RD Chances. Worth applying?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Firstly, I know that my chances are almost certainly minimal to non-existent. My dad is encouraging me to apply to MIT, however, with the reasoning that my atypical interests and extracurriculars may help me slightly (although if were to attend MIT [yeah right] I imagine I would take advantage of its resources and major in something fairly normal like Math/Physics, majors I'm leaning towards anyway). I want to emphasize that I write this thread for the very practical purpose of trying to decide where I should apply Regular Decision and where I might realistically stand a chance of being accepted. So please be honest. </p>

<p>Objective Stats:
Biological: White male
GPA: 96.66, weighted (my school doesn't calculate unweighted averages).
Class Rank: 16/126
Type of school: pretty crappy, relatively uncompetitive public school in upstate New York (just to contextualize my class rank as being even worse than it initially appears).
Course Load: most rigorous in class, including a skipped grade of math and now college math classes at the local LAC.
SAT I: 2370 cum, 800 cr, 800 m, 770 wr
SAT II: 800 math II, 770 ush, 730 lit (i intend to retake literature and take the physics test in january, given that MIT requires a science test.
ACT: 35 comp
APs: 5s on Euro, US History, Calc AB, Physics B, currently enrolled in AP Eng Lang, Gov, AP French, and AP Chem.</p>

<p>Subjective Info:
Childhood (i guess not entirely subjective but whatever): happy, extremely fortunate, comfortable childhood, no hooks whatsoever.
ECs: Ballet, extensive involvement, have attended 4-week summer intensive for 4 years now. Music, extensive involvement, play cello in several local orchestras, attended 4-week summer intensive this past summer partnered with Philly, compose electronic music. Model UN, vice-president. Lit Mag, staff member. Mathletics, team member. Some community service, I tutor refugees in English at the local refugee center weekly. Finally, I have a music radio show at the local college radio station. I guess it's not an EC in the traditional sense but my love of music in general is such a big part of me in general that I included it in my app.
Honors/Awards: nothing really spectacular, National Merit Semi-finalist, AP Scholar with Honor, NHS.
Recommendations: excellent, i was able to build friendly and intellectually stimulating relationships with both teachers.
Essays: haven't started...nervous laugh. </p>

<p>Sorry if I missed anything, and I genuinely appreciate all of your helpful input, regardless of what it says. Also, sorry for my erratic and inconsistent capitalization.</p>

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<p>“Firstly, I know that my chances are almost certainly minimal to non-existent.” </p>

<p>You are a very solid candidate with great stats and a relatively unique EC. I think you will be a very competitive candidate. Sometimes “father knows best”!</p>

3

<p>It is impossible to chance people for a school like MIT. Having said that, you do need to do a few things. You must take a science SAT2 to be considered for admission, and MIT is not a common application school. MIT has its own application that is accessible on their admissions website. The application has no long essay, it features five or so short essay questions. Two of them are to be limited to around 100 words and the others to around 250 words. Your common application essay would likely need to be extremely reduced in size. If you apply correctly, you will have just as good of a chance as anyone.</p>

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<p>jshain - thanks a lot. i guess i do understand that, at the very least, my test scores are quite good, and i guess i don’t want to seem unappreciative of them (that sounds a bit strange…), but i’d rather downplay my chances personally than expect too much. thanks again for your advice, and yes, i’ve found that my dad knows best quite frequently.</p>

<p>dkerstiens - woops! i’m taking the physics sat II in january but i forgot to edit that section (i’ve used this particular chance form in a few threads) and the one about essays. unfortunately, i’m also aware that MIT has it’s own app…sigh. thanks!</p>

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<p>i’m not sure if this is something i should know from reading over MIT’s website (i couldn’t find anything) but does MIT judge RD students specifically against EA applicants from the same school? because my class’s valedictorian applied EA…</p>

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<p>MIT does not look at classmates. In fact, they read folders as they are completed not by region, state, or school; they won’t compare you to him/her.</p>