transfering to MIT from turkey

feynman716 · 08-30-2008, 06:04 AM

hi everyone! i am freshmen in Middle East Technical University ,physics major. Although METU is not that famous when we consider ivy league, it is the best university in Turkey and it is so hard to be accepted in there. i graduated from highschool in the second place and i recieved a prize. my highschool gpa 4.00. (i am graduated from turkey's one of the best science school.) i strongly believe that my metu gpa will be 3.50 - 4.00

i know the exams that i must take to transfer SATII toefl...

but i need some further information. any tricks?

what is my chance to be accepted? or any other suggestions except mit? caltech?

PLEASE help. i desperately need some help.

thanks.

jackfitz · 08-30-2008, 12:34 PM

turkey...yum

MagiTF · 08-30-2008, 01:15 PM

I'm not familiar with the academic system in Turkey, so I can't really say whether a 3.5 GPA there is equivalent to one in the US... however I'd suggest the following: keep your GPA above a 3.8 if at all possible; find something non-academic that you really like and devote a lot of time doing it (sport, debate, etc); find research opportunities at your university.

MIT do not accept students with just a good GPA... make sure you have very strong credentials elsewhere, too. Even then, it's mostly luck.

qihqi · 08-30-2008, 06:21 PM

if you are good at physics and math caltech if better for u... it uses it own entrance exam and seems its scores is weighed more that sats for mit...

feynman716 · 08-30-2008, 06:36 PM

METU's system is the same with U.S. We take our lessons in english, our staff mostly graduated from US universities. and having a 4.00 gpa in metu is really hard.

dancing (royal academy of dancing certificates) and playing flute can be counted as non-academic activities?

how important the SAT scores, i dont know much about it, but we have got a really hard exam called OSS. i think i can cope with it.

actually i want to know what is the key point to be accepted? when i ask people should i do this and that they say these are not that much important.

is it much easier to be accepted to caltech than MIT?

by the way, thanks for answers a lot!

amitalon · 08-30-2008, 06:45 PM

To be honest, I don't think that there are any tricks except from hard work, determination, advanced planning and a little bit of luck.
I suggest that during this year you'll take the TOEFL and two SAT II (Math II and science). As MagiTF said, for schools in the caliber of MIT and Caltech one should be involved in research (or at least try to) and some extra curricular activities-- student government, community service, honor society and etc...
Also, one should take similar classes in his/her home university that are the most similar to the classes in his/her future (maybe) university.

Caltech has their own entrance transfer exams in physics and math so they dont require any of the SAT's, but, from my experience, these tests are challenging.

Some other schools that you might consider (not in a particular order): CMU, Stanford and some of the Ivy's. None of these schools has double digit acceptance rate of transfer students (actually, CMU has around 13%), so it will be challenging.

Lastly, although I don't particularly like the term luck, I realize that during the transfer process one needs all of the luck he/she can get.

Best of luck

P.S
I just transferred to Caltech, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

feynman716 · 08-30-2008, 07:12 PM

funny question but..

whose physics department is the best for you? why?

i want MIT because i watch open courses, WALTER LEWIN, i simply adore him! and i really love physics. in Turkey physics is not that important, engineering means much than physics, math, ... majors. i care about physics more than everything.

thanks for your time again

Seiken · 08-30-2008, 10:55 PM

Neither MIT nor Caltech has a superior physics education to one another. They are both at the top, but just a bit different. Other schools on par with them for physics include: Harvey Mudd College*, Stanford, Harvard, and Cornell

Of these, Cornell is the easiest the get into for a transfer. It is a relatively large school and a decent number of transfer students. Harvard didnt admit ANY transfers this past year and Stanford admitted <2%. Harvey Mudd varies from year to year, but is manageable. And Caltech/MIT are probably harder than Mudd but easier than Stanford. It's REALLY situational.

*I transferred to Harvey Mudd as a physics major this past year (and was one of only 2, the other was from Princeton), so if you are interested at all, feel free to ask questions. I am already aware that you have probably never heard of us =P.

amitalon · 08-30-2008, 11:15 PM

I think that for an undergraduate degree it doesn't really matter (as long as it's one of the top schools), but if you were a PhD program candidate, you would have to consider the area you want to study such as particle physics for example and who'll be your adviser/mentor. Seiken is right Cornell would be one of your best options, most realistic (and I forgot about HMC which is a great school). Harvard doesn't accept transfer students for the near future.

Caillebotte · 08-30-2008, 11:46 PM

Cornell's physics department is quite strong. You should consider it.

feynman716 · 08-31-2008, 09:52 AM

"I think that for an undergraduate degree it doesn't really matter..."

i know it and if i graduated from metu with a good gpa that will be easier to me to be accepted. (i see people do this) but i just cant wait!

these open courses takes my mind away.

so, i'll try MIT, cornell, Stanford. really hard but i'll try. and i'll take the caltech's exam.

do you know anything about essays? i know they are different for the transfer students.

thanks for all replies!