<p>Just have your counselor explain that in his or her letter of recommendation. Don’t stress about it too much. I’m sure they will understand. I almost didn’t get the chance to take the AP Calc route either freshman year because my middle school only offered algebra I, luckily one of the seniors told me I could take Algebra II, geometry, and Trig in the same year and still get to AP Calc, but most kids at my school didn’t know that was an option, so your definitely not alone in that department.</p>
<p>For those of you who are deciding between extracurriculars to write about, it really doesn’t matter as they all sound interesting! Whatever you have the greatest passion for would be the best. I wrote about Girl Scouts, so it doesn’t have to be STEM related.</p>
<p>As for the course rigor, I was in pre-calc my junior year.</p>
<p>Hello all! So I’m doing my application for MITES and it’s stressing me out! I have anxiety soooooo I’m kinda freaking out haha. These are my stats
GPA: 3.94 (unweighted) 4.9 (weighted)
Class Ranking: 84 out of 1089 (I go to a huuuuggeee high school that is super duper competitive)
ACT: 32
Ethnicity/Race: Cuban
Classes: All honors and AP-Chemistry, Psychology, Human Geography, USH, Biology, English, Gov&Econ
EC/Clubs: Science National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Make A Wish Foundation Club, Art Honor Society
I created an organization that collects extra bread from Panera Bread and distributes it to local nursery homes and soup kitchens.<br>
I also took part in Weston University, a program my city does that selects 20 students from 3 high schools and teaches us about local government.
Do you think I have a chance? It seems really competitive to get in!</p>
<p>My weighted GPA is kinda low: 4.1. This is because I didn’t take any AP’s during my freshman or sophomore year. However, my unweighted GPA is 3.82. However, my school only calculates weighted GPA though.</p>
<p>MITES is one of the most competitive summer programs in the country, with a 3-4% acceptance rate, which gets slightly better if you factor in E2 and MOSTEC.
Emy, are you an international applicant? Your scores and grades look good but your rank my hurt you(especially if a lot of people from your school are applying).
Hawkace, I never took any APs during freshman or sophomore year either.</p>
<p>Nope, I’m from South Florida. My high school is very competitive. I used to be ranked number 12, but I got one B+ and it dropped to 84. I don’t think anyone else in my school is applying though. I know one person who’s applying to RSI, but not MITES.</p>
<p>Your story is what you talk about in the challenge/other essays. Just good and not-so-good components of your life/background that made you into the person you are!</p>
<p>If you read the past couple pages, you can see stats of other E2/MITES students but I have to underline that it is really not about the stats, as there were people with MUCH lower PSAT/SAT/ACT scores and DRASTICALLY different activities. If you have an interesting story, you should be worth a look by the committee.</p>
<p>I went to E2(not MITES), and my PSAT was a 216 superscore(with a 63 math), and I had an uw 4.0 with 3 AP classes junior year. I am mainstream Asian but with a unique story which you can find easily by reading the couple past pages of the thread or digging around in my past posts. I had no STEM activities to speak of, my main ones were Girl Scouts and church related.</p>
<p>This is my rough draft for my first essay. Can you help me make it better? Writing isn’t exactly my forte.</p>
<p>I always thought I’d go into political science. I figured I’d go to law school like my dad did and end up working on a political campaign or something of the sort. Then, last year, I took chemistry. That class was a huge eye opener for me. I loved science and I hadn’t even known it until then! How could i have gone this long before finding something I truly loved and was passionate about? Since at this point political science was out of the question, I needed to find a new life plan. I began looking up different careers i could pursue. After much research (thanks Google) I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go into medicine. In this field i could find a career i loved and help others. Its a win win situation. However, getting there is a challenge. I wish i would’ve discovered this about myself earlier, but now that I do know, I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have. To be able to achieve my goals, I need a lot more experience with science and I need to challenge myself more. I feel that MITES can help me to just that. I want to be able to learn as much as I possibly can to be the best at whatever I decide to be, whether it be a researcher, a doctor, or a chemist. I want to be challenged to see how much I can push myself and how far I can go.</p>
<p>Hey, guys! I’m also applying to MITES:) These posts are really helping/freaking me out. Just finished my first essay… Is anyone else finding it difficult to show character and uniqueness? I’m trying not to cross over the border of cheesy and overdramatic because I feel like that’s what a lot of other applicants are doing. I write a mean literary analysis, but this is completely different.</p>
<p>Emy, your essay sounds pretty persuasive, but I think you could phrase some things better so that it flows.
“Since political science was out of the at this point,…” - Just a syntax thing
“In this field I could find a career I loved and help others” - Change loved to love since you haven’t done it yet, and “help others” should probably be “be able to help others” to add some clarity.
Just some thoughts, you don’t have to take them. Each writer sees words differently.</p>
<p>I’m finding it really difficult to do my essays! Writing was always my worst subject in school. Plus trying to show the MITES people who you are through the essays is difficult. Thanks ABnegative, that really helps! I don’t really know what type of essay they’re looking for so hopefully I’m going in the right direction.</p>
<p>I just had a minor creeper moment and we have the same birthday! crazy</p>
<p>ALSO, how strict is the word limit? I’m in the heat of describing my voluntary work and I might go a little over… Are they expecting 1 paragraph because that makes essay sound deceiving (I managed 2 paragraphs).</p>
<p>Lol we all have those moments. We’re twins the word limit says 300 words or less, but if you go over a little but I’m sure it’d be fine as long as you don’t go waayyyy over it. Making it 300 words would probably be ideal though. As for the paragraphs, if it needs to be separated into two paragraphs you can, but if it’s not necessary then one paragraph is okay I think. I feel like these are more short response questions rather than essays.</p>
<p>@ABnegative - it’s an online application so the textbox that you put your essay into has a strict word limit. It will not let you put in more than 300 words.</p>
<p>@Emywemy - Your essay is good. Just change the few things than AB pointed out.</p>
<p>Guys, it’s really good advice to NOT post your essays on an online forum as it’s really easy to steal. If you want help, ask someone if you can PM them to you. Definitely stay within the word limit if you don’t want to get cut off.</p>
<p>This is probably the first experience many of you have with personal statements…it can be REALLY hard and awkward to write about yourself at first. Don’t worry, you’ll all become pros.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll be sure not to post any more essays. I just wanted an objective opinion cause I feel like my parents will tell me it’s great no matter what haha</p>
Just good and not-so-good components of your life/background that made you into the person you are!</p>
the word limit says 300 words or less, but if you go over a little but I’m sure it’d be fine as long as you don’t go waayyyy over it. Making it 300 words would probably be ideal though. As for the paragraphs, if it needs to be separated into two paragraphs you can, but if it’s not necessary then one paragraph is okay I think. I feel like these are more short response questions rather than essays.</p>