If you have excellent grades, SAT scores, lots of activities and extra curriculars, many community service hours, very high grades in mathematics courses accelerated by 2 years, many honors/AP courses, and talent in violin (like being the top 5 in the state), can that get you into MIT?
The reason I’m asking, is this is the kind of person I will most likely be. In fact I already have grades around a 95, and even that’s expected to go up to a 97/8 once I get some things fixed. I AM taking mathematics accelerated by 2 years, I’m taking 5 honors courses this year, Mathematics Honors, Physics Honors, World History Honors, Symphony Strings Honors, and Chamber Orchestra Honors. I also (please don’t take this as bragging) have excellent talent in violin and got concert-master (means #1 player) for the Northern Regional MIddle School CT orchestra and scored a perfect 302/302 for that audition too. I’m involved in so many clubs and activities: science olympiad, robotics team, math contest, chamber orchestra, taekwondo, and chess. I’m also planning on many service hours. For SAT scores, I’m aiming on at least a 2200, however a 2000 or a 2100 is not bad at all. In fact, the average SAT score for MIT students is 2083. The lowest SAT score that was accepted in the past 7 years is someone with a 1910!
So my final question is, will this give me a good chance of getting into MIT. I know I’m only a freshman and you may say, “How do you know you will have all this,” but what I mean is IF I do, does that give me a good chance? Also please remember I’m so far planning on majoring in mathematics as this is my absolute strongest and favorite course. I really like mathematics and I’m really good at it too. Science is second in line after mathematics. Of course this can change but as of now, that’s how it is.
First of all - good on you for setting your sights on a hard target and figuring out what you can do to pursue that goal.
Second of all - my advice? Get help. Meaning - have you spoken with your school counselor and are they the good type who can help you lay out a plan for getting into a top school? We had kids from the public high school my son is just starting at get into Harvard, Yale and a few other top schools - and those kids were totally dialed into relationships with strong school counselors.
Also try checking books - e.g., the equivalent of “Getting into top schools for Dummies” - there may even be a book with that title. THere are TONS of books out there that very practically spell out what it takes and how you can position yourself. Do some research.
I have to go - gotta help my son with some studying! - but you are smart to try to think this through and I suspect there is a lot of research and information you can get by using the resources of your school and library…Best of luck!!
You seem smart enough to know that there is no factual answer for this.
Frankly, this comes off as a 'look at me!" post.
Yeah. You’re an awesome, well-rounded student. But, you also come off as a braggert. Careful with the horn tooting and keep hitting the books and you’ll have as good a chance as anybody.
When you look at the super-competitive schools, the best thing you can say is that is nothing on your anticipated application that would cause you to be rejected. However, that is different than ensuring you will be accepted. There are very few people who are virtually assured of getting into MIT or the other super-competitive schools. Perfectly qualified students get rejected from Harvard and MIT every year. They don’t owe anyone a special explanation of why you might be rejected either. Sometimes it is just a fluke that you can’t do anything about.
If I read your question correctly, you are from Connecticut and likely either Asian or White. Are you male or female? White and Asian students, especially males, from the Northeast, aren’t necessarily discriminated against when it comes to MIT admissions but they aren’t actively looking for any more of them either because that pool is plenty deep already. It might be better if you were from North Dakota or part of a group that isn’t so well represented there.
Echoing Smeghead, you haven’t given any quantitative negatives to go on. If you max out all of the stats the way you outline, then why wouldn’t you have that same shot at MIT as everyone else with those maxed-out stats?
On the opinion side: if you already know what school you want to go to, and you’re only 14 years old, then you might be thinking about things incorrectly. You will learn a lot in the next four years (for instance, that “science” isn’t a major) and that there are a variety of schools that are as mathematical and scientific as MIT and that these all have different “flavors” that you will need to research. By the time you graduate, you might decide you don’t want to live in the Boston area and would rather try out the west coast, or maybe something overseas. Or maybe the differences in music opportunities become more/less important. Or maybe you really like your senior biology class and want to go somewhere with different biology offereings. Who knows? Anyway, there’s no need to rush into a specific path at this point. Just keep up the good work, but keep your options open until you can’t anymore (like, three years from now, when you have to start applying to places).
My nephew was all of that (including the violin) plus being an Eagle Scout.
He got into MIT on a soccer scholarship.
The moral of this story is that no matter how good you are, when you apply to a super selective university like MIT, other applicants are just as good, so there are no guarantees.
Universities use admissions metrics which are almost impossible to know unless you work in the admissions department of the particular U. One thing to keep in mind is that there are some “quotas” for lack of a better term. If there are other students in the Northeast/CT region who also apply to MIT and are equally as impressive as you it makes it tougher. But you really can’t know, admissions is a fairly complicated process based just as much on everyone else applying as it is on you.
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. There are plenty of excellent schools out there. MIT is a wonderful place, but not perfect for everyone. Always have a backup plan. Or two.
Good luck and don’t burn out. Make choices that reflect your interests and skills and curiosities, not what you think will impress MIT admissions.
I agree with the first point and extremely disagree with the second.
So I am going to rain on the OP’s parade. “I’m also planning on many service hours.” is the biggest piece of crap and against the entire point of the acceptance process as well as “I’m involved in so many clubs and activities: science olympiad, robotics team, math contest, chamber orchestra, taekwondo, and chess.” This is not differentiating yourself. This is making you appear like another member of the herd.
It is clear to me that you are simply bolstering your resume/college application. I questions how in depth are any of these “clubs”? and your participation in them?
“Symphony Strings Honors, and Chamber Orchestra Honors. I also (please don’t take this as bragging) have excellent talent in violin and got concert-master (means #1 player) for the Northern Regional MIddle School CT orchestra and scored a perfect 302/302 for that audition too” all equals “I play violin well, but only compared to local talent. I have never traveled to compete against either Boston or NYC talent, however.”
You want to know how to get into MIT? Do all of your resume polishing clubs and then play a high school sport. and do it competitively. There aren’t that many good athletes applying to MIT and it would make you different. It would also show that you can be a good team player, work well with others, and juggle a true time commitment along with your schoolwork.
Or else move out of CT and to Wyoming (or some other upper plains state). From Wyoming, your qualifications might get you in from somewhere less competitive.
Everyone else who applies early is demonstrating the same ambition.
Two points to keep in mind:
As mentioned above, the greatest resume in the world cannot guarantee you admission to MIT. There are so many people with so many great capabilities that they have to be selective, and will look at the full picture not just of you, but of all of the other applicants to produce a diverse, interesting student body.
Picking only a single school and concentrating all of your efforts on getting into that one place is a recipe for disappointment. One of the most heartbreaking articles I ever read, that has haunted me for many years, was about a young man who desperately wanted to attend MIT and did everything possible to make it. When he didn’t get in, he basically gave up on his education, because it was MIT or nothing for him. Don’t be that guy. Your goal should be to be as well-educated as possible, and to pursue the career you want, whatever school you attend. Also, it’s probably not in your mind now, but it’s frequently pointed out on the Dope that in the sciences, your graduate degree generally counts for far more than your undergraduate degree. You can get a good basic liberal arts education, and then go on to study science in more depth at the best school for your subject.
The bottom line is that the goals you set out in your OP are admirable, but you should work on them in order to learn as much as you can, not to set yourself up to attend MIT.
Okay look, it shows that I’m involved in so many things, yet I can keep my grades up extremely high. As you know, violin is huge for me. And I did travel around to other places. I just went with my orchestra from the Hartt School on a weekend trip a few days ago to play in an assistant living facility for the seniors. So Symphony Strings Honors, Chamber Orchestra Honors, Opus 89 (from Hartt School), and Regional/State orchestras are just a part of my violin. You also know that I’m really good at mathematics (or you should), so Math Contest is also a very relevant activity. I also said that Science is second in line after math for me too, so Science Olympiad and Robotics team will really show that. And the Robotics Team from my town scored in the top 5 in the state last year. People from other towns come to my town for Robotics. That’s how good are team is. I’m going to be doing electrical engineering and I also plan on becoming a leader of this club when I’m a Junior/Senior. Same kind of thing with Science Olympiad. My town has a great reputation for Science Olympiad as well. TaeKwonDo is just an exercise and it’s considered a SPORT!!! You told me to do a sport and TaeKwonDo IS a sport. Chess is something I do for fun and it also looks good because chess is a very intellectual game, and I achieve some sort of respectable rating like 1800-2000 USCF, that might look good as well.
This also shows well-roundedness which is exactly what they’re looking for. They want an all-rounder (this is not fake, the counselors at our school said this). And our school is not crappy. It’s ranked 10th in the state! It even got into the top 250 one year for the whole nation. It’s considered a great, difficult school.
The community service, I agree does sound a little fishy, but again they WANT that. How do you not know that colleges want you to do lots of community service.
Community service, lots of activities, and excellent grades in tough classes/SAT’s show that you’re extremely capable. And they say, “Well that’s what everyone’s like that’s applying.” But my violin talent is the “extra”. They want something beyond that. And I’m making a case for violin as my “extraordinary”. I heard one time that someone applied for Harvard and they got a “maybe”. Then they sent in a recording of them playing and they got an instant acceptance 3 days later. A call from Harvard!
Of course, I’m not ONLY looking into MIT while it is my #1 choice. I’m looking at other Ivy’s too. I’ll probably apply for Princeton, Yale, and Harvard too. MIT is my first choice due to its excellent mathematical field. I only want to get into Ivy’s, nothing less, unless that school has an excellent mathematics department that’s ranked at least in the top 10 for the nation.
I don’t see what the problem is, why you object so much to what I said. I’m not trying to brag either. I’m trying to show you my stats so YOU can make a judgment for whether or not I look like a competitive applicant for MIT.
It isn’t a hard thing to guess based on the fact that the OP is from that particular part of Connecticut and didn’t mention any details about being part of another demographic group despite an insane amount of detail about everything else.
I may be Sherlock Holmes or I may be completely off-base.
Based on the writing, I deduce the OP is a white or Asian male from a wealthy part of New England and that is very relevant to the question.
He/she can confirm or correct me on that if I am wrong.
Young grasshopper, you have to lay off the Red Bull a little. Undergraduate school is important but it only lasts a few years. I went to one of the worst high schools you will ever find, went to a great undergraduate school, and still made it in to an Ivy League Ph.D program (Dartmouth; I never finished because I didn’t like research science as much as I thought I would). I went on to do other things in IT after that with good success.
You will be able to get into lots of great schools and MIT may be the one that eventually works out as your best match but you can’t know that now because you are too young. One thing the U.S. is littered with is great colleges coast to coast and the specific choice of a particular school among otherwise similar alternatives hardly ever makes or breaks someone.
Sure, you might get into MIT or Harvard based on what you said but that isn’t actually the overall goal. It is just the starting point. You seem to be making the mistake of sacrificing breadth and superficial qualifications for depth and passion. The latter is much more important.
You are only one person so you will eventually need to pick the few things that matter most and focus on those. Taking a shotgun approach now can help you figure it out but it isn’t the only way and college admissions committees don’t necessarily view application padding activities as favorably as you might think. It is best to pick only the things you are really interested in long-term and stick with those.
When you get to be a little older, you could offer any local professors some help with research although your duties may be mundane at first. That is the absolute best way to get into academic science and math if that is really want you want to do.
Bolding added by me. Note that MIT isn’t an Ivy League school. And there are many other fine schools that also aren’t in the Ivy League. And as others said, graduate school is a bigger deal than undegraduate school in the sciences.
You sound like a top-notch applicant. But here’s the reality - a lot of top-notch applicants apply to MIT and the Ivy Leagues. So it isn’t a guaranteed acceptance.
MIT accepts only 9.7% of the students who apply for admission. Princeton accepts only 8.5%; Yale only 7.7%; and Harvard only 6.3%.
So the odds are high. You need to figure out something that will make you stand out.
