Your application can be completely bereft of engineering aspirations, and you can still do well. And, no, these rules are not as simple as "focus all your time on academics" or "be as well rounded as possible." Unfortunately, an overly reactionary response to the above generates the worst myth. is it easier to get into mit for humanities. Assuming every student offered admission enrolled, the acceptance rate is low at 4.1%. Source: Was deferred EA, and saying this makes me feel better about myself. If you want to get a taste of what an easy problem looks like in the USAMO series, just look at the hardest problems on SAT Math or the hardest problems on the (now discontinued) Math Level 2 SAT Subject Test (the hardest problems usually appear last). Instead of trying to lead twenty different committees, pick the one that's the most special to you and give it everything you have. To estimate prestige, first look at how many people participatethe more people who participate, the more impressive it'll be on your Stanford application. Im part of the MIT Model United Nations team (serving as the 09-10 president for the group) again, a very humanities activity, you probably would agree. 31131211131221. The first truth is that Stanford is, first and foremost, an academic institution, so you need to have spectacular academics to get in. Describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community. Will it be easier for me to get into MIT? If you still think thats not enough cross-reg at Harvard! 21. If your high school doesn't do this competition, you should either aggressively petition them to do it or search for a neighboring high school that will accept you as a guest. One of the most natural environments to be ranked in is a competition. You should aim for an SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score of at least 650 or ACT Reading and English scores of at least 28 each. youll still have to pick and choose). We can help. Applicants are notified of their status in mid-December. People with international awards are often rejected. Let's call him Kevin. MIT has its own application. Consider competitions for speech, debate, writing, essays, and so forth. Earn at least an A- in all your classes. Awesome. Consequently, top colleges such as Stanford need to look beyond academic scores to distinguish between these equally high-achieving students. Todays availability of open-source tutorials, software and datasets opens the doors for anyone to learn at their own pace. Lilian worked on her project at her own desk and says others can do the same. You can learn a lot about what MIT is looking for in its students from the university's website: "The MIT community is driven by a shared purpose: to make a better world through education, research, and innovation. Again, it doesn't matter if you apply early or not. If you're very good at math, then you should seriously consider the USAMO series (more unofficial information here)it can really be your spike. Also, good mentors with previous experience will know which problems can be done by students and which would be too complicated or time-consuming. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, one of the most difficult colleges to get into, wrote an entirely separate essay for the Stanford application, as high as 1420 on the SAT or 32 on the ACT, roughly 2,300 students Stanford accepts each year, humanities-heavy application that would do well at Harvard, improve quickly and consistently to the 700+ level on the SAT, our guide on how to get into the Ivy League, how many questions you can afford to get wrong, Our guide lists hundreds of extracurriculars, it's important for any student to have a professional academic scientist or engineer as their mentor, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Informatics (Computer Science) Olympiads, our complete guide to Stanford University, our college admissions and test-prep guide, You need high baseline academics, with SAT scores above 600 (ideally 750 in each section), You need to have a diverse set of extracurriculars at which you're good (but not necessarily a pro), You need to have a "spike" for which you're (ideally) ranked in the top 100-1,000 compared to other students, Stanford admissions is all about academics, Stanford wants you to be as evenly well rounded as possible. A Comprehensive Guide. I know of several Harvard students who would have been intimidated by. Students who have historically had a lot of trouble staying focused or finishing projects should be wary. Press J to jump to the feed. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. =p I guess I have interests in too many areas=p, 1 MIT has a general institute requirement. Being interesting is the name of the ISEF game. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. 5 Jun. Thanks! As a result, we can replace the first myth with our second truth: top colleges care about far more than just academics and want to see strengths in many areas, including GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and community service. Despite this clear STEM tilt, Stanford is certainly not a STEM-only school (which other top-ranked schools such as MIT, Caltech, and Carnegie Mellon essentially are). Though Cornell and Berkeley are not the same as Stanford, they are both very highly ranked colleges with a slight engineering tilt. How did you manage the situation. THIS, and the same applies to other selective schools (HYPS, ivies, top LAC's etc. If you don't meet these basic thresholds, I would think very hard before making the USAMO series your spikethe series is, after all, just a much harder version of these standardized tests in nearly the exact same format. When you say a school is "good in the humanities," you still can't take every single class that the school offers. I never did anything for college, just pursued whatever seemed fun. Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. MIT doesnt care. Application Requirements. Even if you dont want to major in science, do you think you will be able to complete the core sequence of 2 semesters of calculus, 2 semesters of physics, 1 semester of chemistry, 1 semester of biology, 2 electives in science, and 1 lab course? For a correct assessment of the difficulty it takes to get into MIT, do a quick Google search and you'll see that the chance of MIT having a double digit acceptance rate is lower than MIT acceptance rate going into the negatives so they'll start kicking out current students. I just got accepted to an US-Japan Student Conference where selected American university students meet with similarly selected Japanese counterparts to discuss many global social, environmental, and political topics in Japan this summer. In other words, 75% of admitted students score above a 1510 on the SAT. Get good grades in high school, and make sure you're in at least the 50th percentile (for Stanford or whatever school you're applying to) on the SAT/ACT. Be number one or number two on your school debate team. Besides that I also do quiz bowl, track, theater production, and assorted math/cs competitions. Under this myth, you should focus all your time on your weakest area to eliminate it and become as well rounded as possible. Amazing post! Our HYPS acceptance rates are 6x our MIT one, Not exactly hard to tell which school you're talking about, but other privates have it easier. YayYou are very strongHow is your grade like in MIT? This said, I want to point out some other reasons why I feel like if you are a strong humanities student, it may even be better for you to come to MIT rather than another traditional humanities school. Aiming for a top score? How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations? You'll need excellent grades, test scores, essays, and letters of recommendation to even be considered. We can help. (The only caveat is that you'll need to be reasonably fluent in English. Want to build the best possible college application? With the USAMO, doing well on SAT/ACT Math is a good predictor of performance; being fast and being good on tests is important. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. . I firmly believe that being great quantitatively correlates with being smart in general. For the awards from the Foreign Language department, what languages are eligible for those? Is MIT somewhere you can see yourself being at for the next 4 years? Now, what if you're good at tests and competitionsbut not math? Ive explored diverse subjects across the Architecture, Economics, Political Science, Writing, and Foreign Language departments. you'll still have to pick and choose) 13112221. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. Run for student council and become the treasurer. That area is your "spike," and it can be in almost anything: conducting microbiology research, publishing short stories, starting a small business, etc. Not to mention that dilly-dallying in a big number of areas will make you look like a dilettante. This second mythand by far the biggest and most harmful mythis that Stanford cares about students being well rounded in the sense that they should be equally excellent in all areas. In fact, the 25th percentile score for the school is a 35 . So what's a good enough baseline in SAT or ACT Math? This will ensure that you work on a problem the field considers important. On the one hand, Harvard has a smaller percentage of its applicants that get in (about 5% vs 7%). MIT's early application deadline is November 1 and students are notified in mid-December. Also, make sure to keep reading after this section as I'll be talking about Stanford-specific aspects. Fortunately, MIT uses "Highest Section" scoring (also known as "superscoring"). A STEM spike would make much less sense for you, not to mention that it'd be a lot less pleasant to accomplish. In fact, over-bashing this first myth leads to the second myth below, which is even more insidious than the first. When you say a school is good in the humanities, you still cant take every single class that the school offers. MIT students are genuinely excited to learn and innovate. That being said, due to the caliber of students accepted at MIT, we can assume that the average GPA is quite high. For a correct assessment of the difficulty it takes to get into MIT, do a quick Google search and you'll see that the chance of MIT having a double digit acceptance rate is lower than MIT acceptance rate going into the negatives so they'll start kicking out current students. Remember, MIT wants applicants that are interesting as people. Of course a few with 5's on math AP calculus place out of 1 semester of calculus. Since you consider yourself a strong STEM candidate, it's important to be absolutely amazing in STEM as a whole. 21L also receives some of the highest course evaluation scores at MIT, if youre curious. Japan this January I did without MIT assistance (MIT doesnt have an IAP program in Japan), so that one was a little bit different. Ask questions; get answers. I appreciate your ~4 hours of work on this entry. MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds and experiences together to better the lives of others. As for your spike, since your natural strength is outside STEM, I wouldn't go for a STEM-type spike. The third and final truth is that Stanford would much rather see a candidate who is OK at most things but really great in one specific area. These are two competitions everyone applying to Stanford should consider entering. Those people are definitely lucky to have you as a teacher. I took 14 exams (2 soph, 6 junior, 6 senior). If you're looking for test-prep tips, take a look at our expert guides to SAT prep and ACT prep. You can definitely get these scores if you put your mind to it. :). I'd say something in the 720-800 range on the SAT Math section or 32-36 on ACT Math will do. How to Get Into Stanford (by an Accepted Student), In her research project, recently featured in, , Lillian built a simple tool to investigate how well harvests would do in the next season. To recap, do the USAMO series if you do really well on math tests such as SAT/ACT Math. Do research (ISEF at the very least) and do meaningful community service that matters to you. Now that we've gone over the biggest myths and facts about Stanford admissions, let's take a look at another part of the highly prestigious university: its emphasis on STEM and what this means for you, whether you're into STEM or not. MIT is one of the most selective schools in the world. Just because Stanford leans more toward engineering, that doesn't mean that the only way to get in is to be an engineer. But with the ISEF, tenacity and the ability to stick to a project for hundreds or even thousands of hours from start to finish is absolutely crucial. Hows ur GPA? Not enough awesome yet? Following from what was pointed out in number 312211 above MIT has more than enough awesome humanities classes for you to easily fill up your eight semesters here. :), Since coming to MIT, Ive channeled my love of history by teaching a 6-week AP World History course to eight high school kids through the ESP Junction program last summer. While getting into Stanford is very tough, there are definite rules to Stanford admissions. I owe you all a giant photo blog soon =p. Unfortunately, college admissions are much more like an unstable boat: being too well rounded will ultimately sink you. . >____>, My GPA is exactly how much my lunch cost yesterday. is it easier to get into mit for humanities. how hard is it to get into MIT and those of you who are in MIT what was your high school life like and your grades like? You want one area to stand out above and beyond all the others; this spike will be one of the most important parts of your application. When it comes to spikes, the name of the game is to be highly ranked in recognized fields. Using these rules to your advantage will greatly increase your chances of getting in. The next giant photo post will be about MUN, actually. This does, of course, entail the catch that just slapping on humanities classes because you figure it'll look good. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. If you're wondering how many times you can (or should!) Even from my school you need an absolute 4.0. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. This is more like an UROP that I just picked up for fun this semester and a one-shot-deal, but it just goes to show how willing professors are in letting undergrads work side-by-side with them. Stanford follows certain rules when it comes to admissions. ), except MIT is simply more STEM-oriented than the other ones. MIT will also be paying attention to your course loadare you challenging yourself, or are you coasting on easy classes? AP US History was not enough to quench my insatiable thirst for history I did AP Euro History and AP World History via self-study and proceeded to get 5s in all three subjects. (this blog took me 1 hour-ish). In reality, the above truth of multi-area admissions is actually well known to people who have done even a minimal amount of college admissions research. All rights reserved. If you built a video game about pickles for fun, this is the time to share it! Whats even more amazing that a sizable number of these labs are willing to take on people with little-to-none experience and take the time to train you to become a valuable intern! Usually, spikes are much easier if done in a field with natural talent and that you thoroughly enjoy. Every Freshman takes two semesters calculus, two semesters calculus based physics, one semester of biology and one semester of chemistry plus two humanities courses. Follow these tips for how to get into MIT by making sure your application stands out from the crowd. The "well-rounded" myth goes like this: Stanford wants you to be well rounded, so it's best to perform excellently in all areas. Many students are strong in STEM but aren't exceptional when it comes to solving timed problems. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of the best schools in the world. Already got some great extracurriculars? Yay! Not sure what else you mean by high school life, it's been pretty chill, I've enjoyed myself. If your scores are below these numbers, the most effective step you can take to raise your chances of admission is to study more for the SAT/ACT since the primary reason Stanford will reject you is based on scores alone. for some reason it's a lot easier this time, in which you receive advice and an alum surreptitiously gets to blog again, awards outstanding students in the study of foreign language through their annual awards, offers an exciting series of literature classes, MIT Admissions, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room E38-200, Cambridge, MA 02139. I was taking three humanities classes and an easier technical class, my first semester taking three HASS classes and it was a really eye-opening experience. As such, scoring substantially below a perfect score on the SAT/ACT does actually signal to Stanford a lack of understanding of some rather standard areas of math. When our Lit teacher first dissected The Four Quartets for us that warm sunny day in March of my senior year, my view towards English Literature changed forever. Research opportunities. Nevertheless, don't forget the fact that Stanford likes baseline diversity. I think its fair to say and I dont think anyone can deny that MIT does have a higher proportion of science freaks and people who rather not see another literary analysis prompt for the rest of their life compared to most leading universities that are not engineering and science-focused. In reality, admitting applicants based only on academics leads to an uninteresting community. If the answers to all of the above is yes! then youre ready to move on . In short, it helps set you apart and makes you unique. That I was accepted, and that I spent tremendous energy thinking about Stanford, means my advice can (hopefully!) Ive strengthened my Japanese and Spanish ability, leading to two utterly phenomenal IAPs in those aforementioned countries. up to you. Menu and widgets. The Math Olympiad is special because it's the most competitive, with the highest number of people doing the first round. I get surprised looks from people when I tell them my major. Want to get into Stanford or your personal top choice college? Stanford is one of the most difficult universities to get into, as are UC Berkeley and Cornell. It would suck to train hard for IMO to boost your chance of getting into a top school when the pay-off isn't as guaranteed as people like to make it seem. Stanford doesn't take the excuse "I'm just not a math person" (and, in fact, they're probably against the culture that makes such a phrase commonly acceptable in the first place). Here are the 2022-2023 MIT essay prompts: You can learn more about how to ace your MIT essays in our in-depth article on the topic. Some get anxious from the pressure, whereas others just don't do well on tests, even if they're brilliant at STEM. :D. Just curious as major in Biology, what is Biology related to US-Japan Student Conference? In this area, or spike, you should try your best to be nationally or state-ranked, or accomplish a goal that's rare for a high school student. You'll submit your MIT application essays along with an activities list and a self-reported coursework form as Part 2 of your MIT application, regardless of whether you're applying for the early action deadline or the regular admission deadline. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? Stanford is probably the best bet despite its low admission rate followed by Harvard and then MIT. Also, if you followed the link, youll see that there are also language-specific awards given to students studying French and German. This letter has been modified to summarize meaning and protect privacy. Ranking in the top 100 for the ISEF would definitely qualify as a spike for you. This means that the vast majority (75%) of Stanford students get above these scores, and those attending with scores lower than these are superstars who make up for their scores in other (highly impressive!) If you're fast and have good hand-eye coordination, consider baseball. Didn't have too many ECs, but that's mostly because robotics takes up so much time and runs for most of the year. The point is that you should aim to develop one area in which you're super strong. Why? They're not interested in accolades (though they certainly earn them)they're motivated by discovery and intellectual stimulation more than recognition. MIT considers it as a Social Science so it fits in with our HASS requirement (humanities, arts, and social science). 13211311123113112211 Note that for your activities, you don't need to be especially great at themparticipation is what ultimately matters here. At MIT, you have the opportunity to do original research in almost any field conceivable here with amazing faculty and staff who are the vanguards in their respective fields.
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