On the right track?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>ya...i'm gonna be a junior in the fall, just wanted to know if i'm on the right track</p>

<p>freshman grades</p>

<p>Adv. Alg 2 - B+/A
Health - doesn't matter
PE- doesn't matter
Comp Tec - A/A (doesn't matter though)
Adv. English - A/A
Japanese 1 - A/A
Biology - A/A</p>

<p>Sophomore grades</p>

<p>Japanese 2 - A/A
Honors English 2 - B/B+ (...)
AP Stats - A/A
AP World History - A/A
Leadership - doesn't matter
Chemistry - A/A
Math Analysis (Pre-calc/trig) - A/A</p>

<p>Junior classes</p>

<p>AP Physics C
AP Calc Ab (school only offers AB, will probably self study for BC test)
AP English Language
AP US History
Japanese 3
Couple of programming courses at comm. college</p>

<p>Senior classes (rough prediction)</p>

<p>AP English Lit
AP US Gov
Japanese 4
some AP science (maybe Bio)
Art -pre req to graduate
Linear Algebra/differential equations @ comm. college</p>

<p>Tests</p>

<p>AP Stats - 4/5 (predicted)
AP world history - 4/5 (predicted)</p>

<p>SAT II - Math lvl 2 (700+ expected, took on june 3rd)
Chemistry (700+ expected, took on june 3rd)</p>

<p>EC's</p>

<p>national level fencer</p>

<p>finalist at ISEF (in 10th grade; i have 2 more years to compete in it)</p>

<p>Been doing cutting edge research since 8th grade (by myself, no lab/mentor or anything) and have won several awards at science fairs</p>

<p>developed a way to enhance camera security in schools using cutting edge technology (working on patent/implementing at school)</p>

<p>regional finalist at JSHS competition</p>

<p>black belt in tae kwon do</p>

<p>been writing in local newspaper for 6/7 years</p>

<p>going to do research at UC Santa Barbara this summer (neuroscience or engineering probably)</p>

<p>planning on interning at intel next summer (or RSI if i get in)</p>

<p>Sophomore class president</p>

<p>Youth Commisioner for my county (we are part of the county government; we work with the mayor etc)</p>

<p>Boy Scout (working towards eagle)</p>

<hr>

<p>i know i can't really get chances yet, as i don't have enough information, but am i headed on the right track? is there anything else i should do/do differently?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

2

<p>You're looking pretty solid. My advice would just be the obvious: make sure that your scores are as high as possible (750+ as much as you can), keep the grades up, and continue with your extracurricular pursuits, especially the science projects and fairs. The only rough spot so far appears to be the B+ in first semester freshman math, but if you show that you're really solid in math I don't think that it will be a serious problem.</p>

3

<p>You truly don't need any of us to tell you that you're doing just fine. Now go off on your merry way and keep being perfect, okay? Okay. ;)</p>

4

<p>how will test scores that are only 700+ look? especially in math lvl 2 SAT II? i'm guessing it's worth retaking if i get between 700 and 750?</p>

5

<p>700-750 won't disqualify you, but you should probably retake it at least one more time (with a bit of prep) to see if you can't hit 750. Moreso in the SAT 2s (yes, especially math) than the SAT, but since they consider the highest in each category (V, M, CR) it really won't hurt you to retake it in any way, even if your math is up a little but your verbal is down, etc.</p>

6

<p>would 700+ be fine for science? (i don't really want to re-take chem unless i get < 700; i probably shouldn't have started studying for chem the day before the test lol). But i'll definately re-take math if it is less than 750.</p>

7

<p>Overall, you probably want 2250+ on both sets. And 800 the math - you seem good enough.</p>

8

<p>yep 800 math (and physics if u are giving it) would be expected or maybe you should expect out of yourself :).....see for MIT i think your application is enough to show your competence but Ben Golub told me once that 800 expectation for math Ii is like casual at caltech since they think that the test is easy enough...</p>

<p>My advice if u get above 750 no need to worry really...u have a great application already...dont slack off and you just might get in..</p>

9

<p>i'm also planning on taking the ACT (i like it a LOT better than the SAT)...so is 32+ a decent score for MIT?</p>

10

<p>According to the common</a> data set, the 25th percentile for admitted student ACT scores was a 31, and the 75th percentile was a 34.</p>

11

<p>I'm guessing i have to take the ACT writing test too right?</p>

12

<p>Matt</a> says --

[quote]

Q. I'm a high school junior, what will the testing requirements be next year? (ie application year 2006)</p>

<p>A. They will be as follows:</p>

<p>SAT I or the ACT with the writing test. In addition, we require two SAT II Subject Tests: one in math (level Ic or IIc), one in science (physics, chemistry, or biology e/m).

[/quote]
</p>

13

<p>hmmm would a 760 on the Math IIC be worth retaking?</p>

14

<p>No. A 760 on Math IIC is fine.</p>

15

<p>The thing with the SAT IIs is that score distributions are kind of bizarre and vary a lot by test. And I suspect most of us don't have them memorized. :) I'd worry less about your actual SAT II scores and more about what percentile they're in among people who took the test.</p>