What do I need to be working on?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I'm just trying to get a feel for colleges right now...I'm not sure at all where I want to go. I've read about the attitude at MIT and it sounds like an awesome school. But I don't really know if I have any chance of being accepted. (One of my weakest areas is math; how important is this?) Here's my basic info:</p>

<p>I'm a white, female, middle-class junior at a public school. </p>

<p>I have all A's on my transcript except for B's in Algebra I, giving me a 4.7 GPA. This puts me in the top 10%, and probably even top 5%. This is of a class of somewhere around 700-800. </p>

<p>SAT Reasoning:
Math 630 (Eek, I know. <em>Must</em> get this up. I plan to retake in June, and again later if that doesn't do much.)
Reading 740
Writing 750</p>

<p>I haven't taken any SAT II's yet. </p>

<p>Last year I made a 5 on the AP World History exam. This year I took the English Lang, US Hist, and Comp Sci. A exams. (Scores not yet in.) Next year I plan to take AP Art, Eco and Govt (not sure exactly which ones yet...), Calculus, CompSci AB, and Eng Lit.</p>

<p>Clubs: (no leadership positions o.O)
-Humanities Club
-Art Club
-National Honor Society
-The "Meaning of Life" Club (Maybe we should come up with a better title? :D I don't know if this counts. Outside of school club, just several of my friends and I. We choose a book, essay, or article and discuss. Usually gets into philosophy/religion/psychology)</p>

<p>Additional EC activities
-Awarded scholarship (8 poeple chosen out of the surrounding area) to participate in ACT Glassell program (art)
-Several awards in art contests (4's at VASE, Silver Key in Scholastic)
-Participated in Rice's CompSci camp</p>

<p>Am I on the right track for a school like MIT? Or am I merely average? (I won't be offended if that's the truth :) ) What should I be doing in the meantime?</p>

<p>Thanks for any feedback!
-Stacy</p>

2

<p>Good job on everything! It's really hard to be "above average" when speaking of people who apply to MIT, or any other selective school. More importantly, you want to demonstrate how you are "unique," or how you can benefit MIT or benefit from MIT in ways others cannot (does not necessarily have to be academic), I would say, which really comes into play when you are filling out your app.</p>

<p>People who apply to MIT are generally stronger in hard sciences, but there is no problem being stronger in the humanities. The only advice I can give is try to get that SAT Math score to the level of your other scores. Also, try to take your nonmath SAT II ASAP, preferably in one of your AP subjects, so you dont have to study twice and still will score high (I suggest US Hist). As for the Math SAT II, I suggest you take the Level 2, as grading is far more lenient on that one; study and you'll be fine.</p>

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<p>I got a 640 math and 740 critical reading. Math is my strongest subject.</p>

<p>So SAT Reasoning Test scores don't necessarily correlate with strength in a subject.</p>

4

<p>Remember that applicants are currently required to take two SAT II Subject Tests, one in Math and one in a Science (Physics, Biology, or Chemistry). The sooner you can get those out of the way, the better. If you decide to take a third SAT II, such as US History as suggested by lowofo, that's fine, but you are required to take a Math and a Science to be considered for admission. There is still time to register late for the June 3 SATs, if you're willing to pay a late fee.</p>

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<p>mootmom:</p>

<p>Ah yes, requirements have changed. I still recommend the US Hist SAT II, though, as many other colleges might require it.</p>

<p>Perplexitudinous:</p>

<p>You're right: SAT scores hardly correlate to anything. But I was speaking of strength as in strength on the SATs.</p>

6

<p>My friend,</p>

<p>First of all, Good luck!</p>

<p>All in all I think those stats aren't bad at all. Do try to get up that math score.. But then again, I had 640 in reading and 610 in writing (I did the SAT's only once) and still made it to top copmuter science schools (MIT, Stanf, CMU). So I just guess SAT's aren't that important to schools of such calliber as MIT.</p>

<p>What I would recomend you to do is focus on your essays. With all those EC's you do I'm sure you will have enough inspiration to find an interesting/original essay subject.
Start working right now on them. To give you an idea of how I did mine:
First I looked for a good (by which I mean, focused, interesting, original) subject/anecdote for the essay. I wrote a first draft where I only described the anecdote.
Then (this was the loooong and most important part) I started looking for elements which would reveal something about myself/my character/etc and how to insert it in the essay. At this point I did not take into account the 500w limit. Just write as much as needed.
The last part to do, and perhaps the most interesting, is to start reducing what you wrote to the 500w limit. At this point you can start looking at style, ask for "professional help" (litterature teacher, etc), use some smart language "turnures", etc</p>

<p>Since you went to Yale summer comp sci camp, I assume that you're most interested in CS. Me too! Well, so look, try to get some more "professional" experience. Try to get some research done (which isn't always easy though), join some open source project and code something for them, design some website for your school, etc... Something like that, you know.</p>

<p>Hope to see you next year at MIT!</p>

<p>My best,
Dimitri</p>

<p>(PM if you have questons)</p>