Wahrscheinlichkeiten bitte? Chances Please?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>GPA: 4.128/4.33 Unweighted
PSAT (11th grade): 240 (NM Semifinalist, and also, is there any way to let a college know about PSAT SCORE)
SAT Math Level 2: 800
SAT Biology: 790
SAT U.S. History: 800
SAT I: 2320 combined (720/760<em>) Math, (800</em>/770) CR, (760*/750) Writing</p>

<p>AP Courses/Exams: Biology 5, Calculus BC 5, English Language and Composition 5, U.S. History 5, U.S. Government and Politics 5, Comparative Government and Politics 5
Taking Chemistry, Physics C, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra (EPGY), European History, Literature and Composition, German Senior year (APs/college)</p>

<p>Extracurricular</p>

<p>Scientific Research:
• Selected for and participated in 2005 Waksman Student Scholars program at Waksman Institute at Rutgers University, involved in genome analysis of the brine shrimp Artemia Fransciscana.
• Summer 2005: Internship at Plant Genome Initiative at Rutgers University in lab of Dr. Joachim Messing, Director of Waksman Institute, comparative genomics/analysis of maize and rice genomes
• Currently working on research project involving advanced oxidation processes for onsite chemical weapon destruction under Dr. Alfredo Castro, Felician College for submission to both Siemens-Westinghouse and Intel Science Talent Search competitions-the results are good, and i'm writing it up right now.
• Fall 2007: Internship at Fairleigh Dickinson University with Dr. Amber Charlebois, mechanism of the 10-23 DNA enzyme. </p>

<p>Science Related Activities:
• Member of BRHS Science League Team for 2 years: Chemistry I team (grade 10) and Biology II team (grade 11)
• Member of BRHS Science Olympiad Team, qualified for state Science Olympiad tournament in Designer Genes, Vice President 2007-2008.
• Member of Science and Math Honors Societies, tutoring responsibilities.
• In-school Waksman Student Scholars Research—continue research during school year/yearly poster presentation. (Grades 9/10/11). </p>

<p>Other Activities:
• Member of Forensics (Speech and Debate) Team since 9th grade. Captain of Debate team.<br>
o Public Forum Debate: 10th place 2005 State Tournament, 8th Place 2006 State Tournament, State Champion 2007. National Tournament Qualifier 2006, at Nationals ranked in top 30 out of 216. Harvard Invitational 2007 Octafinalist.
o Extemporaneous Speaking: 6th place at 2006 New Jersey District Tournament, 3rd place at 2007 State Tournament.
• Vice President of Model United Nations Club, member since 9th grade, selected to serve on Crisis Committee at 2006 Boston University/MIT conference.
• Member of National Honors Society and German Honors Society.
• Member of BRHS Symphony Orchestra (9-11), passed Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (London, UK) Grade 5 exam in violin and Grade 5 exam in Music Theory, private lessons since age 8.
• Member of Boy Scouts since age 6, currently Life rank, working on Eagle Scout project involving installation of bird boxes and nature trail maintenance at Hillside Intermediate School’s Outdoor Environmental Classroom</p>

<p>Community Service
• 60 Volunteer Hours at Somerset Medical Center in Patient Transportation.
• Member of Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad since 2004—working on EMT certification, on call 4 hours weekly, 36 hours every 5th weekend (rotating duty weekends). </p>

<p>Summer Programs/Courses/Jobs/Activities</p>

<p>o Summer 2005-research at Waksman Institute
o Summer 2006
o Attended National Debate Tournament
o Macroeconomics credit course at Rutgers University (Grade: A)
o Employed 3hr/day at Somerset County Tennis Camp, 15 hr/week
o Summer 2007
o Attended New Jersey Governor’s School in the Sciences at Drew University.
o Rutgers University Statistics credit course (Grade: A)
o Summer 2007- Extensive research for Intel Science Talent Search and Siemens-Westinghouse project (pesticide ozonation, explained above)</p>

<p>Awards/Honors</p>

<p>o 3-year consecutive medalist in AATG National German Examination. Grade 10 ranked 4th, Grade 11 ranked 1st.
o Recipient of New Jersey Governor’s Award for Arts Education for State Championship in Public Forum Debate.<br>
o Attended National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington DC, November 2006</p>

2

<p>What you have here is very good, and if you do well in Intel Talent Search and S-W, even better. You don’t need to let them know your PSAT score - it won’t boost you beyond what you’ve already got here, as you have other stuff that’s so much better and more useful.</p>

<p>How do you have a GPA that’s over 4.0 and unweighted? Does your school use some sort of weird scale?</p>

<p>If you don’t have enough room for all your activities, leave out NHS. It adds nothing to this app. :slight_smile: Other than that, your substance/fluff ratio here is surprisingly high.</p>

<p>Now just do well on the recs and essays and you stand as good a chance as could reasonably be hoped for.</p>

3

<p>school uses a 4.33 scale with 4.33 as
A+</p>

4

<p>I think all your research should get you in. They certainly can’t say you don’t have “passion.” Scores and grades are also nice. Did you take the AMC or AIME?</p>

5

<p>no that’s one of the things i was concerned about-is it a big deal if i didn’t?, also, i’m going to have a filed patent (don’t know when it will be granted), and a submitted paper in addition to intel/siemens.</p>

6

<p>Don’t worry, it’s okay if you didn’t take AMC/AIME. Most admitted applicants haven’t. Your patent and your paper will be a big plus in your favor! So much more important than whether you took some math tests! Concentrate on what you have, because it is very good!</p>

7

<p>Well, if your school offers AMC and you didn’t take it, then it might hurt.</p>

8

<p>the way it works in my school is that the kids in math league take it, but it’s specific to that activity, and none of the kids who took it are applying to mit anyways. also the only kid who got in last yr didn’t take it so hopefully i’m good. w/e can’t do anything about it now.</p>

9

<p>Alles steht dir gut. MIT ist nie sicher für iregendjemand, aber du hast eine gute Chance. Schrieb gute Aufsatze.</p>

<p>Viel Glück!</p>

<p>(Everything is good. MIT is never certain for anyone, but you have a good chance. Write good essays.</p>

<p>Good luck!)</p>

10

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<p>Pretty unlikely. There’s nothing here to indicate that the OP’s primary interest is math, and even if it were, the AMC’s a competition to show off what you already know, not an opportunity to further your own knowledge.</p>

11

<p>Is not Siemens, Intel STS, ISEF, the same way? You don’t do the research FOR the competition. You enter what research you have ALREADY done. Similarly, you don’t study math FOR the AMC. You take the contest with what you ALREADY know.</p>

<p>Personally, I recommend anyone applying to MIT who has the chance to take the AMC to take it. You don’t HAVE to report scores, and it’s a good self-indicator where you stand in being able to solve those types of problems (which are applicable to real life). Just the same as how I recommend anyone who has taken Physics C to enter the USAPhO competition, AP Chem to enter the USAChO competition, CS to enter the USACO competition, etc etc.</p>

<p>Doing research is good, but it’s also important to train yourself to think very smart under pressure and learn new techniques for basic problem solving. The actual research you are doing at this age is likely very trivial in the grand scheme of what you will eventually do, but the specific skills and tricks and such that you learn will carry on to the next project you do.</p>

<p>Edit: Oh, and I think comparing whether the average admitted student took the AIME/AMC is not important, because there is no need to compare oneself to admitted students. You should compare yourself to the best students, not the average.</p>

12

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<p>You should do what’s best for YOU. If you want to take the AMC, by all means, take it. But don’t let yourself be pressured into doing it because you think it’s something you have to do to get into MIT. Contrary to popular opinion, not everyone who goes to MIT is a math god, or a math major for that matter. It’s not an issue of the best admittees vs. average admittees.</p>

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<p>Sure, and you’re also not going to be rejected for not doing those when your school offers them if the subjects they cover aren’t your primary interest (e.g. if you want to major in poli sci, or economics, or architecture). Though it certainly won’t hurt you if you do. On the other hand, if you’re basing your application on how you want to be a great chemistry researcher, and your school/district offers research opportunities (through ISEF or otherwise) it might look odd if you never took advantage of them.</p>

13

<p>also, what impact would recs have? my calc teacher from last year thinks that I’m perfect for MIT (she has recommended a few students in the past who have gotten in) and is focusing her rec on my creativity in solving problems, and helpfulness towards peers/collaboration which I think are MIT qualities. Also, my eval B is my debate coach who also taught me in ap english and he will also write an amazing rec.</p>

14

<p>UPDATE: Interview went really well, i think-we talked about everything from my research to the guys work at los alamos national laboratory to the hacks he was involved in at MIT. Also, does anyone think an essay about how I failed to qualify for nationals in debate last year, even though I was expected to and it was all hyped up is a good essay topic if i should what i’ve learned and stuff?</p>

15

<p>any idea how much siemens semifinals improves the above profile?</p>