<p>Hi,
I am a High School junior. I have had fairly consistent A’s throughout High School (including some college courses) with the exception of a couple humanities classes (no SATs yet). I’ve worked at a microbiology research laboratory for several years and have played (a small) role in the research. The last couple years I’ve studied math and programming over the summer, and instructed a volunteer ski class during the winter. I am very interested in an academic career in theoretical physics and have recently discovered that I want to attend MIT. I have three questions:
I see MIT as the next step in my education. Would they see me as a strong candidate?
Is there anything I can do to strengthen my application?
If I do not get accepted to MIT, are there any “second tier” schools like MIT?
Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>GPA? test scores? ECs?</p>
<p>You’re lab experience and summer classes are good to have. SATs/GPA/Class rank are going to be important factors. Plus, you’ll need more ECs and CS. MIT only admits about 12% of their applicants. </p>
<p>I don’t really know a lot of physics schools, but I might suggest URochester.</p>
<p>In addition to MIT, try Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Chicago, Stanford, Princeton for top notch theoretical physics. Dont’ know about second tier…</p>
<p>I have a GPA of 3.8, and no test scores.</p>