MIT/Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Just going to preface this by saying that money’s an issue for my situation. I’ve got a number of schools that are offering very good deals and I’ll be happy going to any of them. However, I can’t justify going to any of the upper, but not top-tier schools (aka, Northwestern, Vandy and schools that I’d love to go to). Therefore, my options are pretty much limited to Stanford and MIT, as those are the only schools my parents respect enough to pay money for (my life can be silly).</p>

<p>Currently a junior.</p>

<p>• State: MO
• School Type: Good public, but we don’t send kids to Ivies. Just not our school’s culture to apply too often.
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: M
• Income Bracket: $150,000-$200,000
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Objective:
• PSAT: 221, so probably National Merit Finalist (hurray for not living in Mass.) Breakdown was 77/80/64.
• SAT I (breakdown): Haven’t taken it since early sophomore year. Will be taking it again next year for National Merit anyway.
• ACT: Got all 34s when I took it in Feb. As a sophomore I got a 36, so that can go towards my super-score for MIT. Will take again next fall. Hopefully bump it up in a few areas.
• SAT II: Taking in May. Hoping for a 800 on the US History one (I’m good at history) and who knows what’ll happen Math 2 and Chem.
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.77 UW - 4.14 W
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/406
• AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5).
Will be taking this year: Chem (hope for a 5), US History (should get a 5), CompSci (hoping for a 4, not a fan of the class), and Lang (hoping for a 4, my teacher is terrible).
• Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP Psych, AP Literature, AP Calc AB, AP German, AP Bio and some silly finance class we need to graduate.</p>

<p>Subjective:
• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Cross Country - 4 years (captain), Varsity Track - 4 years (captain), German club, which is part of my summer exchange program. We go to Germany for a month, they come back here with us and live for a month, NHS - 1 year, freshman orientation committee - 1 year, group talking to peers about the dangers of underage drinking - 3 years.
• Job/Work Experience: Work at a bagel shop during the year, about 15 hours every weekend.
• Volunteer/Community service: I volunteer at charity races and other odd helping out, plus the things at school, about 300-400 hours.
• Summer Activities: Going to Germany, as I said. During the summer, I do 40 hour weeks at work. I also do two hours of cross country a day over the summer, teaching the freshman how not to die once the season starts.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading about my life and such~</p>

2

<p>MIT and Stanford are very math- and science-oriented schools with high emphases on research. Don’t place too much emphasis on test scores; I got a bunch of 2’s on Lang/Lit and still made it to MIT this year.</p>

<p>To increase your chances of going to top schools such as MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Caltech, etc., you will need something that really stands out on your application. Unfortunately, 2400’s , 36’s, and 5’s don’t quite stand out anymore. Right now it seems like your cross-country and the Germany exchange program are the most stand-out facets. These are definitely great things on your application, but a math or science related achievement will help as well (e.g. USAMO, winning a state science fair, publishing original research, etc.).</p>

<p>I didn’t apply to Stanford, but if you apply to MIT, definitely schedule an interview. MIT rejects nearly 99% of applicants who choose not to interview.</p>

<p>Good luck with your college applications!</p>

3

<p>Chances are low. Your rank is low for a school not sending kids to top schools and you don’t have the ECs these schools look for. MIT, especially wants math and science competitions.</p>

4

<p>I figure this might be a good time to mention I was a finalist in a city chemistry competition and won a county math contest. Also was a national qualifier in Destination Imagination. Remembering things is fun.</p>

<p>Still doesn’t fix my rank problem though. Hopefully I’ll jump up into top 8 in my class with the difficulty of my schedule this semester (still not good enough, I’m sure, but I can give myself hope so I can tear myself down when I fail).</p>