Argentinian's Chances

[jcane86]

<p>Hey there,</p>

<p>I’m considering applying for MIT next year, so I thought I’d sweep by to hear some honest thoughts about my ECs mostly, since I have yet to take my SATs.</p>

<p>I am now in my 2nd year of Electronic engineering in a public university oin Argentina, but I’m thinking I’ll apply as an undergrad both because it’s apparently less competitive than transfer application, and because I’d like to take as much advantage of an education in MIT (if I can get one) as I can.</p>

<p>So, here goes a brief summary of what i got to give:</p>

<p>For the time I apply I’ll have spent 2 years studying engineering here, with subjects ranging from multivariable calculus, matrices, etc in maths; electromagnetism, circuit theory, semiconductors, etc in physics; stats;Chem I; And maybe that’s about it.</p>

<p>In the ECs part, i got:
<em>I speak spanish as my native tongue, fluent english(I took it in school since 1st grade), about 3 years of Italian, 1 year of Portuguese
*I participated in math olympics all the time, got to the provincial finals 3 times (i couldn’t actually go to the competition one of those) and qualified for the pre-nationals once (where I couldn’t go either).
*I participated of several UN models, a couple of them were international, and actually won one of them.
*I’ve done 250ish hours of community service with my school
*I participated in my school’s internships program
*I’m really into photography, got my own lab set up and stuff.
*I’ve been in several bands (not school bands, more like rock bands)
*I play piano and guitar, and also produce music in my PC
*I’m an R/C ethusiast, having put together a couple models (cars & planes)
I’ve got </em>some electronics experience. —>(by <strong>some</strong> I mean really little)
<em>I’ve got *some</em> programming experience. ---->(by <em>some</em> I mean I got basic skills in php/C++/etc and could ‘easily’ learn some more)
*I WISH I COULD BE A GEEK <— they say that’s an important one</p>

<p>that’s all I can think of now. I’m planning on getting good SAT scores, I did my first practice test the other day without even preparing anything and got 690 in math&verbal, 650 in Writing, so I think I should get pretty good results after 10 more exams worth of practice.</p>

<p>Thougts, mockery, any insights, thumbs up/down, advice??</p>

<p>see you guys around… hopefully next year in campus…=D</p>

[mootmom]

<p>

I am now in my 2nd year of Electronic engineering in a public university oin Argentina, but I’m thinking I’ll apply as an undergrad both because it’s apparently less competitive than transfer application, and because I’d like to take as much advantage of an education in MIT (if I can get one) as I can.

Someone will surely correct me if I’m wrong, but having been a registered student and attending ANY other university, regardless of where it is located, makes you ineligible to apply as a freshman applicant. You would only be eligible to apply as a transfer candidate. According to the transfer student page at the MIT website:

If you’ve spent a year or more at another college and come to the conclusion that MIT would be a better fit for you, we welcome you to apply as a transfer student.

There isn’t any “choice” involved: if you’ve attended another university, you are a transfer applicant. If I am misreading your situation, my apologies.</p>

[molliebatmit]

<p>Mootmom is quite right; unfortunately, you can’t apply as a freshman if you’ve been a student in an undergraduate institution.</p>

<p>You could apply as a transfer, or you could wait and apply for graduate school.</p>

[jcane86]

<p>Hmmm… quite a bummer that is…
I though I had read every single bit of info available on mit’s web, but i obviously didn’t catch it that way…
i guess I’ll have to get in tuch with someone at mit admissions just to make shure though…
any thoughts on the info posted above anyways?
thank you guys</p>

[mootmom]

<p>jcane86, you can find the definitive word in this entry on Matt McGann’s blog from December:

You cannot enroll in a degree program in a college and still apply as a freshman to MIT (you’d be considered a transfer student)…

Transfer applicants are required to submit SAT scores (SAT I or TOEFL, and SAT IIs). Many apply, but very few are admitted; you might find something in your experience that makes you unique and special and shows your deep commitment to some interest or activity, and concentrate on that in your transfer application.</p>

[OySo]

<p>Does this also imply that one cannot spend a year at a unversity studying eg maths? I’m planning to spend a year on a one year maths or physics programme at my local uni and was planning to apply to MIT (freshman) and others the next year. This would be possible I hope?</p>

[mootmom]

<p>If you enroll at any college or university, you may not apply to MIT as a freshman. If you take classes at a university without registering as a student, as do some American high school students, for instance, then you may still apply as a freshman. So it will depend under what circumstances you take classes at the university. If you are considered a student there, you are only eligible as a transfer to MIT.</p>

[molliebatmit]

<p>Here’s another quote from Matt’s blog:

@&lt;a href="http://matt.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/03/march_questions_1.html"&gt;http://matt.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/03/march_questions_1.html&lt;/a&gt;

The first thing I glance at [when reading an application] is the information in the Part 1 – name, town, school, etc. There are no numbers that automatically rejects an applicant. The only things that automatically trigger an action would be if you don’t meet the criteria to apply as a freshman – e.g. already enrolled at another university (transfer student) or already possessing a bachelor’s degree (graduate student).

I have to admit, I don’t see why this is difficult to understand. If you could choose whether or not you wanted to apply as a transfer, why would anyone apply as a transfer?</p>