Getting into M.I.T.

[Green]

Goood luck

[swansont]

Where did he go to for grad school?

 

Is this a "generally recommended" thing' date=' or is it enforced? [i'](it may have changed since Feynman's time)[/i]

 

(Sorry, I missed this when you posted it)

 

He went to Princeton. I don't know how often the conflict comes up these days, but I think breadth of experience is still thought of as a positive.

[abeefaria]

Going to grad school at the same place you did your undergrad work is called "in-breeding' and is discouraged so that the pupil is as well rounded as possible.

 

If you are a minority, that will give you an edge, especially if you are multilingual.

 

Another thing, and I think it is huge, is to get your name on a published paper, even if all you did was dispose of the dead rats, get your name published.

 

Arrange a meeting with a counsellor there (either in the Physics or Sciences Depts) and discusss ways of getting in.

 

And one other thing, the best of luck to you. If you don't get in the first time, try and try again. Watch the movie "Rudy" for inspiration.

[cosine]

MIT receives thousands and thousands of appilication every year' date=' but do you know what's the percentage that get accpted? 14% in 2005, and 98% of people who apply there have a GPA of 4.0 and Sat score at least 1590 in each verbal and math section of the old version of SAT.

 

Do you think you can make it???????????

 

be realistic[/quote']

 

Your acceptance rate figure is accurate, but you're other figures are skewed. The average SAT score there is "1470".. although this varies year to year. Someone has to get into MIT, after all. However I should note that number is skewed lower than normal.

 

Haha but boy, who doesn't love to play the "will they accept me" game? I researched this to its fullest extent last year, and there are 2 topics that I would like to stress to you.

 

The first topic, as to how to prep yourself for the admissions process. By graduating ahead of the game, I can only suppose that you are probably very bright. Just don't let your acceleration degrade the integrity of your work (in other words, its better to do certain things well then everything mediocre). Also, there were two things about the SATs. First, they are important, so study for them. Second, take them several times. Colleges will take your highest math and highest verbal and combine them. Good luck. As for extracurriculars, anything related to physics would help. I would suggest academic competitions especially, though I don't know of any physics specific ones besides Science Olympiad. In my senior year of high school (a little late) I learned of many math competitions that exist. Check out the HMMT (Harvard MIT Math Tornament) the AMC (American Math Competition), ARML (American Regional Math League), some states have a math league (I know NY has NYSMAL, the New York State Math League), and even though this is almost insane, the IMO (International Math Olympiad). Good luck on those. Again, if you are doing those to represent yourself to colleges, then I would study for them also. Though, let me note, that they can be done just for fun as well. Also, MIT has early action. Any college you want to apply to that has early action, do it. It gives you a slight bit of preference, because its showing your interest in the school. Remember not to do Early Decision, because that obligates you to neccessarily go to that school if accepted. Unless your sure, than go for it. Involving yourself in research never hurts, especially if you can involve yourself in the Intel Science Search competition. Thats about all I can say about the admissions.

 

Second topic, I want to stress to you not to stress about college admissions. You will surely get into a good school, and not neccessarily MIT. Remember that just about any school will offer you a serious education, whether you take advantage of that or not is up to you. And don't sneer at public universities, that is an all-too-common practice that needs to stop. Especially since many public universities have very highly regarded departments. (UC Berkely, UCLA, SUNY Stony Brook, U Michigan, USC, and many more that I can't remember at the moment.) And like I said before, the key is to not stress. If you don't get in, you will probably find a place you will be just as happy at. After all, I dreamed MIT for months, and now I'm going to NYU (which ironically has a better math department , though not better physics). And if you really don't love the place you go to, you can work hard and transfer later.

 

Best of luck.

[jordan]

Helix is right; you should try to find some sort of science related job. Join every group under the sun that might look good on an application: a couple of charities, a physics group, a poetry writing group. You might try roaming around the physics labs at a university in Florida and see if any of them know anybody that works in the MIT physics department.

When did just being a kid and having some fun lose it value?

 

I've always thought personal interviews are the only way to really judge whether a kid belongs in the school or not. Five minutes of hands on work with a physics professor (for a prospective physics major) and you should know everything you need. The grades and extracurriculars, though they're a nice gauge, just don't tell the whole story.

[AL]

MIT receives thousands and thousands of appilication every year' date=' but do you know what's the percentage that get accpted? 14% in 2005, and 98% of people who apply there have a GPA of 4.0 and Sat score at least 1590 in each verbal and math section of the old version of SAT.

 

Do you think you can make it???????????

 

be realistic[/quote']

 

i've seen some of the smartest, most well rounded people rejected from there... a friend of mine was valedictorian, a professional-level pianist/violinist, 1600 SAT/36 ACT, in every club/service organization imaginable, and he was rejected. the applicant pool to MIT is ridiculous- if you get in, it's like winning the lottery- just about no one is guaranteed entry. there are a lot of other good schools out there that you should look into. good luck though.

 

I think you guys are really, grossly exaggerating the admissions standards to MIT. I knew people from high school with SAT scores in the high 1300s / low 1400s that got in. Weighted GPA was well over 4.0, but unweighted, they get in with about 3.6-3.8 GPA. As far as the claim that you need at least a 1590 to get in (unless you're the 2%), I doubt there are even enough students in the country with that kind of score to fill up MIT's incoming freshman class.

 

Regarding the 1600 SAT/ 36 ACT valedictorian that got rejected, I seriously, seriously doubt that story is true. Did this person have a criminal record? There's no way you'd be rejected with that kind of background unless there were bizarre extenuating circumstances.

 

Here are admissions stats for MIT (undergraduate):

http://admissions.mit.edu/AdmissionsWeb/appmanager/AdmissionsWeb/Main?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageWhosAtMIT#admissions

[phcatlantis]

Regarding the 1600 SAT/ 36 ACT valedictorian that got rejected, I seriously, seriously doubt that story is true.

 

Its definitely improbable. I wouldn't be surprised if he or she chose to go somewhere else. MIT definitely admits as low as 3.4 and 1340 SAT, and does reject students well within the academic mean. They've been trying to broaden their student experience base for years now--its no longer enough just to come in with a sterling transcript and recommendations from high school faculty and staff. I think its worked out pretty well for them; the undergrads are definitely more well rounded than they were seven or eight years ago.