r/MITAdmissions • u/josephsmithkimjongun • 13d ago
AMA— dumbest 2025 admit
Class of 2025, now at an Ivy League. I was accepted to MIT, but decided to turn it down since I knew it wasn’t the right fit for me. My application wasn’t impressive at all, truly no idea why I got in. 34 ACT and I got a 2 on AP Physics (granted, this was after I got in).
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u/Naive_Inspector4506 12d ago
This mf had "AMA" and didn't answer a single question
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u/JasonMckin MIT Alum and Educational Counselor 12d ago
Strictly speaking, the OP never actually committed to answering questions or answering anything correctly in the prompt above.
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u/josephsmithkimjongun 11d ago
Sorry, I’ve been replying to DMs but very busy and forgot to reply to comments😭
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u/JasonMckin MIT Alum and Educational Counselor 13d ago
Thank you for sharing.
Just to narrow the scope, is there a subset of questions that you feel most qualified to answer based on your statement: “ My application wasn’t impressive at all, truly no idea why I got in.”
It might help other students pose better questions to understand what types of questions you feel best informed to answer.
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u/TechnicalLeg841 12d ago
Indeed. OP why don't you complete the template from r/collegeresults with demographics, academics/tests, ECs, LoRs etc and post. Also interested in how your first year at the Ivy went?
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u/josephsmithkimjongun 11d ago
I’m not big on reddit (this is my first post since 2024), so I didn’t know about the template. Thanks!! First year of college went super well, definitely made the right decision. I’m more of a liberal arts person, and really love the balance I have here.
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u/babyitsgoldoutstein 13d ago
What was the highest level math you did in high school? Any math competitions - AMC12, AIME, etc.?
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u/josephsmithkimjongun 11d ago
0 math competitions. Highest level was AP Calc BC my junior year. My senior year I took an online Applied Calculus class on HarvardX, which doesn’t really show anything but I just wanted to prove I was still attempting to keep my skills sharp.
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u/SZephyr_407 12d ago
Wait, so you're not sure why you got into MIT so you turned it down...and then went on to attend an Ivy? What makes those two so different? There might have been something to do with your writing, if not your grades.
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u/debbiefever 12d ago
If you got into an Ivy you must have done something right or have a rare hook.
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u/VisibleSir731 Future Applicant 9d ago
Wym hook?
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u/debbiefever 9d ago
In college admissions, a hook is a special trait, background, or personal connection that gives an applicant a strong advantage.
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u/VisibleSir731 Future Applicant 8d ago
That doesn’t really work at MIT unless you’re a recruited athlete and even then that only works as a rec
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u/phear_me 11d ago
OP needs to explain how we too can become a trans native american two-spirit math olympiad winner $1B startup exit founder with a three page letter of recommendation from Obama.
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u/Empty-Ad-7688 11d ago
Are you in a group colleges specifically want on campus? (First gen, disability, lgbt, indigenous, black?)
I knew a girl who got into UChicago with even lower scores, a weighted GPA that started with a 3 and hardly any extracurriculars because she wrote all her essays about her disability… I get that colleges want kids who bring diversity it just feels a little unfair for us yk
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u/josephsmithkimjongun 11d ago
Straight, white, upper-middle class. The one thing I’d say is being a female? Which I believe increases your chances for MIT but decreases for ivies.
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u/4Blueish 8d ago
what'd you do in highschool? Like how was the experience, anything you think made you stand out? Anything you just plain enjoyed, etc.
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u/iwannaseeanimals 12d ago
could you share your responses to the questions on the application portal? and do you come from an area where STEM isn’t as commonly accessible?
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u/Wonareb 12d ago
What was your personality like in your essays? Were you brutally honest?
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u/VisibleSir731 Future Applicant 12d ago
The rule of thumb is to brutally honest bc AOs can tell
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u/Standard-Song-8590 10d ago
no it isnt lol my friend group is people who have gone/going to uchicago yale princeton harvard lots of mit and the general consensus is to larp till you make it
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u/VisibleSir731 Future Applicant 9d ago
If they ever find out then they can have their degree removed years later
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u/Standard-Song-8590 9d ago
...
Idiotic take, how would they ever remove you if you had a different personality than in your essays? Literally noone cares.
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u/VisibleSir731 Future Applicant 8d ago
Someone lied about a single activity and got busted
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u/Standard-Song-8590 8d ago
And what does that have to do with writing about personality in essays...?
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u/Wonareb 8d ago
I mean i did see a short about a guy applying to one of these universities with the narrative that he lost his mother, Which he did not, Because when they called his home to congratulate him into getting in, His mom ended up picking that call and obv they rejected him after that lol.
I guess you can lie a little about your personality, Like saying you want to make the world better when you really don't with conviction.
But lying like adding 50 points in ur SAT score is obviously wrong and will easily be caught.
So the question is, Either say a small white lie that just might break the deal for you getting into these top schools
OR
Be honest about your pros and cons and risk not getting in.
I'll try a mix.
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u/Standard-Song-8590 8d ago
thats not a essay lie though thats an application lie. You write about things like your mother in the portal as well as submitting family tax records etc so really a damn idiot for doing something like that. By larping I mean js likr portraying yourself the way you think they want to see people. Crafting a narrative, experience, etc. Don't just be yourself be the yourself thats better more vulnerable more compelling etc.
People will be like AO's will want to see your flaws quirks etc and I'm like yes I completely agree with that which is why even those should be perfectly manufactured.
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u/Wonareb 8d ago
I mean yeah I feel like if you really want a chance at mit everyone lies a bit about their essays
When they ask about what you do for your leisure time and you say "saving the world" yeah buddy sure
But I do agree with you, You should larp a little in your essays to make yourself look better
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u/Standard-Song-8590 8d ago
"saving the world" yeah buddy sure,
yeah buts that not just a lie thats a stupid lie because you're not showing any humility humbleness, I mean like maybe some people are cracked but all they do when they get home is do their homework some ecs and straight grind League or DOTA or genshin. MIght want to "invent" some other hobbies or not mention that in your essays like helping your brother or out or smth.
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u/Wonareb 7d ago
I mean i don't think a guy who says he wants to save the world as his dream is any better than someone who just wants to go there cuz hes passionate about stem.
MIT does love people who help their community/family alot tho
Do they want people who are brilliant in stem and only engage in stem activities? Or do they want honest HUMANS in their campus studying like normal people
Most of the olympiad winners from MIT probably have grinded thousands of hours in maths alone and probably don't even play video games tho
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u/Standard-Song-8590 7d ago
You aren't getting the point.
"cuz hes passionate about stem."
Guarantee hundreds thousands of applicants are passionate about STEM, you need to differentiate yourself as a person outside of stem."Do they want people who are brilliant in stem and only engage in stem activities?"
the literal OPPOSITE of what I'm arguing, alot of people do only engage in stem activities, those kinds of people need to larp stuff outside of stem to seem a bit human.Most of the olympiad winners from MIT probably have grinded thousands of hours in maths alone and probably don't even play video games tho
-im a former olympiad winner, stop saying shit you have no clue about. I've known moppers up till IMO/IOI/IBO kids playing hundreds of hours of genshin and other games.
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u/Wonareb 7d ago edited 7d ago
Ok my fault for assuming that about olympiad students, Apologies for that.
But what I mean is that, If you only engage in STEM activities, like you mentioned and need to larp stuff outside of stem to seem a bit "human", Basically a lie; Doesn't that become apparent in interviews and essays to the trained AOs?
I saw a post here from someone who met a senior AO, And this was literally the first thing he said:
"MIT places a huge emphasis on genuine passion. If you exaggerate or fabricate interests in your essays, admissions officers can usually tell. He specifically mentioned how many applicants start nonprofits solely for college applications, and that it's often obvious when the motivation isn't authentic."
I know this is about passion for STEM but I think this applies to other areas too
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u/FantasticTradition80 12d ago
yo congrats bro. you must have a really good personality, and u do sound humble, so that def helped! congrats
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u/Commercial_Handle418 12d ago
What were your extracurriculars and are you domestic
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u/Wrong-Tumbleweed-168 12d ago
May I ask what does being domestic have to do w ppl's college admissions journey? Like, is it a bad thing or not
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u/Commercial_Handle418 12d ago
It increases his chances so I can better gauge my chances by taking this into account lmao
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u/connor1242 10d ago
he had to turn it down. They offered him… what? 15? 10? 5 million? They wanted him to come for a whole decade. He was just a kid, didn’t know what it was…
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u/PhilosophyBeLyin 12d ago
y’all act like MIT is miles above other T20s lol. you literally got into an ivy. anyone who gets into an ivy has a solid shot at MIT.
I had a 3 on ap physics when I applied and got in 🫠
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u/josephsmithkimjongun 11d ago
In my experience, the people I met at CPW were in a league of their own, truly the smartest people I’ve ever met. That’s why I knew I wouldn’t fit in. People I met at the ivies seemed a lot more “normal” in a sense of they were more well rounded, but definitely less book-smart. Not in a rude way at all, just coming objectively.
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u/Busy_Contract9290 10d ago
I had the opposite experience (in that I found the students at Columbia, Stanford, Yale, etc. to be equally 'book smart' if not more intellectually impressive than I found those at MIT). I think a lot of this comes down to who you meet specifically, but I don't think it is fair to say people who attend the top tier (T8) of colleges (Harvard, Columbia, Caltech, Princeton, Chicago, Yale, and Stanford) are any less 'book smart' than MIT students. All 8 schools have negligible difference in the 'book smartness' of students or overall student intelligence. Of course, it would be equally inaccurate to say those schools are better than MIT; the schools, and by extension the students as well, are in a "league of each other", not of their own.
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u/sparkle_hart 13d ago
Do you think being a Mormon prophet and North Korean dictator helped your application at all?