<p>prepre: A bit about your musical background I guess, like what genre you really are into, and all that.</p>
<p>I am wondering if MIT (or any college for that matter) keeps track of whether and/or how often a student has visited the campus or attended other events where MIT staff presented information about the school (e.g. regional tours)? If yes, does MIT use that information to try to gauge the interest level of applicants and then incorporate that into their admission process? I'm trying to determine if we should try to attend a regional tour that is 2 hours away if we have already visited the campus.</p>
<p>They don't even take your name when you go on a tour, etc, and I know that they say that interest level in MIT isn't a factor.</p>
<p>Some schools do take, keep, and use this information. MIT does not.</p>
<p>On the essay question,</p>
<p>Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why?</p>
<p>does "program" refer to like a research program (UROP) or like program where one could get a degree?</p>
<p>"Department or program" refers to a course of study.</p>
<p>Could research mentor send his recommendation letter via fax? If yes, what is fax number ( I couldn't find it in mit web)?</p>
<p>I second thy question!!</p>
<p>The fax number is 617-258-8304, and materials can absolutely be sent via fax.</p>
<p>Remember to include your full name and birthdate on the fax coversheet!</p>
<p>Hi,I really want to and probably going to apply to MIT but before I try I want to ask something about my scores.I know that MIT's applicant pool is very competitive.I believe I have good grades EC's etc. but I cant lift my SAT scores.(Approx 2100).I was wondering is it going to effect my chance a lot or should I apply anyway?Thank you for reading.</p>
<p>It won't "affect" your chances hugely or something if you do retake the SAT and increase the scores by 30-40 points, but if you do manage to get a 200 point increase(which is somewhat improbable) then things may turn in your favor. Oh, and have you really taken the SAT already? The word approx for SAT raises quite many eyebrows here! </p>
<p>@Mollie: Can the fee-waiver letters from the school also be sent via fax? And I know maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but do other colleges also allow suppl. recommendation letters and fee-waivers sent via fax?</p>
<p>As far as I know, you can send anything you want via fax. I'm not sure about the policies of other schools.</p>
<p>Mollie: Earlier in this thread you said that "If you are in the top 10% of your high school class, the actual value of your GPA is somewhat irrelevant." Would this be based on a weighted or unweighted rank? My son's school does not wieght grades, but does rank, so it's harder to crack the top 10% as there are a lot of kids who don't take any AP/Honor classes who have 4.0s (and the honor's/AP classes grade fairly hard). If the rank is unweighted, I know they consider this, but how do they really look at it as a rank is essentially meaningless when not weighted? </p>
<p>I keep hearing that grades and scores are looked at to see if you can handle the work, and then they look essays, activities and the other stuff to make a decisions. Does this mean that once you are past that threshold, everyone is on equal footing and judged on other stuff, or does the 4.0/2400 kid still have an advantage? </p>
<p>If scores are in the ballpark (2220 with a 780 in Math, lots of 5s on AP exams), do you think a rank in the top 15% and a GPA just under 3.8 would be enough to pass that threshold and be judged on the rest of the app (or will it be a drag on the rest of his application and make it difficult to be considered unless there was something else really remarkable)?</p>
<p>Since MIT's process is holistic, they will take all factors into consideration when evaluating applicants, and I almost certainly shouldn't have stated the GPA/rank thing as strongly as I stated it upthread.</p>
<p>I don't think that a top 15% rank is a death blow to an application if everything else is good, but it may be worth asking the guidance counselor to mention in his/her rec that the rank is unweighted, and higher-ranked applicants have not taken as difficult a courseload.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does this mean that once you are past that threshold, everyone is on equal footing and judged on other stuff, or does the 4.0/2400 kid still have an advantage?
[/quote]
For the vast majority of applicants, once they're past the academic vetting, the decision is made based on other factors.</p>
<p>Should I use AP Score Reporting Services to send my AP scores to MIT along with my other SAT/ACT scores? or should I send my AP scores later?</p>
<p>You don't need to send your official AP scores at this time. Self-reporting them is good enough for the application.</p>
<p>If you're admitted, you'll need to send your scores to MIT for placement and credit purposes, but not until after the next round of AP testing.</p>
<p>This is probably a dumb question, but I've always been curious. How much of an ethnicity does one have to be to put it on their college application? For example, I knew a girl a couple grades ahead of me who is 1/32 Native American, but doesn't really think of herself as such at all. However, she put it on her Cornell application, and that likely had a big impact on her ultimate acceptence (she had very, very poor grades in high school-she has since transferred to a much lesser known university with a much easier reputation). I am, however, 1/4 Puerto Rican. Is that enough to justify putting it on an application? I actually have submitted all the parts of my applications that ask that (Part 1 for MIT) and did NOT put that, because I don't really identify myself as Puerto Rican, and it seems a bit immoral because of that and seems like it would be taking advantage of a small part of my ethnicity. </p>
<p>Sorry, that was long, and not really MIT specific, but I am curious, if anyone knows.</p>
<p>In my opinion, you have to consider yourself an ethnicity in order to write it down. I'm 1/32 Native American, but I consider myself Caucasian, and that's the culture in which I grew up immersed, so I would never write on an application that I'm Native American. I have a friend from MIT who comes from a very mixed ethnic background -- Jewish, African-American, Asian -- and he sees himself as an African American, so that's the box he checks.</p>
<p>(For the special case of Native American, MIT asks for a tribal affiliation and I think tribal enrollment number. Simply checking that box does nothing for people who are not enrolled in a tribe.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, mollieb. </p>
<p>This isn't really that important, but I thought I remember MIT's application asking what your screen name was if you posted often on sites such as CC, but I can't seem to find it. Do they not ask that anymore, or, am I just being blind and can't find it? Also, does anyone know why they ask(ed) that?</p>
<p>And, sorry, one more question. It asks under summer activities for hours/week if applicable. If I attended a residential summer program (but clearly saying that doesn't fit in the description line), can I say residential there? Or should I leave it blank? Or...put some amount of hours?</p>
<p>Lily, you're probably thinking of blogger applications. That's when they ask for your username for CC and the like.</p>
<p>Hopefully we will be eligible for that next year :D</p>