Hi guys! So I did MITES '18 and there is some advice that I can offer to prospective applicants.
The first thing that I cannot emphasize enough is that test scores are not the most important factor in your application. I was accepted with an SAT score of 1270 (I’ve raised it dramatically since then) and I know a few other people that scored around the high 1200s as well. Of course, there were people with higher test scores, like 1300s and 1400s, and if I recall correctly, someone scored above 1550 but I’m not sure. With that being said, do not panic if you think your test scores are low. Also, SAT Subject Exams are not considered in the application.
Something that you’ll learn throughout your college process is that a lot of top schools have a holistic admissions process, meaning they look at everything in your application. MITES is no different from this. While test scores are a factor, so are extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, and your high school transcript and school profile. MITES looks for students that are passionate about something within the STEM field. After all, our 2018 motto was “Creating Impact Through Passionate Curiosity.”
MITES reviews your application within your context, meaning they try to figure out who are you through a person and the environment that you grew up in. Test scores don’t reveal any of this; they figure this out through basically everything else in the application. This is why it’s important to be as authentic as possible in your essays because you wants MITES to know the real you. Share with them the joys of your STEM activity, a challenge your overcame, or even mention a hobby that isn’t STEM related to show that there’s more to you than just STEM. I’d be happy to look over anyone’s MITES essays so let me know if you’d like some advice.
Last year, there were over 2,100 applicants and only 71 students were accepted. I’d hate to make the admissions process sound like a competition, because I am personally not a fan of them, but in a sense, you’re like “competing” with over 2,000 other applicants who are most likely just as qualified as you, academically. They may, of course, share different interests that make them unique. MITES only has a limited amount of spots, so not everyone who seems “qualified” can get accepted. If you apply to MITES, but do not get accepted, please do not feel discouraged! I have two friends in my school who also applied to MITES, but were rejected. But they didn’t let their rejection stop them from exploring their STEM passions. One participated in SAMS at CMU and the other one held an internship at a machine shop. Getting rejected from MITES has no effect on your MIT admissions. In fact, I’ve read countless posts on College Confidential about people who were rejected but was accepted into top universities such as MIT, Harvard, and Stanford.
This relates to my last paragraph. I understand that many of you are interested in knowing your chances at getting into MITES, but no one can accurately predict your chances. There are many factors that go into the admissions process. That’s why I won’t be telling anyone if they have a pretty good shot or not. I’ve been reading the chance posts on this thread so far, and I think that you guys have amazing extracurriculars and sound passionate about STEM, but I really can’t say if you’ll get in. Maybe you’ll get accepted, maybe you won’t. You’ll find out most likely April 15th, 2019.
I realized that I typed more than I was expecting to so I’ll just end it here, haha. If anyone has any questions you can PM me or @ me in this post, and I’ll try to respond quickly.
Good luck to all of you applying!
