How Can I get into MIT?

Discussion & Solutions
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Hi Everyone,
So I live in India and currently, I am in the 11th non-medical stream and I want to get into MIT. And Here are some things that I have learned so far about getting into it -

  1. First of all I am a decent student and to put that in perspective I gave the Practise SAT test by Khan
    Academy and without preparing, I was able to score 1400.

  2. I know that to get into MIT you need to have some good extracurriculars as well and for that, I have prepared the following stuff to complete:-
    (I am very much into learning how computers work)
    -> So I have learned the basics of ethical hacking(I have a certificate of it).

-> I know Python (I will say Intermediate level).

-> I am learning web dev to make my own portfolio website.
(All the things above I will do before the end of November)

-> then I am planning to make a forum like website.

-> And then Get my hands-on machine learning.

-> For ML I will first make some simple projects like recommendation system etc.
(all the things above I will do before April-may 2021)

-> Then a small self-driving car project

Please tell me if these will count or not as I am very serious about it.
Also note that in the last project I may have one of my friend to do it with me as a team
and please share some more ideas about what can I do to ensure my admission

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important things :-

  • SAT (according to the new system you need somewhere between 25th percentile and 75th percentile which is 1500- 1570)
  • IELTS /TOEFL (7.5 in ielts or 100 in TOEFL)
  • Four years of English
  • Mathematics, at least to the level of calculus
  • Two or more years of history/social studies
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Possibly the most important thing of all is the letters of recommendation from your teachers.two letters are a must and it can be from your math,english,science,computer science,social teachers and then you’ll need a recommendation letter from your school/college counselor which should also include your transcripts and school/college profile.
  • you’ll be given certain topics and you 'll need to write essays ranging anywhere between 200-250 words which is easily manageable.
    *you need to write about 4-5 activites that you do or possess any interest in doing.
    *you already decided to work on some projects which could help but its not a must but i urge you to do it coz we may never know if that brings you into consideration ,then happy days.
    *as you already mentioned about portfolio website , continue with that it will help in long run.
    *im putting gpa atlast coz its never a factor and it wont make or break an application form but somewhere between 3.5 or higher should be enough there is no min gpa or something in those lines but 3.5 should do it.
    so keep in mind the application period coz it might well boil down to the time period at which you applied.so they are two periods of application cycles known as early and regular.so early cycle starts from november and regular starts from jan.do remember something if you apply to MIT in the early cycle then it will not be possible to apply to anyother college as they have certain set of rules so be mindful of that. you’ll be writing the 12th board in 2022 i suppose so make sure you give all your sat and ielts tests by nov of 2021 and get ready with all the paper work to send in that application coz early window gives a little bit more chance to get accepted.so if you go on and apply in nov of 2021 then youll be interviewed in jan of 2022.be sure to get those recommendation letters while applying.thats all i guess for the application process and everything i mean dont get wrong, luck also plays a huge factor coz its MIT and its the best uni in the world so acceptance rate is really low but hay-ho we might never know what could happen i mean anyone can get in.
    i would also urge you to look at other options beside MIT like there is the ivy league universities ,stanford ,princeton etc etc like give a shot at them.all of these are world class universities and they will serve you well and you’ll enjoy it once you get in.most important thing is dont forget to apply for a financial aid no matter what coz it is really,really expensive to get a degree from USA no matter the uni you choose. you might be wondering who the hell is this dude to tell me what to do?I myself was aspired to study in MIT.back in 2015 i worte SAT and back then it was for 2400 so they said me if i get 2200 i will get into MIT no matter what well i got 2325 and still ended up being rejected.i also got 8.0 in IELTS.i applied to over 15 universities and got into PRINCETON and texas A&M but it was so expensive that i had to give up ! i wanted to take up cse and it costed around 1.6 crores for the 4 years(MIT AND TOP 10 UNIVERSITIES IN USA) which included the tution fees and on campus living.i guess it will be atleast 1% higher than that and if you get a full financial support (blind aid i guess) then you are golden, the reason why i mentioned luck as a factor too.after that you’ll also need to show your financial status reports and bank balance etc etc which is a norm.again dont get me wrong im not saying these things to spooke you or discourage you but these were my experience.you are passionate about it and i hope you ge into MIT and if you dont then dont be discouraged and just apply to other universities over there and you’ll definitely get into that tier-1 university which wont be to disimilar to that of MIT.
    ALL THE BEST TO YOU AND I HOPE YOU’LL SUCCEDD IN YOUR ENDEAVOUR!
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Acquire skills/experiences appreciated in Western Christian societies & hence in their universities such as social service, awareness drives, small time jobs even flipping burgers , selling newspapers count , creative activities to save the world. Christians (West) are obsessed with saving the world (even their movies are all about that)

Improve english e.g. I took the Practise SAT test

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Thanks for replaying after reading your reply I have Some Questions

  1. When you applied what projects did you made as you also wanted to do cse like me.

  2. What should be in the recommendation letters (rough topics it should cover).

  3. So I Studied in a School till my 10th grade but then I changed my school as I opted for Dummy and now should I get my letters from my old teachers(I have been In that school since 12 years) or the new one (Not even Completed 1 year).

  4. What if I am not able to complete my Data Science project as I am not very sure about that but I am very sure about the Forum(Does the forum require to be used widely like the onehack or It will be ok if Its not that popular and will it be a good project for consideration according to your experience).

  5. What do you mean by maths till calculus level will it be covered in the CBSE syllabus for 11th or 12th

  6. We have a percentage system and what percentage do I need in both of my classes (11th and 12th) instead of the GPA that you talked about.

  7. I am a Non-Medical Student How am I supposed to do Bio

  8. will there be a chance of acceptance if I take drop year for preparing for IELTS(Or is it ok and I can give the exam without preparing)

  9. And do I need to give financial aid letter at the same time when I submit the form

Sorry for so many questions

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Great advice :+1:

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1.when i applied ,it was optional so i din’t work on any projects or research work related to cse but i was into music and art (3d designing and stuff related to designing) so i sent some music clips that i produced using fl studio and then some art related stuff!even now its optional and it doesnt affect the chances of your admission!they just ask you, so as to know your interests!in some cases they suggest you to take up a side degree with the main degree (like degree in music production or design basically like a micro/mini degree)which is completely optional.so dont worry to much about projects it doesnt affect the chances of admission in any way!
2. recommendation letters are mostly centered on the student that you are to your teachers like the person you are ,your academics ,your skills and why you desereve an admission in MIT in their perspective.you can look into MIT’s website ,they have a section where they explain everything about recommendation letters that will help you alot check it once.
3.you should get letters from the teachers who are teaching/gonna teach you in your 11th or 12th and the school from which you’ll graduate.you need two letters from any of your teachers and even from your counselor and this is the most important thing out of everything .
4.dont worry about the project as i said it doesn’t affect your admission chances in any way ,shape or form.forum is more like your personal project so it doesnt have to be even known by others its like the mini projects that you do in 4th year of engg for your resume and yeah it will be a good one for consideration.90% of the applicants dont even do any sort of projects coz its not a necessity.
5.it should be covered in the cbse syllabus i guess i studied in an ICSE school so i guess it should also be in CBSE and even the state boards have them.
6.anywhere between 80-85% is equal to 3.5-3.7 gpa.
7.all the subjects that i mentioned above are from grade 1 to grade 12 so i guess you have already covered bio in the 10th so no problem.
8.do not drop a year for IELTS prep.the basis of ielts is simple and if you know basic english ,its enough.one month of prep is enough to give the ielts test and you have free videos on youtube about ielts so look them up.no matter what happens just dont drop an year under any circumstances.
9.you’ll have an option to apply it when you apply for the admission you can check it up on the website for further details.
the most important things that you gotta do before applying is:
SAT (1520 OR ABOVE) AND IELTS (7.5)SCORES
RECOMMENDATION LETTERS(MOST IMPORTANT)
they will give you some topics and you should be able to write essays which is another important thing.
projects and research is secondary as you might very well know it already, western countries are more focused on subjects like humanitarian or arts and theatre or sports dont worry about the data science project and yeah you’ll go through an hour long interview which will decide the admission schema and you don’t have to sweat it out coz they will be simple question asked like why are you interested in certain something ,why that stream or why this college like just your general day to day convo stuff.the way you speak and present yourself matters!
sorry for the late reply, i was just going through some emails that were exchanged between me and the universties that i applied .i applied to around 20 of them and the most important thing, like literally the first thing was the recommendation letters.some of the universties i applied to (inculding stanford,harvard ,yale) were not too keen on sat or ielts scores but showed more interest on the recommendation letters and FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS.they’ll need you to present your bank statement and financial reports at the time of applying as to ensure whether you can fund your expenses or not.the chances of getting a financial aid is also slim coz many students apply for it and only some get it and most of the universities over there dont assist financial aid to international students but MIT does and other top uni’s do offer it!you can email them and ask for an application fee wavier ! i just saw some of my emails and colleges like harvard and stanford waived my application fee so prior to a month of you applying send them an email and ask them about application fee wavier and the process ,they will guide you through it. i got rejected coz of my financial status and going through those mails made me tear up a bit as i went through alot at that period of time and eventually had to give up coz of lack of money(sorry like i know i shouldn’t be sharing stuff like this which is not of any importance but i just want you to know that it wont be easy and it might be heartbreaking sometimes but just dont give up and apply to as many as possible. all the best once again).

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Hi, So as you said that you got rejected due to your financial status which is the last thing to get rejected for I am really sorry to hear that but My financial status is also not so good A little less than Average maybe can it reject me.
BTW thanks mate for coming up and helping me so much

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you pissed that kid so hard.

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No Actually I was thinking that I have to go through a lot more than that

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see there is nothing general exception in MIT ,its just a little tough to get in there. CZ its MIT Not IIT :wink:(Kidding)

but i will suggest you some external point which will help you to boost up.

1: Remember Going For UG in MIT not a good grace i think bcz MIT is Hub for Research ,PG & Phd’s

but apart for your question yea MIT seek an extra-ordinary student who creates something by himself not copying others stuff. it could be anything like a simple mass= eqilvalence equation, Jet propolsen design, or any neurologic. it could be anything from simple to complex but it should be unique which will improve your CV( yea its right, you should consider rejection before selection in MIT specially in UG)

2: your recommendation letter may be rejected if you are in school which does not feature in top 50-100 list of india. and the teacher who will signed may did not have any reputation in market at all bcz it could be possible he/she did not done PG/phd from some reputed institute.

edit: if you can manage 2 recommendation letter from such person who either in MHRD or atleast took his phd from top universities even IITS count. ( its most important thing for MIT Admission)

3: Before opting and following your dream towards MIT ask yourself again and again WHY do you want to go for MIT, its tag, research , money, or devotion towards science.
Note: Write me atleast 3 explanation if you consider any of the mention reasons

Reason i m giving you why you some easy procedure for joining in MIT

1: Believe me no matter how much hard-work you put or how much project you will do at the end recommendation letter and your CV will play a vital role for expressing yourself.
Here comes the catch.
IF You somehow Got into top universities of india like IIT M/ IITB / IITD/ IITKGP (few others)
their professor are so qualified that their letter will pay your debt for MIT nd even it will fetch you some extra impression bcz you survive your regiourous term in india’s top college .

2: yea you should be fully aware about the expenditure of MIT bcz its not cheap to be in MIT and living in US.

Suggestion: i know you are dreaming about MIT most of us Did in their Life too…
but always remember 1 thing ask yourself why wanted to for MIT why NOT other Top colleges, like
wharton, california, most loved german colleges. and IITs.

and Best of luck for MIT.

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If you can do Compiler Construction then there would be left very tiny hurdles in your path. Good luck!

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Are you talking about making an IDE or what do you mean
EDIT after searching it I think its very advanced topic and I am not that advanced in any basic Language(C or java) So its very difficult though I will try to give AP Computer Science A exam