and cool person. She was great and I believe we made some great conversation about more or less everything we could talk about.
Art Supplement:

Other
Date Submitted App: End of October
U.S. State/Territory or Country: FL
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Cuban/Puerto Rican)
Gender: XY
Income Bracket Range: High
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM

Reflection
Strengths: Scores, rigor of schedule, and I am very focused on sciences.
Weaknesses: My ECs are pretty nonexistent
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: URM, 36, maybe not many people do stem cell research
What would you have done differently?: I got in, so I think I would have done it just like that again.
Where else did you apply? Accepted ED to UPenn, Wharton. It is unfortunate to have to pass up an offer from such a great school.

**Other Factors: **That is just about it.

General Comments & Advice: Good luck to everyone in RD. Hopefully whoever fills my spot will end up at their dream school.
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29

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Pfft who takes the SAT
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): ^^
ACT (breakdown): 36 Math, 34 Science, 34 Reading, 33 Writing, and 31 Writing + Essay or whatever
ACT superscore (breakdown): Only took it once
SAT II (subject, score): 800, Math, and 760, Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Weighted GPA: 4.41
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 27/491
AP (place score in parentheses): In 8th grade: AP Calc BC (5), AP Physics C: Mech (4). In 9th grade: AP Physics C: E&M (3), AP Chemistry (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): None
Senior Year Course Load: I’m a sophomore haha, but this year I have AP Govt, AP Econ, AP US History, French 2, Theater Arts, TA for AP Physics, English 2 Honors
Number of other EA applicants in your school: To the best of my knowledge, none
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Karl Menger Award from AMS at ISEF, Best in Category in Math at Intel ISEF, First Place overall at EUCYS (which is basically the European analogue of Intel STS; I was the first from the US and the youngest ever to win here)
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Volunteering stuff at school level, etc.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Research (8,9,10), which I did initially by myself, and then later under a professor’s guidance at UCLA, reading, listening to music, eating, etc.
Job/Work Experience: Research Fellow at a research institute
Volunteer/Community Service: Founded “seminars” which taught abstract algebra to high school students, tutoring, organizing school science fair, volunteering in e.g. Interact, CSF
Summer Experience: Summer school, travel to India, relaxing, TV

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Learning new things (8.5(?))
Department at MIT: MATH (10)
The community essay: Tutoring, teaching, organizing school science fair (7)
World You Come From: Moving to the US, great teachers, my absolutely awesome mentor at UCLA, and how they shaped my dream of being in academia (7)
Significant Challenge: Dad commuting weekly to Denver from LA, grandparents’ health (8.5)
Additional Essay/QB Essays: Why I love MIT; I poured my heart out (10)
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: My mentor from UCLA (I’d hazard to guess that this was 9?)
Teacher Recommendation #2: My art teacher (9)
Counselor Rec: Our school is pretty big, so this may have been general (6.5?)
Additional Info/Rec: The founder of the research institute at which I am a research fellow (9)
Interview: This was awesome! We talked a lot about MIT’s culture, etc.
Research Supplement: Submitted my research conducted at UCLA, and my mentor wrote a research rec, which I think was pretty good. :o)

Other
Date Submitted App: Like a week before the deadline
U.S. State/Territory or Country: CA, although I’m an Indian citizen
School Type: Public, ~2000 students
Ethnicity: Indian (from Asia)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: No clue
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): I’m 15, don’t know if that’s a “hook”

Reflection
Strengths: I think my passions shone out clearly
Weaknesses: A lot, including my age; I think my quirkiness was not as apparent as I would have liked it to be ;o)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly have no idea, but Dec 16th was the best day of my life
What would you have done differently?: See weaknesses haha
Where else did you apply? Only to MIT for EA. I applied to UCLA, UCB, UCSD, and UCR; I’ll be applying to Harvard, Caltech, Cornell, Princeton, UChicago.

General Comments & Advice: Do what you like in high school, and you will be happy, regardless of whether you get in or not. If you do, you’ll be happy; if not, then you’ll still be happy because you’ve done the best you can, and will have enjoyed life :o)
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30

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite 36 M 36 S 34 R 34 E
ACT superscore (breakdown): 36 composite 36 M 36 S 36 R 34 E
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math 2 740 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC 5, US History 4, World History 5, Physics 1(self study) 4, Bio 4, Chem 4, Human Geo 5, English Lang 5
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Econ, AP Computer Science, AP Lit, AP Seminar, Honors Adv Math, WOOT
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Academic Decathlon Nationals medals
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Math Team
Physics Olympiad, 10-12, Captain
Science Bowl 11-12, Co-Captain
Table Tennis 9-12, Co-Captain (ran out of room and put Piano over this I think)
Academic Decathlon 11-12
Piano, 1-12

Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: numerous service hours
Summer Experience:
Math camp at UChicago after 7th, 8th, 9th
Particle Physics Research at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory after 10th
Summer Math Program at MIT after 11th
Astrophysics Research at UChicago after 11th

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: good
What You Do For Pleasure: Ping Pong 8/10
Department at MIT: Course 18 and 8 10/10
Trait Most Proud Of: Is this even an essay?
World You Come From: Talked about community 7/10
Significant Challenge: Talked about getting better at math 8/10
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Math teacher, either 1/10 or 10/10 can’t tell
Teacher Recommendation #2: English teacher, solid 7/10 probably
Counselor Rec: idk
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: 10/10, went smoothly
Art Supplement:

Other
Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country:
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: idk my ethnicity, but I’m black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 120k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM

Reflection
Strengths: Scores, ECs, passion
Weaknesses: GPA, lack of significant STEM awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Grades/Updates with any new stem awards
What would you have done differently?: Done less ECs, focused on maybe 1 or 2 things and better grades
Where else did you apply? UChicago and Caltech, both deferred.

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice:
[/noparse]

31

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35/36/34/33)
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): 780 Math 2 (forgot to send the 800 lol), 790 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/550
AP (place score in parentheses): 4 and a 3 lol
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: BC, Lit, Lang, APUSH, Chem, Physics C, Varsity Tennis
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1 (deferred)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): ISEF First Place and Best of Category, Intel Foundation Award, Single Author Publication, GoDaddy special award from ISEF, Popmech award
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Volunteering stuff, Tennis stuff, etc.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Science research
Volunteer for a legit org
Programming/Open Source work
Varsity/JV Tennis
All of the above were for 9, 10, 11
Volunteer for Bernie Sanders (like in an official capacity) - 10, 11

Job/Work Experience: Self-employed freelancing
Volunteer/Community Service: Extremely involved in my volunteering position thing, to the point that it was a part of two-three of my essays and I got a letter from the director
Summer Experience: Research and stuff

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Movies (8)
Department at MIT: EECS (10)
World You Come From: My school and sort of how I’ve had to fight to get the education I want (9)
Significant Challenge: Extremely personal (10)
Made a Difference: My volunteering, how it matters to me and how it ties into the other work i
Additional Essay/QB Essays: Just talked about some of my other research (7)
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Physics, probably good
Teacher Recommendation #2: English, I read it after I got in and I really loved it
Counselor Rec: Principle, probably really good
Additional Info/Rec: Volunteering director, probably really good
Interview: Meh. I talked about Aaron Swartz and didn’t realize until after I got in that that might not have been the best idea lol
Supplement: Published research, rec was probably meh but the paper was pretty heavy

Other

Date Submitted App: Couple days before Halloween
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Cali
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Extremely white
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: Not on app
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): dunno man

Reflection

Strengths: who knows
Weaknesses: ap scores lol and being a junior
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think they probably saw MIT is where I belong/I ‘fit’ with MIT
What would you have done differently?: Now? Nothing.
Where else did you apply? Nowhere.

**Other Factors: **
I’m only a junior (shoutout @ILoveUniv), and nobody really knows how the mechanics of early matriculation work

General Comments & Advice:

Just go for it

32

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 750/750/750/9
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 750/800/750/9
ACT (breakdown): I didn’t submit ACT
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Physics (760) Math II (750)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): rank unavailable but in the top 4% of class
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Phys C Mech (5) E&M (4) APUSH (5) AP Com Sci (4) Calc AB (5) Calc BC (5) AP Physics B (5) AP European History (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Spanish 1-2, Spanish 3-4, Honors Chem, AP Chem, AP Gov, World Lit
Number of other EA applicants in your school: unknown
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): FIRST Dean’s List Finalist
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP National Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Robotics( Four Years, President (12), Human Resource Manager (11), Mechanical Focus Group Leader(11), Co-Director of Business (10), Spent most of my free time doing robotics)
Theatre( Four Years, a couple of roles in school shows)
MAGIC Mentoring program( 11th, paired with a mentor to work on a STEM project)
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting, Tutoring, worked at my parents business
Volunteer/Community Service: Humane Society (100+ hours), Mentoring FLL team (70+ hours)
Summer Experience: COSMOS UC Davis

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 9 wrote about jogging around neighborhood
Department at MIT: 7 Course wrote about 2-A
Community Development: 9 working to get other girls into STEM
World You Come From: 9 Two worlds of theatre and robotics
Significant Challenge: 10 experience being on a TV show
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: (Physics) 10/10 didn’t read it but this teacher has kind of been my mentor since Freshman Year
Teacher Recommendation #2: (History) Didn’t read but it probably was nothing spectacular
Counselor Rec: Vice-Principal wrote my letter and I think she liked me.
Additional Info/Rec: Mentor from MAGIC Program
Interview: BEST INTERVIEW I WILL PROBABLY EVER HAVE. Talked to interviewer for 45 minutes, he said at the end that I would be a perfect fit for MIT and that he would write me a strong recommendation.
Art Supplement:

Other

Date Submitted App: Sometime in October forgot exact date
U.S. State/Territory or Country: California
School Type: fairly large public school
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

Reflection

Strengths: Interview, Letters of Rec, awards, a few of my essays
Weaknesses: SAT Subject test scores, I took some easy classes instead of hard ones when it comes to English
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply?
Stanford, Georgia Tech, Caltech, Yale, Purdue, UCSD, UCLA, UC Davis

33

**Decision: adMITted **

I don’t wanna post a whole lot

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2260
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown): 36 (only once)
SAT II (subject, score): 800, 720, 740, 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1st
AP (place score in parentheses): 10, six 5’s, four 4’s
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Number of other EA applicants in your school: nope
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): nah
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

Subjective:
Good ecs, lots of leadership roles

Essays:
I love my teachers and am pretty sure they wrote great recs! Also my essays were pretty solid

Other:

Main comments:

Remember to show your passion through everything that you do! Passion is key. It doesn’t matter if you’re involved in 125783619523 activities at your school/life but don’t really care about them. Who cares if you have an arm here and a leg there if you’re not putting your entire body in one?
–leadership roles is also key
Enjoy your interview! They love talking to you!

34

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT II: 800 on all taken
ACT (breakdown): 36 first try

AP (place score in parentheses): more than 14 APs over 9-12
Senior Year Course Load: hardmode
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 8-10 (4 accepted, 2 will go to Harvard/Yale)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): yes
Job/Work Experience: yes
Volunteer/Community Service: yes
Summer Experience: yes

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Interview: Connected with the interviewer extremely well, told was a perfect match for MIT.
Other
Date Submitted App: 11/1/15

General Comments & Advice:
MIT admissions is drunk and needs to go home.

35

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