**Decision:Rejected **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown):33 E32 M35 R29 S34
ACT superscore (breakdown):33 E35 M35 R29 S34
SAT II (subject, score): Math II 800, Physics 710
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4
Weighted GPA: none
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/77
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc AB, Calc C (Both online)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Human Anatomy and Physiology, Genocide and Holocaust, AP Calc C, Cultures 1 and 2, band, orchestra,
Number of other EA applicants in your school:0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): State finalist (math)WYSE academic challenge competition (advanced again this year with 1st overall at sectionals)
T-2nd physics regionals
IHSA solo and ensemble best of the day award tuba solo
semper fidelis award for musical excellence
other smaller things
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):Band: all grade levels, Tuba section leader
Orchestra:all 4, Cello section leader
Jazz band: all 4 years, Trombone section leader
Scholastic bowl: Captain 2 years
Politics club founder: 2 years
other more minor things
Job/Work Experience:Parents restaurant 6 hours a week since 2011 (not paid)
Volunteer/Community Service: tutoring after school ~3 hours/wk
Summer Experience: nothing major enough to type
Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Essays:
Culture: I think it did a great job, lightheared, cultured, you could say
Pleasure: Loved it, wrote about Pokemon, really funny, lighthearted, good
Subject: Wrote about what makes Math great, why I like it so much
Helped community: talked about tutoring, how it affects me, others, why I think it’s important, I liked this one a lot, I liked all my essays
World came from: talked about my school, my town, my moving, my parents, all the things that make my home home
Challenge: talked about weight loss, 267 pounds to 196 pounds and ticking down, probably my second favorite essay, more central theme was how I’ve inspired my sister to do the same, showed great characteristics, I liked it a lot overall
Additional: Talked about why music was important to me, the community of excellent individuals, the people, a large theme of my app, make those groups excellent, it’s community that brought me to MIT
Teacher Recommendation #1:Can’t really rate it but I liked it a lot
Teacher Recommendation #2:not as good but still great
Counselor Rec: excellent
Additional Info/Rec:teacher from 6th grade, thought it would provide some different context, didn’t see though
Interview: good, not great, not my best, but still good, maybe great, hard to say, this is all near impossible to judge
Art Supplement: unfortunately none, what a fool am I
Other
Date Submitted App: 12/31
U.S. State/Territory or Country:Illinois
School Type:Public, small, rural, 370 kids, no AP classes offered
Ethnicity: Middle eastern
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range:30-35k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):First generation college student, rigor initiative in poor school, low opportunities in general and I’ve done well
Reflection
Strengths:Context of application, initiative, risk taking, willpower, music, good character, prioritizing balance, I fit a lot of the things found here http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/match
well, some more than others
Weaknesses:I wish I took more AP classes online, worked extra to pay for them (they aren’t subsidized well), music supplement, I really liked my app,
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I couldn’t tell you, its very difficult to explain, in fact impossible, I only post this in hopes that it may help someone in the future, as my context is different than the average MIT applicant’s (I don’t think the scores were a large factor)
What would you have done differently?:Simply pursued more knowledge, do what I did, only more, maybe, like I said, worked for cash and taken AP physics, chem, Calculus at college during high school who knows, submitted a music supplement, joined more music groups, went to external competitions, maybe founded more clubs, inspired more change whatever
Where else did you apply? Accepted: UIUC, University of Rochester
Waiting: Uchicago, Carleton, Grinnell, Princeton, Brown, Case Western, WashU
**Other Factors: **
the first Sat II math I submitted was a 650, but they got better scores shortly after so I don’t think it was a large factor
General Comments & Advice:
If anyone has any questions at all please message me. I would enjoy talking to any other hopefuls/rejects/admits it doesn’t matter.
Thoughts: So it’s upsetting, but it’s not deflating; in fact it may be the opposite. While I really wanted the opportunities MIT had for me, the avenues to learn, the great people (the community of students is what I wanted the most), the collaboration… rejection is a good kick in the butt. Yes, their were 1400 or so people the admissions team thought would be better additions to the class, no sugar coating required. Something I’m common in saying is that it’s often not those who are the smartest, the most opportune, the luckiest, the most privileged that are the most successful, it’s those with the most willpower, the best logical proof to themselves that what they do is good and fun and…
(but we must remember that those things that I said weren’t the only factors in success are big factors, it can’t be ignored)
If I have other thoughts I’ll just make another post. Again please message me if you have questions.
