MIT - EA, Worth it? What are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Hi, I will probably be applying to MIT Early Action. Even though I know my chances are slim, getting in will heavily affect my Jan 1st applications. One of my top choices and the only one with a unrestrictive EA.
I plan on eventually majoring in some Engineering.</p>

<p>With this in mind, is it worth applying EA to MIT? (I've pretty much already decided to, I just want feedback) Also, what are my chances? What can I do to improve my application?</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2180, CR: 690, M: 790, W: 700. My first sitting. On retakes I aim for 2280+ (my full practice scores)
[</em>]SAT II: Math IIc 750 (Aiming for 800). Will be taking USH (700+), Phy (750+)
[<em>]ACT: Have not taken yet. (33-35)
[</em>]AP: Calc AB: 5, Euro. Hist: 3. This May (conservative estimates): Calc BC (5), Stats (4-5), Eng. Lang (3-5), US His (2-4), Enviro. Sci (4-5), Phy. B (3-5), Phy. C Mech (Not taking. Clash with mandatory B exam)
[<em>]GPA: uw 3.79, w 4.00
[</em>]Rank: unranked. probably between 1%-5%
[<em>]Awards: Totally don't know yet. Numerous extracurricular awards. Probably will be AP Scholar with Distinction. SLIM chance of high-attendance recognition. VERY SLIM chance of science or math departmental award.
[</em>]Next year "important" courseload: AP Eng. Lit, AP USGov, AP MacroEcon, AP Chem, (possibly) AP Bio, Biotech Independent Research.
[li]Next year Self-study: Multivariable Calc, Physics Indep. Research, AP Phy. C E&M.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: About becoming the marching band's Drum Major and what I learned about myself in the process. How I expanded our club, and everything I did that was unrecognized by everyone, as well as the things with incredible recognition and awards.
Short Essasy: About my 3 month job in China as a sweatshop worker, and how it deepened my desire to influence the world.
Optional Essay: About my application to the California Board of Education Student Member, and how it taught me to put my heart into everything I do, even if 'failure' is likely. OR my experiences with Biotech research.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Calc BC teacher's will extremely good. English... unsure, but on the positive side.
Counselor Rec: Counselor likes me, but not sure what she'd say.
Supplementary Recs: (possibly) Biotech Internship mentor or teacher
[<em>]Supplementary Material: A video of a half-time field show written, composed, and conducted by me.
If I could submit more than one, I'd submit my Biotech Indep. Research or internship or Physics Indep. Research findings.
[</em>]5 Extracurriculars: Varsity Swimming/Waterpolo (possibility of captaincy), 13 years Martial Arts practice, Founder and captain of school Winter Percussion/Drumline, Founder and vice-president of school recycling project and environmental club, Peninsula Youth Orchestra.
[<em>]Resume: 4 years community service as Museum guide/Docent for local natural history museum, 3 years community service as assistant coach at Chinese Martial Arts studio, 3 months packaging dept. of shoe factory, China, 3 months unpaid biotech internship ('09)
[</em>]Hook: Drum Major/Music/Drama, District board of trustees student member, Student Leadership, Boys State 2009, bilingual w/ Mandarin as first language
[li]Important application notes: Only two years of Japanese language due to program cancellation. Took 11 classes per semester in a school where 6 is the norm. Junior year lived away from family for the most part.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California
[</em>]High School Type: Public, 375 per class, medium high competitive
[<em>]Ethnicity: Pacific Islander/Asian Minority
[</em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]</p>

<p>Again, is it worth applying EA to MIT? (I've pretty much already decided to, I just want feedback) Also, what are my chances? What can I do to improve my application?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>OH, another “hook” I completely forgot:</p>

<p>Disabled student (hearing impaired) with community service helping other deaf and hearing impaired children in San Francisco.</p>

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<p>sounds very good, definitely apply. numbers are not everything (i got in with 2170 SAT and 4 ap classes). </p>

<p>what matters most to the MIT admission committee is that you found something that was really interesting to you and really worked hard in that area. seems you have done that in a number of activities. </p>

<p>definitely apply.</p>

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<p>

I think it’s always worth it to apply EA to MIT, unless you would rather apply to a school with a restrictive early option. First, it gets your application off your desk early, and gives you the possibility that you may be accepted in mid-December. Second, if you’re deferred (which most EA applicants are), you’ll have a chance to think about other things you might like to add to your application – you can send supplemental material through the month of January.</p>

<p>As long as you have the application ready by November 1, I don’t see any disadvantage of applying to MIT EA.</p>

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<p>Uh, I wouldn’t really call those hooks. Aand you mention biotech research stuff a lot, but it isn’t mentioned in your extracurriculars things, which is kind of confusing. Also, I wouldn’t base where you apply regular decision based on what happens with MIT, because you have a good shot anywhere, and in my experience, what happens EA at MIT isn’t always a good predictor of where else you get in I think.</p>

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<p>definitely apply
you have nothing to loose unless you would rather apply to another school ED
plus its like you get 2 tries at getting admitted if you get deffered.</p>

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<p>Definitely apply unless you also want to apply to a school with a restrictive early option - you have nothing to lose - but your idea of what constitutes a “hook” is dubious. Your essays sound like they have great potential, but, um, you might want to see what the actual essay topics for next year are before you plan your essays out.</p>

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<p>i think you should apply! i am actually 99% applying ea too…and i definetly do not have half of what you have…
but just a few questions, are you planning to send in a resume? b/c i thought on the application it said specifically not to…
also, for your indepedent research, do you have an advisor guiding you?</p>

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<p>Thank you all for the replies! It’s great to hear some encouraging feedback.</p>

<p>MIT at the moment is among my top 3-4 choices for college. If I do manage to get in by December through some fluke chance, there’s a number of colleges I can rule out in terms of applying there by the new years.</p>

<p>shravas and jessiehl, I’m very new to CC so I’m probably confused about “hooks” since I’ve never heard it elsewhere before besides here. Can someone care to explain it to me?</p>

<p>anamai, in regards to the resume, the MIT Admissions website states this:
“Please use our form, not your resume, to list your activities… You are welcome to submit a resume, but submitting a resume in lieu of filling out our standard activity list can hurt you (so don’t).”</p>

<p>anamai and shravas, my school has an awesome biotech program, in which I’ll be allowed to both pursue an internship this summer as well as an Independent Research class my senior year. It’s kind of confusing, and because IR is a class per say, it don’t think it belongs as part of my EC list.
And in IR, we do have an advisor, with whom we’ll meet with once every month or so for guidance/funds/etc.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry. In my experience, probably three-quarters of CC are confused about “hooks”.</p>

<p>There’s not really an agreed-upon definition of what a “hook” is, which is part of the problem. My best understanding is that a “hook” is something that, on its own, makes a school want you and makes you stand out in the pool. Among other things, this means that a hook for MIT would need to be something both unusual among qualified MIT applicants and unusually appealing to MIT, which makes having a true hook at MIT difficult, because there are a lot of highly accomplished and unique people in the pool. I know a guy who had published two major papers in prestigious mathematics journals by the time he was 16 (he also had a perfect score on the USAMO and was a two-time IMO gold medalist). <em>That</em> is a hook. Another guy I know was not only the lead actor in a major movie as a child, but overcame extreme disability and chronic illness in order to be academically qualified for MIT while also working extensively as a disabled-rights activist. That is also a hook.</p>

<p>My view is that there are very few MIT applicants with true hooks (as opposed to what I call “tips” - factors that can tip the balance in your favor when you’re being compared to others with similar qualifications), and that most of the people who get in don’t have one. I certainly didn’t have one.</p>

<p>Even if you use a looser definition of “hook” than I do (and many people do use a looser definition), it still needs to be something uncommon, memorable, and appealing, in the context of that school’s applicant pool.</p>

<p>Note that what a “hook” is differs depending on the school. At some schools, being a National Merit Finalist is a hook, for instance, while at MIT it’s probably more common than not.</p>

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<p>hey, </p>

<p>I noticed that you’re hearing impaired as well I am (and Chinese-American too!!–> fail). Do you wear Cochlear Implant as I do or hearing aid/something else? I would probably suggest you write an essay partly about this as I did for my college essays.</p>

<p>From your stats and resume, etc, it would seem that you’re “better qualified” than I am and I felt impressed with your stats/resume, because what I had seems to pale in comparison to yours. I had NO AWARDS at all except National Merit Commended and AP Scholar with only 3 APs taken in my junior year (5 on Calc AB, 4 on USH and Physics B) and 2160 SAT 1 (M: 760 CR: 720 W: 680) and 800 on Math 2, 760 Physics, 750 USH. The few thing that probably stood out were my letter of recommendations about my personality,and the research project I had co-authored a paper with a MIT professor last summer in a Harvard-MIT Otolarynoglogy Lab. But you got LOADS more! (but don’t forget to “show your passion” in your apps)</p>

<p>But I was admitted early action, to my great surprise and happiness. MIT was pretty much my top choice too. I feel that MIT admitted me based on my driven, striving, determined, etc personality and the letter of rec from the MIT professor I worked with instead of looking so hard at my stats/resume since I was pretty much rejected and waitlisted at all of other top schools in US except for Wellesley. </p>

<p>So, I would say go ahead and apply early action, but hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Good luck and it’ll be cool to have you join us next year!! :)</p>

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<p>jessiehl, Thanks for the succinct explanation of a “hook.” It makes me feel much better now that I don’t really have anything one-in-a-million on my resume. XD</p>

<p>wildchartermage, Yeah, I’m highly considering centralizing one of my essays around my disability, but I’m not entirely sure yet, as I feel that I have so much more about myself that I want to say! (Also, I’m not ethnically Chinese, even though Mandarin is my first language. Hopefully being a Pacific-Islander-blend will count me as an under-represented minority, but I don’t see that on their list…) I unfortunately don’t have the opportunity to do anything as awesome as your MIT paper, but I’m pushing hard on my grades and AP scores at this point.
I hope you’re having fun at MIT!</p>

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<p>Hrm, I think I know that guy you’re talking about, jessiehl. I’ve met him last summer and he is def the guy I would look up to while I"m at MIT…but I think he’s graduating this year. :(</p>

<p>jsim0808: I think our disability helps us to stand out amongst those thousands of applicants. I know there are few of us who get accepted to MIT every year. So, use everything you have to your advantage. My essay was a bit more of about my life story and how I lived though it with my deafness, and into the person I am today. I even went a little geeky by making up an “equation of my life story” where I put in a bunches of physics equation relating to the inner workings of my cochlear implant and then equated that to me being a cyborg girl. :)</p>

<p>You do probs have some opportuntiy to do “something awesome as my MIT paper”. Since you live in SF, you can seek out a chance to work in a laboratory at Stanford/UCB/or any other cool schools for the summer, work hard, and get the professor’s letter of rec—just as I did. I had NO connection to the laboratory at MIT-Harvard. All I did was to go up and ask the professor if he was willing to take me in (of course, after reading some of his works before contacting him). You could try to do same, esp that it would be cool if you could work in some lab related to your major. Then, you might have a shot at both MIT and Stanford when it is time to apply.</p>

<p>I hope you get into MIT early or regular (if deferred)!!! It would be awesome to be your classmate next year! xD xD Contact me if you get in or where you’re going next year. :)</p>