Thread: I'm thinking about aplying to study at MIT

If you send them a memo/letter as the application

make sure you spell apply correct

Edit - also play the minority game to some corporations in America

you might get lucky

Go for it, and apply for all the scholarships you can get your hands on. It will help.

Originally Posted by Issalroc

Since the beginning of this year I've been thinking about applying to study at MIT. I'd like to know if you know something that might interest me or have any sort of advice to offer to me, specially on that SAT thing, though I found all the question I did ridiculously easy I need some big financial aid(I live in a poor country and all), so I want to impress the people there from the beginning.

What did you get on your SAT?
I got 2300 (800 math, 800 reading, 700 writing), and I did not get in. Though this was probably due to my relativly bad grades.
You should probably concerntrate on your GPA if they're not near 4.0, since you'll want to be at least slightly above average in the very basic areas (grades and test scores), and then add extras like volunteer, research, work, or athletic experience.
I don't know where you live, but in the US MIT gives interviews to all applicants, so you might want to practice a couple of those and think of some questions you want to ask.
That's all I can think of for now.

MIT is great. They have this wonderful course on how to be gay. No shit.

Applying for college... It's only the biggest money sink in the US.

My best friend got rejected even with his 2140 SAT score, 4.6 Weighted GPA (3.8 Unweighted) and countless hours "volunteering." He got into Dartmouth though thanks to his minority background. The general perception with MIT is how interview plays a large role in the final admittance, and I would certainly work on that the most. The strength of your academic record is another large factor in applying for the elite universities. I recommend joining as many AP (advance placement) classes and outreach programs as you can handle. Most options offered for AP are cakewalks and most academic programs don't take too much of your time. Without those or an equivalent of them it's extremely hard to get in. Other than that, network and try and get a recommendation or two from respected intellectuals. By respected - meaning they have written at least one book or thesis acknowledged by their field. From personal experience, the older they are, the easier it is.

If you are not from the US originally, it is easier to get accepted if you bide your time and pursue college in your current country first while corresponding with the AUAP program. MIT, like most other elite US universities, allocates a certain number of admissions seats to international transfers every year. Your chances of being accepted are significantly higher if you use that to your advantage.

As for financial aid, browse around Fastweb and apply for everything you qualify for. I personally got a large number of small grants by writing a few essays and slightly changing them for each application. I was the only one that applied for most of them, hence winning by default with horrid slightly off-topic 20 minute essays. Another way is decide on a major early and begin an internship in that field; the experience will contribute greatly to your chances of acceptance as well as provide a source of income and recognition. MIT, being an elite private institution, will provide you with financial aid upon acceptance to the school. The grant money just lets you buy some nice stuff while you go there. Sure there are a lot of big scholarships are out there, but take advantage of everything you can and go for the smaller ones too. The statistics are in your favor.

Good luck on getting accepted. If you don't, you could follow what I did and go for the west coast colleges that are slightly easier to be accepted to if you are a minority. Stanford, Pepperdine, and Caltech are on par with MIT and many of the University of California colleges especially UC Berkeley, UCLA and UCSD are dirt cheap compared to the east coast while still being nationally ranked universities.

Go for it, bro. and yes, take as many AP's as you can. they WILL help. Trust me.

The Ivy Leagues are big on getting applicants from poor countries.

Good luck to ye, matey.

thats true. Take LOTS of AP's, and PLAY THE MINORITY! regardless of how you feel about the issue of "being a minority," IT WILL HELP YOU GET ACCEPTED!

Firstly, MIT is one of the most competitive schools around. No joke. It's not IVY league, but it's definately ranked higher than some IVY's.

Let's see.. I have a few friends who go to MIT. I'm assuming you're majoring something engineering? Right?

CPR's top 7 tips to get into MIT

1) SAT. High as possible. Just because you can do the easy problems, don't get too cocky. The easier problems are always the first problems you see. Make sure you can do the harder problems (the ones in the 20's).

If you cannot get a score that's at least 2100+, don't bother applying to MIT.

2) Take APs. As many as possible.

You must score at least a 4. Perferably 5's.

3) After you take APs, take SAT II. Score as high as possible.

You must take at least 2 SAT IIs. Each should at least be a score of 700+

4) Get a wickedly high GPA. Study study study!

Good.. that's all the academics down.

5) Impressive extra-curricular activities. You should have at least

a) a service one. Something volunteer always look good.
b) a leadership one. You MUST have a leadership role in SOME kind of activity. Pres, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, PR, ect. OR you should have some kind of outside job.
c) athletics. Be good at something. Football, hockey, basketball-- SOMETHING that distinguish you.
d) honor awards in ____________ event. State champion, national champion, ect. are all encouraged.

6) An impressive interview.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART:

7) A damn good admissions essay that distinguishes you from everyone else. No bullshit allowed.

(optional but encouraged
Go on a tour there.
Meet a professor or two.
Read a professor's book. Know it. Be interested in it.

disclaimer: Even if you are a fucking genius, there is no guaranteed you will be accepted.

P.S- Do not expect to have a lot of free time. You'll be studying foreverrrrrrrr.

You forgot a good rec letter CPR.