MITES '21

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hi all,
I’m a rising junior and am planning to apply for the MITES program for summer '21.

I’ve seen a lot of these applicants discuss all of there fantastic ECs, but I do not feel comparable. My school, while relatively medium in class size, lacks many STEM opportunities. For the most part, I’ve had to branch out independently which makes it difficult for any certified recognition. Here are my stats (including test scores, and summer courses by time of application):

Rank:
4.8 GPA

<1%

1/450…Valedictorian

“ECs”:
Self-taught Java, Python, and WebDev programmer

Founded robotics club to teach others at my school

President of Physics club

4 years varsity basketball and 2 years varsity golf

NHS… 350 community service hours

Presidential Service Award

Worked with Arizona State University engineering professors and other students on solutions for COVID-19 in school spaces

Applied and accepted into the Cesar Chavez Leadership Institute

Test Scores/Courses:

4 years of honors/AP Spanish

AP Calc BC, AP Physics I, AP CSA, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C, APUSH, AP Eng. - 4s/5s

Calculus III and Diff. Eqs.

1550 SAT, 36 ACT

2

Hey! I’m also applying for MITES 2021. I would LOVE to attend! I have a rough family background and am low income + I attended a pretty bad public school up until sophomore year, but like now I go to a prep school so idk if that will hurt my application.

GPA: 3.6ish UW? I actually have 0 clue since I moved around schools
Rank: N/A
SAT: 1550 ish (750 M 800 RW)

ECs:

CS research w/ a professor, plan on sending my work to science fairs

Head developer for a p big NPO

Development internship for a local business

Developer and marketer (among other things) for another non-profit

President of a girl coding club

Founder of a STEM organization

CMU SAMS ?

USC Viterbi Tech Innovation Bootcamp

FRC robotics team programmer

Some more smaller leadership positions and sports

Couple awards but really nothing that crazy

I’m suuper nervous about getting in. MITES is like a dream program for me.

3

Also—do you want to make a group chat or something? That’d be useful for when applications open and such!

4

Both of you sound great. I’m sure they’ll try to factor in the school and options you have vis-a-vis someone attending a school with more options. Looks like you are both great candidates. And if you do not get in, there are many other programs esp. for kids who are underrepresented in STEM like women, hispanics and others. Good luck.