<p>Hey guys, so my dream school is MIT. I know it's tricky/impossible to know exactly what they want score wise/EC wise and stuff, but can you guys give me hints and ideas on what I should at least have in order to have a decent shot at making it?</p>
<p>Well… a GPA ridiculously close to 4.0 as possible, a SAT score ridiculously close to 2400 as possible, a rank ridiculously close to number 1 as possible. </p>
<p>And for MIT, competitive science/mathematics related ECs helps a lot- such as competition awards, research experience, etc. </p>
<p>Many upper level courses as possible, excellent recommendations, and a kickass personal essay. </p>
<p>There is no exact formula to getting into MIT, but follow closely to the standard formula for getting into any top school and you won’t be too disappointed with where you eventually end up. (even if its not MIT)</p>
<p>Test Scores Middle 50% of First-Year Students Percent Who Submitted Scores</p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 650 - 760 … 93%
SAT Math: … 720 - 800 … 93%
SAT Writing:… 660 - 760 … 93%
ACT Composite: … 32 - 35 … 36%</p>
<p>Your best chances are when your scores are ABOVE these numbers. (Obviously, you can’t get above an 800 in math, so that means over 25% of their students have a perfect math SAT.</p>
<p>95% are in the top 10% of their schools. So, you can imagine that these are kids with weighted GPAs in the 4.5+ range with lots of APs, etc, who’ve taken the toughest curriculum at their school.</p>
<p>These numbers represent the middle of the road students at MIT. Those who score in the lower half of the school are likely special admits, URMs, athletes, and/or from underprivileged areas.</p>
<p>I notice that MIT is a bit male-heavy, so a female might have an edge.</p>
<p>Even the above won’t be a guarantee… MIT has a very distinct idea of who they are looking for. My son was above on everything (actually had a 4.8) tons of AP’s, great test scores, nationally ranked athlete, plenty of EC’s, etc. He made the waiting list but was eventually rejected. My advice. Make sure you have an interview and really work on the short answers on the application to make sure that your personality is evident. Everyone who applies has outstanding stats. The ones who get in are the ones who come across as the type of student they are looking for. Most importantly, realize that admissions to these top schools are a crap shoot. Anything goes. Being the type of student who can apply to MIT is an accomplishment. You will end up at the best university for you. Hang in there and good luck.</p>
<p>The valedictorian of my (fairly large and competitive) class didn’t get in initially, but she did get in off the waitlist. She was in a bunch of different activities ranging from varsity sports to academic clubs to study abroad programs, and she scored nearly perfectly on the SATs.</p>
<p>Basically, it’s really hard to get in, and everyone who applies has impressive grades, scores, and extracurriculars… and there definitely isn’t an exact formula for what they want to see.</p>
<p>Good luck, though! :)</p>
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<p>It’s actually not, anything above a 700 per section is definitely good enough, and there are people who get in with lower scores, so even if your scores aren’t that high, you still have a good chance.</p>
<p>Also, MIT does not have any special preference for athletes, or legacies.</p>
<p>The match is the most important thing!
Remember!</p>
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<p>Not quite true. Being strongly desired by the coaches definitely helps an MIT application, just not enough to get a otherwise unadmittable student into MIT. Its a real boon in close cases. Being a legacy does not help though.</p>
<p>^ From my understanding, it’s not special treatment. It’s another good thing to have on an application if you’re going down that road, but there are plenty of good things one can have on an application, and this isn’t shockingly special/some sort of guarantee.</p>
<p>(Which I’m not saying Mikalye is saying, but I felt it’s worth re-emphasizing.)</p>
<p>PiperXP is exactly correct. MIT (unlike most of the Ivy league schools for example) does not reserve admissions slots for recruited athletes. Rather, MIT views it as quite a nice thing to have. Just as demonstrable talent in the visual or performing arts is a nice thing to have, and some demonstrable academic excellence (like an olympiad team membership) is a nice thing to have. None of these, on their own will get you in, but they all help.</p>
<p>So perhaps I overreacted to the original claim that their is no special treatment for recruited athletes and legacies, in that there is a substantial difference between those two cases. Athletes get a boost in admissions. Legacies do not.</p>