Hi,
I am a caucasian female going into my second year at Hotchkiss, and I think that I might want to go to MIT. Of course, I’m not at all decided or anything like that, but I am aware that it is one of the hardest schools to get into in the country, so I think it would be good to start looking at extracurriculars and such that would give me a better chance at getting in. I am fairly certain that I want to go into engineering. My question is: What sorts of activities should I be involved in to raise my chances of getting into a good engineering school such as MIT? And what classes should I make sure I take? Also, I’m aware that there is no certain GPA that will get me in, but in what range should it be? Thanks so much for your help!
If you want to go into Engineering and plan to convey yourself as someone who’s interested in that field, you should have coursework and extracurriculars that reflect that. So math, science, physics, computer science, etc. Clubs that relate to such things, or building things, like Robotics. It has the benefit of showing them that you’re interested in Engineering, but also the benefit of reaffirming and refining your personal interests.
You should also show through the rigor of the courses that you could handle an MIT courseload. I don’t know if MIT gives its average GPA range anywhere on its website, but needless to say, you should keep it as high as possible. This is just speculative, but I’d say a 3.7+ would put you in the pool of more competitive applicants.
Other than that, just do what you want, and use this time to explore other interests and pursue other passions.
MIT recommends (not requires) a certain number of math, science, language, history, etc. courses. In particular, you’ll virtually need to have learned pre-calc, and calculus is recommended. In general, take classes that challenge and interest you.
You do know that MIT itself gives all sorts of excellent admissions advice on the website and blog, including this oft cited gem:
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
If you’re applying to engineering schools, at least for public schools like UT Austin, UCB, UIUC, they want to see that you have done some activities related to engineering.