my chance please

mathwiz90
Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:44:59 +0000

Take a look at MIT’s admissions blogs and read a little (http://www.mitadmissions.org).
There was a post there (I believe by Ben Jones) saying that APs arent everything. I think, after taking so many APs, you would know APs arent nearly a the level of an MIT course. While I agree they are a good thing to take, they are by no means an indication that you have the scientific aptitude (and creativity) MIT wants (that isnt saying you dont; you may very well be qualified). The same goes true for college classes taken in high school, especially since you arent going to send your coursework, syllabus, etc. to MIT, so they wont know how demanding your courses were. Again, it is a good thing, but nothing that will give you a very high chance in MIT.

One thing worth importance to note…

MIT is big on diversity. Even though soooo much fewer women apply to MIT, its student population is nearly 50/50. (last year the acceptance rate among females was 22.4%, while was 9.7% among males) So dont use the arguement - there cant be 1500 more qualified applicants than me. Even if there aren’t, less qualified applicants (in terms of APs, SATs, etc.) may very well get in over you because of their ‘hooks’, or their minority status. The rest will get in because of their superb academic talents, esp in math and science. Then there are people liek you… with very solid scores, but that is it. Those are the people who have the most trouble in places like mit… getting rejected to less qualified students.

Again, you definitely have a chance… just don’t get your hopes up.

One last point - research with a college professor isnt that significant if its done in your senior year, since the majority of what’s considered on the application is what has been done in the first 3 years of HS. It will help, but it is no hook (what significant research will you have accomplished in 4 months or so).

Overall, good luck.