<p>I was just wondering what a good ACT score was for MIT (other than the perfect score of 36), in other words, What is the lowest possible score that is considered "good enough" for MIT.</p>
<p>One more question, if you take the ACT do you have to take SAT subject tests too?</p>
<p>Have you even looked at the MIT admissions site?</p>
<p>[Tests</a> & Scores | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/tests]Tests”>Tests & scores | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>That does provide a lot of information, but the data does have a few exceptions (like people getting selected, who got ACT composite scores <32, i.e. The probability of getting selected suddenly drops below an ACT score of 30).</p>
<p>I was wondering what an ideal score might be in context to the overall application (like excellent EC’s with a GPA slightly above average, or, a great GPA with decent EC’s)</p>
<p>My second question I guess, has been answered (Yes we have to take the subject tests even if we take the ACT).</p>
<p>Most people aren’t familiar with the percentiles on the ACT. </p>
<p>However, generally you should shoot for 750+ on the SAT subsections; MIT says they consider SAT scores 700+ to be roughly equivalent. So whatever the equivalent to that in ACT is what they are looking for; I’d guess it is somewhere around 34.</p>
<p>As for the great vs. decent GPA, a decent GPA for MIT is straight A’s with one to two B’s in non math/science subjects and preferably having the B’s early in the high school career rather than late. Yes, they do take people with worse than that, but you really place pressure on the other parts of your application and/or your essay to come off favorably. For instance, there was a girl who used to post on here who overloaded herself by self-studying AP’s and ended up getting a lot of B’s in the ones she was actually taking; she did have really high SAT scores and got a special award for performing well on AP exams. She did still get in. There are others on here who got an occasional “B” in math of science and they still got in, but I don’t recommend trying it. The run-of-the-mill applicant is a val/sal with 1500/1600 SAT scores and some very nice ECs.</p>
<p>At the Admissions Talk, they said: SAT’s in the 700’s and ACT’s in the 30’s qualify you. They also said the average SAT/ACT score is lower for the admitted pool than for the applicant pool (they are not taking the highest scoring people). More A’s than B’s. More vowels than consonants. You don’t want to be able to spell any words.</p>
<p>Think of grades/test scores as qualifying you to be seriously considered (gets your foot in the door). The rest is what you have done with your talents (pushes open the door). Everyone has to push hard. Some have to push harder than others (if you have a small crack, you need to make a more forceful case). And, sometimes, being ingenious about how you push can make the difference.</p>
just wanted to say that this thread is great. i appreciate everyone here
33+ ACT will get your application looked at, assuming you don’t have major spikes and hooks.
@IN4655 . . . would you consider what OperaDad said to be false? Just curious!
@needachachabeat What OperaDad is true… if you have major spikes and hooks. If your not a legacy, URM, first generation, athlete, some other major hook, or cured cancer (insert some other supppper impressive EC’s), you need to be 25th percentile scores to have a chance of acceptance. If you do have these other factors, then you need at least a 1400+ SAT and 30+ ACT to be considered (only athletes and fine arts kids who do auditions and stuff will get into schools below these marks for top 10 or so selective schools, albeit there will be a few extremely rare exceptions to these rules for each school every year).
What OperaDad said is either true or false depending on who you are and your hooks.
@IN4655:
I didn’t see OperaDad mention anything about hooks or legacy.
Are you implying they are taken into consideration when applying to MIT?
@jpm50 They are taken into consideration when you apply to practically any college.
Closing 3 year old thread. I assume the OP is in college by now.