What should I do? (Revived)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Haha, I'm the second on MIT's board. I feel special now. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?8/8%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?8/8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Revived. </p>

<p>
[quote]

Looking at other people's credentials when they ask 'What are my chances' scares me to heck. Luckily for me, I'm a junior. There's time yet.</p>

<p>First, my school. Small town, very small school...400 people this year; not in my class - in the entire high school. Did I mention we're underfunded? Still, I should consider myself lucky. I was in the last Calculus class as a sophomore, 2nd semester, before they terminated it (there were only four students in it anyways). Science classes - we have the standard freshman science course, bio, chem, and physics. That's it. No AP, no bio II, no chem II, nothing.</p>

<p>As far as extracurriculars go...I'm not really a sports person and don't have time for those, anyways. We don't have a whole lot of non extracurricular activies...I was in band (but missed sophomore year due to schedule conflicts) and mock trials last year, I'll try for the same this year but being in it takes out time for all other EC activites, pretty much.</p>

<p>Academically...let's just say it's not what you'd call challenging. At the end of last year I was slacking horribly by my standards and got straight A's. <em>roll</em></p>

<p>But there are people around here that take thirteen AP courses by the time they finish high school. Thirteen! They talk about IB as well, which I haven't a clue what it is, and list their 1600 SAT and 750+ in five SAT II categories, as well as a SLEW of AP 4's and 5's. There are people who organized nonprofit organizations and do laboratory research.</p>

<p>How the heck am I able to stand out? Their academic profile is obviously superior to mine. In a class of around 90, I'm ranked second (bah...I believe I'm close though) but haven't a single AP course. The only thing remotely good about my academic profile thus far is a mediocre 223 (66-80-77; V-M-W) last year on my PSATs.</p>

<p>What should I do? How can I possibly atone for all the EC's I'm lacking, all the nonprofit organizations I didn't found, all the hours of laboratory research I didn't do, all the AP courses I didn't take? How would I go about building a solid all-around profile for MIT?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Awesome! BBCode!</p>

2

<p>If it's true that only odd number posters get accepted...uhm...I'll post again. </p>

<p>Haha, j/k...</p>

3

<p>I'll reply to your last post on the old board, and hopefully give incentive to other posters to reply. I think this is an important topic because not everyone who deserves to be at MIT has 800*5 and an unweighted 4.0.</p>

<p>To answer your question - nope, I'm in the same boat as you. We're both trying to get in (though I'm applying this season). :) Thus, take my thoughts with the proverbial grain of NaCl... but know that I've devoted the past few months to learning more about MIT, their application process, and what kind of students they are looking for. I think I fit the mold, even if I'm not the sharpest pencil on a Saturday morning :D. Again, I'm sure other people will have their own interpretations and input to add. Also remember that the class size is roughly 1000 (?), and the relatively small percentage of that pool which posts on this site isn't necessarily representative of the broader admit pool. Don't become too intimidated by all these people flaunting their scores. :) They just might find something interesting about you.</p>

<p>I bet there is something out there MIT-ish (besides installing more RAM :D) that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Remember that there is a 100-word short answer portion asking you what you do "for the pleasure of it". Talk about badminton here if you want, and show them how much you enjoy it. :) Anyway, you mentioned that you just like MIT, and that's fine, too. A lot of cool things go on there. One thing you could do is to take an interest in some sort of specialized campus activity or aspect of the community, and somehow work this into your essay or optional responses. You also said you don't want to major in anything computer-related. That's fine - think about what you might (tentatively) be interested in, and think about why MIT is the best place for you to further this interest. Relate these reasons to them in the application with a unique spin, if you wish. If worse comes to worse, go to MIT (you live nearby) and see if you can speak with a counselor before all the EA applications roll in. They'll be swamped when that happens, I suspect. :)</p>

4

<p>BTW - not having any AP classes shouldn't hurt you if your school didn't offer them. MIT wants to see that you've challenged yourself to the extent possible in your environment. If your school doesn't offer AP classes, then show them how you made the best use of what you DID have. :)</p>

5

<p>If you decide that not having some AP scores on your application is just bugging you too much, consider self-studying for the one or two exams and then taking the tests somewhere other than at your high school (assuming they won't accomodate your wish to take the exams).</p>

<p>My kid's situation is different from your in that they are homeschoolers, but they routinely seld-study for the AP exams and then check with area highschools and are allowed to take the tests. I think they've been to five different schools for AP exams.</p>

<p>Since you can score all A's while "slacking" the AP tests should be no big deal for you: you're obviously very smart. I also suggest that you pick AP subjects that you find really interesting for your self-study, so that you can keep yourself on track through the year.</p>

<p>Self-studying for APs and taking the tests at another school will probably be seen as signs of (highly desirable) intellectual curiousity and initiative, both of which are prized at MIT. It would be better, IMHO, to get one or two 5s than a larger number of 4s.</p>

6

<p>Hey, LSA, thanks. Makes me feel better. Yeah, I talked to my guidance counselor about a lot of things today; we're too poor to maintain both our college program (with a community college; I for one fail to see the difference between the College program and the normal, non-honors program, at least in Chemistry)...</p>

<p>I'm considering self-studying for AP Calculus, although I'll have to make up a lot of work for that. I've only covered half the curriculum, roughly guessing. My school just doesn't have very high standards...I have two hours of homework a night, at worst. It's a joke. </p>

<p>Thanks for the tips.</p>

7

<p>Zoogies, I can tall you about some computer-based materials easily available to help you self-study for Calc AB and BC--really excellent and cheap. My son is using them because his high school has terrible math courses and none at all past Calc AB. I don't think I'm allowed to post the company name or website here (??), so I guess you'd have to e-mail me for that. But if you want the info, I'm very happy to share it.</p>

8

<p>Don't worry! Another "without chances" guy here!</p>

<p>My class is 17, ONLY 17!! My school doesn't rank. I hadn't even heard what AP, IB etc. are, before I joined this discuddion. My town is very little (about 1500 residents), nearest city - 50 miles away. No Internet, no phone, no EVERYTHING!! What an opportunity to be admitted in MIT! </p>

<p>My EC's are awful. To be more exact, there is nothing at all. Am I a bad student? NO.
I take every, I swear, every opportunity, that my school and community offer me.</p>

<p>But does MIT take these circumstances into account? As for my view, no. And it hurts my chances very, very crucially.</p>

9

<p>GreenStorm, how do you get onto this college discussion w/o internet connection or a phone?</p>

10

<p>Ctymomteacher, would you? I would greatly appreciate it. If you can email it to me <a href="mailto:zoogies@gmail.com">zoogies@gmail.com</a> that would be great.</p>

<p>GreenStorm, yeah, how do you do internet without an internet connection?</p>

11

<p>Through 'Internet Cafe' . I mean "no internet at home"!!</p>

12

<p>GreenStorm, are you international?</p>

13

<p>Good to see that there are others like myself who have not much but hope hehehehe
After reading this I might try just for the hell of it and hope for that 0.0000001% chance of admission.</p>

14

<p>Yes, LSA, I'm international from Russia, from its most undeveloped part!</p>

15

<p>Bump (Thanks for the Email by the way)</p>

16

<p>You have to remember that most people aren't insane like the people you read about here. Most of the people I know here didn't go to imo, they didn't go to rsi. I know I didnt. Actually, lots of the people I met even because of cc are not like that. </p>

<p>What separated us from the rest of the applicants was our dedication, motivation, in a sense, our passion. Every day I sit in class with people who truly care about something, </p>

<p>You have to remember that some of the things that you think are dreadfully horrible can be used to your advantage. </p>

<p>my stats: 1430, 3.8 unweighted, 14/500, 800, 720, 680. One major ec...
I'm not a perfect stat, but know what's great? here at mit, no one cares once you get in.</p>

17

<p>Great post :)</p>