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ACCEPTED
Stats:
SAT: 2290 770CR 720M 800W
SAT IIs: 760 Bio E, 740 Math I + 730 Math II (not sure which they used)
GPA: 96/100
Rank: 7/148
Other stats: 5 on AP English Lit. (school does not offer AP or IB classes)
Subjective:
Essays: "For Fun" essay - About wildlife rehabilitation
Main essay - Chose the "Tell us about your world" essay. I told about growing up convinced that humans were destroying the world and therefore living with a survival guide and preparing for the world's end - and how it linked to my environmental ECs.
Optional - About the school student recycling program I created.
Teacher Recs: One outstanding, one decent (I think. I didn't see the 2nd.)
Counselor Rec: Decent (again, didn't see, so no idea)
Awards: NMSF, Renesslaer Medal, Bausch and Lomb Science Award
Hook (if any): No born-with hooks, but my ECs were interesting (two just plain bizarre) - no Key Club or NHS here - and focused on my proposed major (Environmental Engineering).
Location/Person: Small town where one person (an African American) has gone to MIT in the last 10 years. Like I said, we don't even have APs.
State or Country: NY
School Type: Public, baby.
Ethnicity: White as Michael Jackson. Wait. But yeah, I didn't answer on the application.
Gender: Female
Other Factors: I'm 400% positive that my ECs were what got me in (I won't list them, but I had 4 prominent leadership positions both in-school and in a national organization, and my ECs were not at all typical - for example, instead of being on an Olympiad team, I started/captained an Envirothon team and wrote the team's entire curriculum. And I treated mange-ridden foxes and raised orphaned possums to be released back into the wild.) And possibly my lady parts.
General Comments: I won't be attending MIT (I'm ED-bound to Cornell and the $15,000/year tuition cut I'll get by going there as a NYS resident); I'm actually a tiny bit sorry that I was accepted because I know how desperately most of you wanted to get in (I never, ever thought that I'd be accepted to both my ED - which I adore - AND MIT EA. The other person in my school who applied EA was also accepted (keep in mind that I live in a podunk small town where only one person - a URM - has gone to MIT in 10 years, and where maybe one person every two or three years goes to a place like an Ivy League school); she's (yes, another girl) a sweetheart and absolutely brilliant (and a beauty), and she deserves it 100% (she'll be seeing you acceptees in the fall). I know that MIT is the peak of academic awesomeness, but my heart belongs to Cornell. To next year's applicants (or this year's): Be INTERESTING. MIT is deluged with 2300+ SAT valedictorians who've worked in university labs; it's bored to tears with them. Have a different story to tell than "How I Totally Discovered How Cancer Works In Mice This Summer"; be fabulous and they'll know you are. Also, be lucky. Luck's a HUGE part of admissions in most situations where the acceptance rate is below 10-15%.
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