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<p>Well I do not know if R-DNA is from my region or not, but I do know that again this advice is false. I know of several students who have been admitted to MIT from my region each year who aren’t anywhere near the top of the country in terms of objective achievements. Again it is a matter of context.</p>
<p>Last year my region had TWO admits that were not in the top percentiles nationally but who brought other things to their application.</p>
<p>The standard rule of thumb is that MIT admits zero percent of those who do not apply. Figure out if you really want to go to MIT. If the answer is yes, then definitely do apply. However, as an international, don’t apply EXPECTING to get in. Every year I meet at least one student who has always achieved everything that they have set out to get and is completely confident that they will of course get in to MIT. Sometimes they do, but much more often they do not.</p>
<p>-Mikalye</p>
<p>PS: I personally got in early. I was in the 92nd percentile in my school. Not bad, but not threatening to be valedictorian either. </p>
<p>Now for example, my lowest mark in school was a low C in a typing class. Parents of my friends were horrified, and told my parents that they should never have let me take typing at high school as it would lower my GPA. Which it did. But as I have moved into my professional life, I am very, very grateful that I learned proper keyboarding skills in High School. I can now type faster than most of my colleagues and that is a professional advantage even in a managerial role. And MIT looked at how my GPA was constructed and I got in. My friends parents advice on how to game the system was well intentioned, but ultimately misplaced. It is really quite hard to game the system. Not impossible mind you, but quite, quite hard.</p>