we realized only last week that MIT needs two subject tests? MIT was a last minute decision to apply. He has already taken one SAT Math 2 (got a perfect score). He will be applying for Finance & Business.
He is going to take SAT Chemistry - should he wait and apply Regular admissions or take the test now (he has registered for the Saturday test) but will have - may be 4 hours to prepare and risk getting a low score. He is pretty good in Chemistry but took Chemistry (junior year).
what are the pros and cons - of a low score SAT Chemistry and EA vs. Regular Application and with possibly 770-800 SAT Chemistry! Please keep in mind, he has no interest in pursuing science or engineering as a major or minor!
MIT does not admit by major. He will be judged against all other applicants
MIT takes a very analytical approach to everything. It is the nature of the school. You may want to reconsider if MIT is really a good fit.
Thank you.
They are emphasizing Management from what we see in their website- with three majors now and in their short question, they are also asking for what major if admitted you will pursue etc. Business Analytics is one of the majors and that is mostly applied math and some comp science. Math comes to him naturally and has also taken Comp science courses (AP & now dual credit) and has done very well even though comp sci is not going to be his major.
So, MIT looks to be the one of the priority school since he might end up doing dual majors - Business Analytics & Finance. Also, Sloan is so quantitative in its approach - would be align well with my son’s strengths?
Q - what about humanities and arts students that go to MIT - or end up there - are they expected to have a high SAT Science too? Would it better if he takes the Subject test in December and send a really good score than hurry up and get a average score say high 600s or low 700s…Thanks.
Every student at MIT will have to be strong in math and sciences in order to fulfill the General Institute Requirements for graduation (which include classes in calculus, chemistry, physics and biology). You can find details here:
http://catalog.mit.edu/mit/undergraduate-education/general-institute-requirements/
There does not appear to be any admissions bump in applying to MIT early. I would therefore apply RD and try to optimize his second SAT2 score.
Hi BKSquared - thank you! You are kind of verifying what we (my wife and I) feel too – my son is on the other camp! We are worried if he gets a low score (say low 700s or high 600s) - that will give them a reason to reject him while all his other metrics are all very good to excellent!
Apply RD with a good score instead of rushing. Generally, students who are deemed at risk of failing out of MIT are rejected during EA. One low score probably wouldn’t land your son in the reject pile, but there’s no reason to apply EA in his case.
Yes, we were able to convince our son to skip EA and do the RD for MIT! As brassrather and Bksquared - Thank you! - suggested - we looked at the data again and did some numbers and found that RD chances are better than Deferred and slightly less than EA %. But the downside one low score might stick out and so he will have a chance to prepare for about a month and take it in Dec!