areagle

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I superscore (breakdown): 2300, 710 Reading, 800 Math, 790 Writing
• ACT (breakdown): 34, eh... I don't remember to be honest.
• SAT II: 800 Math 2, 790 Chem
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
• Weighted GPA: 4.40
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
• AP (place score in parentheses): 5s on Calc AB, Chem, European History, Calc BC, Comp Sci, Physics C E+M, Physics C Mech, Art History, US History
• Senior Year Course Load: APEL, Advanced Choir, Multivariable Calculus, Honor Choir, Robotics, AP Government, Civics+Econ, AP Biology
• Number of other EA applicants in your school: 4
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Jewish Youth Group (President of chapter and Vice President of region), FIRST Robotics (Vice president and webmaster), Humanities tutor, Jewish and Israeli Culture Club (president), Science Olympiad (event coach)
• Job/Work Experience: Self-employed programmer/web-designer, consignment assistant
• Volunteer/Community service: A lot.

Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):

• Essays (Include Subjects):
  • What You Do For Pleasure: Watch Operas (7)
  • Department at MIT: Course 6-3! (8)
  • What You Do That's Creative?: Start a Programming/Web-design business (9)
  • World You Come From: Jewish History/History connecting to my world (10)
  • Significant Challenge: Keeping the Jewish Sabbath (9)
  • Other:
• Teacher Recommendation #1: Honors English, Humanities, and AP Art History teacher. I tutor her students and we are great friends.
• Teacher Recommendation #2: AP Computer Science teacher and robotics coach. I excelled in her class.
• Counselor Rec: She knows our family and thinks highly of me.
• Additional Rec:
• Interview: It went well. We talked pretty naturally about our lives and why we love MIT.
• Art Supplement: Included link to a web page I made of my online portfolio. It included a little "easter egg" that the committee found.

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): California
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Upper-middle class
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

• Strengths: I thought my application was serious when it needed to be, but also funny and playful. I think I entertained the committee several times.
• Weaknesses: I probably could have made my essays a bit longer. They were all within the word limit.
• Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I had 2 great jokes in the app and I think they helped bring my personality out. The essays themselves I think conveyed my passions very well.
• What would you have done differently?: Nothing.

Other Factors:

General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: MIT '16!!! I can't wait to be at MIT next year for school! Make sure your app stands out. Everyone is special in some way, so make that "specialness" bleed out of the paper. To those of you who weren't happy with their decision: Don't worry. You are all still great students and will end up going to a great school.