<p>A little bit about myself:
I'm hispanic and a junior at my high school. I like science and math and have pretty good grades in those subjects too. I'm not taking any honors or ap classes because when I got here, about a year ago, I didn't know much about school systems here but I know I'd do a great performance if I were taking them. I'm not involved in any extracurricular activities but I like to play soccer and snowboarding, even though I've only done it once :-P. I'm very passionate about animals too. Never taken any ACT or SAT but will do soon.
As a kid I always dreamt about being a chemist and I still would like to become one.
I want to major on chemical engineering and would like to get admitted in MIT but I want to see if the chances of me getting admitted there are below or above of what I think they are.</p>
<p>So, let me know what is your opinion and tips and advices would be greatly appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>From everything you said above, I can see that you might have the potential (to do something well), but you HAVEN’T achieved something significant yet. But you know, MIT likes those who have the potential & make the most use of their available conditions and take any chance to do something great. If you want to be a chemist, so do something to show that you really are passionate about chemistry.
Good luck.</p>
<p>MIT is a fantastic place filled with passionate and intelligent people. If you like MIT, you should apply. It’s kind of a crapshoot as to whether or not you get in, of course, but you have nothing to lose but the application fee and the mount of time that it takes to fill out the application. You should do things because you love them, not because you want to get into college. If you do things that you love and you are honest with yourself and with universities, you will end up in the right place for you. Whether that’s MIT or not is kind of irrelevant - and trust me, if this is not the right place for you, you don’t actually want to go here.</p>
<p>^ I think that’s pretty helpful. But personally, I think that’s just the way that people who are accepted perceive. There are many people out there who are ready to follow their passion till the end, but still don’t get in. Applying to colleges like MIT, I believe, has to be proving that you are the right match to them. I do mean “proving”. Loving is not enough. When you love MIT and MIT loves you, that’s great romance. When you love MIT and MIT doesn’t love you, that’s just unilateral love - and you know how it will end.</p>
<p>I think I need to make it clearer. I totally agree with K4r3n2, the first step must be following your passion: everything is about your life, not just about getting a place in a college. Loving the universities you want to apply to is included. This is why I said,“If you want to be a chemist, so do something to show that you really are passionate about chemistry.”</p>
<p>But you won’t want your passion be faded out just because of a word “rejected”, right? Then you have to know what MIT wants from you. You cannot show everything in just 1, or 5, or 100 pages of the application. You have to know what should be put in the valuable space provided. But you cannot lie. So you have to prepare (you have already started that, IlichR). This is why I said, “I can see that you might have the potential (to do something well), but you HAVEN’T achieved something significant yet. But you know, MIT likes those who have the potential & make the most use of their available conditions and take any chance to do something great.”</p>
<p>In short, enjoy the journey of applying and be wise.</p>
<p>^ Ok, the wrong answer is ‘go out and win an international chemistry competition’ or ‘discover a new element’. Many, MANY people get into MIT without a token ‘hook’, as people on college forums like to call it. If you want to get into MIT, great. Do the things you love - and if you’re a good match, the things you love will be awesome and fascinating and you’ll write wonderful essays about them and gain admission. Otherwise, you’ll go somewhere else.</p>
<p>Seriously, there is no magic formula, there is no cheat code. Every year, there are Siemens and Intel winners and 2400s and 4.0s and valedictorians and Math Campers and all sorts of other people who are rejected, and lots of perfectly ‘normal’ kids get in. It is a very difficult and mature thing to do to be able to step back from the college admissions process and say “I trust myself, and I trust these admissions committees, and both of us will make the right decision in the end,” but this is what you should endeavor to do.</p>
<p>Of course, I have been told that I am a little more zen in this regard than the vast majority of high school seniors are capable of being.</p>
<p>To the OP:
I don’t think we have enough information to tell you whether or not you could thrive at MIT. It sounds as if you’ve recently arrived in the U.S. from abroad. You haven’t taken any honors or AP courses, and you haven’t taken any standardized tests. Most colleges and universities look at your grade-point-average (gpa) in the context of the rigor of your coursework. In other words, to see whether you’d do well in college, they look to see whether you have done well in honors or AP courses.</p>
<p>You can address this in an essay. Explain that you are new to this country and this why you selected to enroll in regular classes. An essay like this, matched with very high test scores on the SAT or ACT and a couple of subject tests, should work to demonstrate that you are well prepared. But at this point, without knowing your scores, it’s impossible to say anything about the sort of school that might be possible for you.</p>
<p>If you’ve always “dreamt about being a chemist,” then it would make perfect sense for you to join a science club or try to find a research project and enter a local science fair. The latter would be a great experience, and I highly recommend it. </p>
<p>I agree with K4r3n2 that no one can predict who will get into MIT and who won’t, and that your best course is to follow your passions, but I also find myself agreeing with 12pm12’s point, that there are definitely steps you can take to prepare. I’ve attended FOUR MIT admissions sessions over the past four years, and when my daughter was a high-school sophomore, Matt McGann said (in the auditorium at Monta Vista High School, Cupertino) that it was important, not just to say you love math and science, but to really show it in the application. That made an impression on my daughter at the time, and you could say that from that point on, she took some deliberate steps to demonstrate a love of math and science (along the lines of 12pm12’s recommendations). You could also say that she was already a math-science-art geek, so this wasn’t difficult at all (which is what K4r3n2’s post emphasizes).</p>
<p>The question you should ask yourself is: “Will I thrive at a top U.S. university? How can I find out if I will?” You can find out by taking one or two courses at the local community college, if not this year, then over the summer. You can find out when you receive your test scores back, and you can also learn alot more about your aptitude for science by undertaking some research this year.</p>
<p>@k4r3n2:
“I trust myself, and I trust these admissions committees, and both of us will make the right decision in the end”
If you are in, great, the belief is strengthened. But if not, I doubt you will still keep that in your mind. I’m talking about how to maintain the passion through the arduous (and enjoyable) applying process. Life is not just simply about loving and doing stuff. One failure may hold you back.</p>
<p>The history cannot be rewritten. But if it could be, then many would have done much better if they were accepted. Only when you are in the best conditions can your ability be flourished. No one wants to miss their chance to reach the farthest, right?</p>
<p>On the other hand, no one wants to waste $75 and valuable time on nothing, for example. One who gets 1900 SAT may not try to apply to CalTech, since the chance is too low (if everything I’ve heard of CalTech is right). Knowing which path to be taken always gives good chance to succeed.</p>
<p>So besides dreaming, I think we have to remember that there is reality.</p>
<p>@IlichR: I agree with CalAlum that you should take some courses at some college (but if you are confident enough to do small researches on your own, then go for it ). However, about CalAlum’s advice on essays, I think it’s still early to think of that. Just keep your mind fresh, do things you love and gather information about schools. Things about the application will come at the right time :)</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies! I know that dreaming is not enough but I was just saying how much I like chemistry and math.
I know that numbers is not all there is to a person but I’m pretty sure they look good on an application. My gpa is between 3.5 and 4.0 if I remember correctly but it’s mostly classes like english and art that bring it down.
It’s not that I decided to join regular classes but since I didn’t know anything when I got here, when I was talking to my counselor while she was making my schedule if she said something I was just like ‘‘ok’’ in a very shy style; that I’m starting to regret because I feel I’m not being challenged enough, but when I went to tell her about this she said that I’d have to wait till next year to change my schedule because she can’t do it in the middle of a semester.
I’ve been researching about taking ap classes online I tomorrow I’ll talk to my counselor about it to see if she knows anything about it.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your time and replies, greatly appreciated. :)</p>
<p>get your school to administer USNCO, the national chem olympiad. Then, don’t wait for a class to teach you stuff. Go and study it on your own.</p>
<p>@Karen, what do you have against competitions? I like math, I like bio, and I like winning. Isn’t the logical thing to do self study and do contests?</p>
<p>@MeSSiah: The thought of participating TO WIN will simply “kill” you in the future. Think a little further. Will u be sure that winning an Olympiad contests will make you become a candidate for Nobel or Field Medal Prize?Not at all. If you don’t have the true passion, you get nothing later on with those medals, except the moment of glory, and maybe bragging to your friends. Just my two cents thought:)</p>
). However, about CalAlum’s advice on essays, I think it’s still early to think of that. Just keep your mind fresh, do things you love and gather information about schools. Things about the application will come at the right time :)</p>