2 questions about grades/research

Colleges & Universities Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hello, I’ll be a junior in the fall and MIT has been my first choice school for as long as I could remember. I have two questions</p>

<li>My grandfather (he was the closest person to me) died fourth quarter in 10th grade. As a result I did horrible 4th quarter in AP government (got a B) and did poorly on the exam (got a 3). Is this something I should write in the “any additional information we should know about you in order to evaluate your application” section? </li>
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<p>Also the only Bs I have gotten were 1st semester in 9th grade in english, and both semesters of AP government, how much will this hurt me?</p>

<p>Finally, next year I’ll be taking 5 math/science, band, and english - I will be taking no history classes. I am worried because the last history class the admission officers will see is AP government. Will this hurt me?</p>

<li>I have been conducting research at NIST during 9th and 10th grade. I have done 2 internships under the same mentor. I never had an opputunity to write a formal research paper and my mentor no longer works there so I have no means to communicate with him for a recommendation. However, I have my ID badge for proof. Is this something I should just write in the EC section? It’d be a shame to omit it since research is important to me.</li>
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2

<ol>
<li>“As a result I did horrible 4th quarter in AP government (got a B)”</li>
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<p>A B is not the end of the world, lol, so no, that wont affect you, neither will affect you the fact that you’re not taking history now. </p>

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<li>Yeah, it would be nice to put it on EC’s ;)</li>
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3

<p>You can write about your research activities on the application. You don’t need to have published or to prove your involvement, just write about your experience in a genuine way.</p>

4

<p>There is a space on the application for anything else the admissions officers might need to know. You can write about it there, if you want to.
I don’t think you need to ‘prove’ you worked there. MIT trusts you :).</p>

5

<p>well, i think it might help to explain ur situation of ur grandfather’s death for adcoms to understand ur situation. that said, i think it will hurt u more if u come across as making a big deal over non-perfect grades. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: </p>

<p>great job working at NIST! i second cternus - u don’t need to “prove” urself. good luck applying.</p>

6

<p>Bs aren’t the end of the world, especially in history classes. It’s not like you failed algebra or anything, don’t worry about it :)</p>