<p>A little late (as others have noted), but I might as well.</p>
<p>Accepted</p>
<p>Domestic</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2390
[</em>]ACT: N/A
[<em>]SAT Subject Tests: Math IIC - 800, Biology M - 790, Chemistry - 770, US History - 740
[</em>]GPA, Class Rank/Size: 4.39 weighted, school doesn't rank
[<em>]APs / other stats: 5's
[/ul] Major awards/ECs:
[ul]
[li]Nothing too exciting, mostly regional/statewide awards. No international olympiads or anything of the sort.[/li][/ul] Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>]Essays: Pretty unique, I thought. I spent a lot of time on them.
[<em>]Teacher Recs: One was okay, the other pretty good.
[</em>]Counselor Rec: Okay.
[<em>]Interview: Wonderful! :) My interviewer was really down-to-earth and the time just flew right by.
[</em>]Hook (if any): Research, though I'm sure 90% of the other applicants have done that as well.
[/ul] Personal:
[ul]
[<em>]Location (State or Country): CA
[</em>]Ethnicity & Gender: Asian female
[<em>]Major strength/weakness: One weakness would probably be the fact that I'm good at math and sciences, but I haven't won any international competitions (yet ;)).
[</em>]Your thoughts on your decision: It came as a wonderful surprise. Last year my friend (who's an absolute genius and learns new concepts in a second) got waitlisted, so I didn't really expect to be accepted. But I'm super excited about it now! :D
[/ul] Any other comments: For everyone who's even thinking about applying for 2008, you should do it!</p>
<p>I don't know if it makes you feel better, but not getting into MIT is not really your fault. The criteria for undergraduate admissions in the US are simply absurd. You, a bright 17-year-old from Korea with triple 800 SAT scores, don't get in. Yet, they admit local URMs with SAT scores of 600 or less claiming that adds "diversity" to the freshman class (as if diversity were matter of ethnicity and all people from a given ethnic group were exactly the same !). </p>
<p>I think it's time to let professors and academic departments handle undergraduate admissions (just as they do in graduate school) instead of leaving the fate of applicants like yourself in the hands of non-academic people who are guided by purely subjective and quite frankly absurd criteria !</p>
<p>PS: I apologize for being so candid. I know 'll be flamed for that, but it's so outrageous that I can't help writing how I feel.</p>
<p>I doubt that MIT admits very any if at all URMs with scores of 600. It is too bad that a lot of qualified internationals cannot come because of space. I also think that MIT doesn't just admit any black person because they're black and "we need more of those", but rather those minorities that have a uniqueness about them. I just think its unfair to downplay the URMs who may have had a hard time getting where they are (speaking from experience) and not necessarily have the same opportunities as others. Doing well on the SAT has a lot to do with natural intellect, but also with preparation. </p>
<p>Not flaming, just saying <--had to kick a rhyme</p>
<p>How does one assess an applicant's potential to add "diversity" to the student body ? Is an individual defined by the color of his/her skin or his/her ethnic background ? Or is each person unique, with a personality, talents, and aspirations of his/her own ? Sorry if it sounds obvious to you, but for us internationals (Europeans, Asians, etc.), this American way of categorizing people based on race (a genetically meaningless concept) sounds very odd. It's just not part of our culture and we have a very hard time understanding it !</p>
<p>Turning to the socio-economic argument, I agree minorities have been historically disadvantaged in the US and that the legacy of slavery and segregation is an unfortunate shame to your country. Still, is it the role of the universities to redress social grievances ? Shouldn't that be a concern instead of governments that run e.g. the public school system and should make sure that every kid in the inner cities has a quality education that could provide him/her with equal opportunities to get into MIT ? In other countries, it's normally accepted that a university's concern , especially private universities, should not be engaging in social engineering, but rather be concerned solely with the qualification of the applicants they admit. Otherwise, if the universities are now going to become political vehicles for social policy, I suggest voters start electing university presidents and make them democratically accountable ! After all, that's how our system works as far as social policy is concerned. </p>
<p>Anyway, although it is difficult for us to understand, I admit that affirmative action at least seems to serve a noble goal. The top Ivies are worse than MIT in that respect: not only do they practice affirmative action (which is controversial, but at least socially progressive), but also they admit double-legacy students from extremely wealthy families who nonetheless have 600 scores on the SAT, in a kind of "reverse affirmative action" which is even more outrageous !</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: ehhhh...^_^
[</em>]ACT: 33
[<em>]SAT Subject Tests: Chem:780; Maths:730
[</em>]GPA, Class Rank/Size: 3.99 uw, 13/380
[<em>]APs / other stats: 2 5’s, 3 4’s
[/ul] Major awards/ECs:
[ul]
[li]RSI[/li][</em>]Siemens, Intel STS semi
[<em>]All state music
[</em>]Captain of math team
[<em>]Some music competitions
[/ul] Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>]Essays: ok
[<em>]Teacher Recs: English one was kinda short and sucky, science one was good, also had 2 recs from research mentors which were good
[</em>]Counselor Rec: Great
[<em>]Interview: Great
[</em>]Hook (if any): don’t know…RSI maybe?
[/ul] Personal:
[ul]
[<em>]Location (State or Country): Midwest
[</em>]Ethnicity & Gender: Asian male
[<em>]Major strength/weakness: did science research for 3 years
[</em>]Your thoughts on your decision: I really excited for next year!!!
[/ul] Any other comments: I love MIT! And it IS possible to get in with low scores, like mine. I also didn’t do NHS or any ******** like that (NHS is ******** at my school at least). I really only had two activites in high school – research and music =p</p>
<p>bruno123 - find me one double legacy that's been admitted with 600s. Short of Bill Gates Jr. (or somebody similar) none of the Ivies would compromise their standards THAT much.</p>
<p>That is why affirmative action exists, because of the problems that still are present in the system. No, the color of your skin does not mean you will add diversity, which is why they don't admit any just urm because of their race. But from their essays and interview, they get to know them as a person, and see their life experience as one that will bring diversity. This goes for all applicants. But race most likely brings culture. Chinese and Japanese people do not have the same culture, and it is just as important to come in contact with someone who has lived in both cultures. Part of the college experience is learning about the world from other people. If admissions went on the basis that highest SAT scores ment the smartest people, then they would be cheating themselves out of a lot of great students.</p>
<p>based on the rationale for affirmative action, that "diversity" is needed in order to prepare students for the modern world, let me ask this...</p>
<p>Why doesn't someone shut down Tuskegee University, or Barnard College, or Yeshiva University? Why would anyone choose to attend these institutions? I'm sure students at these universities will be horribly unprepared for the world and extremely close-minded, due to the fact that they attend relatively non-diverse institutions. If part of the college experience is coming in contact with someone who is from a really different background or group, then these institutions fail to provide a complete college experience, no?</p>
<p>But wait... diversity only matters when it benefits certain ethnic groups... does this remind anyone of political pandering?</p>
<p>If it really is about "diversity" and bringing one's unique experiences to the table, then why is race the only thing judged? Are admissions officers that single-minded that they do not realize that there are other things that are far more indicative of what perspectives a college applicant brings to the university? Is the pigmentation of one's skin infinitely more relevant to "diversity" than one's interests and passions, political ideologies, and personality styles, for example? </p>
<p>But wait... times have changed... you can now indeed judge a person based on the color of their skin... character is no longer relevant.</p>
<p>Good luck to HispanicHottie for getting admitted and overcoming adversity, but good luck trying to handle MIT core courses, having scored a 1700 on SATs.</p>
<p>You are making it much more drastic. I am not saying that you will fail at life if you don't come in contact with other people. I am black, and I didn't apply to any HBCUs because I want to experience something different. My high school is 99.999% black and it gets a little monotonous. I appreciate schools like MIT that make a concious effort to have all kinds of people at their schools. It is some of the reason why they are the greatest schools, because you get a great social and cultural education in addition to a top notch academic education. Should we shut down those schools and burn them to the ground? No because the people who go to HBCUs and women's colleges are looking for something different, a large support system. Being at an all black school gives you a lot of pride in who you are, and in a lot of places where we are the minority we don't get that. Same for women. We cannot act like its a perfect world if it isn't.</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 1990
[</em>]SAT Subject Tests: Phy:570; Chem:500; Maths:660
[<em>]GPA, Class Rank/Size: 97/100 uw, 9/279
[</em>]APs: 2 on lit, 3 on US history (yeah, i know)
[/ul] Major awards/ECs:
[ul]
[<em>]too many to list- 3 honor societies, 15 clubs
[/ul] Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>]Essays: Pretty good
[<em>]Teacher Recs: great
[</em>]Counselor Rec: great
[<em>]Interview: excellent!
[/ul] Personal:
[ul]
[</em>]Location (State or Country): NJ
[<em>]Ethnicity & Gender: White female
[</em>]Major strength/weakness: weakness: APs and SAT's
[li]Your thoughts on your decision: rejected b/c it's impossible to get in[/li][/ul] Any other comments: No comments.</p>
<p>sorry for the delay, but here it is.
I was domestic too.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted I was deferred from EA Stats:[ul]
[<em>] Fee Waiver Used?:Yes
[</em>] SAT I (by section):2100
[<em>] SAT IIs:
[</em>] GPA, Weighted and Unweighted:4.0
[<em>] Rank:1/71
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] APs (including this year's): Bio, French, US History, Calculus, English Language Composition and Lit.
[</em>] Senior Yr Courseload:most rigorous
[<em>] Number of Apps from Your School:0
[</em>] Other stats (Awards, etc.): nothing out of the ordinary. some local, school, district merit awards (math and science)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] ECs listed on app: music, martial arts, leadership in school organizations
[</em>] Job/Work Experience:clinical research, medical secretary
[<em>] Essays (subject and responses): I enjoyed writing them especially since they were very down-to-earth essays.
[</em>] Teacher Recs:great
[<em>] Counselor Rec:great
[</em>] Interview (feel, interviewer and general location):I had a very interesting and long interview. I thought it went well.
[<em>] Hook (TASP, RSI, Research, etc.):
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country:MA
[<em>] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available):Parochial
[</em>] Ethnicity:Asian
[<em>] Gender:F
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
[<em>] Strengths:
[</em>] Weaknesses:
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: no idea...they like my humor?[/li][/ul]Other Factors: General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Congrats to everyone! I couldn't believe it when I found out!</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 1870
[</em>]ACT: 30 superscore. 27, 28
[<em>]SAT Subject Tests: Phy:630; Math iic:760; history:630
[</em>]GPA, Class Rank/Size: 3.8uw, 18/489
[<em>]APs / other stats: national merit scholar
[/ul] Major awards/ECs:
[ul]
[li]Marie Walsh Sharpe Scholar[/li][</em>]poopload of awards in art, science, literature, etc.
[/ul] Subjective:
[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Pretty good
[</em>]Teacher Recs: darn awesome
[<em>]Counselor Rec: should be good, don't know fo sho
[</em>]Interview: yeah it was pretty good, he told me that he thought I was the "MIT student"
[<em>]Hook (if any): art, fashion, not typical ASian applicant, i think my personality got me in, not to be a braggart.
[/ul] Personal:
[ul]
[</em>]Location (State or Country): FL
[<em>]Ethnicity & Gender: ASian Femail
[</em>]Major strength/weakness: weakness prob was all my stats "on paper"
[li]Your thoughts on your decision: wow, i really didn't think i would get accepted. I seriously thought i was gonna go my state university. but i'm glad that MIT sees their applicants beyong whats on paper. I really think i got in because of how I did in my inteview, essay, recommendation. but also I guess my talent in the fine arts was a hook?[/li][/ul] Any other comments: Do not be disappointed if you were rejected/waitlisted from MIT, chances are, if you really want to be successful and all that jazz, you won't need MIT to do it for you.</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2400 (single sitting)
[</em>]ACT: 35 (single sitting)
[<em>]SAT Subject Tests: U.S.History:800; Chem:800; MathII:800
[</em>]GPA, Class Rank/Size: 4.0 uw, No rankings
[<em>]APs / other stats: U.S. History:5; Statistics:5; CalcBC:5; CalcABSubscore:5; Chemistry:5; Microeconomics:5; PhysicsB:5; German:5; EnglishLit: not yet taken; U.S. Gov: not yet taken; Latin, Vergil: not yet taken; Honors multivariable calculus, honors diff. eq., and linear algebra at Michigan State University (4.0GPA); Two semesters Japanese at MSU (4.0 1st semester); Computer science 131 at MSU (not yet completed)
[/ul] Major awards/ECs:
[ul]
[li]National merit scholar (12th grade)[/li][</em>]Presidential scholar nominee (12)
[<em>]Science Olympiad event state champion (10)
[</em>]National Latin exam gold medal (11), silver medal (10)
[<em>]Quizbowl team: state champions (9), state runner-up (10)
[</em>]AP Scholar with distinction (11)
[<em>]Michigan Mathematics Prize competition bronze medal and scholarship (11)
[</em>]Academic all-state, water polo (10, 11)
[<em>]Quizbowl all-conference team (12)
[</em>]Quizbowl team captain (11,12)
[<em>]Science Olympiad team co-captain (10,11,12)
[</em>]Water polo (9-11), varsity letter (11)
[<em>]Swim team (9-10), varsity letter (10)
[</em>]Private piano study (3-12)
[/ul] Subjective:
[ul]
[<em>]Essays: People who read them thought they were good
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Very strong: one fantastic, one very good (at least)
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Unknown
[</em>]Interview: She says: best candidate she?s ever had in 15 years
[<em>]Hook (if any):
[/ul] Personal:
[ul]
[</em>]Location (State or Country): MI
[<em>]Ethnicity & Gender: White male
[</em>]Major strength/weakness: I think I am well liked by a lot of people, and I get along well with just about everyone.
[li]Your thoughts on your decision: I?m a little disappointed, but still a bit optimistic.[/li][/ul] Any other comments: No comments.</p>
<p>"bruno123 - find me one double legacy that's been admitted with 600s. Short of Bill Gates Jr. (or somebody similar) none of the Ivies would compromise their standards THAT much.</p>
<p>You're doing a little exaggerating."</p>
<p>George W. Bush got 566 verbal and 640 math on the SAT and got into Yale because his father went there (and because his grandfather was a senator.) That's a 1206 score. with recentering, maybe that's a bit higher but not much (high 1200's.)<br>
It certainly is not exagerrating that ivies lower their standards for legacies. Another thing they do is lower their standards for the children of politicians because they assume that their children will end up important later in life. I don't agree with this at all either.</p>