Parth99

Hi,

If you are an international student, I invite you aboard to share your experience of getting into MIT (if you are in MIT, that is). Is it hard? Do you need a "rich" school? I hope MIT doesn't favor the richer people. I'm just as rich actually, but I'm saving some funds so I could actually use them at the great institute in Massachusetts.

Thanks,

Parth.

iceui2

1) Getting into MIT is hard. 3% admission rate for internationals such as myself.
2) MIT is need-blind, so your family's wealth has no affect on decisions.

Parth99

If so, I guess I can make it to MIT.

Challenged

Your question is a bit confusing (and your conclusion is a bit more).

I'm guessing you come from India in which case I hope you know admission is extremely competitive. To put it in context, I know someone who has been waitlisted at MIT, but was a top 10 scorer on the JEE, went to IIT-Madras and topped his class.

That being said, I encourage you to read a blog post called Applying Sideways (just Google "MIT Applying Sideways") which notes that some such students get rejected and that should be empowering because many people who haven't built their own car get in.

As for financial aid, MIT is one of six schools in the USA that is need-blind for even international students, so you would qualify for some degree of financial aid. As a heuristic, you probably qualify for some aid if your family's annual income falls below $150,000 probably with some aid going up to $200,000 – that is, if your net assets are reasonable for that income.

Also, MIT admissions takes into context the world you come from. Based on your biographical sketch they probably have a very good idea the kind of resources to which you have access. Not all SAT scores are created equal and if you come from a "rich" background as you note, I would expect officers to make sure that you've made most of such resources.