<p>^MIT has an international quota. The acceptance rate is 3% for them.</p>
<p>I know, It’s a pity.</p>
<p>
It’s an American school. What does ‘more qualified’ mean? This is what MIT looks for, I guess - [MIT</a> Admissions: The Match Between You And MIT](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/)</p>
<p>Rejected</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2190
[</em>]SAT II: 2370 (P-800 C-800 M2-770)
[<em>]ACT: 33
[</em>]GPA: 79%
[<em>]Rank: top 10% (one of India’s most competitive schools)
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):2 AP 5s and 2 4s
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Some great some pathetic.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: outstanding
[<em>]Counselor Rec: outstanding
[</em>]Supplementary Material: additional rec from the head of the NGO I worked in.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: India
[<em>]High School Type: Private
[</em>]Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>]Gender Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Community service/leadership, Global Leadership Team for an Academic competition’s organizing body, and the regular stuff- band, writing, student council etc.
[<em>]Awards: NTSE, KVPY, AP scholor with honor, 3rd and 121st ranks in different international programing competitions loads of top 50/100 in national science olympiads etc.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Don’t start your MIT app 2 hours before the deadline. And don’t die, be happy etc.[/ul]</p>
<p>indeed MIT sucks. hey guys tell 2015ers apply to Caltech instead. Caltech is much more friendly to international students than MIT!</p>
<p>Rejected</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2120 (only 1 attempt - 710CR, 760M, 650W)
[</em>]SAT II: Math II - 800, Chem - 800, Phys - 800
[<em>]TOEFL:
[</em>]ACT:
[<em>]GPA: 3.09 (not a typo. my school rocks in super deflation)
[</em>]Rank: no ranking system, but surely within top 5 guys in class
[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): IB Diploma (not yet taken; predicted 44)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: Average I guess
[<em>]Teacher Recs: Pretty much typical stuff…
[</em>]Counselor Rec: She doesn’t even know me…gave a very standard format rec!
[<em>]Supplementary Material: Art Portfolio with a few designs and photography
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Nothing
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Indonesia (expat)
[</em>]High School Type: Private (focusses on sending students to Singapore mainly using final IB score; deflated grades to make students work harder)
[<em>]Ethnicity: Indian
[</em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Not much…Cricket, tennis, photography, writing, keyboard, quizzing, technical work at stage events, acting and so on…all small activities only
[</em>]Awards: Mostly school distinction awards and a couple of quiz awards from outside
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Expected it…hope stats will be useful for others in future…tough for intl students to get past stats…[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Accepted
Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2300
[</em>]SAT II: Math 800, Phy 790, Chem 800
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: N.A
[<em>]Rank: Top 10%
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Ok…
[</em>]Recs: Not sure
[<em>]Supplementary Material: N.A
[</em>]Summer Activities: Social Entrepreneurships
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Athlete? [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Singapore
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity:Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Male[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Shooting 10m Air pistol
[<em>]Awards: Not much…
[</em>]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]</p>
<p>@dawn- At least MIT doesn’t look inside your pockets to decide your acceptability.</p>
<p>@gary7: I don’t need FA though. but Caltech has faculty:student ratio 1:3 while for MIT it’s 1:6.4 (assuming my source is correct)</p>
<p>@ dawncoming: Yep. Caltech is MUCH more friendly to international applicants.</p>
<p>is it possible for an international student (who is doing a course for toefl and don’t speak english perfectly(he’s not mother tongue)), who starts to study for SAT an year before to get 2200+?</p>
<p>I will apply in the class of 2016, maybe I will start to study next summer, am I on time?</p>
<p>@edoardo:</p>
<p>possible. I did that. but scores are nothing in the application process, from what I see. </p>
<p>o do try Caltech, not MIT though. Whites and Asians are discriminated. LOL</p>
<p>Ok, I know I have seen some results in this threads and I am afraid of MIT, its decisions are terrible for many international student, but I think that the most important thing is the match between you and MIT, so EC’s are the 50% of the admission decision.
Caltech would be a great opportunity for me…so BE HAPPY!</p>
<p>Stop obsessing over college admissions and just go find something you like, do it, and LEARN something in the process. Much more rewarding and fun. ;-)</p>
<p>Also, if you get into a great college as a consequence, you’re really meant to be there.</p>
<p>And I don’t think you should come to the MIT forum and say ‘MIT Sucks’ based on stats of international applicants posted here… I don’t think the admissions process, however it is, can affect the fact that MIT is a great school for Science and Engineering.</p>
<p>Also, why MIT?</p>
<p>Maybe “MIT Sucks” is not the right definition. What I wanted to say is that I have seen international students rejected that are more qualified (SAT scores, EC’s, IMO) than USA students. That’s it.
However MIT is a great college.</p>
<p>… you guys are really off-target with this “more qualified” business. MIT tracks how students do compared to their scores, and after a certain threshold, there isn’t a difference in performance. If someone with a 750 performs equally well as someone with an 800, there’s no use in debating whose “more qualified”. It doesn’t work like that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Like many people said, this isn’t a race about numbers. Your SAT 1, SAT 2, AP, awards…are only a SMALL PART of the puzzle at large. There is the “match” that people have mentioned previously, and you should take that to heart. MIT looks for a very unique set of people to make up their entering class, and if you are curious, academic superstardom is not a requirement, nor is it the most important qualifier.</p>
<p>I am going to mention something else though that I feel is often a deterrent for international students.</p>
<p>From looking at international applicants, especially coming from Asia myself, I’ve realized that one big thing that people often overlook is the ability to effectively communicate in English. </p>
<p>To be brutally honest, you’re not going to survive here if your English is not up to par even if you take nothing but math and science classes. I’ve came across many international applicants who I think are definitely brilliant but probably can’t manage a 7-paged essay in English. Are they talented at math and science? Yes! But can they manage a MIT education (even understanding spoken lectures and such)? Questionable.</p>
<p>Also, hindrances in ability to effectively communicate in English will hurt you through your essay and interview, which are two important entryways to communicate your match ([MIT</a> Admissions: The Match Between You And MIT](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/)) with MIT. I really urge international applicants to really focus on this aspect before application year (side note: getting a 10+ on the SAT essay doesn’t mean that your English is automatically good - there’s a difference between communication and churning out essays for standardized exams).</p>
<p>Try to read as much critical English as possible during your high school years, especially editorials or book reviews rather than just news reporting. If you can manage, also try to listen to American talk shows on Youtube (Larry King, David Letterman, Colbert…etc.) This will really help to develop your command of both written and oral English communication.</p>
<p>^ Haha Conan is awesome. I would agree with everything you’ve said there. Even my interviewer told me about his issues with communication upon arriving at MIT. The most important thing for those with English as a second language is to read and speak English whenever possible. One of the universities I applied to in the UK, for example, places a lot of emphasis on interviews. This was a major hindrance for international students wanting to show off their personality. The same applies to the admissions process - you want to convey your passion, qualities and intellectual curiosity as effectively as possible, and often incoherent communication can detract the adcom/interviewer from your message.</p>
<p>The last thing I want to say as a rejectee is that you can be incredibly talented or “qualified” and still be rejected. MIT is looking for people who will thrive in their environment, and who will add additional qualities to the existing class. Sometimes you can have everything but just not fit in, so don’t be completely self-deprecating or disheartened if you are rejected. Instead, relish the fact that you could apply to MIT and move on with life.</p>
<p>I agree with the two posts above, MIT seems to value “the fit” very much and that’s why I didn’t apply.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I am unable to figure out the exact nature of the ‘match’ or ‘fit’ that everyone speaks of.</p>
<p>I don’t think I should, anyway. :P</p>
<p>But I’m worried how much of ‘me’ can get through the application. Hoping the interview makes an important part of the ‘match’ thing. Can I bring a laptop along to the interview and show the interviewer my games and stuff (it’s not about the technicality - but the depth - I’ve been learning mostly by myself for the past 6 years and have delved into game development pretty deep).</p>