Chances at MIT, Hopkins, Michigan, Illinois etc

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi, I’d really appreciate some honest feedback and a reality check. I’m kinda tired of the echo-chamber-esque advice and opinions I keep hearing. SO… here it is.

The list:

Reach:

MIT - Number 1 choice for obvious reasons, can’t say how much I loved it.

CalTech - Haven’t visited/Don’t know much about it, let me know if it isn’t a good fit.

Harvey Mudd - Same deal as CalTech

Target:

Michigan Engineering - Loved it when I visited

Illinois Engineering - Been down a few times for competitions and stuff, felt some good vibes. Can’t beat in-state tuition

Johns Hopkins - Great campus, loved it when I was there

Notre Dame - Grew up as a fan, older brother goes there, but not sure about the fit.

Safety:

Purdue Engineering - Solid school nearby, visiting soon

Georgia Tech - Really liked what I saw, surprisingly beautiful campus

Other potential schools: Chicago, Northwestern, VA Tech, Rose-Hulman, Berkeley( I only have 1/2 year of fine arts)

My High School

Mid-sized suburban Catholic high school. We send lots of students to Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Marquette and Dayton. About 10 kids/year to ND. We’ve sent one student to MIT each of the last 3 years(2 of them were athletes, all very smart)

Me:
GPA: 4.5ish out of 4, I’ve had a few Bs in English, and one in APUSH. Straight As otherwise

Notable classes: AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1&2, AP CS, AP Chem, AP Physics C, Multivariable Calc, Technical drafting.

ACT: 36 (on second try without writing. first try was 33)

SAT: 780 Math, 740 Reading, 700 Writing

Subject tests so far: 800 math, 780 Physics,

ECs

Football: 4 years, got no PT last year, and fighting for a spot this year.

Lacrosse: 4 years, 3-year letter-winner, 2-year starter. I’ve been in contact with MIT’s lax coach. He said he supports ~50 recruits and gets in about 10/year. I’m above the team average in all my standardized tests, but he said that really only means I’m in the mix.

Math Team: 4 years on a top 10 math team. Won state in math relay(yes it does exist) sophomore year

Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE): It’s an academic competition in Illinois. I went down-state this year and grabbed 3rd overall in CS. I’ll probably be some sort of captain this year.

Tests in Engineering, Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science(TEAMS): Really cool engineering competition. Was on school’s ‘A Team’ and tied for 2nd in state with our seniors.

Did an internship with a Biotech start-up this summer, my boss did some post-doc work at MIT

Some volunteer stuff, Tutoring, NHS

My recs should be good, but MIT requires one from a humanities teacher and idk how good that one will be

Please be completely honest and realistic! I promise that I will do a results thread when the time comes. Also if anyone has any advice on essays please share. Thank you!

2

Forgot to add: I’m white, upper-middle class, and I probably won’t get any aid

3

Don’t forget that MIT doesn’t use the Common App, and uses a bunch of short responses to questions instead of a traditional essay.

http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/our-essay-questions

4

Stats are out of the park. Great job. You seem like a very well-rounded kid, but remember that admissions for boys are crapshoots at the schools. Caltech is very GPA and test score heavy, so go ahead, apply. MIT cares more about your character above all else, so try to articulate what you can bring to them. Harvey Mudd is more teamwork based, are you ready for that? Regardless, I think you should apply wherever, because you never know what might happen.

5

Yeah I know they don’t use the Common App, but I couldn’t find a more recent post about their essay questions. Do you know if those are still the prompts? Also, what do you think my chances are?

6

With a few Bs in Engish and one in APUSH, your uwGPA would be likely around 3.9 which is the admission average for UMich CoE. Your ACT is great. It should be a high match for you from OOS. UIUC should be an easy match for your from in state but the actual chance would depend on your intended major.
What you may need to check is if the school require ACT score with writing in the same sitting. Too bad that the Illinois state paid ACT does not include writing.