Jose Schroeder Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Hi, I wanted to know if it is as difficult as it sounds to get into the MIT as an international applicant (South-America in my case) I do really well in school, but I do not know if Ib is recognised or if I need to publish articles in magazines or something. What I really want to know is, if it's realistic, and in case it is. What do you need to do? Write an essay or a special exam?? I would be REALLY grateful if any of you can give me an useful response Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Getting into MIT is very difficult whether you're an international student or domestic (US) applicant. Very selective schools usually reserve only so many places for international students. While it will be slightly easier coming from South America than say India or China, MIT will very likely only admit a handful of students from South America, so you will want to make sure that in addition to having a strong application compared to the general applicant pool, you will want your application to be better than any other South American applicant. While admission is never guaranteed unless you do something like cure cancer, your chances of admission are better if you do the following: 1. Have very strong academics. Get the highest IB score you can get. The US is a little different than other places like the UK where you need a certain score for entry, and instead they just look to see if you did well in your courses overall. Aim for at least 38/45, and if you can get it higher than that, even better. Your SAT (or ACT) score needs to be as high as you can get it too. Aim for an SAT score of at least 2200, or an ACT score of at least 33. 2. Have extracurricular activities, and actually be involved in them and join them. MIT doesn't want to see that you go to school and do nothing else with your time. You should be involved in something, and play an active role in it. This includes things like being an officer in a club or being a captain of a sports team, or starting your own club, or being a regionally/nationally recognized athlete, or things like that. You can also work a part-time job if you want. Competitions are also included in this. If you do things like math/science olympiads, these would look good if you compete in them and do well. You don't need to have 20 things you do, but you should have a couple that you are a substantial part of. 3. Writing really great essays. MIT wants to see who you are and what makes you different from the rest of the applicants. In other words, why should you go to MIT as opposed to the guy sitting next to you in HL physics? Usually you will either respond to a question given to you, or you write your own essay with your own prompt. This is where a lot of the decisions to admit applicants are made. Most people applying will have great grades and extracurricular activities, so the essay is what can make the difference between two people. You want to answer the question being asked, and you want to answer it in a way that's not totally expected or isn't cliched. Even if you do all that, you're still not guaranteed to get in just due to how selective it is. But that's usually what you need to do if you want a decent chance at getting a spot. 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrashmaster Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Everything Emmi said. I'd just like to add that MIT specifically really cares about your SAT math section and I believe requires SAT subject tests in certain subjects as well. Be sure to look those up and do well on them Good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megamind Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Not only that Jose, but dont forget that this is just Undergraduate admissions. You can do your Undergraduate at a reputed school, well not as reputed as MIT, and sort of be the big fish in the small pond there and move to MIT for graduate level or master's degree courses. The masters degree is a lot more important than the bachelors, and so you can make your way up from a sub standard UG school to a top notch grad school. Bottom line, there's always a second chance here, if MIT is your dream and you cant make it there for UG . Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haris587 Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 You should not give up, my friend got into MiT last year with 36 predicted!He did a lot of extra academic stuff though. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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