So I want to get into MIT...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Since a young age, I have wanted to go to MIT. I want to be surrounded by the world's geniuses, using labs that the most successful leaders use and have access to the world's best technology.
MIT.
Cal-tech and Stanford are my far second choices but I'm a freshman and I believe that I should have faith in my first.</p>

<p>Let us start the credentials:</p>

<p>Physical Description:
I'm a Indian, male 9th grader, 14, almost 15 years old, 6 feet tall.
I don't have a funky accent.
From Texas.</p>

<p>SATs:
(taken in 9th grade)
Combined: 2030, Math: 800, Reading: 640, Writing: 590 (got a low score of 5 on the essay....urgh!)</p>

<p>SAT-2s:
(these were taken in 8th grade)
Math 1: 750
Math 2: 680
Literature blah blah (took it since I could take a 3rd, no other reason): 500</p>

<p>ACT:
(7th grade)
Composite: 28
Math: 31
English: 27
Reading: 27
Science: 26</p>

<p>PSAT:
(9th grade)
Combined: 197
Math: 74
Reading: 62
Writing: 61</p>

<p>Significant Achievements:
6th Grade: received a $1000 scholarship for Space Camp, attended People to People Washington DC, got second in the TX State Science Fair.</p>

<p>7th Grade: 6th place in mathematics in the 4A TMSCA state meet, attended People to People Europe, summer after, took Geometry at Duke Tip and skipped out of Algebra 2.</p>

<p>8th Grade: Took Pre-Calculus in the near by high school. Won both the regular and countdown rounds in the chapter Math Counts competition. Placed 2nd in the 4A TMSCA competition in both math and number sense. Received the Texas Math Rocks award bundled with a free Nspire from Texas Instruments.</p>

<p>9th Grade: Elected class President and favorite. Book drive chairman and a founding member of the Invisible Children school organization. Won 1st in 3A TMSCA state in math, number sense, and calculator. Created a game development team and website: Dream</a> Squad | Live your dreams, started and coached the Computer Science team at school. Took two classes at Midwestern State University, Statistics and Computer Science 1. Accepted into the competitive admissions AwesomeMath program. AMC 10 score: 120, AIME: 3, School Aime high scorer and AMC 10 high scorer. 3rd Place in the Texas State Winter Games in Table Tennis.</p>

<p>ECs:
Table Tennis Team. Class Office. Key Club. Invisible Children Organization. Math Team. Science Team. Computer Science Team. Wichita Falls Youth Symphony Orchestra. PSAT Scholars Program. Concurrent Enrollment. Game Creation and Development.</p>

<p>Hobbies: Solving difficult math problems, creating games, and surfing random forums and opening tabs in wikipedia.</p>

<p>Classes: received all A's</p>

<p>Mathematics:
taken Algebras, Geometry, PIB Pre-Calculus, and College Statistics</p>

<p>Computer Science:
College Computer Science 1</p>

<p>Science:
PIB Biology, PIB Physics</p>

<p>History:
PIB Integrated World History/ World Geography</p>

<p>French:
PIB French 1</p>

<p>English:
PIB English 1</p>

<p>Electives:
PIB Theatre 1, Mathematics Independent Study, Athletic Training Room (medical help)</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1/ (168?)
GPA: 4.75, 4 on a 4 point scale</p>

<p>I plan on taking these later in high school:</p>

<p>Math: Math SL and HL, AoPS (art of Problem Solving) Calculus, and some problem solving classes from AoPS</p>

<p>English: All IB Englishes and do journalism</p>

<p>Science: PIB Chemistry and Chemistry SL and HL, Physics SL, maybe AP Anatomy and Physiology</p>

<p>History: All IB history</p>

<p>Languages: All IB French</p>

<p>Electives: 3 years of IB Visual Arts, 3 years of IB Film</p>

<p>What else should I do, how should I improve performance, etc.?</p>

<p>Thanks, Shri</p>

2

<p>Chance me?</p>

3

<p>Too early to tell…all depends on your real test scores. I think that you might get in…but you won’t like it if or when you get in.</p>

4

<p>You seem to be on the right track, but really, it’s too early to “chance” you. It’s impossible enough to reasonably “chance” actual seniors.</p>

<p>Also, your height is irrelevant. :p</p>

5

<p>I don’t understand the point of taking standardized exams prior to 10th grade. I mean, if you’re going to take them and be done with them, that’s one thing. But why even bother taking it in the first place if you’re just going to retake it later? There’s something called “Practice Exams” you know…</p>

<p>Oh yeah, most of your middle school ECs, however significant, will not count much in the actual admission process. Like everyone has said, your HS performance will be what matters to adcoms, and that’s still way too early to tell.</p>

6

<p>just keep working as hard as you are now and you’ll have a decent chance of getting in… but dont worry too much this early</p>

7

<p>yea, just keep exploring your interests. who knows what will happen in another 2 years.</p>

<p>HAVE FUN.</p>

8

<p>My primary advice would be to <em>GET OFF THIS SITE</em> until (at the very earliest) the start of junior year.</p>

9

<p>I was going to say that your scores are too low until i realized you are only 15! Those are very promising achievements for someone of your age. Continue working hard (get good grades, win some competitions, write good essays) and I’m sure you’ll be at MIT one day :)</p>

10

<p>Awesome guys. Do you know how I can improve my verbal and writing scores?
My two bad areas are the vocab section at the start of reading and the essay section. I miss 2 or less on the other parts. Any guides and books?
Also, what kind of ECs does MIT like? How can I counteract the fact that I don’t do much in sports and I am only pretty good in orchestra?
And how good do I need to perform on the AMC/AIME/USAMO to make it a really significant plus factor?</p>

11

<p>

Just read and write a lot in the next few years. By the time a senior is taking the SAT in the fall it is too late to get better at raw reading ability. They try to make up for this by learning tricks and the like. But you have plenty of time to genuinely improve your literary skills.</p>

12

<p>you don’t need to be on this site until summer of sophomore year.</p>

<p>why on earth did you take those SAT IIs then? and why both math ones?</p>

<p>don’t ask for chances in freshman year. get off this site and go do something interesting.</p>

13

<p>I am worried now, as I want to better improve my chances. I took the SAT 2s since I knew MIT asked for them and I wanted a decent judge of my math ability before Pre-Cal. Also, in order to take stats in the university, I needed good math credentials, aka SAT scores.</p>

14

<p>^^Don’t worry. Many advanced students take the SAT in 9th grade to get into various programs. (I did, too.) Their scores aren’t held against them at all.</p>

15

<p>I think it was advantageous for me to take it, as I got good practice from it.
Out of curiosity, is it true that MIT takes your overall best score in each part or do they take the best test you’ve taken?</p>

16

<p>They combine to get the best score possible. But I’m sure you can get another 800.</p>

17

<p>Many of the replies you got have a common theme for you to not worry so seriously so early in high school, and to go have fun. </p>

<p>Doing so will allow your subsequent college application to show a bit more about you as a person, what makes you tick, your passion and interests. An application that conveys those qualities can add something which appears missing in your initial post.</p>

18

<p>congrats!!! you got in!!!</p>

19

<p>Dude, this thread is over a year now…</p>

20

<p>well yeah…he was a freshman writing this, but now is a Junior who got accepted, it’s nice looking back to see someone have suceeded</p>