Sorry, another "chances" thread...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I'm Josh and I'm wondering what my chances are of getting into MIT, probably my top choice school right now. I'm a junior right now at a public high school, taking the IB program.</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted): 4.0
GPA (weighted): 4.7
Top 10 out of ~650</p>

<p>I just finished Calc BC and am taking Calc 3 next year. Science wise, I've taken AP Bio, AP Chem, and honors physics (taking AP Physics next year).</p>

<p>In terms of AP classes, I've taken:
10th: AP Bio, AP Stat, AP US History (all 5's)
11th: AP Euro, AP Chem, AP Calc BC, AP US gov, AP Enviro
12th: planning on AP Psych, AP Physics, AP English lang, AP english lit, AP Comp Sci AB</p>

<p>ACT: 33</p>

<p>PSAT: 237 (I am currently a semifinalist, awaiting word on whats to come)</p>

<p>SAT (old): 1480
M: 800
V: 680</p>

<p>SAT (new): 2320
M: 800
V: 720
Writing: 800</p>

<p>SAT II Bio: 790
SAT II Math IIC: 800
SAT II Chem: havent gotten scores yet</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars (where I feel weakest):
Science Bowl 10, 11, 12:
10th grade, captain of team that got 5th in state
11th, captain of team that got 2nd in state</p>

<p>Chess Club 9, 10, 11, 12:
Chess club president
Captain of chess team
I've placed in the top 10 at many national scholastic chess tournaments. Recently got 1st in one.
I also work in a state chess federation as a junior representative: I vote on a board for different resolutions, etc.</p>

<p>Model UN 11, 12
NHS 11, 12
Forgot that I went to a research science program over last summer at University of Northern Colorado, and I will be at Caltech's SSP this summer.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any tips, suggestions, etc!</p>

2

<p>your scores are great, but you really don't have anything that makes you stand out; your ec's are all pretty commonplace for the type of people who apply to mit.</p>

<p>when writing your essays, be sure to get the admissions people to understad how you differ from the thousands of other applicants with 1500+ sat/4.0 gpas.</p>

3

<p>my sister got accepted early admission to MIT this fall, and it was definitely that she took a real interest in all aspects of the application. Try to be very "human" in your essays like greygoo said. It really helps.</p>

<p>In the interview talk about something that really motivates you that the application doesn't show.</p>

<p>Most importantly, I'd say, don't take the whole application process too seriously. The colleges want hardworkers but not those prone to meltdown after a couple points off on an assignment.</p>

4

<p>thanks for the tips... though its kinda scary that that much depends on my essays</p>

5

<p>I agree with C_Hunting. My son (who was accepted) had credentials very similar to yours. What stood out in his application (at least to me) was that he came across as a very happy, centered, easy-going type of person (which he is). He did not come across as all business and no play. Your stats are well within the acceptable range, just have fun with the application and let 'em know you are a human being, not a robot. IMHO of course, there are no guarantees.</p>

6

<p>oh, josh is very laid back and easy going, except when he gets pwned on xbox live :-P</p>

7

<p>I know that MIT has a quota system and has specific numbers for how many students it admits from each state/region. I'm from South Dakota, and I think have an advantage applying to a college like MIT.
Here are my stats:</p>

<p>ACT (w/ writing): 35
SAT I: Chem: 800
SAT II Math Level IIC: 800
SAT II US History: 760
GPA: 3.975/4 unweighted, 4.2/4 weighted</p>

<p>I'll have 8 AP classes by the time I graduate (lowest score is 4)</p>

<p>ECs:
Band: 3 yrs
Debate: 3 yrs (1st in state)
Quiz Bowl: 3 years (1st place in state 2 years)
Science Bowl: 2 years
Math contests @ universities: 4 yrs (4 first place awards, 1 2nd)
Started Spectrum, a club that promotes tolerance, etc. after a series of racial violence incidents at school
350 volunteer hours as an interactor @ the local science center
100+ volunteer hours as chem lab assistant at local college</p>

8

<p>Actually, their site says on the "Who's at MIT" page (emphasis added):</p>

<p>MIT considers each applicant as an individual, with no limit on the number of students admitted from any given background, secondary school, state or region of the country. We do have one quota at MIT, which concerns international applicants (non US-citizens or permanent residents), for whom we limit enrollment to between six and eight percent of the entering class.</p>

<p>Where you are doesn't matter unless you're an international applicant (even then, it's not where you are, just that you aren't a US resident).</p>

9

<p>Slight correction: that should be, "...just that you aren't a US Citizen." Citizenship is what matters, not geography. Matt McGann just mentioned this today, in fact, on his weblog. Ben Jones additionally recommended today that applicants get in the habit of going directly to "primary sources" such as the MIT website or through the admissions office for their information.</p>

10

<p>I used "resident" simply because US permanent residents (non-citizens with green cards) are also considered domestic applicants. I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of using primary sources, which is why I just doublechecked with last year's app (if this has changed since last year and I am wrong (which happens), I apologize).</p>

11

<p>i<em>need</em>a_pillow, my apologies: I misunderstood your use of the word "resident". Also, my "primary sources" reminder was to the-rocketman, in response to the "geographical quota" assumption -- your information was helpful and cited a primary source ("...such as the MIT website")!</p>

<p>Let's restate:
*US citizens and permanent residents with green cards are considered domestic applicants; non-US-citizens are considered international applicants and are subject to the sole admissions quota. *</p>

12

<p>Sorry for the confusion. I didn't mean a rigid quota system. MIT tries to have representatives from each state.</p>

13

<p>"Sorry for the confusion. I didn't mean a rigid quota system. MIT tries to have representatives from each state."</p>

<p>You're correct. Ivy leagues want people from all 50 states, including South Dakota. In fact, it's even hard for them to find one that's qualified, and you're far above that. Here's the problem... I'm just going to be honest with you. You live in a small city of about 120,000 people, and you're not in a rural area that doesn't have many opportunities for students. So even though you're from SD, you're from the city (the only one) in SD that has the most people applying to the ivy league schools. So being from Sioux Falls, SD, isn't as much as a hook as being from Huron, SD. Because Huron has a pop. of 12,000 people and hasn't had an applicant to an ivy league in years... Does this make any sense? Being from SD is a hook, but it'd be more of a hook if you lived in a small town.</p>

14

<p>On that note (small towns being hooks), is being from a town (in Missouri, if it makes a difference) with about 12K people and few (if any) Ivy applicants per year (I think the last Ivy-level admit we had got admitted to Stanford two or three years ago) a good hook? I'm trying to think about how best to "describe my world" for Essay B.</p>

<p>Sorry to hijack the thread like that, but it seemed like a good place to ask...</p>

15

<p>Yes. IMO, it is. Even though your state my admit more students than South Dakota, it still doesn't admit many.</p>

16

<p>junior year test scores are in!</p>

<p>AP Euro: 5
AP Enviro: 5
AP Chem: 5
AP Calc BC: 5
AP US government: 4</p>

<p>SAT II Chem: 800</p>

<p>I'm feeling more and more confident about my chances thanks to these scores and CC. Thanks! Now I just gotta start hammering away on that MIT app...</p>