Here we go. Test scores:
ACT math: 33
ACT reading: 33
ACT english: 33
ACT science: 36
ACT Composite: 34
AP Classes: (Not going to send them because MIT likes students to take their classes)
AP Chem: 4
AP Psych: 4
AP Physics C: Mechanics & Electricity and magnetism (currently taking)
AP Literature (currently taking)
AP Calculus BC (currently taking)
AP Gov (currently taking)
EC’s
Science Olympiad: state qualifiers junior year (I did chemistry lab, experimental design, and bridge building). This year we already took 1st in the county out of 58 teams.
Prosthetic Design: my engineering teacher selected a group of just 4 students to design and 3D print a prosthetic arm for a 1st grade girl in a town nearby.
Technology Club: I’m the president and founder of this club. We work after school in a computer lab to collaborate on programming and circuit building.
Wrestling: I wrestled on varsity sophomore year.
NHS & other volunteering
Hobbies: I develop new chemicals in my very own chemistry lab (buret, flasks, beakers, bunsen burner). I do high voltage projects (e.g. tesla coil). I programmed and sold my very own antivirus software to an Indian company. My friend from the Congo and I prototyped an easy lighting source for third world countries.
Thanks for your time.
Also, I did poorly on my subject tests the first time. Taking them again in november. Current scores are math 2: 650 and physics: 700
One more thing: I built my own 3D printer. For those that know about 3D printing, it was a reprap prusa i3.
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(Not going to send them because MIT likes students to take their classes)
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I suggest sending them anyway - there’s not much point in taking 18.01 or 8.01 if you already understand the material (however they don’t usually give credit for scores lower than 5). Of course, if you want the challenge, 18.014 or 8.012.
Thanks for the tip. How do I stack up against other applicants?
@jsmith98 Are those all of your extracurriculars? Have you gotten any other national/international awards in the sciences or engineering except the science Olympiad? Could you mention your extracurriculars in more detail as I don’t think I get the whole picture from what you posted?
Your ACT math score is below the 25% mark for MIT, so that is going to hurt your chances. Have you taken the SAT math subject tests?
@Ali1302 MIT will only take five EC’s.
You obviously know what science olympiad is, but to qualify for regionals/not pay to get in, you had to place top 3 in the county science challenge. We took first place.
Prosthetic design: My digital electronics (engineering) teacher was notified about a first grade girl from a town nearby. She was adopted and born missing an arm. My teacher found a sponsor of preexisting structures that are 3d-printable, but need adjustments that could take months to develop. He selected a group of 4 students to work tirelessly after school to give this girl an arm. I was one of those students because I am great with kids and I have 3d printing experience.
Wrestling: When I was a sophomore, I made the varsity wrestling team. I put this as an activity because I think it will separate me.
Technology Club: This is a club I created to give other high school students a place to work and ask questions about programming and circuits. I started it because I had no resources besides YouTube when I started programming in Jr. High and when I started building high voltage circuits my junior year.
Scientific Hobbies: I put this under activities because it also lists that you can use a hobby or interest as one of the activities. I was happy to read this because I do a lot of weird stuff outside of school. In Jr. High I got really into programming. I made an antivirus software when I was 12 and sold it when I was 14 to an Indian company that had an interest in reselling it. I started my own YouTube channel and put together a team of developers from around the world who were high school students. We collaborated on a lot of software together. While taking honors chemistry sophomore year, I got really into it. For my birthday, I asked for a chemistry lab set that came with a buret as well as some basic glassware. I bought other chemicals and started to develop new ones for cool demonstrations. When I was a junior and was taking honors physics, I got really into physics (specifically electricity and magnetism). I started to play with electronic components until I worked my way up to high voltage projects (such as a tesla coil). I constantly salvaged components (like a flyback transformer or a microwave-oven transformer) from old electronics to make new electronics. I also used my interests to work on a project with a friend from the Congo. We developed a prototype that was a lighting solution to underdeveloped countries.
No. I have not received any national or international awards.
@wisteria100 Yes I have. I only got a 650 on the math II subject test. Retaking it in november because my proctor took more than a minute off of the exam.
Your ecs are good and support your interest in science, but there are going to be a lot of applicants with activities like that AND with a 36 or 800 math score. Would you consider retaking the ACT if you really have your heart set on MIT?.
650 on math 2 isn’t an automatic rejection, but it’s below the 50th percentile. I won’t call it an automatic rejection, but if you don’t raise that score ~100 points it’s liable to make you stand out (in a bad way) among the many MIT applicants who have 780 or 800.
I would definitely sent the AP scores. If you don’t send AP scores, colleges are going to assume you got a 1 or a two on the exams.
@wisteria100 If I get deferred to regular action I might. If I want to be a physicist, do they take my science score intto account? It wasn’t listed on their statistics page.
How bad does it look if submit the math 1. Next month I’m taking math 1 and math 2 and physics.
MIT requires SAT II scores for math and a science, so just submitting math I and math II won’t help. You need to submit a physics score either way, so I’d just send in Math II and hope for a better physics score in November. A 650 on Math II is more impressive than an 800 on Math I IMO - the Math I test is quite pointless, because any college that cares about SAT II scores isn’t going to be impressed by the lower of two levels of math.
@NotVerySmart Actually MIT says “We do not have a preference as to which science you take or which level math you take” (http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/tests). I’m taking Calculus BC this year. My mistake was not taking the math level 2 subject test at the end of precalc.
As for the essays, how many people should I ask to revise them? My AP lit teacher? All of my high school lit teachers? Do I ask them each to revise the same essay and then I pick and choose which edits I want to make?
@jsmith Here’s the thing: you’re competing with a large pool of applicants who’ve got near-perfect scores on Math II. Submitting Math I suggests you didn’t feel confident in your ability to score well on Math II, which can be an issue.
When I say “you need to submit a physics score,” what I mean is “you need to submit a physics score unless you plan on taking another science,” and it doesn’t seem like you intend to do so.
Ask yourself: which of our English teachers do you view as the best writer/thinker? Maybe not the nicest, but the one whose prose is really something to behold. I’d ask that teacher, your GC, and a good writer who’s taught you in another subject, for feedback. Parents usually have trouble being objective enough, and your peers (with all due respect) probably aren’t the foremost experts on college essays. The English teacher is a good choice for obvious reasons, the GC knows what’s worked before, and the other teacher will offer a different take.
@NotVerySmart Awesome! Thanks for the tips.
What would be your advice on the maker portfolio? I have also done some graphic design work and photography that I wouldn’t mind showing off (I’m no expert photographer though).
I won’t pretend to be an expert. It can’t hurt to include it if the application leaves a space for such things (I know next to nothing about myMIT), as no school is going to reject you for being bad at photography/design (I don’t know what the quality your work is like, of course). They care more about what you’re good at, and being bad at something is only an issue when you’re bad at so many things that your application doesn’t have any strengths.
Imagine you’re reading two applications. One is a kid who swims and writes short stories. Period. They’re nice hobbies/pastimes, but that’s it. The other is a student who’s started an NGO (without any money or assistance from his/her parents, placing the student among a tiny minority of NGO founders on CC) that has been recognized at the state level, and also has a really bad music supplement. Which one has a better chance of standing out in some way?
@NotVerySmart Do you think my NGO will make me standout significantly?
Hard to say. I actually used the NGO as a rather generic example - didn’t notice it among your activities.
There are lots of students who’ve got resume-filler NGOs (I saw one poster on CC a short while ago who started an NGO that goes to old folks’ homes and paints the retirees’ nails for free, for crying out loud). If your NGO has actually accomplished something tangible, it could certainly help.