How much will this B+ in AP Calc AB (independent study class though) hurt me for MIT?

QuantMech
Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:29:16 +0000

The B+ in Calc AB will not hurt you at all, with respect to MIT admissions. It is completely wiped out by the A in multi-variable calculus through Stanford EPGY, if it had not been wiped out already by the 5 in AP Calc BC, if it had not been wiped out by the A in second-semester Calc AB (before you got the AP score back).

What will hurt you: This is one of the worst cases of a lack of perspective that I have seen in the MIT forum. Your “crappy” school and your own efforts gave you a good enough background to score 780 M, 800 CR, and 800 W on the SAT I and 4 800’s on the SAT II. The low average SAT at your school can only help you, in this circumstance. I see you are tutoring in academic subjects. Are you helping anyone out with SAT practice?

Also, please drop the (ugh) from your SAT M score. This means you missed one question. It is even possible, though unlikely, that there was an error in the SAT key. That happens from time to time. Forget it. It’s kind of fun to have 800/800/800, but there’s next to nothing that you can do with that, which you can’t do with 2380–aside from qualifying as a candidate to be a Presidential Scholar (in CA), but the odds on actually winning that are quite long anyway.

I can understand that being deferred by Harvard SCEA could be a bit unsettling, given the strength of your “package” overall. But whatever caused it, that wasn’t about the B+ either.