i created a server for AIME/USACO/INTERNSHIPS for people to create handouts and share them to train for the upcoming competition cycles. if you want to join, by all means join below!!

https://discord.gg/8hN8qfMc

best of luck to all other prospective students. feel free to AMA <3

As of right now, I am a sophomore at a competitive arts school and attempting to start a passion and a research project before my application next year. I'm also in a few clubs (Debate and Math club that both have competitions)and have volunteered at my local museum and trying to find more community service opportunities. First semester of freshman year I had 3 A's and 4 A-'s (our art takes up two periods) and second semester of freshman year I had 4 A's, 2 A-'s, and one B+ since I struggled second semester of my AP class. Currently as first semester is starting to wrap up for sophomore year I have 4 A-'s that are at near A's if I can keep working hard to boost to an A, 2 A's and one B+ that is nearly at an A-. My current unweighted GPA is 3.834, do I still have a chance to get into M.I.T? Or are A-'s not good enough? Also, what should I keep doing to increase my chances such as trying new extracurriculars, etc.

Here's my dilemma:

2/3 of my recommendation letters were submitted on time, but I never got a notification for my 2nd teacher rec being received. I thought that they had submitted it and that it would take a while to show on the checklist, but they didn't see the original email and it was submitted only today when I sent the reminder.

I'm assuming that my application has already been looked at a few times—would they have automatically deferred it to RD once they saw my missing letter? Or would they have reviewed it normally and waited (or sent a reminder) for the letter? The portal said that we wouldn't be penalized for any missing recs, but this is pretty late and it's also partially my fault for not noticing.

If any AOs or anyone with knowledge of what happens to incomplete applications like these could answer that would be greatly appreciated!

I’m just worrying here and hoping for the best. I currently have a 4.0 with around 8 APs and 6 honors and 2 post AP math classes at the end of my senior year.

It is looking like I will probably get two A- in two AP classes this first semester. IF(big big if) I get into MIT on EA, would my two A- probably lead to the potential offer being pulled?

I obviously don’t expect to get in but if I do, would I be screwed? Thanks.

Currently in my Sophomore year and my school is very non-competitive (lower than average graduation rate, few APs, etc.). I have been focusing on going to MIT since early last year, (it has been a goal of mine for many years before that, though) but it seems like my school is holding me back. I have to take a trig class this summer just to be able to take calc BC senior year, but I should be using this time over the summer to do more extracurriculars and strengthen my application. It also doesn't help that most of my after-school time is spent doing busy work that my teachers surprise me with, so I don't have much time to work on any of the projects I want to. To make the whole thing even worse, I've been focusing on computer science and projects adjacent to computer science, and I know that MIT already has plenty of CS applicants. If I want to make this even worse, I don't qualify for financial aid but it is also too expensive for family to pay off meaning I'll need to rely on a whole lot of scholarships. I've heard of other schools rejecting applicants who aren't able to pay, and is MIT the same? Is there anything specific I have to do to increase my chances of going to MIT? If not, is there really a chance of me being accepted?

just putting some stats want yalls opinion

In junior yr btw, had shit freshman and sophomore yr but like in the top 0.1% of my class right nowgave SAT once got 1520 might retake
IB Current score - 41/42( taking 7 APs additionally with IB Diploma)
Wrote 3 Research papers( All astrophysics) and created 2 high impact ML projects on aerospike engines, radio wave classification) and working on one NLP one(chatbot to help students learn astrophysics)
Club Founder in school
Secretariat etc
Gave a Tedx Talk 1.1k views
Currently working to get an internship at ISRO(Indian Space Research Organization)
Conducted research under the mentorship of an oxford proff, presented it at Cambridge in a conference attended by 10 Nobel Laureates
Led cultural events to be attended by over 40k people, raising 400k in sponsorships, all profits donated.
Vice Prez at school
3/40,000 nationally in an essay writing comp
International Debate Winner, also came 4th nationally
Ranked 9th in an English Olympiad

PS:- Currently working for olympiad and ISEF, fingers crossed

(low karma because this is an alt)

MIT has been my dream school basically all of my life. I've always worked to maintain excellent academics.

My freshman year i took the most rigorous courses available including 1 AP. I could've taken 2 but I chose Honors Biology over AP Human Geo as I wanted a Stem and it was also a harder class. Idk how my school calculates GPA but I ended up with a 3.995 UW as I got all A's

My sophomore year turned out radically different. My grandfather, who I was very close to, unfortunately got diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of cancer and died in a... not so peaceful manner. I had to fly 10 hours and saw everything happen. As such, I was absent for 3 of my semester exams and had a few missing assignments. I took them when I got back but I was in an awful emotional state and did not perform well on them. I passed them, but my final grades for the semester worked out to 3 A's and 3 C's! The next semester I got 5 A's and a B+ (teacher was a super tough grader on the final project) but it still tanked my cumulative GPA to a 3.772 UW. Weighted was still acceptable only because I took the most rigorous path with 3 APs. Right now I'm a junior taking the most rigorous coursework (4 APs) and have all A's, which will bring the GPA back up to a low (or mid if I'm lucky) 3.8. Senior year can hopefully help me a tiny bit more.

My question is, if I can get my counselor to back me up in the LOR + a sentence or two in the additional info explaining the outlier year, will my GPA still make my academics a very weak point of my application and basically kill any chance?

I have not done the SAT yet but I have a 36 Composite ACT (36 math + science subscore)

I'm still gonna apply anyway, but please be brutally honest so I can start letting go of my attachment to this school so I don't get disappointed

I’m going to take the sat on dec 7, but I have to travel the day before and due to health issues (I mention this issues and even go somewhat into detail in other parts of the application) traveling usually leaves me in a lot of pain for a few days. I don’t think I’ll get a bad score, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to give my best performance with the pain annoying me.

If I explain how my situation could have affected my score, will it come as me looking for excuses? or will it affect my application negatively in other ways?

I don’t have other SAT scores because I was waiting for a surgery and couldn’t afford to waste money on a seat in case the dates coincided, so this test is the only score I’ll be able to submit

Hi guys! Hope you are doing well! I finally got my offer for interview and wanted to ask you about any most important tips you can give me to prepare)

Also, is this bad if the information I tell about myself to the interviewer like activities fully overlaps with my app info and if I should say some other experince I could not include in my app?
Also, I have no idea what to ask the interviewer in the end. What did you ask yours? I will be grateful if you share your experience!

Hello,

I’m currently applying for an MS in Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and as part of the application, I need to complete a 1-minute video introduction for the admissions committee.

I’m wondering if anyone here has done this before or has tips on how to make it effective. How do you leave a memorable impression in such a short time?

Specifically, I’m curious about:

What to include: Should I focus on personal qualities, academic interests, or professional experiences?

How to structure it: Should it be more like an elevator pitch or a personal story?

Any technical tips for recording: Lighting, sound, or anything else to watch out for?

Thank you in advance!

I'll tell y'all an ec of mine which I did in 9th grade (current grade). Idk if it's too "basic" for a school like MIT. For context, I'm a low income, Indian female with limited resources. However, this obviously won't be my only ec. I just want to check if this can be considered on the level of MIT. The thing: Designed and led a robotics-based game for the school's annual winter carnival, combining creative engineering and interactive technology to attract over 500+ guests. Generated ₹5000+ in revenue through the game stall, reinvesting profits to support the school's STEM initiatives and enhance the robotics team's resources to foster a culture of collaboration and hands-on problem-solving within the school community.

Thought MIT superscores any reason why it asks for total score , math and RW for each test taken in their application form ?

Can I get guidance on which score should I submit. I am applying for maths and cs. So would application officer look at my math score in all tests sent ? Theses are my test scores

1. Total 1490 (760 RW, 739 M)
2. Total 1500(700 RW, 800 M)
3. Total 1530(750 RW, 780 M)

Should I sent - 1&2 superscore 1560 but horrible math 730 and 800
Or 1&3 super score 1550 but math 780 and 800

Does it really matter between 1550 and 1560 ?

HELLO,

I am in 11th class in PAKISTAN, majoring in ICS, under LAHORE BOARD. I have few questions....

1. we don't have GPA system here, does MIT converts percentages into GPA

2. Does MIT provide 100% financial, cuz as an orphan i cannot afford to pay expenses

3. I have one year to prepare, so i would really appreciate any guidance or suggestions on how to strengthen my application for MIT.

THANKS

.

Has anyone else had a problem with this? The aeroastro application was supposed to close today (12/1) at 11:59PM EST, but it looks like the department set the close date a day early...

I’ll keep this short just wondering where I should put a business I started. It’s tech support buissness that i ran over the summer on an island I lived on for four years. It’s something I’m proud of and would like to include it on my application just wondering where. Also for research if I’m currently still working on it and will be filling out the research supplement should I put the research in the activity’s section?

Overview:

International student studying at a mid-level US state school. Majoring in physics, astronomy, and math as an honors student. Currently sophomore with 60+ credits (will be 80+ by the end of the academic year).

4.0 college GPA 4.0 HS GPA

Honors/ECs: involved with physics and astronomy research, papers to be published. (First author in one of them.) Gold IPHO - my main hope for applying. High school math and physics tutoring experience. Some science outreach and volunteering.

I will have a SAT score of minimum 1560 (will retake soon).

I have strong letters from my research professor and my English professor.

My reasons for transfer are that my current school isn't that good in theoretical physics, as they lack a lot of the important advanced classes that MIT has, and also there are very few research opportunities in my field in my school. The current research I'm doing is on the experimental side and I want to change that.

I'm applying to MIT, Harvard, and Amherst college.

Let me know what y'all think! And any suggestions are welcome!

hi, does anyone know where i can find the rules on applying to multiple grad programs within the same department? or does anyone know if this is 100% okay?

for example, i mean applying to both an SM and PhD for the same thing. i just want to make sure this isn't viewed as duplicating an application so both get withdrawn or something..

I know that some people say not to include 3's and 4's but I feel like i've gotten so many 4s that it would take away from my application if I don't include them.

I have: 5 physics 1 5 bio 5 lang

4 stats 4 chem 4 apush 4 Japanese

3 euro 3 Spanish

I'm an international from Iraq, thus my grades aren't calculated as GPA, but as percentages. There are additional details to delve into:

From grade 9 until 11, my grades weren't bad at all; I was the top student. However, the bar wasn't high and, due to my region only valuing the national exam scores conducted post-graduation, I didn't focus much on maintaining an excellent grade throughout the years.

Furthermore, a common practice among students from my region is to merely pass their grade 12 classes in order to qualify for the national exam, which will be what they'll focus on the most. I, too, did the same thing, which is why I intentionally only got enough to pass grade 12.

The final nuance is that, due to extenuating circumstances and a deteriorating mental state, I messed up my national exam. Normally, students who score poorly on the national exam repeat their senior year for another chance. I figured this would add another year between me and my college application, along with a likely gap year. So, I chose to simply take a gap year and build my application with the grades I received.

As a summary: my GPA has always been good - though imperfect - except in grade 12, and I received a horrible national exam score.

The difference in my region's educational system and culture compared with the US' renders it difficult for me to properly assess my situation.

Based on the circumstances described, can an exceptional SAT score, essay, LORs, and extracurriculars offset those GPA-related flaws for MIT?

So I started High school a couple months ago, and I am taking 2 APs(APHUG &APCSA) as of now, and honors in all classes except language I am participating in a couple of Olympiads like Usapho and Usaco. I wanna do something Engineering based, what else could I do to learn more about engineering? Do I try to take Ap Physics C bext year as I am self studying it right now and take a class of Engineering as well , or do I just learn from online and do stuff in my basement

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well

I am here because I feel so scared. I haven' t received MIT interview yet, but my friends did. I tried really hard, because MIT is my dream school. I thought that my stats are pretty good, as I am international Olympiad winner and have some decent SAT and IELTS, but now I feel that there is no way I am getting to MIT. I have spend a lot of time writing essays and literally felt the connection with MIT, but now, it is 2 weeks until EA deadlines and I feel that I have no chance to get admitted. If there is someone who knows how it works, could you share it? Many people says that before Interview they don't even watch at my application, but many of my friends already did received Interview and they have good stats and essay. It seems like it is not random(

Thank you in advance for helping me and spending your time reading my post!

can yall give me some ideas??? (Im an international)

for the question/essay about my field/subject of interest, should i put science, technology, and society? for reference, STS can only be pursued as a minor or double-major, not as a stand-alone major. i'm interested in pursuing an STS minor and a Computation and Cognition major, but STS encapsulates my love for balancing stem with the humanities more, while i don't have too much experience with course 9. i'm just afraid of seeming like i'm putting down an "easier" or less popular major, even though i know MIT doesn't admit by major.

Hi guys, I'm an italian student in 10th grade , I really like Physics and I would like to apply to MIT, I don't pretend nothing, I just want to try. I'm going to tell you what I've done and what I'll do in the next three years, if you want, you can tell me some tips or advices that can may help me trought the application process, I would be truly grateful.

1)GPA

My country's school grading system does not have a correct corresponding GPA as I know, technically I should have a GPA between 3.0 and 4.0.

2)ACT , SAT and TOEFL

I'll do them in 1-2 years.

3)Extracurriculars

• Next year I will start with the school-work alternation

• Some STEM project at school

I don't know what else I should add

4) other things about me

• I practice Judo

• I enjoy books (Essays, Comics and Novels)

• I like all kind of Science or STEM subject

I know that for now it's a very bare CV, which is also why I'm here asking for advice : )

Thanks a lot for your attention.

For EA and RA, cus i usually see robotics projects, and not a lot of programming projects, so i was just wondering :D

I already submitted my MIT EA application and for the summer activities section, I left it blank. I did a summer internship and job so I listed that in paid work. However, I’m seeing now that people are putting stuff like sports practices over the summer. I actively participated in workouts for cross country and football every single summer and didn’t think it was worthy enough to put. Should I email admissions about this or am I fine?

Aiming for 1.3 Abitur, and online converters say that’s between 3.7 and 3.8 GPA. In isolation from ECs, would that even be enough to get in?

Hey, I hope you are doing amazing. I'm a Grade 10 IB student in Africa. Since I was 9, I knew that I wanted to go to MIT. I have started to feel very anxious about being accepted. I know that being accepted as an international student is really hard, so I'm trying to do as much as I can. But do you guys have any recommendations that I could do to be able to get more knowledge and explore more things about engineering (which is what I want to study at MIT)?

Also, what can I do to start becoming way smarter? (I really want to also go to RSI before going to MIT.)

Right now, I'm trying to join some sceintific programs such as Pioneer and Jonh Hopkins summer programs. I am learning how to make GUIs with Python and Kivy and will try to learn machine learning (and AI) in a few months. I'm currently learning pre-calculas (on Khan Academy) and classical mechanics (on Mit Open Courseware).

The question I asked (in case it was not clear):

1. What can I do to get accepted by MIT (in 2 years)?

2. What can I do to learn more (get smarter) and explore more about engineering? I want to be knowledgeable and smart enough to be accepted into RSI.

If I make an account on MyMit now and start filling some stuff in will it be deleted if I don't submit this year?