<p>I am currently a senior in High School and would like to transfer to a school such as MIT as soon as possible. My primary concern is that I did very poorly in high school (G.P.A, SAT/ACT scores, extracurricular activities, etc.) and because of that reason, I was not admitted to college and will be going to community college until I can transfer into a four year university. How much of one's high school performance will be taken into consideration in the transfer admissions process? I know that admissions are incredibly competitive but I will do nearly anything to be accepted. I will be taking 19 credit hours at the University of Washington this summer and plan to get a 4.0 but I doubt that will mean much to MIT. I am planning on preparing for the SAT subject tests but other than that, I feel that I will not be able to reverse any other damage done in my high school years. How can I improve my chances of getting in and will doing the typical "stuff" be enough to undo my high school years and allow me to legitimately compete with the stronger applicants who have most likely prepared their entire life? If you do not feel that my chances are reasonable despite the hard work that I will put in, please tell me that you feel so and offer suggestions on how what other options I might choose. If it is of any consequence, I would like the receive a major in mathematics or computer science and receive a minor in Japanese. Thank you so much for your assistance in this matter and I will await your replies.</p>
<p>It is hard to get into MIT as a transfer student. Harder than regular admissions - so many people apply for so very few spots. I would not bank on getting into MIT at all as a transfer, especially if you don’t have a stellar background.</p>
<p>That’s not to stop you from applying, but you do need to be realistic. I’ve seen a trend on CC recently of people who did poorly in high school for some reason clinging to MIT as their way out, and I don’t get it. You don’t need MIT to turn your academics around and do awesome things. </p>
<p>There’s no secret formula. Do well in your classes, do something worthwhile outside of them, get to know your professors (you’ll need decent recommendations). But most of all, make sure you’re not depending on this.</p>
<p>^Good Advice.</p>
<p>you are self disillusioned</p>
<p>^and you are dead. Go haunt somewhere else.</p>
<p>My question would be why you feel you will succeed at MIT, which is arguably one of the toughest colleges around, when you didn’t in highschool, unless there were circumstances not under your control. MIT will admit you if they think you can succeed there, but you need to give them a reason to think this.</p>
<p>The OP started similar threads for several other colleges. Guess he thinks he can just “turn it on” and he’ll be OK. Well, I’d be very surprised if he does (but I hope he does for his sake). A 4.0 with 19 units with his high school track record would be quite a turn around. </p>
<p>Grades are one thing. I remember reading that about 95% of the applicants to MIT “had the grades”. What separates the applicants is the documented desire to learn, a pride in their work and demonstated leadership skills, etc. Blowing off high school shows the opposite traits that a school like MIT desires. </p>
<p>I’d put his chance at any of his college choices at about zero.</p>