Hi folks -
This is around the time of year when a lot of people begin asking for "chances" - that is, for complete strangers on the Internet to gauge the likelihood of their admission to MIT.
I can't speak for the hundreds of other schools on CC, but I can tell you this:
No one on this forum, not even me, can give you a meaningful chance at MIT.
Why?
- Because the factors of admissions that can be readily apprehended in a forum post (GPA, SAT scores, etc) are in many ways the least important in our process.
- Because listing the school you go to or ECAs you are involved in does not communicate the degree to which you are a vibrant member of the community, does not communicate what your coaches or teachers or mentors will say about you, and those are the things we care about.
- Because it does not include any information about the interview, which is another critical insight into the candidacy of any prospective applicant.
- Because a forums post cannot communicate the complexity of an applicant's life story, circumstances, and so forth; even if they were to replicate all the answers to their essay questions, we still have additional data external to the application that we consider in understanding an applicant's context.
- Because of a billion other reasons along the way.
I understand that chancing may be fun, or a way to blow off steam, or just something to do because we haven't made the app available yet.
However, from my own time on forums for undergraduate and graduate programs, I know that people can take chancing quite seriously, that it can affect where they apply, that it is ripe for mockery (or can itself be used to degrade the self-esteem of others), and so forth.
I don't want anyone who isn't aware of this to be misled into thinking that CC chances are accurate or meaningful in any way (they aren't and could never be!). I want to be completely transparent and honest with all of you and let folks know this up front.
Here's what you need to know:
If you:
- Have taken, and continue to take, challenging courses (not necessarily all the hardest), and have done well in them (you don't need straight As, but you shouldn't be able to spell anything with your grades either), and;
- Have taken either the ACTs/SATs and two SAT IIs (one math, one science), and have done reasonably well (for us: scoring around the 700 range or higher on each subsection of the SATs or 30 and up on each subsection of the ACTs, though these are guidelines, and every year we accept people with lower and reject people with higher), and;
- Are interested in studying science and technology in conjunction with the liberal arts, and;
- Would like to attend a university with the following mission:
Quote:
The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. MIT is dedicated to providing its students with an education that combines rigorous academic study and the excitement of discovery with the support and intellectual stimulation of a diverse campus community. We seek to develop in each member of the MIT community the ability and passion to work wisely, creatively, and effectively for the betterment of humankind.
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then you should apply to MIT.
Because no matter what your chances are, the only way to have a
0% chance is to not apply.
