<p>I am a junior student currently studying in US high school, but my nationality is China. </p>
<p>I've studied at 4 high schools with distinct educational system so my GPA and grades are not stable and not at all impressive. I was top one in my class in ninth grade in my first school; top one in 10th grade fall semester in my second school; top 10% in 10th grade and my GPA was 3.68 in my third school; then I transferred to US and my GPA was 3.77, class rank top 25% in my fourth school in US (because I was out of school for two month due to my VISA delay; now my GPA is 4.38 out of 4.5 maximum. I believe I can achieve a GPA of 4.93 during 12th grade fall assuming that I don't transfer again.</p>
<p>My SAT score is 2340. My math level 2 and physics subject test are both 800s.
I am positive that I will get 5s on CalculusBC, PhysicsC mechanics and E&M, Art History, Macroeconomy and English Language.</p>
<p>I was the secretary of student parliament in my former school; I have initiated Mu Alpha Theta in my school and is the president; I am also in Art Appreciation Club and National Art Honor Society; I have had apprenticeship in an well known Architecture Design company and have attended architecture design workshop for 2 years; I intend to join Peer Tutoring next year. I will be competing in. PhysicsBowl2 soon and AMC12 next year though I have no idea how I will do. I am applying for Women's Technology Program, yet once again I have no idea if I could get in or not.</p>
<p>I extremely want to major in Architecture Design and I have prior experience using Sketch Up Pro. 8, AutoCAD and Rhinoceros. I am adept at drawing and sketching and are somewhat acquainted with Architecture History and principles of architectural design. I would say that I am pretty passionate about architecture.</p>
<p>I know that MIT have higher standards for international students, I have no Olympiads or any awards of such kind because I never had the opportunity to attend in these competition (though I hope I could do well in PhysicsBowl and AMC12) and, I have to admit, my GPA looks terrible. However, I have learned multivariable calculus and linear algebra and I know how to use MATLAB and Mathematica and JAVA.</p>
<p>PS. MIT is really special to me because the Architecture Department at MIT is different from that of all the other colleges and universities. Most other Architecture Major focus mainly on “design” but have neglected the science behind architecture. It’s not that I dislike design, I do in fact. It is just that I also love science, and I want to combine my two loves into one. From what I’ve seen, the Architecture Department at MIT seems more cross-disciplinary, involving material science, visual art and design, engineering, humanitarian, psychology, environmental science and many more. This is what makes it particularly interesting to me since I just love to learn about everything. Basically any new knowledge sparks me. If I am fortunate enough to be admitted by MIT, I would be thrilled to have both aesthetic enjoyment and intellectual pursuance all at once.</p>
<p>No one can accurately chance you. It sounds like you’re academically qualified (like 80% of applicants – but only 7% or so of applicants get in). All you can do is apply and see.</p>
<p>@ PiperXP so how can I improve my chances? Because right now, I am feeling like that there is nothing much that makes me stand out. @Mondut Thank you very much for your advice.</p>
<p>@KatyHWQ - The thing is, there’s no one way to stand out. MIT doesn’t look for one type. They look for people who will see interesting things and pursue them, but there are a billion interesting things under the sun – and they specifically want a diverse set of people that represent a range of activities.</p>
<p>I have no idea what your interests are or what’s around you. It’s up to you to find things you’re interested in and pursue them. Then find a school that matches you – don’t force yourself to match the school.</p>
<p>Yes PiperXP, I do agree that we should find a school that matches ourselves.
Just curious, is it true that MIT have “limits” on foreign countries? For example, the number of students from mainland China admitted by MIT are usually around 3~5 people.</p>
<p>Not by country. MIT can’t accept more than 10% of the class from outside the US (primarily because these students do not receive federal funding, and MIT wants to meet full need for everyone), but there’s no further quota for that.</p>
<p>So while your chances aren’t zero, take into account that China has historically averaged about 4 gold medalists/year at each of the IMO and IPhO. You are a great student, no doubt about it, but that’s some pretty tough competition from other students who are excelling in the hard sciences. You have strengths in both art and math/science so I get why you want architecture at MIT. But if MIT doesn’t accept you as an undergraduate, you could consider getting a degrees in both civil engineering and art or design somewhere else for undergrad and then applying to MIT architecture for graduate school.</p>
<p>With your talents, I am sure that when you settle down in one place for college you will have no trouble being a superb student, and get a high college GPA, and be very desirable to graduate schools.</p>
<p>@geomom Thanks a lot! I like architecture design better than MIT, so if I am rejected, I would rather go to other school that offers architecture design such as Cooper Union or Cornell than choose another major…while MIT is very special and it is my dream school, I think majoring something that I want to do would make me even happier. After all, 4 years of undergraduate is not a short time.</p>
<p>@geomom So that’s still a little over 11 undergraduates/year, and nearly half of them have Olympiads…the rest probably have some other sort of international competition championship such as international young physicist tournament or mathematical modeling champion…it indeed is intense competition.</p>
<p>Well, actually you don’t know that those Olympiad medalists go to MIT. That was an example to show how stiff the competition is. You are right, there are a lot of very accomplished Chinese kids, many of whom would love to be in the U.S. for college!</p>