Rejected as freshman = banned for life?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>1) I am an international applicant.
2) I was rejected as freshman. Stats are [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=547737&postcount=196%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=547737&postcount=196]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;].
3) I have had to take a year off after school, I graduated from HS in 2004.
4) I am maniac about MIT. I just have to go there.</p>

<p>What should I do?</p>

<p>Transfer is a billion dollar lottery (5 guys got in out of 350 applicants :-/), and what makes it complicated is that the college I'm most likely to attend (if I even join one) is an institute of Information Technology, and their first year curriculum has NO mention of Chemistry or Biology or even any humanities courses (it's all Math, Physics, Programming, CS etc.. with an English course thrown in). But MIT has some General Institute Requirements to fulfill before I can apply as transfer. So that basically means I might not even be able to apply next year. Even more daunting is the fact that there is a biology requirement, and I've not taken biology since 10th grade, because I was in the engg. stream in HS and the subjects were Eng,Phy,Chem,Math and CompSci.</p>

<p>Is waiting another year, possibly self-studying for some more courses (online?), getting more involved with my activities, taking higher-level exams and retaking SATs etc. be advisable? I'm 18 at the moment, so I'll be 19 if I apply as freshman again, though a couple of factors in my favor is that I joined HS a year earlier than usual, and that the gap year was due to family circumstances.</p>

<p>Any suggestions? Is there ANY damn way I can attend MIT as an undergrad? I'm not thinking about graduate study right now.</p>

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<p>And a quick note for those who want to respond with "Prestige is not everything, college is what you make of it": It's not that simple. I'd go to MIT if it were at the base of a volcano.</p>

3

<p>For every will there is a way.</p>

<p>You can try applying next year, or you can apply somewhere and transfer. </p>

<p>Good luck</p>

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<p>you applied as a freshman in high school??</p>

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<p>No, I didn't apply anywhere while I was in HS. I applied a year later (this year).</p>

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<p>ohh i c,</p>

<p>Gap year??</p>

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<p>MIT is big enough that you could probably attend some (most?) lectures (at least the first few years') without being noticed.. :-P</p>

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<p>LOL.... if worse comes to worse, that is what I'll do :p
Then there's always ocw.mit.edu</p>

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<p>But my question is still unanswered -</p>

<p>How do I satisfy the college-level Bio and chem requirements before I apply as transfer, if the college i'll go to doesnt offer these courses?</p>

<p>maybe getting an "A" in GCE A level tests is acceptable as college-level credit?</p>

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<p>maybe getting an "A" in GCE A level tests is acceptable as college-level credit?</p>

<p>Yes you are correct. I contacted MIT and they confirmed this.</p>

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<p>A's in GCE A levels in Biology, Math and Physics will give you credit for 7.01x, 18.01 and 8.01. No credit is given for chemistry unfortunately.</p>

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<p>Ok great. But that's just one semester of credit!</p>

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<p>There is still graduate school. For that matter, there is still becoming a professor there even if you have gone to graduate school elsewhere.</p>

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<p>I have to back up tokenadult here. I know plenty of people who got rejected from MIT as undergrads who ended up going to MIT as graduate students. {Conversely, I also know of MIT undergrads who didn't get into MIT for graduate school.} The point is, not getting in as an undergrad doesn't really mean that you're 'banned for life' from MIT.</p>

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<p>Yes I know, I'm not that foolish :) I meant 'banned' from undergrad.. I am really not thinking about graduate admission right now, as that is a completely different thing. It's a difficult situation and UG at MIT is really reallly important to me right now (I dont want to go into details though..)</p>

<p>But thanks for the advice.</p>

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<p>Nope. Stats can be improved, you see. Gaining a place in MIT's class is certainly not easy, and if I give up after an initial failure, the defeatist tendency will keep growing. Infact that's what this thread is all about.. how to improve my stats for next year. Humans study at MIT, not superheroes. :)</p>

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<p>Not too difficult...</p>

<p>His stats are awesome look at his 800 Math, IC, IIC, and Physics. His 270 Toefl is impressive in comparison to his writing scores. </p>

<p>Living in Indonesia, he probably has an awesome life story, something that puts him over the top in comparison to you and your sense of entitlement.</p>

<p>If he were Indian, you might have a case ...</p>

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<p>So it boils down to scores. My point is proven, thanks.
I should probably go and study now... got a test on 8th May.</p>

<p>But honestly, you might be right...
I'll still re-apply though. No harm in that.</p>

19

<p>MIT_BOY, can you tell me your stats?</p>

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<p>MIT_boy,</p>

<p>I am surprised that mercury didn't get in. I think MIT undergrad can and will happen for him. As long as he keeps trying.</p>