<p>Hey, I'm a rising senior, set on applying EA to Georgetown and UChicago. I recently talked to my friend at Cornell, who suggested I might as well apply to MIT EA since it won't hurt me. I plan on studying econ and philosophy. But I have very few science activities:
FIRST Robotics-#2 in world in 2006, NJ champions 3 yrs. in a row(heavily involved, captain)
Science League-top scorer in biology(captain)</p>
<p>I'm also worried about my B+ in Honors Precalculus last year. But I got a 800 on Math IIC. A+ in all science classes. Would my lack of top science/math activites hurt me? Thanks!</p>
<p>I think you’d be fine. Seriously, most of us around here will tell you that we did a lot more than just math or science ECs in high school- none of the 4 I listed on my application were math or science related, though I did talk a lot about research, which was sort of like an EC, but over the summers. Mine were either sports or academic. I did Math Team, but my school’s was so informal that I didn’t even bother listing it.</p>
<p>Personally, I hold a very soft spot for UChicago, and I think that a really similar type of person is attracted to both there and MIT. If you’re applying there early as well, I don’t doubt that you have the drive and personality type to have a good shot at both. </p>
<p>(And by good shot, I mean as good as any other applicant seriously contending for a spot.)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: not an expert; actually a prospective '13 EA applicant who wanted to chime in.</p>
<p>First off, I think your FIRST Robotics experience is quite impressive and counts as a major science-related activity.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar boat (right down to the B in precal with solid SAT II score), except I have basically no science EC’s, just several regional academic awards. Having perused the admissions blogs for awhile, I think what the adcoms really want to see is passion for and commitment to your activities.</p>
<p>As long as you seriously want to attend MIT (and it seems like you do), I would say go for it.</p>
<p>What do you see as the downside of applying to MIT EA?</p>
<p>Generally speaking, if you’re interested in coming to MIT and you can get your application together by the November deadline, I don’t see a reason not to apply.</p>
<p>Is the choice here MIT EA vs. RD, or MIT EA vs. not applying?</p>
<p>Is it a disadvantage to apply to MIT RD if you applied to another school early? would they think that you weren’t truly interested in the school?</p>
<p>Strictly speaking, you are at a disadvantage compared to early applicants, who because are applying early, are probably demonstrating interest in the school. However, -every- school gets more non-early applicants than early applicants, and more are admitted non-early (pure numbers-wise), so in the long run, it’s not a true disadvantage in the least bit. If you are interested in MIT and really want to come, that will be apparent even if you only end up applying RD. There are several reasons one might not apply early to the school they most want to go to; adcoms will bear this in mind.</p>
<p>I don’t think interest per se is such a huge factor as people make it out to be. That is to say, I don’t think EA applicants are admitted because they’re interested in MIT, I think they’re admitted because they’re fits for MIT, and it’s more likely that a strong fit will apply early as opposed to regular.</p>
<p>But I am pretty confident that nobody is denied in the RD round simply because he or she applied regular – they don’t sit around the table and say, “Man, this kid would have been perfect, but he/she applied RD instead of EA! Trash the application.”</p>
<p>Nobody applies to just MIT (or at least I hope not). The MIT admissions committee is aware that students need to apply to other schools, and they won’t hold it against you that you’re applying other places. Their job is to hook you at CPW after you’re admitted. :)</p>
<p>Hawkphoenix,
My S applied EA to UChicago and MIT. Very different schools, but as others have mentioned, there are commonalities that attract certain kinds of students. Harvey Mudd was a good blend of the two – but they don’t have EA. There were a number of Chicago/MIT cross-apps last year.</p>
<p>My S chose Chicago, but it easily could have gone the other way.</p>
<p>I don’t think EA vs. RD made a difference, but it sure was nice to have two of his top four choices in hand in December.</p>
<p>He also applied EA to Caltech, was deferred and then waitlisted, but by that point he knew it wasn’t the place for him. Admissions probably did him a favor and recognized it, too.</p>
<p>Go for it. Econ is reputedly strong at MIT (Chicago used to be the very best, but I am not aware of the current status.) Just be aware of the GIRs at MIT, 2 terms physics, 2 calcs, chem and bio etc. Dont fret about the grade. You need to show that you can do the math, standardized test scores in the 700s should go along way towards doing that.</p>
<p>Robotics is awesome!! You should consider applying EA to MIT too.</p>
<p>I was co-prez for my team my senior year too. We have this semifinal curse where we always lose to the winning aliance during semies (grrr)
I was at Atlanta for the 2006 , only got 30 something in Newton. hehe</p>
<p>I am not too sure about other regionals, but MIT seems to release it’s decision every year during the Silicon Valley Regional.
Every year, many participants gets in. Out of them, most are presidents/team captains.
In the history of my robotics club, 4 out of the 6 presidents who applied got in, and we got a 100% acceptance rate for presidents to get into Caltech. Keep in mind though, most of these presidents are also very very good at math and sciences.
Given that your team is super highly ranked, you should have a good chance.</p>
<p>The best way to estimate your chance is by looking at the trend of people from your school who got in in the past if there is a sample size of > 5.</p>
<p>Anyways, if you think you’ll like MIT, you should definitely consider apply early. It is like getting 2 chances.</p>