Yet Another Worried Student

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hello,
I recently applied to the Research Science Institute at MIT and was, unfortunately, rejected. In addition, I have been getting mostly B's this year (I am a Junior in all AP courses), while sophomore year I got B's and A's and I had all A's before that. I did well enough on my PSATs (I qualified for National Merit) and I just today took the SATs (which, I must say, seemed poorly crafted). Finally, I am dropping orchestra to take Music Theory (not AP) even though I would be first chair if I stayed in.</p>

<p>My question is: Are these bad signs? Am I slowly slipping away from that academic pantheon that calls itself MIT?</p>

<p>I apologize for asking such a trite and soporific question, but I would greatly appreciate the opinion of an MIT student.</p>

<p>Thank you,
Tenniskh89</p>

<p>Post Scriptum -- How much does telling your interviewer about your ideas for inventions and philosophies account for in the acceptance process?</p>

<p>Post Post Scriptum -- How much do colleges value focusing in on one area of interest versus a variety? I have heard countless advisors and teachers warn not to do a wide assortment of things because it seems like one would be doing such random things to get into college. However, I do have a wide array of interests, including engineering, photography, and (gasp!) writing, and I want to take a photography or writing course this summer, but would this hurt my chances of acceptance? I hate doing things just for college, but sometimes it seems necessary, and I do not want colleges to get the impression that I'm doing these things just for extracurriculars.</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>Plenty of people who didn't get accepted into RSI do get accepted into MIT.</p></li>
<li><p>Do whatever makes you happy, no matter what it is. If you're doing it because you're psyched, admissions committees will be able to see that.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>Thank you very much for your response.....did you answer one of my posts before? I feel like you did. If you did, thank you for answering that one as well, and if you didn't, then I'm still thankful for your response.</p>

<p>Best of Luck, whoever you may be,
Tenniskh89</p>

4

<p>You cannot prepare for MIT. You cannot make yourself the perfect student <em>for</em> MIT.</p>

<p>Just do what you love and enjoy and maybe the Admissions Gods will think that you are a good fit for the Institute. Just don't work too hard... the whole process seems like a crapshoot if you try and aim for any one school O_O</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

5

<p><em>shrugs</em> I got into MIT and was rejected from RSI... I got into WTP though, so I still spent the summer at MIT. </p>

<p>It's different admissions committees, don't worry about it. If MIT is meant to happen for you, it'll happen. Go find a bunch of schools to fall in love with just in case. :)</p>