<p>Hi, i want to apply to MIT because its awesome undergrad program, however my counselor said i dont have much of a chance since i'm chinese without a 800 math score. i was wondering if i should give it a try still or would it just be a waste of time. here's mystats
cr 730
m 720
w 640
bio 730
chinese 800
math IC IIC yet to be taken in nov.
i have some awards in math econ debate and student congress, however only at the regional and state level
leadership wise i joined some leadership program and holds couple positions in school the highest is captain of student congress team
i moved to us in 98 (fifth grade) from china, and currently live in bismark, north dakota and neither my parents received college education
without lookin into recs and essays should i even try? also do i need to take the toefl test? thanks</p>
<p>You do not need to take the TOEFL test if you are sending in an SAT I. Your verbal score is fine, but your counselor is right: your math score is a bit low, but it's not terrible. Writing scores don't really seem to matter much (this year, at least). 730 in bio is again, not terrible, but could use some improvement. Chinese SAT II also means nothing. 44% of the people who take the SAT II get an 800. 73% of students get at least a 750. It's not something that stands out, unless you're not Chinese.</p>
<p>You seem to lack any true direction in your extra curriculars, that's definitely not helping you.</p>
<p>You stand a shot, but you better have some great essays. The easiest way to write essays, I've found, is to put yourself in MIT's shoes, and give them a reason to accept you over the other guy with equally impressive (or even more impressive) scores. Make them want to accept you, despite blemishes on your record.</p>
<p>Best of luck,
- Timur S.</p>
<p>Given that you would be the first generation to attend college, you live in a state that does not send a huge number of students to MIT, and you are a fairly recent immigrant who has done well, I'd say why not try? As even admissions officers have mentioned here, you do not need 800s to apply, but you do need to have something you want them to see about yourself that would make you a unique and worthy addition to the class of '10. (You should note that if you are not a citizen or permanent resident with green card, you will be considered an international applicant, even though you live in the US now, and as such will be in a much more competitive and difficult applicant pool.) Best of luck!</p>
<p>Mootmom is just awesome at this. Why isn't she a moderator here yet? :P</p>
<p>thanks olo and mootmom for ur advise, i think i'll definitely apply EA, its better to try now than saying later wat if... also Olo, about my EC, what do you think i should do about my EC since im not really focused on one thing. are u suggesting i should just not write them in. also mootmom, thanks again for you encouragement, about the essay i was thinking about writing my volunteering as a tutor to teach english to new immigrants and related to my own learning and immigration experience. my counselor suggest to center around the first generation theme and write about my appreciation for opportunties i've had. which one do you think will be less generic and stand out. or could i possibly combine them.</p>
<p>Well, don't lie about opportunities if you've had them. MIT gets a readout about your school and how many APs they offered, how many you took, average GPA and all. If you write about opportunities, and they see that you did in fact have opportunities you didn't take advantage of, it's not going to look too good.</p>
<p>As for your ECs, you should -definitely- write them down, but try and string them together somehow. See if you can get involved in anything this year that really reflects what you want to do.</p>
<p>However, along the lines of what mootmom said, I really hope you're not in the international pool. It's far more competitive than the general pool of admissions, and to be honest (which I'm sure is what you want), I'm not sure if you'd stand much of a chance there unless you wrote absolutely incredible essays. Are you a permanent resident / U.S. citizen?</p>
<ul>
<li>Timur S.</li>
</ul>
<p>im a resident</p>