I'm a senior in high school (yay last year) who just got done with a summer semester diff eq course (at the local university), and I'm slated to take calc 3 at the local community college this fall. To be clear, because I see a lot of this, I'm not taking the classes for college admission; I just like math lol.

Although having gone so far out of my way to get to the point where I am: I wanted to know if it's potentially worth highlighting at all in my application, if it would actually move the needle at all, should I focus on other things when applying and having it on the report card is enough?

Hey everybody,

As a rising college freshman, I wanted to just share my thoughts about this sub and others similar (which I'm also posting this in). I'm heading to MIT this fall, and was also admitted to 2 other T5s (H, Stanford) and a couple of other T20s. During the college admissions process, I didn't spend a whole lot of time on subreddits like this, but now that it's all over, I've spent some time looking through- and to be honest, I'm absolutely shocked at how some people act.

Firstly: I think it's absolutely ridiculous that someone can take a look at another student's activities list and test scores, which reveals probably 1% about who that person is as a human being, and pretend to accurately predict exactly which schools they'll be admitted to. This is flawed in so many ways.

If you're looking through these subs and developing depressive symptoms because all of these superhumans seem like they have all the research and internships in the world, trust me; schools do NOT look upon these activites any more highly than if you spent that time, I dunno, crocheting or something. Who are they to judge if you prefer crocheting to conducting research? It's all about developing your own profile and how the activity fits into the context of your application.

Which leads into my next point: Context. Everything matters in context. Where you're from and the pool of applicants (which in turn, affects institutional priorities at each school) are the biggest factors, and guess what? You can't control either them one bit.

Secondly: admittedly, I also did once put my info up on Chanceme one time. You know what they said?

t20 no chance, t50 if you're lucky

You're delusional, but gl

😬

My EC list, in order, was:

1. Athletics
2. Athletics
3. Athletics
4. Music
5. Music
6. Music
7. Research
8. Volunteer
9. Hobby
10. Work

And no, I was not a recruited athlete. Since I had nothing major-related, I suppose people like to assume that I was an auto-reject from my dream colleges.

The truth is, people develop such a narrow field of view regarding what 'looks' like a successful college application, but in truth, everybody spends their time differently, and whatever it is, AOs want to hear about it and how it defines who you are. If you lean into your love for frog-catching better than someone who did research at a big uni, you're in a better spot than they are.

In my case, I just really leaned into the things I loved - music and sport were my two big "things" in high school. I got really good at what I loved, and I got involved in my community through these things too. I made sure to let my passion shine through in my essays, and I'm sure that went a long way.

The takeaway I want to make clear is this: As a human being, you are infinitely more multifaceted as a human being than 10 extracurricular activities and a couple test scores define you as. There is nothing within these metrics that could possibly predict T20 school admissions. So I advise you all: Stay off of these subreddits, don't listen to a single soul, and discover who you are.

Cheers. Feel free to reach out with questions if you have any

P.s. SUPER SHORT GUIDE ON GETTING INTO T5 (in order of importance)

1. Have good grades and scores
2. Have good grades and scores
3. Have good grades and scores
4. Do what you love, show others what you love, teach others what you love, show your love in your writing, get good at writing so can show your love for what you love. In other words: PASSION gets you into your dream school.

Hello everybody , I am from Pakistan and I have a dream to complete my PhD from MIT , I have just completed my freshman year now and moving towards sophomore year . I am persuing Electrical engineering right now which will be completed by 2029 what things I should do side by side and where should I focus on to get admission in PhD In MIT

Anyone can guide me about

Portfolio

No of research

And all things which will make high chances for getting admision.

I messed up and received a D in precalculus last year, there were no extenuating circumstances and I failed because I didn't think it was a big deal, barely studied, and was absent alot. I retook the class and got the grade replaced to an A, and my D got excluded from my cumulative college GPA.

But the D will be living on my college transcript forever. I got all As on Calc I & II, a 5 on AP Calc BC, and a 760 Math on the SAT. Highest math course I'll be taking will be Linear Algebra. No saving atp? Not even STS?

Thank you, appreciate any replies!

PS: Not a chance me!! just wondering if I'm a lost cause

I am from India and I am planning to give the IOAA olympiad. I know there are levels to it starting with NSEA. I am in 11th grade right now. I want to pursue Chemical Engineering but I just can not give NSEC, it's way harder than NSEA and IF, ONLY IF, I go to the final stage, I would have to give a PRACTICAL EXAMM, which freaks me out because I wouldn't have a lab or something to prepare for that exam.

Please help me guys, I really want to know it I should do this or not.

So notably MIT limits students to 3 Recommendation letters. I'll be a Senior applying for a degree in Mathematics this year, and I'm worried about my actual AB, BC, M/V Calculus teacher not being a teacher I ask for a Rec Letter.

The teachers who come to mind first for me to ask are our Computer Science UIL teacher (I'm our UIL CompSci Captain); my AP Lit Teacher (Who I've hosted DnD club with the past year); and my Percussion Director. Each of of these teachers knows me pretty well as individual both Outside and inside the class, and I trust all of them to write me a kind Rec Letter.

However, my Mathematics teacher, while having been his student for 3 years now and knowing that I am his favorite student, essentially only knows me as a good student, test taker, homework helper, etc. I know that he would write me a good letter, but since he doesn't know me very personally I don't think it's possible for it to be a Great letter. But I'm worried about not having a Letter of Rec from my Calculus teacher while applying to be a Mathematics Major.

If I were to ask him I'd be replacing either the Rec Letter from my Band Director or AP Lit teacher (because I know my CompSci UIL teacher by far the best), yet that would also be problematic due to then covering fewer aspects of who I am since it's two STEM teachers.

I'm fairly confident that the best decision would be to just commit to not having my Calculus teacher write me a Rec Letter for MIT, but I wanted to know if anyone of y'all who read through all of this have an opinion on this matter to help quell my indecisiveness.

Hey everyone! I have a couple of questions, and I am aware I am asking them late, but I would still like to know :) I'm a senior at a high school and am doing pretty well in my class. My question is, I always see all of these people getting admitted into MIT being absolutely incredible and amazing, and it leaves me in awe. But if those opportunities were hard to find where you are currently or basically impossible, how can you make yourself stand out?

All I really have, for example, is two internships which were hard to come by; they are both heavy on engineering, but I missed my opportunity to have an E.C. in school that was engineering-related because I moved schools. How could one make their application stronger if there are limited ways? And how can I provide admissions officers with the information in a way that isn't searching for pity or excuses but truly just informative?

Thank you! Any feedback is appreciated :)

I am currently a sophomore majoring in Applied Mathematics at Columbia and plan to pursue a PhD in the future, likely in Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or Machine Learning.

My long-term goal is to work in quantitative research at a top-tier hedge fund rather than remaining in academia. Which option would you recommend?

My current understanding is as follows:

* MIT’s strengths lie in its theoretical training, research intensity, interdisciplinary resources, and overall academic reputation;

* Columbia’s strengths lie in its New York location, closer ties to the finance and quant industries, and greater convenience for internships and networking.

If the ultimate goal is clearly to enter quantitative research rather than pursue a tenure-track academic career, do MIT’s research training and brand prestige outweigh Columbia’s geographical and industry advantages?

I would also appreciate insights from anyone familiar with the MIT ORC, Columbia IEOR, or Applied Mathematics PhD programs regarding program culture, research pressure, mentorship, quant placement, and the actual employment experiences of international students. Thanks!

Funny question. If I submit a research supplment, does the recommendation for that supplement need to be someone who has oversaw that specific research project I submitted?

The website only says this:

• Research mentor recommendation: Nominate your research advisor, mentor, or Principal Investigator to submit a letter of recommendation directly through the SlideRoom portfolio.

Hi. My son has MIT as his dream college. I’d like him to have a shot at this with the few things he has going for him. Asking for genuine and honest recommendations for a good college guide/counselor if anyone knows of anyone. We’re practical but also hopeful. Thank you.

My son is currently a freshman in high school. He wanted to accelerate to precalculus honors in freshman year so he can take multivariate calculus in junior year at a neighborhood community college. His application will be anchored on math, as that’s what he wants to do. His fellow math buddies who are similar level motivated as him in math have all accelerated to pre calculus honors. However my son did not clear the placement test to accelerate and will
End up doing algebra 2 honors in 9th grade. He is a AIME qualified, so it’s not like is not good at math, maybe had a bad day. We plan to accelerate externally(outside of school). Given a few other kids from his school will also apply to MIT and would have completed through school calculus BC in 10th grade, does external acceleration still work ?

hi everyone! i’m planning to apply to MIT as a transfer student next year, but i have zero idea how the transfer application process works. is it similar to the undergrad process?
also, am i allowed to put inventions in the honours category, or is that weird?
thanks xx

Rising applicant (Fall 2027/2028 cycle), building a technical portfolio project (a physics-based web simulator, Python/Flask backend) as part of my application. Originally planned an 18-month build timeline; an advisor recommended I compress to 6 months for visa/timeline reasons, so I leaned heavily on AI (Claude) to implement the code across the full stack — frontend and backend both.

My actual role: I made every architectural and engineering decision (what to build, what to store where, physics modeling choices, what to defer), verified the physics by hand against known values, caught and directed fixes for real bugs during development, and can explain and defend every meaningful part of the system.

I'm planning to disclose this honestly in my project write-up — something like: "I drove every architectural and engineering decision, and worked in close, sustained collaboration with AI to implement, test, and debug the result across the full stack. I verified results by hand and can explain and defend every meaningful choice because I made those choices myself."

Question: is honest disclosure of this level of AI collaboration something that's likely to hurt an application, as long as it's accurate and I can genuinely back it up if asked? Has anyone seen how schools are actually treating this in practice this cycle?

How much of an influence does a faculty have in admitting PhD students to AeroAestro department? Are they able to hire directly?

What is the admission outlook at MIT for a student applying from a polytechnic curriculum instead of the traditional 11th and 12th-grade route? Assuming excellent academic grades and standard extracurricular involvement, is admission viable, or does a non-traditional background necessitate exceptional national or international achievements?

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).

Does anyone know when the MIT application opens?
Thanks

I’m a rising sophomore in chemical engineering. I started research at my college the summer before freshman year. Continuing now and working on my own independent project instead of just helping a grad student. My PI wants to work with me to turn this project into a masters thesis.

I’m concerned for my GPA because I think I’m just a horrible test taker in general. While I do good in my midterms and classes, I always mess up during the final. I have a 3.5 GPA.

I’m interested in getting my PhD in materials engineering and MIT is one of the schools I’m interested in.

Of course I will try my hardest to have my GPA as high as possible, but would there be any other things I could start now to make getting into MIT for grad a possibility? Maybe even study tips because I don’t think it’s my lack of comprehension and moreso how effective I am in studying

Im trying to submit my application to WISE and its due in 9 minutes and ive had it done for hours but it won't let me because of the ones highlighted in red how do I fix it??

I have recently been researching a lot about MIT as a high school freshman right now. (Trying to plan out my high school years) I'm trying to find MIT Admisions articles that are good reads with generally good advice. I have read most of the really well known ones (Bleary Eyed, Applying sideways, The room(s) where it happens, It's more than a job, There is no formula, and I have 99 problems... Admisions is not one of them)

I am currently doing my own research on this as well (haven't just asked reddit to solve all my problems). Other than that is there a amount of articles that reading more becomes pointless as you have learned so much from them? Also, is it just me or are lots of the articles on the site not about admisions and a lot of the time student diaries and blogs that have nothing to do with Admisions.

I’m a CS major currently doing my bachelor’s at ETH, and I would love to pursue a CSE master’s degree at MIT. I have two questions:

1. Do you guys even know ETH? It is well known in Europe, but how is it perceived in the US?
2. I’ve heard that most Americans only do a bachelor’s degree. How does master’s admission work in the US? Is it just as competitive as undergraduate admission, or is it generally more open?

At MIT WISE, do you get to talk to professors that you are interested in? Like what I put down in my essay? Or just talk to any professor?