What kind of kid gets into MIT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smart. Very very smart. Good grades and test scores to indicate they will do schoolwork.

lol much much more than grades and scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My son got in. He was ranked #2 in his public HS in OH. He ran cross country varsity all 4 years and did another sport for fewer years. No other notable ECs, he did have summer jobs that were not related to his field. He had near flawless SATs, and was a straight A student in his junior and senior years. His math/science scores were particularly high even in most rigorous APs. His essay was pretty standard. He is an Asian male.

His HS was not particularly competitive and MIT has been a hard adjustment for him. He shared a bit of imposter syndrome.

This is BS especially when you mentioned he is an Asian male. Zero chance.

np.. why? I believe it. They are from OH. Now, if they said they were from DC area, then it would be way more difficult to get in.

https://registrar.mit.edu/statistics-reports/geographic-distribution

Not for Asian males.

-1. This is true for all kids who aren't from competitive areas. MIT is also actively looking for rural kids without the resources of prep school who maximized the offerings available to them.

You know nothing about MIT or elite college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Be a female athlete

[Anonymous]

The MIT Admissions Blog used to be pretty interesting. Would take a look there.

The thing about MIT is that they don't do early. One of my kids is very MIT. But he got into his ED school so never applied. But the profile is top stats. A lot of APs with 5s. A 35. He's an athlete. State's and Nike invitational. And his thing is rocketry. Has been doing it since middle school. And winning national awards. I think he would have had a good shot at MIT.

But MIT doesn't do early. So he was scooped up elsewhere. Personally, I think MIT is missing out on a lot of great students because they don't do ED/SCEA in a meaningful way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Specifically MIT. I’ve heard all the stuff that is generally said about top schools- be genuine, be interesting, be unique, have a spike, etc. But are there qualities or aspects to an application that MIT looks for specifically?

From what I have gleaned from their blog posts (recommend those) and info session. I would say top scores in math standardized testing, maxing out math curriculum available, a good person (letters of rec), able to work with others/ in teams, embraces failure and able to learn from that, embraces challenge, knows how to relax and have fun, creative

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MIT Admissions Blog used to be pretty interesting. Would take a look there.

The thing about MIT is that they don't do early. One of my kids is very MIT. But he got into his ED school so never applied. But the profile is top stats. A lot of APs with 5s. A 35. He's an athlete. State's and Nike invitational. And his thing is rocketry. Has been doing it since middle school. And winning national awards. I think he would have had a good shot at MIT.

But MIT doesn't do early. So he was scooped up elsewhere. Personally, I think MIT is missing out on a lot of great students because they don't do ED/SCEA in a meaningful way.

Doesn't MIT offer EA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MIT Admissions Blog used to be pretty interesting. Would take a look there.

The thing about MIT is that they don't do early. One of my kids is very MIT. But he got into his ED school so never applied. But the profile is top stats. A lot of APs with 5s. A 35. He's an athlete. State's and Nike invitational. And his thing is rocketry. Has been doing it since middle school. And winning national awards. I think he would have had a good shot at MIT.

But MIT doesn't do early. So he was scooped up elsewhere. Personally, I think MIT is missing out on a lot of great students because they don't do ED/SCEA in a meaningful way.

I think they want the students who really want to attend. A that student bails from the pool to be more certain of an alternative is not a big deal to them. There are more great students than they can accommodate. One great student gets out of line, another is there to take their place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MIT Admissions Blog used to be pretty interesting. Would take a look there.

The thing about MIT is that they don't do early. One of my kids is very MIT. But he got into his ED school so never applied. But the profile is top stats. A lot of APs with 5s. A 35. He's an athlete. State's and Nike invitational. And his thing is rocketry. Has been doing it since middle school. And winning national awards. I think he would have had a good shot at MIT.

But MIT doesn't do early. So he was scooped up elsewhere. Personally, I think MIT is missing out on a lot of great students because they don't do ED/SCEA in a meaningful way.

I think they want the students who really want to attend. A that student bails from the pool to be more certain of an alternative is not a big deal to them. There are more great students than they can accommodate. One great student gets out of line, another is there to take their place.

Yes and no. I do believe MIT wants the best of the best. But facts are facts when it comes to college applications in 2024. A very high percentage of super accomplished students are wise with their ED/SCEA apps. And MIT is very clear that applying early doesn't matter. And those MIT capable students are going to apply early to Northwestern, Rice, Duke, Vanderbilt, Chicago, Cornel, Brown and other schools where applying early makes a difference. And the smart ones are going to get in.

MIT is such a rich school. They really can make it work for all students. But they are being very prissy with how they accept students. And they are not living in the real world with how it works for talented students today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got in. He was ranked #2 in his public HS in OH. He ran cross country varsity all 4 years and did another sport for fewer years. No other notable ECs, he did have summer jobs that were not related to his field. He had near flawless SATs, and was a straight A student in his junior and senior years. His math/science scores were particularly high even in most rigorous APs. His essay was pretty standard. He is an Asian male.

His HS was not particularly competitive and MIT has been a hard adjustment for him. He shared a bit of imposter syndrome.

This is BS especially when you mentioned he is an Asian male. Zero chance.

np.. why? I believe it. They are from OH. Now, if they said they were from DC area, then it would be way more difficult to get in.

https://registrar.mit.edu/statistics-reports/geographic-distribution

Not for Asian males.

-1. This is true for all kids who aren't from competitive areas. MIT is also actively looking for rural kids without the resources of prep school who maximized the offerings available to them.

You know nothing about MIT or elite college admissions.

MIT looks for diversity, but the two rural kids I knew were white girls from Maine and Iowa that participated in MITES because they didn't have an adequate education to be at MIT.

[Anonymous]

Total speculation based on my experience and friends at MIT:

1) MIT was burned hard in the 90s and 00s woth students from certain backgrounds committing suicide in very flamboyant ways. They absolutely do not want the anti-social genius type as a result. Kid looks unbalanced on paper? Nope.

2) They want people who are unique and top of their class. E.g. the head cheerleader or beauty queen that's also the best in class

3) They want kids that see the big picture either from global impact, advocacy, or charity

[Anonymous]

Yeah. I unfortunately do not know recent grads or current students, but I personally had a mental stereotype of what type of student MIT looked for. After visiting/researching, I’m of a mind that it’s a bit different than is assumed by most. Clearly, high test scores are a must but demonstrated potential seems particularly important. What can/will a student achieve given the resources available at MIT.

And it’s not necessarily a massive STEM spike that is required. I think that is often the assumption, but they are thinking much broader than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got in. He was ranked #2 in his public HS in OH. He ran cross country varsity all 4 years and did another sport for fewer years. No other notable ECs, he did have summer jobs that were not related to his field. He had near flawless SATs, and was a straight A student in his junior and senior years. His math/science scores were particularly high even in most rigorous APs. His essay was pretty standard. He is an Asian male.

His HS was not particularly competitive and MIT has been a hard adjustment for him. He shared a bit of imposter syndrome.

This is BS especially when you mentioned he is an Asian male. Zero chance.

np.. why? I believe it. They are from OH. Now, if they said they were from DC area, then it would be way more difficult to get in.

https://registrar.mit.edu/statistics-reports/geographic-distribution

so approximately 30 per year from MD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MIT Admissions Blog used to be pretty interesting. Would take a look there.

The thing about MIT is that they don't do early. One of my kids is very MIT. But he got into his ED school so never applied. But the profile is top stats. A lot of APs with 5s. A 35. He's an athlete. State's and Nike invitational. And his thing is rocketry. Has been doing it since middle school. And winning national awards. I think he would have had a good shot at MIT.

But MIT doesn't do early. So he was scooped up elsewhere. Personally, I think MIT is missing out on a lot of great students because they don't do ED/SCEA in a meaningful way.

I think MIT has done pretty well for itself historically and will probably be okay going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smart. Very very smart. Good grades and test scores to indicate they will do schoolwork.

lol much much more than grades and scores.

Um, I went there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smart. Very very smart. Good grades and test scores to indicate they will do schoolwork.

lol much much more than grades and scores.

Um, I went there.

50 years ago? Otherwise I doubt it.