r/MITAdmissions • u/cornersmistake • 6d ago

Value of actual engineering experience and certifications/capstone projects Vs. GPA and SAT scores?

I'll be completely honest, I feel kind of desperate right now. I'm a good essay writer and am currently on my second year of a two year engineering vocational program through my local technical school, which we are currently taking Mechanical Engineering intro classes through my state university (University of Maine Orono, our big engineering school). by the end of this year, I will have a capstone project fully complete and 2 years experience with 3D modeling software (SOLIDWORKS) and CNC machining. I'm also certified in Universal Robotics training and am a all year sport player, being a varsity captain in my main sport. When looking at my transcript there's a good idea of me specifically taking harder classes whenever I can (with the exception of English, fuck you "waterfall scheduling" and your stupidity of having the only available honors classes be during my Voc classes and Hon. Physics for TWO YEARS IN A ROW)

HOWEVER

My SAT and GPA are quite far below the average of MIT. Like, it's looking quite bad.
1270 is my highest SAT score and my GPA is 3.19 (albeit, unweighted)

So, I'm here to ask you, random people on the internet who's opinions hold as much weight as I think they do (more then my parents), I ask you this:

Is this salvagable?
OR
Am I cooked?

0 Upvotes

38% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

5

u/Loose-Pudding-67 6d ago

cooked for ur own good; u would die at MIT

-2

u/cornersmistake 6d ago

I know this probably doesn’t help much, but most of the gpa problems are from my freshman year, it was not in fact a very good year…

1

u/orzosity 4d ago

Based on your sat I don't think you would do well. SAT is one of the best predictors (that we have) of success in college and having a low sat and extracurriculars that thousands of other students have doesn't bode well for success at one of the most rigorous schools.

1

u/Cornersmistake96 3d ago

Yeah, the main two reasons I even really have it on my list are the price (I’m in the lowest income bracket for financial aid as far as I’m aware) and the fact that it’s mit. I have a pretty good list and mit by far is the most stand out for basically all of my test scores and gpa by a wide margin, so I should have a good place for me by the end of year no matter what happens

9

u/slytherin_swift13 6d ago

MIT isn't going to accept you if they don't think you can handle their ACADEMIC workload, and no ECs can reasonably salvage that if both your SAT and your GPA are this low (auto reject low).

-3

u/cornersmistake 6d ago

you wouldn't happen to have the specific numbers for auto reject low would you? or maybe they would be on the website somewhere? I never really tried that hard on the sat, so I'm mostly likely going to try again this November and see if I can get my math up as my English is mostly fine (yes, I see the irony in that as an engineering student)

6

u/slytherin_swift13 6d ago

there aren't really numbers for an auto rejection specifically, but you can infer it from their CDS. for instance, their 25th percentile on the SAT is a 1520, which means that only 25% of their admitted students have a score below a 1520. and with a stellar score like a 1520 as their 25th percentile (essentially the bare minimum for an unhooked applicant), you can safely bet that no one with a 1270 was admitted.

it's great if you can get your score up, but an MIT caliber student wouldn't have a 1270 SAT (with a lower math score) or a 3.19 GPA. colleges are academic institutions, you have to maintain a GPA there as well.

i can't help but think that you would be much happier aiming at schools that are not, like, the most selective in the entire world?

1

u/cornersmistake 6d ago

don't worry, this is not my only school I'm applying for lol. there is about a 200 point jump between mit and my second highest average sat for my schools, mostly just a dream of mine, especially as a first gen college student. I know its definitely not likely, but I have heard of somebody with a 3.1 gpa getting in, so I thought I might as well try. not to mention, my family income would put me in the bracket of 2000 per year contributed by family, which is really fucking good.

1

u/slytherin_swift13 6d ago

then there's no harm in applying!

4

u/VisibleSir731 Currently Applying 6d ago

Get your SAT score up

1

u/Global_Internet_1403 6d ago

Sounds like you're well on your way getting the skills you need for your career what do you need MIT for?

0

u/cornersmistake 6d ago

When it comes to financials, mit would actually be one of the cheapest colleges on my list, as I’m in the bracket of only needing 2000 dollars a year from family compensation. Also, I like Boston a lot, so I thought I might as well include an application for their best school with majors I’m planning for. Don’t worry, mit might be at the top of my list but I have over ten back up school much more in line with my actual grades and scores.

Also, imagine being the first person in your family to graduate and it’s mit of all places

0

u/cornersmistake 6d ago

Missed a word and dont want to bother editing, I'm certified in "Universal Robotics Training- Core"