What is MIT's view on self studying and taking hard math classes earlier on?

cellardweller
Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:11:41 +0000

MIT will compare you to other applicants from your HS. If many like you have taken Calc BC early, you won’t really stand out.

MIT specifically asks about the AMC and AIME scores on their application and recognizes the value of qualifying for the AIME. If you have qualified every year for the past 4 years and achieved a good score (7 or higher) that will be viewed very favorably. If you only got 1 or 2 every time that won’t really help.

MIT is not necessarily looking for students who have taken the greatest number of AP or CC classes in math or science. Quality of work is much more important than quantity. They want to see some evidence of creativity where you applied your skills to some purpose. They do like people who participate in competitions or reseach projects and are strong team players.

They very much like students who have had to overcome adversity, who showed resilience and achieved some goal after multiple attempts. If you can relate your own experiences coming from China in that context your application will be much more impressive than an application from a student with perfect scores but who never attempted anything particularly difficult. MIT’s philosophy is that if you haven’t failed at anything you just haven’t tried hard enough!