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

Vikheim
Sun, 26 Mar 2017 09:22:16 +0000

[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1570
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800 Math, 770 Reading/Writing (essay unknown)
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36M, 35R, 35W, 36S)
ACT superscore (breakdown): One sitting
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/360
AP (place score in parentheses): Statistics(5), Chemistry(5), Government(5), Physics 1(5), Spanish(5), Lang and Comp(5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Computer Science A, AP Biology, AP BC Calculus, AP Psychology, AP Literature and Composition, Engineering II (Through the University of Cincinnati), AP Physics 2
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with distinction, Academic Team player of the year, Top Student award for essentially every subject (Math, English, Band, Engineering, Spanish, Social Studies, Science). National Merit Finalist. M3 Challenge Honorable Mention.

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Varsity Tennis (9-12) *State qualifier
Club Tennis (9-12) *Top 50 rank in the midwest, regularly play against national champions that go to the same club
Math Team (9-12) *4 year starter, Captain
Academic Quiz Team (10-12) *3 year starter, Captain, player of the year
Mock Trial (12) *State qualifier
Jazz Band (9-10) *1st chair alto saxophone

Job/Work Experience: nada
Volunteer/Community Service:
Student aided in a class for struggling math students aged 6-12 through a school district summer school program. Also logged about 50 hours volunteering at the local food pantry.

Summer Experience: Tennis summer camp (20 hours of combined fitness/outdoor play per week). Traveled to Europe for a couple weeks.

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays: One of the biggest regrets that I had over my Stanford application was that the essays, however polished, didn’t really allow my personality to come across. I decided to take a different approach for MIT. With these, for the most part I felt that I was really genuine. (8/10)

Teacher Recommendation #1: (10/10) First rec was from my government teacher. I was one of her favorite students (she always brags to other teachers that I didn’t get a 100 on her exam), and she clearly was determined to single-handedly get me into MIT haha
Teacher Recommendation #2: (9/10) Second rec was my Engineering/Computer Science teacher. He knew me extremely well after 3 years of after school projects so he had a lot of material to make the rec really personalized.
Counselor Rec: (9/10) He was my algebra teacher and the coach of the quiz team before becoming my counselor, so to put it mildly he knew me extremely well.
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: Overall it went well, but it was by no means outstanding. My interviewer brought her son along because she had to shuttle him to lacrosse practice, so the interview had a 45 minute timeframe. All in all, it felt rushed.
Art Supplement:

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App: 12/31
U.S. State/Territory or Country: OH
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 150k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): None

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: GPA, scores, EC
Weaknesses: No research, some lackluster moments in essays, generic interview.
Why you think you were rejected? No hooks. I honestly feel like with these elite schools the admissions officers look to those to tier applicants.
What would you have done differently?: Done research. As strange as it sounds, I probably fell into a certain applicant archetype (the studies all the time, perfect SAT score people). Research and the corresponding rec would have done a great deal to separate me from the pack.
Where else did you apply? Stanford, UIUC, Georgia Tech, UMich

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**
I won’t lie, this rejection stung worse than I could have imagined. For me, blanks for ECs and classes couldn’t paint the whole picture. Over the past 3 years, I’ve nearly single-handedly carried my school to victories in Quiz Team, Math Team, Science Bowl, and tennis. (For example, I recently scored 70 of the 83 points our five person team earned at a math bowl). As petty as it sounds, I was almost looking to this decision as validation for all of that unrecognized achievement. I digress. Admissions are a crapshoot, my advice is to try to maximize your odds. Either be born with or work toward a hook (one that admissions officers can actually see in the process.)