Taking more than 1 science subject test?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Woah, I definitely never said this, because it isn’t true. SAT scores are just one part of your application, but the other parts definitely matter as well, and your application is evaluated holistically, which means that there is not one part that matters much more than any other part.</p>

<p>I think where we’re disagreeing is that I’m saying that there isn’t a magic formula to indicate academic preparedness - much as there isn’t a magic formula to get into MIT. I know this is basically impossible to grasp right now, but if you’re not academically qualified, you actually really don’t want to come here. It will be miserable and you will fail and you will hate it. So, I think a better question than “what is the formula to show that I’m academically prepared” is “have I taken the sort of coursework and gotten the sort of SAT scores that indicates that I’m ready to take on an extremely rigorous and difficult education”.</p>

<p>You may also consider reading [Applying</a> Sideways | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways]Applying”>Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions) .</p>

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<p>I interview a lot of applicants for MIT from local high schools and the general rule is that the successful applicants have typically taken the most challenging math and science classes available at their respective high schools and done well in those classes, which means getting As. MIT applicants are generally self-selected: very few if any candidates apply who do not have excellent grades.</p>

<p>MIT will be much more concerned about lower grades in math/science than in English or history. So a 3.7 GPA depressed by some Bs in the humanities will be interpreted differently than the same GPA where you have Bs in calculus or physics. </p>

<p>Admission has become so selective that most qualified candidates will have high SAT scores AND high GPAs. There is therefore little need for MIT to compromise on academics with the current caliber of applicants unless the candidate can show some very unusual circumstances. If anything an excellent transcript and high test scores is just a STARTING point. It is what the candidate can demonstrate beyond academic excellence that really matters.</p>

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<p>I don’t want the Magic Formula for getting in, rather the formula which states academic preparedness.
I’m not worrying about rigor of courses, but rather about the 3 B’s (1 Calculus, 2 Science) which nearly killed my GPA, I don’t have 800 SAT as yet, but will try for 800. So since I got those B’s, if I get a perfect SAT, then how will it effect my app ?</p>

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<p>Whatever you do on the SATs will not balance out your GPA. The Bs in math and science will always be on the transcript and will affect your app no matter what you do with test scores. Again, there is no formula for “academic preparedness” and nobody will come up with one for you. Excelling in math and science your senior year of HS could help show that the Bs you had earlier were an aberration. I would make sure I had my first semester grades before sending in the application.</p>

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<p>^ Thanks for the info.
Shall I write anything regarding why I got the B’s somewhere in my essay ?
Will it serve good or else backfire & rather make the ad-offs feel I can’t accept failure ? And I’m not sure what’s my final GPA gonna be, but do you feel anything in the 3.5s is competitive with good SAT’s (Just the Academics) ?</p>

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<p>Don’t focus on the GPA, just try to get excellent grades in math and science senior year. That is what MIT cares about on the transcript.</p>

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<p>^ I only have 1 Math class left, probably I could take an extra college level Science course too. Hopefully I will get good grades on them, but my gpa will still be in 3.5ish, is that competitive with good SATs ??</p>

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<p>Probably not.</p>

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<p>^ Well I know that it isn’t competitive, but its hard to hear it :smiley:
Should I bombard myself with irrelevant courses to bring my GPA up ? Say may be 3.7 ?</p>

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<p>Again MIT does not care about your overall GPA. They care about how you do in math and science. Raising your GPA with irrelevant courses will not increase your chances of admission.</p>

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<p>^ Thanks for the valuable info.
I thought may be if I can bring my GPA up say 3.7 or something (even with stupid courses say Russian Literature :P) then MIT will likely be saying that the candidate is competitive.
Basically I have 3 B’s last sem (<em>sigh</em>) & 1 B in freshman year. My overall gpa is kind of sucks though :frowning:
I will try to take up the last Math course & then probably look for some extra Science classes too, but tell me that if I take some Science course from some community college will the MIT give importance to it, even though the course wont add to the overall GPA ?</p>

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<p>Here is the important thing: Don’t stress about it. There are plenty of things that you can reasonably worry about regarding any university application, a grade that is already on your transcript is definitely not one of them. For the record, I got in early to MIT with several B’s on my HS transcript. </p>

<p>For example, one was in trig, and to be fair, I was lucky to get the B. I never really understood trig, when I did it in HS. I simply could not see the point of memorising that sin(2a) = 2 sin(a)cos(a), and so, largely I didn’t do it. It wasn’t helped by the fact that I had a trig teacher who could not explain why we would ever need these things. So I struggled to bring myself to remember them. Not long after that, I reached calculus and then I could really see the value of my trig, and when I started looking at computer graphics and the linear algebra involved in the projection of a 3 dimensional object onto a 2 dimensional surface, well then my trig got really, really good. But I had a deficiency notice sent home to my parents by my trigonometry teacher. At the time that that notice went home, I was president of my high school math club, captain of the math team, I had done well in most of the national math competitions, and I had a deficiency notice sent home in a math course. That was embarrassing at best.</p>

<p>But the thing is, I did not fret about it. I did not dwell on it. I certainly did not write to MIT and try to explain it. I figured that I did not want to attend any school for which that B was a determining factor. One of my LoR’s was from the faculty advisor to the math team. I got into MIT early, and I wasn’t in the top 5% of my HS by GPA. What I did have was plenty of evidence to show what else I had done with my time, and what impact I had had on my school environment. I was able to show how I had made my choices, and what they meant. That is what got ME into MIT. Your mileage may vary.</p>

<p>I have now been an EC for some years, and I have interviewed a huge variety of kids, many of whom had radically different things that had demonstrated why they should be offered a place in an MIT class. There is no one path, no one rule, no one guideline to follow. But I cannot think offhand of anyone who was admitted because they could show that they did well in class. </p>

<p>Just as there is no hard and fast way to show that you are passionate about (for example) robotics, there is no mathematically calculable method of showing that you are academically qualified. But being academically qualified is necessary but not sufficient for MIT admission.</p>

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<p>^ Great Post.
My GPA took quite a beating after my sem (3 B’s). Anyways I will take the most rigorous courses possible, try to get good grades & SAT & then just hope for the best.
Since everything from grades to supplements count, thus I may still have a fair shot at MIT :)</p>

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I think I am in the reverse situation. My grades are pretty good (all As and high As in math and science), and I am accelerated 2 years in math; however, I am from a competitive suburb and my extracurricular activities aren’t too good. I just realized this thread is many years old, but oh well. :slight_smile:

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And through the miracles of thread necromancy, five year old threads are revived to walk the earth again.

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And on that note, I’m closing this thread for the reasons mentioned above.