<p>Tjmom, about 90% of MIT's applicants are just as impreswsive as the one you mentioned. MIT has self-selecting applicants and the vast majority of them are qualified and could do the work there. They have to narrow the field down, and I personally think they have much more transparent than other schools in explaning what they look for in applicants. By reading the blogs at <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/blogs.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/blogs.shtml</a> you can get a good idea of the type students they admit.</p>