SUPER CRITICAL QUESTION: Do You Think I'll Get Into MIT, judging from what I've done?
My Academic Profile Thus Far:
Status: age 17, senior next month
Class Rank of 120: #1
GPA: 3.94
Average Grade in all courses: A
Activities: Student Council, lots of volunteer hours
Advaced Courses: Dual-Credit College Classes (All A's)
SAT scores: did okay (around 2700)
ACT scores: not yet
Career: Biological Engineering
Other: Instructors have complemented that I am a good leader, student, and example for others.
Special Fact: Could possibly graduate with an Associate Degree of Science from all the dual credit classes I've taken.
I've tried my best and have much to learn about myself and the world, but I still feel that I'm missing something.
Please, if anyone can help me to point out something that's missing in my profile so far. Greatly appreciate it.
Answer:
To be honest, I don't really think you have enough. It seems like you are solid enough on your grades and classes, but it is unclear on your extracurriculars and awards. I had a 4.33 GPA and was #1, had As in every single class, had the equivalent of 1510 on the old SAT, (they added a new section afterwards) with a 33 ACT, 800 Math SAT II, 780 Chemistry SAT II and 720 Physics SAT II. I was captain of the varsity cross country team and ran varsity track. Received All City track and Cross Country awards. Had multiple art awards. Captain of Chess team and Science Olympiad - Won multiple regional medals, with several top 10 rankings at state. I was All-State in Math and on the ARML team for Ohio. I rountinely ranked in the top 20 in the state in math competitions at my grade level. I received State-wide recognition for Space Science and participated in several summer programs for math and science. I completed AP Physics as a sophomore and AP BC Calculus as a junior with the highest score in my school on both tests. I also had a 5 on AP Chemistry and American History test.
it takes more then that.
alot of other kids fit the bill.
you have to ace the essay part of the application.
you have got to ace the s.a.t.
what do you have that makes you stand out?
You should be fine.
Please be humble when you get in and earn a degree. One of my friends, who graduated from MIT, was so haughty about her school that I could not bear with her. (I know it is an isolated case and MIT is the great school)
Other than your SAT score, I would imagine a lot of students have credentials comparable to yours. Westinghouse/Intel Science awards, placing in ARML, and other math/science credentials are what you're up against.
Your class rank and grades don't mean anything without knowing how hard your school is. If you go to Exeter, it's a big deal. If you go somewhere else, maybe not.
The AP-like classes are a little more objective, I assume that colleges will recognize what you took the way they can recognize the difficulty of AP and IB courses.
I don't see how you get an SAT score of 2700. But if it's only "okay"...well, there are lots of students who get all A's on their APs and IB classes and have top percentile scores on their SATs.
Surely, you realize that when you are talking about MIT, probably half the applicants are the valadictorians of theri schools, and have all A's and have taken almost every AP their school offers.
Your background isn't going to "blow" anyone away at MIT. Place highly in the Westinghouse competition, or one of those national level really hard math exams, and then you'd have a killer advantage.
But if you want to go to MIT, you need to realize that you will go from being the big fish in a small pond, to being a average fish in a pond full of a thousand other big fish.
You want to learn more about yourself and the world, that's the lesson you need to learn.
You should be fine. Apply early to get into the early acceptance and apply to other engineering schools like RPI, Cornell, Tufts or even Stanford, etc. Also throw in some APs.
MIT is going to be looking for a LOT more than just grades. Student council is not going to cut it unless you are like super stellar in EVERYTHING.
They want to see that you are also a human being and part of a global society. I have a friend who applied and was in linear algebra with the highest grade as a high school student and a perfect ACT score and great SAT scores and did not get in because he didn't have community service.
Student council is not community service. Start NOW volunteering at homeless shelters, bell-ringing, habitat for humanity, tutoring, etc. And what type of volunteering matters too. If you just tutored your little brother, then that's not really tutoring. So you need to do things that really matter.
You can get in if you write a really great letter of intent and statement of purpose. Have your community college professor read it and constructively criticize. Were you volunteering just to get into MIT or was it because you really have a valid reason? They will know if you just did it because you were in NHS.
wow 2700 on your sats. I thought it was out of 2400. anyways high scores on math and science standardized tests (APs or SAT IIs) are helpful but will not make you stand out. No matter what you do it still takes some element of luck.
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