MIT Class of 2022 EA Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

Decisions come out tomorrow, 12/14/17 at 6:28pm EST! They can be found at decisions.mit.edu.
Good luck to all!

Remove spaces when you post:

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Number of other EA applicants in your school:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**

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

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure:
Department at MIT:
Trait Most Proud Of:
World You Come From:
Significant Challenge:
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1:
Teacher Recommendation #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview:
Art Supplement:

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country:
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply?

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**

2

**Decision: Deferred **
Filled this out before EA decisions.

Objective:
SAT I: 1560, 800M/760 EBRW, 5-5-5 essay, only took once, never took ACT
SAT II: 800 math II, 700 bio E
GPA/rank: UW 4.0, not sure about weighted but like 4.4 or something, top 10%
AP/IB Tests: Euro (4), US (5), Lang (5), Calc BC (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP MacroEcon, Engineering (weighted), AP Chem, IB Lit, a Solidworks class, stats at CC in fall, AoPS intermediate number theory in spring. Also sports count as a class at my school.
Number of other EA applicants in your school: idk, at least 1
Major Awards: nothin’
Common Awards: 2nd in district for PTA Reflections in literature, school award for being one of the top students in math, “Best Watch Tan (on girls XC)”, honor roll, AP whatever, perfect attendance 10th/11th grade.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Track (10-12), XC (10-12), and GSA (10-12). Currently GSA president and used to be treasurer. Sort of an unofficial leadership role with track/XC.
Job/Work Experience: some tutoring throughout HS
Volunteer/Community Service: I used to foster dogs (summer '13 and '14)
Summer: Running and taking classes (at least 1 math class, b/c I wanted to), and fostering dogs

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Essays:
Fun thing-- running through the water at the beach at sunset
Department-- 2-A cause it’s flexible + collaborative and I wanna be an IE
Community contribution-- stepping up to run my school’s failing GSA despite not being “out”/homophobia at school
World you come from-- teachers and coaches inspired me to take on challenges like running/AP Chem
Challenge-- running, struggling with injuries and failure, accepting I’m not good at it and working hard anyway
Extra: The counselor who helped me with my essays said he thought I REALLY needed to send them my common app essay (about how I love math, did contain some important info) so I pasted that in “additional info”, sorry MIT readers

Rec letters: Submitted required + a supplemental from my coach. All strong with 3 of them very strong, best part of my application IMO
Interview: fine, was short and I thought it was just ok but he said he was recommending me as a match for MIT
Portfolios: none

Other
Date Submitted App: few days before Nov 1
U.S. State/Territory or Country: CA
School Type: Public, large-ish, sends a decent amount of kids to Ivy-tier schools but nobody to MIT in a long time
Ethnicity: white, mentioned I’m 1/4 Puerto Rican but did not mark hispanic, also jewish (ethnically)
Gender: F
Income Bracket Range: complicated, applied for FA but may not get any
Hooks: don’t think so

Reflection
Strengths: Rec letters, clear significant commitment to a couple of things. Felt like my app was very honest and genuine. I did what I wanted, not what I thought colleges wanted, but I do genuinely love learning. My “challenge” essay hopefully shows that I can handle failure.
Weaknesses: I barely do anything other than math and running, essays were just ok, lotta overlap between essays, no impressive awards/accomplishments, not taking the most rigorous courses (IB offered but I’m not in it), lack of volunteer work, interview wasn’t amazing, low (for MIT) SAT II science score.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: See above lol (typing this before finding out)
What would you have done differently?: More volunteer work would have been good, not sure it would have affected admissions though. I don’t regret pursuing what I wanted to do instead of what’s “best for college” (applying sideways).
Where else did you apply? Pitt, Cal poly SLO, San Jose state, WPI, Northeastern, USD, Harvey Mudd

Other Factors:
My dad travels a ton for work and my mom is sick so my little brother and I have to be more independent, mentioned in interview and may have been included in GC rec

General Comments & Advice:
Do what you wanna do in HS, pursue your passions and you’ll at least have good memories of HS even if you don’t get into MIT.

3

Decision: AdMITted!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1590 (800M, 790V, 20 Essay)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): Nope
ACT superscore (breakdown): Nope
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 800 Spanish (Reading only)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.16 UW (my school does it out of 4.3; A+ is 4.3)
Weighted GPA: no idea
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school doesn’t rank.
AP (place score in parentheses): All 5’s: Stat, Bio, Calc AB, Chem, Psych, Spanish, Microeconomics, CS A
IB (place score in parentheses): Nope
Senior Year Course Load:
Number of other EA applicants in your school: I have no idea
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):

  • Women’s 8-Ball National Champion (Highest division)
  • Jr. National 9-Ball Champion
  • Went to Jr. Worlds 4 times
    Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):
  • AIME Qualifier/AMC 12 Honor Roll
  • MAML Finalist
  • National Merit Semifinalist
  • Math Prize for Girls Participant (lol tied for like 250th out of 300 so basically one of the worst there but it’s the effort that counts)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): copying from commonapp with some stuff omitted

  • Billiards (Captain), 15hrs/week
  • Robotics (captain), 8hrs/week
  • Math Team (Captain), 2hrs/week
    Job/Work Experience: Internship (software), 40hrs/week ish during summer
    Volunteer/Community Service: Just some volunteering at the town library, nothing huge.
    Summer Experience: Mostly tournaments; last summer I had that internship.

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: This one was really good. Wrote about reading fanfiction.
Department at MIT: Lol. It was iffy, but I guess you can’t do that much in 100 words.
Community Contribution: Talked about volunteering at my local library.
World You Come From: Said “my parents are my world” and then talked about Chinese culture.
Significant Challenge: Story of how I went from extremely shy to actually able to speak in front of strangers.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: For the background question, I just talked about the emphasis on education and learning in my family.

Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Teacher Recommendation #1: Chem teacher. She told my parents I was the best student she’d seen in a while.
Teacher Recommendation #2: English teacher. He really liked me and I talked a lot in his class.
Counselor Rec: Probably generic. She had us fill out a survey with things we thought she should know about us, so it probably looked better than the really generic ones.
Additional Info/Rec: Had an extra rec from my coach.
Interview: I was super awkward. I’m just an awkward person in general (lol). I can’t believe this didn’t get me deferred/rejected. I guess it was more of a “we just want to meet you” interview.
Art Supplement: Nope. I’m not artistic.

Other

Date Submitted App: 10/16
U.S. State/Territory or Country: MA
School Type: Small public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket Range: ~$120k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Won a Nobel Prize in 10th grade, went on to get gold for the 100m dash in the Olympics, and then traveled around the world filming for my documentary about monasteries. That’s sarcasm for “no”.

Reflection

Strengths: My scores were good. Also, math and pool.
Weaknesses: Essays. I thought they were good when I wrote them. But as I thought back on them, I realized they were pretty mediocre…
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think national titles are worth something… But also scores.
What would you have done differently?: I would have proofread more. I printed my application out and proofread it, but still missed like 3 typos in the essays when I went through it again after I submitted. Rip.
Where else did you apply?
Caltech (Accepted), UChicago (Decisions on the 18th…)

**Other Factors: **
Nope

General Comments & Advice:
Don’t stress out like I did. It’s not really worth it, and it won’t change the result.

4

**Decision: Accepted **

Please note in advance that I’m currently taking a gap year and reapplying to schools, so I already have everything completed in terms of APs, grades, etc…

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1320 (accidentally submitted)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36English, 36Math, 36Reading, 33Science) 11 on writing
ACT superscore (breakdown): I took it twice. My first time around I got a 30, the second time a 35.
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math2, 800Lit, 780 Bio-M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.53—I was my school’s Salutatorian
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): Latin (5), Bio (5), Chem (5), Lit (5), Lang (4), US (2… I know, I know), Physics I (5), Euro (4), Psych (5), Calc AB (4), Calc BC (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Already graduated, but I took AP Lit, AP Psych, AP Physics I, Calc 3 at my local community college, and linear algebra at my local community college, plus literary magazine.
Number of other EA applicants in your school: not sure
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National Merit Scholar Finalist
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): I used to be a nationally ranked tennis player. I played piano and violin (thought violin was just for fun). President of my school’s pride club. Those are the major things.
Job/Work Experience: I’m doing some internships in my gap year, but other than that, none.
Volunteer/Community Service: I volunteer for a rape recovery center helping on the phone lines—I’ve been doing that since junior year. I also used to work as a TA at an elementary school and primarily worked with the kids struggling to read.
Summer Experience: Uh. I’m not sure. I literally used to just practice piano and tennis all summer.

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

Essays: 9? I tend to think my essays are very well written. I revised them multiple times, and I’m not sure.
What You Do For Pleasure: I talked about my blog of book reviews. I struggle to rate myself but maybe a 9
Department at MIT: I wrote about the philosophy department
Trait Most Proud Of: Is this the way you’ve contributed essay? I wrote about reading to my brother after he became paralyzed.
World You Come From: I wrote about being gay and multiracial in a white community.
Significant Challenge: Wrote about my brother getting in a car crash and becoming paralyzed and my sister dropping out of school at the same time.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: I discussed my gap year and what I’m doing.
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: I didn’t read them, but I assume they’re good.
Teacher Recommendation #2: Again, same thing.
Counselor Rec: I also didn’t read this, but I was pretty close to my counselor.
Additional Info/Rec: n/a
Interview: I LOVED my interviewer. She was really excited that I’m not as interested in STEM as most applicants.
Art Supplement: n/a

Other

Date Submitted App: I think Oct 15th?
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Uh that’s kind of complicated since I moved around a lot, but I currently reside in California but I’m about to move to Maryland for part of my gap year.
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Multiracial
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: My parents are divorced. Mom is <50k and dad is wealthy >250k… granted, I’ll be paying for my own college tuition.
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): None that I can think of. I have some distant family members that went to MIT, but MIT doesn’t care about legacy I believe.

Reflection

Strengths: I’d like to think my grades and test scores were good and I challenged myself in high school. I have a very unique background and I come from a pretty distraught family but I persevered. I’m not going to lie. I feel like I had a lot going for me.
Weaknesses: I’m not really sure. Some people say a gap year is a weakness, but others say it’s a good thing.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I have strong grades and test scores and my essays show I come from a unique background. I love to learn and I work hard.
What would you have done differently?: To be honest, I applied to MIT before thinking it through. I am a complete humanities guy, so it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll go to MIT. I love their English department and their Philosophy department, but I don’t want to graduate and have people look down on me for studying English at MIT. As well, I know if I went to MIT to study humanities, I would be pretty alone in that pursuit.
Where else did you apply?
Deferred from Columbia today
EA to UChicago
Regular: Yale, Princeton, Brown, Stanford, Davidson, Swarthmore, Georgetown

General Comments & Advice: to be honest, I’m still unsure why I applied to MIT. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly happy I got in, but I feel guilty like I’m “taking someone’s spot” since I know I probably won’t attend but I still applied.

5

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): didn’t take
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): ^
ACT (breakdown): straight 34
ACT superscore (breakdown): 34
SAT II (subject, score): Math II 800, Physics 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1%
AP (place score in parentheses): Didn’t submit
IB (place score in parentheses):
Number of other EA applicants in your school: Just me lol
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):

The real big one was
FIRST Robotics Dean’s List Award Winner
I devote almost all my time to robotics

ISEF Category Grand Award 4th place
Edson Entrepreneurial Award
Patent Pending for my start ups product
Coolidge Scholarship Distinction
Bryan Cameron Finalist
National Merit Commended (ended up not getting semi :/)

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):
Normal ones that come with good grades

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
FIRST Robotics - Serve as outreach lead and CAD Captain
Internship - Working out of ASU doing superconductor research for quantum computing Josephson junctions
Start Up - founded my own start up working with Bluetooth to Hardware solutions
SkillsUSA - VP of Compsci Chapter
AZFTOC - Serve as the president of the Arizona group of FIRST Robotics High School Teams
MIT Launch - Participated over the summer
Work as a programmer for FIRST on many international robotics courses and programs
Varsity Rowing
Plus many more

Job/Work Experience:
Work as a math tutor at Mathnasium

Volunteer/Community Service:
1200+ hours working with robotics… way too many projects and stuff to list

Summer Experience:
MIT Launch
ASM International Material Science Camo
FIRST Robotics project development with headquarters

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Rowing 8/10
Department at MIT: MechE and a connection with a prof their 9/10
Service: Robotics and working with students with autism 10/10
World You Come From: Being a nerd with parents who were professional athletes 9/10
Significant Challenge: Growing up with a stutter 10/10
Additional Essay/QB Essays: Just made some clarifications on how my school’s block system works
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Physics - worked with to launch our schools maker space 9/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: APUSH - my teacher loved me and his recs are legendary 11/10
Counselor Rec: Pretty regular 7/10
Additional Info/Rec: District STEM Coordinator who I worked with to launch a district-wide robotics and STEM club system 9/10
Interview: He was a fellow FRC Coach so we connected instantly

Maker Supplement: This was awesome, wrote a story about my passions 10/10
Research Supplement: This wasn’t the greatest, but I put my best into it (it did place at ISEF) 8/10

Other

Date Submitted App: Had the essays done two months in advance but submitted on the due date
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Arizona
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White boi
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 150K+
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): None really, but I talked to Petey a few times at ISEF and FRC Champs and when he gave our MIT tour he remembered my name lol

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars and strong fit with MIT
Weaknesses: Physics SAT was low
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: The Engineering Gods were kind to me
What would you have done differently?: Nothing really
Where else did you apply?
I’m going to apply to just Yale and Stanford now, but MIT is my one and only

General Comments & Advice:

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

6

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1500 (800M, 700CR/W, 18 essay)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): above
ACT (breakdown): -
ACT superscore (breakdown): -
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math 2, 780 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: not sure but I know it’s at least 4.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses):

  • 5’s: Calc AB/BC, both Physics C, Literature, Seminar, Physics 2, Statistics
  • 4’s: Latin, Language, European History, CompSci A, Physics 1, World History
  • 3’s: US Gov, APUSH
    IB (place score in parentheses): -
    Senior Year Course Load: AP CompSci Principles, AP Research, Astronomy, History of Crime, Romance Language Linguistics, Game Theory (mostly capstone classes b/c I’ve taken pretty much every AP my school offers)
    Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1, but he did Questbridge so idk if he counts. He got rejected, though.
    Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none lol
    Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National AP Scholar, National Merit Commended Student, some National Latin Exam awards, and AP Capstone Candidate

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

  • Robotics Club, 9th-11th grade (the coach left my school which is why I’m not continuing this senior year), programmer
  • LaunchX Entrepreneurship Club, 12th grade, president and founder
  • Literary Society, 8th-12th grade, head editor
  • National Honor Society, 10th-12th grade
  • Local youth orchestra, 11th-12th grade
    Job/Work Experience: none
    Volunteer/Community Service:
  • I co-coach a robotics team in town and I volunteer at pretty much every FTC competition in town (unless I have a big test or project around the same time at school). Basically I’m very involved in the local robotics scene.
  • Teacher Assistant for the APCS teacher last school year. He took an absence for three months so I was the acting teacher during the time b/c the school couldn’t find a sub.
  • Active with a community volunteer group that encourages community service among middle/high school girls. We mainly do trash cleanups of trails and roads around town and prepare food at the local food kitchen.
  • Peer tutor at my school. I do unpaid tutoring for about 4-6 kids each school year and sometimes over the summer too.
    Summer Experience:
  • Last summer, I did a research internship at a NASA facility in town and did some work with the Mars Curiosity rover and artificial intelligence/neural networks.
  • Summer after sophomore year, I spent my time traveling all over Asia.
  • Tutored kids all summers in high school.

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 9. Wrote about my love for Kpop and everyone who read it loved the essay, but I’m afraid I came off as too Asian lol.
Department at MIT: 8. I liked it but I’m afraid it was generic. Talked about my interest in robotics and EECS and brought up research currently being done by a specific lab group at CSAIL I’m interested in.
Trait Most Proud Of: Contribution essay? I wrote about being the teacher assistant for the APCS class and how I took up the role of teacher when the actual teacher left without telling anyone. I’d give this a 10, pretty proud of it.
World You Come From: Uhhh maybe a 7 or 8? I feel like I bragged too much in this one. Talked about how my classmates have this idea that I’m the ideal student but I’m really just another person who wants to work really hard.
Significant Challenge: 9. I wrote about my experience in AP Seminar and the negative economic effects of Silicon Valley being very discouraging to me as a prospective CS major, so I founded the entrepreneurship club at school to create my own socially responsible engineering startup and to encourage other aspiring engineers and businessmen/women to come up with socially responsible startup ideas.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: 8. Talked about being an immigrant to the US and the hard transition into American culture for my background essay. Pretty much summarized my Common App essay.
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: My physics teacher. Probably 8 or 9. I’ve known him since middle school because he was my seventh grade physics teacher, and I had him again for AP Physics C. I’ve done a lot of programming for the labs and projects he’s given us, so I’m sure he talked about that, but the fact that I’m not a physics major worries me a little about this rec.
Teacher Recommendation #2: AP Lang/AP Seminar teacher. 9. She’s always loved my writing and my ideas during class discussions, and she’s also the faculty advisor for the literary society I’m in charge of.
Counselor Rec: 10. She’s also been my Latin teacher for the past six years and I know she loves me. She told me ahead of time what she was planning to write my letter on so I’m sure it’s strong.
Additional Info/Rec: 8. Rec from my research advisor from my internship last summer. Not really sure what he talked about, but I know he thinks highly of me.
Interview: I absolutely loved the interview. I’m good in conversations, so the talking flowed really smoothly and I could tell my interviewer was impressed with me.
Art Supplement: none

Other

Date Submitted App: mid-October? Can’t remember honestly, but it was at least a couple weeks before the deadline.
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Arizona
School Type: very small public college prep school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: ~25K (very low income)
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): female in CS? Idk I feel like that’s becoming more common now.

Reflection

Strengths: Definitely my essays. While there were some I felt better than others, I thought they were all great overall. The interview went super well for me too because I’m a social butterfly who loves to talk.
Weaknesses: My lack of awards. Also, my scores are sub-par compared to most other applicants, especially since I’m Asian.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m… really not sure how I got deferred. I was so sure I’d get rejected. Maybe my passion for STEM and my love for community service just really came through in my essays and interview. Also, I did the research supplement, so that could’ve helped.
What would you have done differently?: Put more time working on the research supplement, but I don’t know if that’d help much. I wish I also did the art supplement because I play violin.
Where else did you apply?

  • Carnegie Mellon SCS (ED): rejected
  • Caltech: rejected
  • UChicago: waiting for the 18th
  • RD to Stanford, Cornell, WashU, Northwestern, Columbia, Rice, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and Arizona State University (and its honors college)

**Other Factors: **
As I stated above, I did a research supplement comparing the neural networks I created over the summer for the Curiosity rover and finding which one is most effective. It’s not Siemens or Intel level research, but I enjoyed the work I did and it was definitely worth talking about.

General Comments & Advice:
Even if you think that you’re not a qualified applicant, definitely still apply if you’re interested in the school. I was so sure I was gonna get rejected after getting rejected by CMU SCS, especially since CMU is less selective than MIT no matter the department, so I was shocked when I got deferred. I know it’s still not an acceptance, but this means that MIT seriously considered my application and they want to know more about what I’ll be doing the next few months. So I would for sure try applying even if you don’t think you’re the most qualified applicant, because I sure am surprised by this.

7

** Decision: Accepted!!! **

**Objective: **
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): didn’t submit
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): ^^
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (M34 S36 E35 W33)
ACT superscore (breakdown): 35 composite (M35 S36 E35 W33)
SAT II (subject, score): Physics 780, Math II 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): idk
Weighted GPA: idk
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9/~350 (UW)
AP (place score in parentheses): school doesn’t offer it
IB (place score in parentheses): school doesn’t offer it
Senior Year Course Load: English, French, Chem, Bio, Physics, Calc, Comp Sci
Number of other EA applicants in your school: I don’t anyone else applied
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): not really anything academic? But for tennis: won some international tournaments (ITF G5), won Canadian nationals twice, played for Canada in Junior World Cup and Junior Fed Cup, consistently top 5 in Canada, probably some less significant ones I can’t think of right now
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): honor roll grades 7-11, top 10 in the exam and team role play for DECA (entrepreneurship) this year, got into Provincials for DECA

** Subjective (all taken from MyMIT): **

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

  • Competitive tennis: 30h/week, 52 weeks, mentioned awards above
  • Computer Science Club: 6h/week, 30 weeks, club founder, lead teacher & programmer in Python
  • Cross-country: 5h/week, 15 weeks, top runner for the HS varsity team
  • DECA: 2h/week, 15 weeks, prepping for/participating in team event for entrepreneurship
    Job/Work Experience: front desk manager at my tennis club; refereeing tennis tournaments
    Volunteer/Community Service: I can’t find the section on my app right now but I basically just help direct tennis tournaments for community service hours too
    Summer Experience: International tournament travel from age 11 (pretty much every summer + winter); volunteering for tennis tournaments; assistant coach for younger kids at summer tennis camps

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 8.5/10, wrote about how I love reading (per my interview’s suggestion lol) and gave an example of how this one article about Neuralink blew my mind a gazillion times and I couldn’t stop talking about it to my friend
Department at MIT: 8/10 said I discovered CS through codemonkey and fell in love with it; mentioned a game I made last winter break for a class, talked about why I love CS so much
Trait Most Proud Of: I’d say 10/10? I loved this one the most, I talked about being engaged in all my classes at school and always trying to get my classmates to be more engaged in class too. I briefly mentioned that wanting to see my peers excited about learning was why I started staying at lunch to help people with math/science and why I started the CS club to help others learn
World You Come From: 9/10 I kind of fangirled over doctor who at the start and talked about how my love for it is something I share with my dad, who used to be theoretical physics prof, so I love talking to him and theorizing about how things from the show could become a reality.
Significant Challenge: 9.5/10 Talked about how competitive tennis and being away from school so much because of it with made it a lot harder to keep up in class, and how that’s really shaped me as a student.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: N/A
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details): N/A

Teacher Recommendation #1: (Haven’t read it but probably 9/10 or 10/10) My physics teacher!!! I love him and his class so much and I’m super active in the class - I’ve definitely given him a lot to talk about lol. I feel like his letter was really great.
Teacher Recommendation #2: (Probably like 8/10 or maybe 9/10?) This was my gr 11 English teacher, I don’t really remember anything special from her class but like I said in my essay I’m really there in all my classes and I still have a great relationship with her so I’m sure she wrote nice things.
Counselor Rec: maybe 7/10 or 8/10? I don’t really know him that well but we’ve talked a few times and we have a pretty good relationship and he’s a really nice guy so I’m sure it was great. I actually had no idea he had to do anything more than just send in my transcript.
Additional Info/Rec: N/A
Interview: I don’t think this has much impact but he was really cool and it was kind of just a conversation about MIT him getting to know me a bit. I showed him the game I made that I mentioned in my why CS essay.
Art Supplement: N/A

** Other **

Date Submitted App: I think Oct 28?
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Canada!!
School Type: Just your average public high school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: ~$75K (in USD)
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): recruited athlete (coach’s top choice so it definitely helped a ton, or at least as much as sports can help you at MIT)

** Reflection **

Strengths: Essays and probably my rec letters (have I said my teachers are awesome? I’m geting them all donuts today XD)
Weaknesses: STEM-related ECs and awards. I can’t believe this didn’t instantly put my app in the reject pile tbh
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Definitely my tennis recruitment and the subjective parts of my app. I really tried to let my personality and passion for STEM shine through with my essays, and I think my rec letters helped a lot too.
What would you have done differently?: nothing, I got in!!! I’m so happy omg
Where else did you apply? I did UofT and Waterloo mostly as “backups” (read: still super competitive for CS) because they’re close and cheap. Still waiting on decisions. I’m also going to do Caltech RA - it’s the only other school and tennis team I love as much as (maybe even more than?) MIT

** General Comments & Advice: ** Congrats to all the other adMITs!!! I’m so so excited to meet everyone at CPW I’m already starting my countdown :smiley: To deferred/rejected applicants: I’m so sorry and I know it probably stung a bit at first, but I’ve talked to so many applicants during this process and you guys are all seriously incredible and you’re all my inspiration. Even applying to such a rigorous school takes incredible guts and I’m so proud of you for taking that leap!! It’s ok to be upset, but I hope you can shake it off soon and realize that no matter where you go, you’ll do really great things and that your college experience is as great as you make it, regardless of which school it’s at. For deferred squad, good luck in March!!! To future applicants: I think the fact that I somehow got in with way less STEM ECs and awards than everyone else shows just how much MIT cares about admitting people and not a bunch of stats. Do what you love, be true to yourself and your real passions on your applications, and you’ll be sure to end up where you belong :slight_smile: Most of all, good luck!!!

8

**Decision: Deferred

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 1540 (800 RW and 740 M, 17/24 essay)
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: 800 French, 740 Math 2, 710 Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not reported, but top of class
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Psychology (5)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): English Lit. HL (TBD)
[] Senior Year Course Load: French Baccalaureate Science Track with International Option
[li] Awards: nothing major, but some regional MUN awards and school-wide writing and sports awards, National Merit Commended[/li]
Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity XC/Track and Field (Captain, MVP); School newspaper (editor); music (solo violin study, string quartet, school orchestra concertmaster); school bilingual theater troupe (stage manager twice, directing winter show this year); Model UN (committee chair); independent research project about piezoelectricity
[] Job/Work Experience: barista on weekends since August, some tutoring
[] Volunteer/Community service: volunteered full-time for local education non-profit over the summer
[] Summer Activities: see above, plus travel/linguistic exchange/music camp
[] Essays: Pretty good I think
[] Teacher Recommendation: Math probably 10/10, he and I have a great relationship and he’s known me for a long time, History probably 9/10 cause I’m the only person who participates in his class lol
[] Counselor Rec: Likely very good, I’m recognized as a standout student at my school and am generally involved and well-liked within the school community, plus my counselor knows me well
[] Additional Rec: none
[] Interview: 8/10 went quite well
[] Supplementary Material: none

Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
[] School Type: small private
[] Ethnicity: white
[] Gender: female
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): upper middle class
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none[/li]
Reflection
[] Strengths: Recommendations, French Baccalaureate, extracurriculars, interview
[] Weaknesses: Physics SAT II, lack of major awards and STEM ECs
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: they defer like 80% of early applicants haha
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at UChicago, still waiting on BU, Northeastern, UCs, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia

**General Comments: ** Crossing my fingers for good news in March! Congrats to everyone who got in!

9

[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 790, 760, 20
SAT II (subject, score): Physics, 800 M2,800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
AP (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Almost entirely post APs. Quantum Mechanics, Linear Algebra, a research block, advanced topics in physics (mishmash of Hamilton, Lagrange, weird oscillation stuff, and a ton of quantum field theory… pretty much everything I don’t know but wan to), AP gov/comp
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 2
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Cross Country/Track, 10/11/12, a few seasons varsity
Math team, all, A team with regionals
Quizbowl, all, multiyear co-captain
Guitarist, all, a lot of random stuff-- highlights were some pretty well respected jazz competitions… I also record thrash metal

Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer at local public library with an initiative led by me
Research assistant at a very well respected research university (it’s local to me)

Summer Experience:

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure:
8/10
Department at MIT:
9/10
World You Come From:
10/10
Significant Challenge:
10/10

Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Physics, don’t know and do not want to assign numerics, but almost certainly excellent
History, same as physics
Physics professor at aforementioned university, same

Interview:
Went very well. Chatted a fair bit and was a bit off topic, but that was intended. I figured it would give the guy a fair look at me as a person.

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App:
Nov 28
U.S. State/Territory or Country:
Will not say, but hypercompettetive and small
School Type:
Private
Ethnicity:
White
Gender:
Male
Income Bracket Range:
High
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):
Research. Pending publications and projects in theoretical condensed matter physics with Physical review series. One with aforementioned university and one with the max planck institute.

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths:
Almost everything listed above.
Weaknesses:
2 B+s in some fairly insignificant classes, but that could have held me down a bit. Ethnicity and geography were also playing very heavily against me. I come from the same region as the best technical high school in the nation, so that accounts for a fair bit of it.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
I think it was just the statistics-- too many qualified applicants for very few slots. I bear no grudge and understand how hard of a job the adcomms have.
What would you have done differently?:
I honestly have no regrets.
Where else did you apply?
A fair number of ivies (one starts with a har and ends with a vard), a few international schools. Altogether, about 13 institutions (15 if you count individual programs). I applied to quite a few schools.

[ b]Other Factors: **
Prof’s rec should have been extremely important and strong. Extremely strong school and academic background (plays both for and against me). Glut of other extremely qualified applicants in region. My research is pretty top shelf, if I may say so myself.

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**
Keep applying. Being deferred or rejected doesn’t mean much and you certainly shouldn’t take it personally. I’m more irritated that I have to write a bunch of crap than disappointed. I was expecting to be deferred, so it comes as no surprise… On that topic, make sure that, if you choose to apply to institutions like MIT, your expectation is deferral. I’m still very hopeful for RD.

10

Oh, and 5s in all the important stem APs and a few history ones… I think it totals 5/6 fives, but I don’t buy into the AP hype very much. It’s just a stupid way to make education seem more objective and standardized. My regular classes have been, almost universally, more difficult and interesting than my APs. The exams were jokes.

11

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Did not submit
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): 35 C 36 M 36 E 35 R 34 S (one sitting)
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2 800 Physics 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.0 (weight is negligible even after taking 7 Honors/AP so far, and honors and AP both carry same weight)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank but top 5%
AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH (4), AP Physics I (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP CS, Honors Latin IV, Literature and Neurology, Innovation Pursuit in biophysics and nutrition (Independent research project)
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 2 that I know of but EC said there were more
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): None, some rowing gold and silver medals in regional and multi-state regattas, state championship rowing 2016
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NMSF, Head of Schools list all three years, High Honor roll all three years, Cum Laude society, National Latin exam gold x2, silver x1, National Latin Honor Society, Departmental awards in History and Latin, Yale Book Award, MVP Varsity Rowing 2017, Coach’s award in Basketball and Soccer.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
JV rowing (9)
Varsity Rowing (10-12) - Co-Captain (12), Founder of Fall Rowing team (12)
Club Rowing (9-12)
Mock Trial (10-12), co-captain (12)
JV Soccer (9)
Varsity Soccer (10-12)
Rec soccer (9-12)
Honor Committee (11-12)
SWAT leader (11-12)
Peer tutor (10-12)
Big/Little Buddy (12)
Senior Class Representative (12)
Chess Club Founder/President (10-12)
Investment Club (9-10)
JV/Varsity basketball (9-10)
Varsity swim (11-12)
Math team (12)

Job/Work Experience:
Soccer Referee (9-12)

Volunteer/Community Service: 300+ hours
Children’s ministry volunteer at church
Church reader (1 Sunday a month)
SWAT leader (throughout school year and some summer days)
Honor Committee
Peer Tutor
Big/Little buddy
Community volunteer
Food Pantry volunteer (2x a year, 9-12)

Summer Experience:
Club rowing (9-12)

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 7/10 - wanted to write about programming bc it’s the thing I do most for fun, but didn’t want to sound like I was pandering, so I wrote about playing chess to relieve stress and forming the Chess club
Department at MIT: 9/10 Physics
Trait Most Proud Of: 9/10 Seeing the best in people
World You Come From: 9/10 how growing up hiking and outdoors inspired my passion for science
Significant Challenge: Wrote about a health crisis during last year’s rowing season that almost ended my career and how it spurred me to do research to prevent it from happening to others
Additional Essay/QB Essays: None
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Didn’t read, assuming a 10/10 (Latin teacher is a mentor and knows me very well, speaks very highly of me)
Teacher Recommendation #2: Didn’t read, assuming a 9/10 (last year’s math teacher, can speak of my natural curiosity for math and how I devoured last year’s class so quickly, she would send me to work with another math teacher while the rest of the class worked on the lessons for the day)
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, assuming a 10/10. She interviewed my teachers and coaches, as well as my parents, and included quotes describing me as a whole person. She knows me really well as my friends and I often hang out in her office chatting with her. She is the one who recommended me to apply to MIT, so I think she sold me well.
Additional Info/Rec:N/A
Interview: 10/10 or so I thought. She was late but the interview went really well. We talked for over an hour and I felt really at ease with her.
Art Supplement: N/A

Other

Date Submitted App: Oct 30
U.S. State/Territory or Country: NH
School Type: Private Day school
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: F
Income Bracket Range: <65,000
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM, not sure that really matters at MIT

Reflection

Strengths: Sustained engagement in school community and leadership, test scores, GPA
Weaknesses: Not enough APs, no national awards, health issues prevented me from being a more competitive prospect for recruitment; was at least a year behind in math because of the way math is structured at my school and was denied permission to advance levels outside of school.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Maybe not “sciency” enough, no awards… Only in Calc A/B this year, should have been in B/C
What would you have done differently?: I would have taken advantage of the Innovation Pursuit program at my school earlier; should have fought harder for authorization to advance math levels over the past two summers.
Where else did you apply? Boston College (Accepted), WPI (accepted with Presidential Scholarship), UDelaware Honors college (waiting), RD - Princeton (so far), will apply to Tufts and Yale

**Other Factors: ** N/A

General Comments & Advice: MIT was a huge reach for me. Only two kids from my school have ever gotten in and they both had been taking college math courses by Senior year. I’m glad I wasn’t outright rejected and still hopeful for Pi Day, but I’m not broken over this. I’ll be happy wherever I end up. I’m lucky to already have two possible choices for next year.

12

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 760/780/21
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only took it once
ACT (breakdown): n/a
ACT superscore (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2, 800 and Chemistry, 670
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: my school doesn’t weight GPA
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): Chem (4), Calc BC (5), Physics C Mech (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): Spanish B SL (6), Math SL (6)
Senior Year Course Load: Theory of Knowledge/Government, IB HL Studio Art, Linear Algebra at local community college, IB HL History of the Americas, IB HL English, IB SL Environmental Systems and Societies
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 6, one other admitted
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): n/a
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NM Commended Student

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Grassroots Community Organizing (Steering Committee Member 2 yrs, President 2 yrs)
I helped found an organization that fights against sexual harassment and harm in our community. We do policy work and education on top of raising awareness of the issue. We’ve caused a lot of systemic change from getting new administrators hired to address these issues to ensuring education about sexual harm for all students every year. We’ve gotten a good amount of local media coverage and some national.

Ultimate Frisbee (3 yrs) - played at Youth Club Championships (Minnesota), Westerns (Oregon), States (California), I’ve played on teams with boys and just with girls.

Newspaper Illustrator (3 yrs), Illustration Editor (1 yr) - our school newspaper has won national awards every year

Jewish Social Justice Youth Group (3 yrs) - Youth Program Coordinator (1 yr)

Job/Work Experience: Paid summer camp counselor at a local Jewish day camp every summer, working 45 hrs/week with kids of all ages.
Volunteer/Community service: See community organizing above
Summer Activities: Camp counselor, ultimate frisbee

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Working with kids through babysitting, being a camp counselor. I wrote about how they make me goofier and more creative.
Department at MIT: Physics - this essay was super generic b/c I’m not even sure if I want to study physics
World You Come From: I wrote about coming from an academic family and how that gave me a broad knowledge of the world from a young age. I also talked about how my step-mom taught me hospitality, despite my introversion.
Significant Challenge: This essay was very personal, would rather not share.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: Talked bout getting a concussion right before testing season Junior year, but I still got straight A’s and great scores.
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Honors Math Analysis/Calc BC teacher. We were quite close because he had me for two years, and my brother a couple years before that.
Teacher Recommendation #2: Junior year English teacher. He loved me. I know he wrote about how I positively contributed to the classroom community.
Counselor Rec: She had to write for over 100 kids, so probably pretty generic. However, we got pretty close when I had my concussion and went in to talk to her practically every day.
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: honestly not that memorable, but we got along well. I asked a lot of questions. I sent her a really nice thank-you email afterwards.
Art Supplement: Visual Art, focused on black and white illustration. A lot of my pieces were related to my relationship with science.

Other

U.S. State/Territory or Country: California
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White/Jewish
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: prefer not to say, upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): n/a

Reflection

Strengths: definitely essays, art supplements
Weaknesses: STEM is not my specialty (I’m a generalist), Chem subject test, I’ve never done research/robotics/math club, no national awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think it came down to how much I care about the world/people around me and how I take action based on that passion.
What would you have done differently?: nothing. I’m so grateful that I got in.
Where else did you apply? Stanford, Harvard, McGill, Ucs

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice:
I can’t give advice b/c I’m honestly still shocked that I was accepted. Good luck out there and congrats to everyone who got in! <3

13

A bit late to the party, but, as someone who has perused these forums since freshman year, it’s time to give back:

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Didn’t take.
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34C
ACT superscore (breakdown): 34C
SAT II (subject, score): 760 MII, 700 Physics (weakest part)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 UW
Weighted GPA: 4.8 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/64
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Calculus AB (5), AP US History (5), AP English Language and Composition (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Government & Politics, AP Spanish Language, various trimester-long English courses.
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
1st Place in Computer Science at Regional Science Fair
2nd Place in Computer Science at State Science Fair (ISEF qualifier)
Multiple Top 10 Awards from State Science Olympiad
Numerous Model UN Gavels (ranging from regional to national)
Cum Laude Society
Xerox Award in Innovation and Information Technology
Provisional Patent for AI/ML predictive analysis software (in the process of obtaining utility patent)
Invited to present my ML predictive analysis software at Emerging Technologies Showcase in front of VCs, startup founders, and CEOs (currently in the process of commercialization and clearing FDA regulations)
TEDx Speaker
Featured in popular technology magazine for hackathon application (Computer Vision)
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar w/ Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

President/Founder of Model UN (10-12): Gaveled at every conference I’ve attend. Grew our school’s small team of 6 into a dynamic 20-person team. Devised a training regimen for speech and debate tactics.
Captain of Science Olympiad (10-12): Multiple Top 10 State Medals, including two First Place Medals. Through outreach, grew the team from 8 students to 30.
President/Founder of Coding Club (11-12): Teaching the principles of computer science, web development, iOS development, and Python programming to students and teachers alike.
President/Founder of Black Student Union (9-12): Created an advocacy framework whereby students of colors could organize for actions and bring awareness to issues within our community.
President/Founder Political Roundtable (12): Provided a platform for open discourse and debate on politics, economics, and culture.
Peer Tutoring (11-12): Tutored students from middle school upwards on topics in science, mathematics, and Spanish.
State Coordinator for 2016 Presidential Campaign (10-11): Organized voter registration drives, fought for ballot measures, recruited delegates to send to the National Convention.
Web Developer for 2016 Senate Candidates (10-11): Developed comprehensive technological solutions for two Senate Candidates.

Job/Work Experience:
Software Development Intern: Interned at a blockchain startup, aided them in smart contract development and server-side development. Worked from conception until ICO.

Volunteer/Community Service:

40 hours at a local church over the summer, distributing food to the community.

Summer Experience: Programming, side projects, catching up on personal reading.

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: Wrote about my passion for virtual aviation/flight simulator and how it’s transformed the way I see the world.
Department at MIT: EECS (Course 6), chronicled my relationship with technology from a young age and detailed my vision for the future and how MIT will help me transform it into a reality.
World You Come From: Wrote about how technology liberated me from the constraints society (and others) have placed upon me.
Significant Challenge: Way too personal.
Additional Essay/QB Essays: N/A
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Likely fantastic, she has nothing short of admiration for me. From my AB Calculus (and freshman geometry) teacher. We have the greatest relationship. She’s truly inspired a love of mathematics within me.
Teacher Recommendation #2: APUSH and World History 2 (sophomore year) teacher, also helped me build our school’s ModelUN team. Again, he has nothing short of admiration for me and our relationship is very close.

Counselor Rec: We’ve had a fantastic relationship. We talk often and she has been there to support me in all of my endeavors.
Additional Info/Rec: N/A
Interview: It went wonderfully! Essentially an hour-long conversation about anything from the MIT environment to our shared love of all things science-y.
Art Supplement: N/A

Other

Date Submitted App: October 30th (IIRC)
U.S. State/Territory or Country: New Jersey
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 25-75K.
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM.

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars, a genuine (and borderline obsessive) passion for a field of science, essays, and consistent performance throughout high school.
Weaknesses: Subject test scores.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: It’s been nearly two months and I’m still not sure. The shock has hardly worn off.
What would you have done differently?: Nothing.
Where else did you apply? Caltech (admitted EA), UChicago (admitted EA), Georgia Tech (admitted EA), Stanford (waiting), UCLA (waiting)

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice:

Congratulations to all who were accepted. As I’ve said in other threads, without risk there is no reward.

14

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1580 800/780 don’t recall writing… not good but not bad though.
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only took it once
ACT (breakdown): didn’t send
ACT superscore (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2, 800. Physics 730. US History 780.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.58
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4 out of just over 600
AP (place score in parentheses): 5’s in Calc AB and BC, Physics 1, US History, Human Geography. 4’s in English Lang and World History. 3’s in Chem and Music Theory.
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Stat, AP Spanish Lang, AP Macro, AP Gov, AP English Lit, Band, Jazz Band, Engineering Design and Development
Number of other EA applicants in your school: idk, about 5 or 6. No one got in, only one other got deferred.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Idk if it counts, but I was captain of a Top 5 NASA OPSPARC Competition team.
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): tons of stuff lots of ppl get.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Band (President, Section Leader, 1st chair t. sax), Mu Alpha Theta (President 2 years), Odyssey of the Mind (team placed 5th at states), Academic Team (co-captain)
Job/Work Experience: lawn service, and calc tutor
Volunteer/Community Service: lots of hours as my church’s sound technician, and I volunteered at a my local Christian Sharing Center
Summer Experience: I volunteered mostly.

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

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: I struggle to rate myself btw, so idk how accurate this is. 6/10 wrote about reading (i actually love reading, but idk if it came across how I wanted it to)
Department at MIT: 8/10 Aerospace engineering, alright
Trait Most Proud Of: Wasn’t this a contribution to community essay? Anyways, 7/10 wrote about volunteering.
World You Come From: 8/10 wrote about being a twin
Significant Challenge: 5/10 wrote about an odyssey problem on comp. day
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10 my AP spanish teacher likes me, and she wrote a rec letter for a student that got into MIT two years ago.
Teacher Recommendation #2: 9?/10 AP Calc, she liked me and sponsored my Mu Alpha Theta Club, but idk how good a writer she is.
Counselor Rec: 8?/10 she seems to like me, but we just met this year (my school switched up the guidance counselor system… was kind of annoying bc most seniors got switched in our most important year) idk how it turned out.
Additional Info/Rec: they seemed pretty good
Interview: Pretty good, but not outstanding- probably had no effect on my app in a + or - way.
Art Supplement: Saxophone music sup, idk it wasn’t my best playing but it was good, however I also submitted a maker portfolio that was related to me in both music and engineering and I thought was amazing.

Other

Date Submitted App: idk about 2 weeks before deadline
U.S. State/Territory or Country: FL
School Type: big-ish public
Ethnicity: W
Gender: M
Income Bracket Range: 50k-70k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): none

Reflection

Strengths: Good extracurricular I care deeply about. Rec letters i think were good
Weaknesses: i am bad essay writer. My physics sat 2 score wasn’t the best.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: idk, probably not standing out in essays. I thought my maker portfolio was great, i guess it wasnt.
What would you have done differently?: nothing except start on essays a few months sooner. refining takes time.
Where else did you apply? some other reach schools (Yale, Dartmouth etc.) and UF and Purdue as safeties. Just found out I got into UF, and had got accepted to Purdue a few weeks ago. I’ll probably end up at UF unless I get lucky in March.

**Other Factors: **
nope

General Comments & Advice: Just apply, MIT is a pipe dream for almost everyone, but some people are bound to get in. I’m happy I tried, and still hoping for a acceptance letter on pi day. At the end of the day, applying to MIT, and reading the MIT blogs have given me some great memories, and helped me understand myself a little better. The only way to not get in for sure is to never try applying. Good luck!

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[ size=4][ color=green][ b]
Decision: Accepted

**[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Math 800, CR 690
ACT (breakdown): 35 (Math 36, English 36, Science 35, Reading 32)
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Math II 800, Chem 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.25 (out of 4.5)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 of 430 (at the time)
AP (place score in parentheses): 5’s: AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, 4’s: AP Chem, AP Lang, APUSH, 3: AP World
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psych, AP Physics, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Computer Science, AP Spanish, AP Bio
Number of other EA applicants in your school: I think I was the only one
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with distinction, National Merit Finalist, College Book Award from Harvard

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): high school volleyball all 4 years (varsity 10-12), club volleyball since age 10 (captain of my 17’s team, attended nationals 3 times)
Job/Work Experience: volleyball referee grades 9-10, volleyball referee scheduler and coordinator grades 11-12
Volunteer/Community Service: 50+ hours for a service club at my school, 20 ish hours for National Honor Society
Summer Experience: I conducted research in the Biomedical Engineering lab at my local mid-tier university for 6 weeks, I wrote a research paper on that and presented to a group

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure: 6/10 volleyball
Department at MIT: 9/10 Course 18 (math) and I talked about attending 18.600 during my recruitment weekend and I discussed what I learned and how engaging the professor was
Trait Most Proud Of: I don’t remember
World You Come From: I left this one blank to be honest
Significant Challenge:
Additional Essay/QB Essays: 8/10 I wrote about my grandpa who died of ALS and how he inspired me to do well in math
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Honors Chem teacher sophomore year, also the head of the service group I did volunteer work in, didn’t read
Teacher Recommendation #2: AP Calc BC teacher junior year, I was one of 2 juniors in his class, didn’t read
Counselor Rec: didn’t read
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: went very well, the woman was very nice
Art Supplement: I didn’t submit an art supplement but I did submit a research supplement (I attached my research paper that I wrote over the summer)

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App: like a week before the deadline
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Missouri
School Type: public (top 2 in the state)
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket Range: middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): I was recruited by the volleyball coach

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: being recruited for volleyball, my class rank, my summer research, and having visited the campus 3 times prior to applying
Weaknesses: only 1 other person from my school (that I know of) has gone to MIT, some low AP scores, low Chem SAT II
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think the volleyball coach played a major part in my getting accepted
What would you have done differently?: nothing :slight_smile:
Where else did you apply? Caltech EA (deferred), UChicago EA (deferred), Purdue (accepted), MO S&T (accepted), Mizzou (accepted)

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:** don’t stress

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Do you have any tips for other Canadian students applying to Top US universities?