Can I redeem myself by getting into MIT or do I not stand a chance?

Colleges & Universities Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>I had trouble creating an account so I’m using one of my UIUC’s friends account. Don’t know why though.</p>

<p>I’ll start by telling my story. After finally deciding to attend UIUC in 2001 I headed off to Illlinois ready to begin my exciting career as an Aerospace Engineer. Unfortunately, either I lacked the maturiy or my luck had just turned really bad becuase i was in for a surprise. Mid-way through my 1’st year, my girlfriend, and fiancee, dumped me and moved to California. Now, she was the whole reason I stayed in Illinois paying the hefty out of state tuition rather than going to my good ole reliable state school UF. The whole thing devastated me and unfortunately the whole issue threw a wrench into my academic career. I finished the year with a terrible 2.87 GPA. But the worst was yet to come. Despite the comfort of my newlyfound friends i sank really deep into depression. The next sem. i bottomed out at a 1.333 GPA and the next sem. I narrowly avoided being kicked out by getting a 2.01 GPA. Despite, my friends begging me to get help i stubbornly continued. My junior year, I managed to avg. a 3.0 surprisingly because i was slowly gettin into my core classes and thus forgetting about my troubles. But, my senior year became extremely lonely as most of my friends were involved with other people and i just felt totally isolated and out of place I gave up and intentionally stopped attending most of my classes. I got kicked out eventually and took a year off and finally at the urging of my whole family and pretty much everyone i got therapy and finally was able to recover. </p>

<p>Anyway, despite the fact that my GPA was now slightly below a 2.0, my dad being a Purdue Aero/Astro alumnus, was able to get me into Purdue on a conditional basis. Not something I"m proud of having to resort to such means. The truth is I needed a fresh start to ease the bad memories and just could not go back to UIUC So I worked extremely hard and stayed focus and finished at Purdue graduating with a 3.69 Cum GPA in Aeronautics/Astronautics. </p>

<p>I apologize for the long backstory but i felt it was essential in getting to the essense of my question. In hindsight i cannot fathom how i managed to destroy my academic career over a girl, no matter how important she was to my life, and in someway i guess i feel if I can’t make up for this my life is over and i’ve screwed up everything that really was important to me I would really like to go to MIT for grad school but definitely know i won’t get in now without any research experience. My plan is to get a job for a while and then maye try to work with a professor at my local University. I know that even my current GPA is a bit weak but more importantly do you think that If I work hard MIT might be able to forgive the disaster that happened at UIUC and maybe admit me if I include a personal statement or is it just unforgiveable? Thanks a lot for reading.</p>

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<h1>1 reason to not choose a school based on a significant other.</h1>

<p>And yes, depending on your work experience you can still get into MIT. People with better GPAs still get refused though, and that’s without your UIUC disaster. I would say it’s a distinctly low probability event.</p>

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<p>Mr. Payne is right. You have to remember that even sans disaster, etc, most people <em>don’t</em> get in. It’s possible, I’m sure, but unlikely even without the whole school transfer mess thing.</p>

<p>That said, my best wishes to you.</p>

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<p>First off, I don’t see what’s so bad about graduating from Purdue with an almost 3.7 GPA. You can have a perfectly good engineering career with that. MIT is a great school, but it’s not like MIT graduates are automatically THAT much better off than everybody else. Nobody “needs” to go to MIT. </p>

<p>With a 3.7 from Purdue, I am quite sure that you could just go to grad school at Purdue. What’s so bad about that? Purdue is a strong engineering school. If engineering is not for you, you could also go to a perfectly fine law school or business school also. </p>

<p>Furthermore, with a 3.7, I actually think you stand a fairly decent chance at getting into MIT for at least a master’s degree program. Heck, molliebatmit got into MIT for a PhD program in biology, and she only had a 3.4/4 GPA. Granted she did her undergrad at MIT and (more importantly) she had extensive undergrad research experience and excellent contacts with MIT profs, so that put her over the top, I’m sure. But the point is, you’re not that far off. If you can get into a master’s degree program at MIT and do well, you’d probably get into the PhD program. Or you can simply decide that all you need is a master’s.</p>

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<p>awww… man. you must have a heart of gold. It was sad, but still I admire you- throwing away everything momentarily for the love of your life. </p>

<p>Now that youve come to your senses, you should concentrate on your study. I agree with Sakky’s suggestion. Get your MS in Purdue and transfer to MIT for your PhD. After that, gold frame your PhD diploma on the wall and invite your EX to your room for an afternoon cookies and tea :)</p>

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<p>afternoon <em>nookies</em>?</p>

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<p>LOL, you mean afternoon <em>delight</em>? hey buddy, let’s keep it PG-13 level</p>