MIT Admissions: Successful Applicants Without Perfect SAT Math Scores

[Euphoriet]

Mit?

Does anyone know of someone that got accepted into MIT recently.. and didnt score 800 on their math portion of the SAT?

 

[tribdog]

I wish I would have taken the SAT, we took the ACT and somehow 34 doesn't sound as impressive as 800

 

[Euphoriet]

yeah... I wonder if this 800 for the math is true or not..

 

[mattmns]

What did you, or whoever, get on the math portion? Also, I think there are a lot more factors that MIT takes into consideration, so I would not worry too much if that is the only lower than MIT average stat you have.

 

[DarkEternal]

i know PLENTY of people here who didn't even get close...many in the 1200s and 1300s here.

 

[loseyourname]

I had a friend go to MIT in '98. I believe he scored a 740 on the math portion of the SAT I.

 

[klusener]

i know PLENTY of people here who didn't even get close...many in the 1200s and 1300s here.

how much does it cost a year to study at MIT in US dollars?

 

[dextercioby]

More than 30,000$...

Daniel.

 

[moose]

If you got admitted to MIT, that means that they really want you. If someone who gets admitted doesn't have the money, they will work something out with you. Lack of money will never keep anybody from going there.

 

[noobie]

I graduated from MIT several years ago. It's a crapshot to get into any of the top schools IMO as most of the applicants have almost identical credentials (ie all excellent).

 

[Euphoriet]

I wonder what sets the diff. .. what is the making or breaking factor.. I know there are a lot of things.. but there must be a pattern...
It's nice to hear from you again dark eternal... would you mind if I reached you on AIM?.. heh.. would be nice to talk to somene who actually goes there..

And heh.. I didnt know we had any MIT alumni here.

 

[Evo]

And heh.. I didnt know we had any MIT alumni here.

Yes, I know of several that were/are at MIT that come here.

 

[noobie]

There is an anecdote that I sometimes tell people when they ask about admittance to MIT. I had a friend at MIT who often joked that he was mistakenly admitted. One day he asked an admissions officer whom we personally knew a hypothetical question- could an AsianAmerican male with 1200's SAT score (taken before SAT I and II) w/ so and so GPA get in and the guy flat out said "no". Needless to say he was describing himself. Like I said before, unless there are some aspects of your application which clearly distinguish above other applicants (something much more numbers and recommendations) it's a crapshoot as to what school you get into. I had my heart set on Harvard for a long time but I had friends there who wanted to get into MIT but didn't. The great thing is that there are so many great universities in America that you could a great education almost anywhere.

 

[ktpr2]

I had a friend who got into MIT for computer science. This was 4-5 years ago. He got a 1410 on his SAT. It's not all about the scores, but what you've done and what they think you can do.

 

[marlon]

As a European, i have always been fascinated by you americans and your college admissions. In Europe this does not really exist (apart from some exceptions). I think it is not all about scores but they'll like other things too : personal initiative, verbal capabilities (being able to give good speeches and presentations), ...

I can be wrong in this but at least that is what i think of it...

marlon

 

[Euphoriet]

How exactly is public speaking "measured"

Hey "noobie".. i was wondering exactly what you did at MIT.. did you enjoy your time there?

 

[noobie]

I was course 5 which is MIT speak for chemistry major. I graduated awhile back and I'm working on my PHD now. MIT was great b/c it was tight knit community and it's been said many times that students don't compete against each other but against the system (the difficultness of the classes and life there). If you really have your heart set out on going to MIT that's great. But realize that the education you get there is not as well-rounded as some of other universities. You pretty much have to major in science or engineering and you have to not mind being around everyone else who is into science and engineering. I enjoyed my time there but it's definitely not for the majority.

 

[Knavish]

I don't mean to stray away form the topic of this thread, but I have a quick question:

I'm a high school senior, and you can say that "I have my heart set on MIT," but I didn't apply there - because I knew I woudln't make it. I have a 1460 SAT and other great test scores, but I don't have anything that really puts me out. Truthfully, when I first started high school, for about the first couple years, I hardly cared about education or college; I basically just did homework for the hell of it. Well, later on I found out some stuff, started liking physics, etc., etc... And now I'm extremely intent on getting into MIT. My only other option is to go there for grad. school, and so, I'm wondering if others here could help me. What are some things I need to do in college? Is it basically GRE scores, grades, and research.. or what is it? It would be great is somebody could give me a general idea/guide me into what I need to get done. Is it just entirely natural? Do I just need to show devotion for education? I'm really willing to work my ass off here.. thanks for reading.

 

[noobie]

Knavish, you could try to transfer after a year or two. There is a famous chemistry prof in my dept who transferred to MIT after his freshmen year in college. The story goes that he didn't do all that well in high school but worked hard as a freshmen and transferred. IMO the most important thing as far as getting into grad school is doing research during your undergraduate years. This shows grad schools that you know what graduate life is like and you have the appropriate temperament for it. Of course GPA matters as well (esp in your upper division courses) and GRE has some bearing but I think grad school want to see that you have an idea what research is about- if you have a sense of what specific research you want to do that's even better. Also, when it comes to grad school, the school that you get your degree at may not necessarily be as important as who your advisor is. Of course, if you aren't sure what kind of research you want to do it's good to go to a place like MIT where there are lots of professors with a wide range of research interests.

 

[Euphoriet]

Actually I wouldn’t mind an environment like what you’ve described at all (heh I guess most people who come here probably wouldn’t)... I’m really interested in learning more.. and heh.. so you focused on chemistry.. well that’s actually what I'm focusing in High School now

I take it you probably don’t use aim.. but if you do.. could I contact you on aim.. I would like to talk more about this .. or email is fine too.

 

[noobie]

Shoot me a PM if you have some specific questions. Like I said, I graduated a while back and all indications are that a lot of changed in the last 10 years or so.

 

[Bladibla]

As a European, i have always been fascinated by you americans and your college admissions. In Europe this does not really exist (apart from some exceptions). I think it is not all about scores but they'll like other things too : personal initiative, verbal capabilities (being able to give good speeches and presentations), ...

I can be wrong in this but at least that is what i think of it...

marlon

Actually, UK pays tuition fees, if it counts as Europe of course.
That are the only exceptions i can think of, although i might be missing some.

What uni do you go to marlon?

 

[Pengwuino]

Hi guys, my first post here :D

Anyhow, i know about 5 people that graduaed from my high school last year and were accepted and went to MIT this year (04-05 year) and a few more that were accepted that chose not to go. And no its not a private school. Anyhow, they all had either 1600's or very close to that but so did a lot of hte people at my school. What set them apart was basically that they were recognized for something. One person was the Academic Decathalon National ... whatever the 1st place in the nation for highest score is called... I am blanking out right now. One was involved in 2x as many clubs as the school offered lol. One was recognized in many many competitions. Its really... grades and scores will not get you into MIT. Not having grades and scores almost definitely means you won't go, but you need more then that such as nation-wide recognition.

 

[Spyder22]

I just applied to MIT this year and will be getting my rejection letter in three days. I have ok scores (800M, 710V) and a few 800 SAT II's, a few clubs, some sports, a few state and low level national awards, but after learning more about the admission process I now know that it takes a lot more to get into MIT.

 

[juvenal]

I just applied to MIT this year and will be getting my rejection letter in three days. I have ok scores (800M, 710V) and a few 800 SAT II's, a few clubs, some sports, a few state and low level national awards, but after learning more about the admission process I now know that it takes a lot more to get into MIT.

I think you have an OK shot of getting in, but it depends on how good your essays were.

 

[Euphoriet]

Oh yeah.. and what's that? What did you learn about the admission process that will keep you out?

 

[Spyder22]

Well if you read about some of the other people who are applying (like at www.collegeconfidential.com ) who have things on their application like USAMO, RSI, NASA SHARP, Intel thing... AND have done amazing research on their own with published papers AND have taken 3 or 4 years of college math you see that there are only a few spots left for "normal" kids.

 

[Knavish]

Heh, Spyder, that site discouraged me as well. I go on those forums a lot now, but at first, it's somewhat overwhelming.

 

[juvenal]

Well if you read about some of the other people who are applying (like at www.collegeconfidential.com ) who have things on their application like USAMO, RSI, NASA SHARP, Intel thing... AND have done amazing research on their own with published papers AND have taken 3 or 4 years of college math you see that there are only a few spots left for "normal" kids.

I don't want to wade through the site. But are you sure that those people aren't a tiny minority of the total admitted student population?

Granted I got admitted to college more than 10 years ago, but at Harvard (my undergrad) I met few people with super amazing credentials. And based on the experiences of younger brothers and friends, I didn't see any huge changes in admissions difficulty/competitiveness up to 1997.

And based on my experiences teaching sophomore physics lab at Caltech - I would say that whatever research experiences students might have had in high school were pretty useless. Most of them are pretty clueless about basic data analysis (as was I as an undergrad, looking back).

 

[noobie]

I'd have to agree with juvenal. There are a few select students who get into every school they apply b/c they have credentials that go way beyond the simple good scores and recommendations. But more than likely, about half the students that end up at MIT were hoping to go to a different school. I was one of the ones that did research in high school and even had a "publication" - not a real journal but an archive article at a major cancer research center nontheless but it's completely different when you get to college. No high school experience can properly prepare you for MIT (or Harvard for that matter IMO). I would say that college admissions process in the US is highly subjective and it's often a matter a luck where you end up. However, I will add that the interview and essay are the two of the most important components of your application- especially if your scores are on par with other applicants.

 

[marlon]

Actually, UK pays tuition fees, if it counts as Europe of course.
That are the only exceptions i can think of, although i might be missing some.

What uni do you go to marlon?

I went to the University of Ghent, in Belgium. here is the site :
http://www.ugent.be/

I am starting my phd on QM ab initio calculations at IMEC in Leuven :
http://www.imec.be/ [/URL]

marlon

 

[TsunamiJoe]

I'm in 11th grade, and I am in an independant programming course, and next year i plan on taking precalc and an independant math course for abstract algebra and the independant programming course again| Also I've developed an equation to solve for 3-d objects(not yet having a second opinion - It will be posted in my journal for this site later - but it solves for any nth type of number|to my belief obviously, its not 100% prooven yet| ( nth square triangular, tetrahedral, so on and so forth) anyway i was wondering if this is the sort of research is what they are looking for, because my basic GPA is probably only a 3.0, although I score A's in my mathematics and computer courses, I lack in english.

Also I am considering on going to RIT as an undergrad, then to MIT for my grad - can anyone input if that's a better idea than going straight into MIT | the transfer percentages are less than 1% in most cases

 

[Moose352]

These were my primary stats among other things: SAT1: 1560; SATII: 800 math, 800 physics, 770 writing; AP: 5 physics, 5 computer science (self study), 5 statistics (self study); and other competitions and stuff. My "hook" is that I have won prizes at the national level for indian violin and I got a letter from an MIT professor of ethnomusicology. My interviewer told me that I'm the strongest applicant he's interviewed.

My sister applied with a 1490, 770, 740, 780; ap 5 physics, 3 computer science. The interviewer told her she belonged at harvard or brown.

My sister got in and I got rejected (today). FOLKS I'M TELLING YOU, IT'S NOT WORTH THE ANGUISH. DO NOT SET YOUR HEART ON MIT.

 

[juvenal]

These were my primary stats among other things: SAT1: 1560; SATII: 800 math, 800 physics, 770 writing; AP: 5 physics, 5 computer science (self study), 5 statistics (self study); and other competitions and stuff. My "hook" is that I have won prizes at the national level for indian violin and I got a letter from an MIT professor of ethnomusicology. My interviewer told me that I'm the strongest applicant he's interviewed.

My sister applied with a 1490, 770, 740, 780; ap 5 physics, 3 computer science. The interviewer told her she belonged at harvard or brown.

My sister got in and I got rejected (today). FOLKS I'M TELLING, IT'S NOT WORTH THE ANGUISH. DO NOT SET YOUR HEART ON MIT.

Sorry to hear it. All things held equal, I think it's easier for a woman to get into MIT.

 

[Moose352]

Yes, the whole gender equality thing is a bit wierd. But I've noticed a trend that many highly qualified guys get rejected while other less qualified guys get in. I've seen kids who've done international math or physics olympiad or who have a nasty amount of APs or something else amazing get rejected for seemingly no reason.