***Official MIT RD Results/Discussion Class of 2021***

Maggallina
Sat, 18 Mar 2017 16:37:50 +0000

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): 34C: 35M/35E/31R/34S
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): 800 M2, 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Not sure
Weighted GPA: 5.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/770
AP (place score in parentheses): CHEM-5 APUSH-5 APWH-5 STATISTICS-4
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP PHYSICS, AP CALCULUS BC, AP LANGUAGE, AP MICRO/MACRO ECONOMICS, HONORS GOVERNMENT, MUSIC APPRECIATION
Number of other EA applicants in your school: Probably none
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar, 10th place in a structural competition, honor roll, winner of a how i survived freshman yr contest, etc.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): math team from soph to senior yr, treasurer of future business leaders of America from junior to senior yr, president of an engineering club, and technician for national honors society
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: I was a teacher’s assistant for two summers at different places and I partook in key club events
Summer Experience: had a political internship in the summer of junior year and as stated above, teacher’s assistant

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: 9/10;
I can’t find where the heck I put my final supplements. In my opinion, they were good ideas but the execution could’ve been better. Thinking back, I was really honest in the supplements I wrote because I honestly believed I didn’t have a chance.

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10 He loves me and really wanted me to get into MIT
Teacher Recommendation #2: 8/10 I asked him last minute because I had found out very late that we needed a rec from a humanities teacher and STEM teacher… I had originally planned to use my chem teacher’s rec and my calculus teacher’s rec.
Counselor Rec: 8/10 Very generic, I glimpsed at it when my counsellor asked me to check if she had made a mistake. She called me an “academic powerhouse,” but 80% of the applicants that applied to MIT are academic powerhouses.
Additional Info/Rec: None
Interview: My interviewer looked SO bored of whatever I was saying. I was 100% sure I had bombed the interview and I’m pretty sure he didn’t think I was suited for MIT. He constantly corrected me about random things and that day, I was shell-shocked because I was confident I had ruined my chances. My intuition told me he wrote an average report on me because I certainly wasn’t very impressed with myself either. I did bring my art pieces to show him but he still looked bored. I did crack jokes here and there but he didn’t laugh so.
Art Supplement:

Other

Date Submitted App: Probably like a day before the deadline
U.S. State/Territory or Country: New York
School Type: Large public school that’s actually pretty bad
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: Middle class, 80k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): I’m a Chinese female that genuinely loves STEM… First generation student and I really went in depth with the problems that came with being an ABC in America.

Reflection

Strengths: My essays were strong, I guess since I’m pretty sure they’re part of the reason why I got in. Scores and GPA, but then again, 80% of the applicants meet the academic requirements. My passion for STEM must’ve shown through in my essays.
Weaknesses: Not enough ECs, two of my recs weren’t stellar, the interviewer wasn’t impressed with me at all. Some of my supplements could’ve been executed better. I think my, “why this major,” supplement was utter trash.

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?: If given the opportunity, I would’ve prepped for the interview more. I really wish my interviewer liked me more and although I’m sure he doesn’t necessarily hate me, I have a strong feeling he was rather surprised that I got in.
Where else did you apply? Cornell (likely letter), RPI(accepted), Caltech (Rejected), Macaulay Honors (full tuition to CUNY), JHU (waitlisted), Swarthmore (Accepted), Vanderbilt, Yale, Columbia, Lehigh, Emory

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice: I feel so honored that MIT is making an investment in me by offering me a position to study at their institution. I honestly do feel like this is a mistake but MIT doesn’t make mistakes. Sometimes, I just feel the urge to email them, “are you sure? this investment is very risky…” My biggest advice is to be yourself. I’m sure it wouldn’t feel as good if MIT accepted you because you pretended to be someone else. That feeling you get when you poured your heart and soul out for a school and they listened is truly one of the best feeling on Earth. It feels like I finally was noticed by someone that I have been dreaming about for years.