r/MITAdmissions

Hi! I'm a student from a 3rd world country currently starting out my high school (Grade 11).

I've been interested in joining MIT for my undergrad since my childhood. The quality of education hasn't really been the best in my country so I've decided to apply to a few colleges abroad in the future.
I believe that I am a relatively well-performing student given my circumstances. For context in my country the education system is a tad bit different. Here, Grade 11 and 12 are called "+2" (as in 10 + 2 ).
I got into the best college( high school for Grade 11 and 12) in my country. So, there are 2 options in Grade 11, we can study Physics, Chemistry, Math, Bio, English and my native language or swap the Bio for Computer Science. I wanted advice on whether to choose Bio or CS.

So, I want advice on what I can do to maximize my chances of getting into MIT. I also regularly take part in ECA and was the student council president in my previous school. I also regularly took part in essay competitions and took part in Silverzone Olympiad. I want to do community service as a club in my college offers and the opportunity. I also want to start preparing for the Physics Olympiad selections in my country as I have interest in Physics too. I am also interested in creating different innovative projects and am open to suggestions on what I should do to maximize my chances. I am also well versed in Sports, I have a hobby for running.

So I would humbly request all the respected people to bestow me any advice that might prove to be fruitful to me.
Thank You!

Hi everyone,
(First of all, please excuse my English as I am still learning!)
I am a 16-year-old high school student in Japan attending an academically rigorous school. I am highly motivated to challenge myself and dream of applying to MIT in the future.
Since the application process in Japan is very different from the US, I would love to get some general advice on how international students can best prepare. Specifically, I have a couple of questions:

1. Extracurriculars & Leadership: How is involvement in student council or similar leadership roles generally viewed in the MIT admissions process? Are there other types of activities or achievements (like Olympiads or specific projects) that are highly valued?
2. Challenges: For students applying from overseas, what are typically the biggest challenges or hurdles during the preparation process that I should start focusing on early?
   I know that gaining admission to MIT is incredibly difficult, especially for international applicants, but I want to do everything I can to prepare. Any insights, experiences, or advice you could share would be greatly appreciated!
   Thank you so much!

I am very interested in MIT, and I am currently doing Vex Robotics right now, as I have been looking at various maker portfolios, and thinking about possible future projects in the future, I wondered, is Vex actually worth it? Vex robotics is a lot of fun to me, but at the competitive level I am at it is also a giant time sink, if instead I used all my money from Vex and time, I would be able to accomplish much more stuff in doing in personal projects. What is generally better for MIT? Or does it not mater and I should just "Apply Sideways" as they say and do what is the most fun for me!

So for context my school doesn’t have many APs coupled with a crumbling aice system(we’re losing teachers across all subjects, especially STEM). as someone going into STEM with planned projects for junior year, should I skip out on the somewhat menial APs (Art History, Gov, and Macro)? I’m bypassing my graduation requirements through CLEP (i don’t care much about recieving college credit from the exams, I’m abusing CAP). Considering the ones with any use to my major I’d take 1 or 2, alongside DE/DC. Could this be an issue for MIT or any other T20?
*Please inform me if I’m breaking any subreddit rules*

Title. I've doom scrolled this subreddit and so many others regarding college admissions and I'm experiencing the universal feeling of being lost and behind when compared to those kids who started in middle school. I could go on and on about how it feels like I need USAMO, USAPho, published research, ISEF, MITES, and all these awards for even a chance at MIT.

I've read the rants of others in the same boat as me, and I've seen all the responses where people warn against just "checking boxes" and advise to just "do it for the love of the game" and hope that your passion carries you far enough.

I know I'm still fully discovering my passions (arnt we all) but I've experienced enough to grasp that I truly love the hands-on, semi-chaotic, nature of robotics and that MIT is the dream.

My issue is that I recognize I'm running out of time before admissions, and I need to optimize my game-plan before senior year rolls around.

I'm lacking in competitive awards, so I'm putting a lot of effort towards my FTC team. However I feel like I need a math award to show proficiency (due to my school lacking any AP/IB physics). Should I grind for either F=ma or the amc12? Do both? try out both, see which one i'm better at, then focus on that one?

I also wonder what I can 'double dip' on. For example, would I be able to apply to mit THINK with an idea for a project, then develop that project for regen ISEF, all while detailing my journey in a MITES application?

Overall, I feel very overwhelmed, behind, and lost. I wish there was just a structured plan I could definitively grind for but I know admissions doesn't work like that. I don't know how to balance doing too much and being mid at everything, vs putting all my eggs in one basket and it not working out. I've heard about 'Applying Sideways' but I just don't want to miss an opportunity which is available to me due to a lack of guidance.

I have a 35 on my ACT, but I took the SAT freshman year twice and I got a 1490 first attempt (800 M 690 E), and a 1440 second attempt (710 M 730 E), because I was trying to superscore. But I found out MIT looks at all the standardized tests you've taken, so I was wondering if MIT looks at your highest test scores, superscores, or what.

Okay let’s suppose a hypothetical situation where you are accepted to MIT. Now, you also get accepted to love island, for the summer between your senior year and first year of MIT. Theoretically, can MIT rescind your acceptance because of the fact that you are on love island?

Hello I’m an international student who would like to apply to MIT. My passion is solar energy and I’ve built various projects centered around that. I’ve won many awards nationally and regionally for these projects so I’m wondering if this would help my chances to get accepted.

I am in 9th grade of peshawer board and was curious about somethings which you could hopefully answer.

First, I wanted to ask that is being a computer engineer a correct option while looking at income and safety ? as I am really good at biology but I love solving problems in math so I am aligned towards coding and physics more so I just wanted you to answer me to make a choice on what to go forward with.

Second, is starting coding practice(c++)at start or mid of 9th grade without previous knowledge going to leave me enough time to prepare to eventually have a chance at winning a medal at ioi probably near start of 12 grade.

Third, is this practice going to interfere with my studies and harm them?

Fourth,If I somehow win the ioi or any other olympiad based on your answer to the first question will I be able to go to harvard,mit etc after 12 grade or do I have to first go to university in Pakistan.

Thanks for giving me your time. Your opinion will be held precious to me.

Does the MIT portal open August 1st like the Common App?
Thanks

Hi everyone,

I'm a Class XI student from India interested in applying to MIT for EECS. I'm trying to make thoughtful decisions about how to spend the next year rather than chasing activities for the sake of a resume.

For context, I currently:

• Lead my school's robotics team.
• Build AI and embedded systems projects, including an environmental monitoring system, a disaster-response drone platform, and an AI-assisted emergency healthcare concept.
• Experiment with LLM-based desktop assistants and embedded electronics.
• Am preparing for Olympiads (IOQM, NSEP, NSEC).
• Recently ranked 76th in the Confluence 2.0 Hackathon.

I'm not looking for an admissions evaluation. Instead, I'd love to hear from current students or alumni:

• If you were in my position, what would you spend the next 12–15 months doing?
• Would you focus on taking one engineering project to a much higher level, pursuing research, contributing to an open-source project or startup, or something else?
• What experiences best prepared you for MIT's collaborative, hands-on culture?

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Soy un alumno de España y estoy súper desanimado y al borde de dejarlo porque he escuchado muchísimo que solo aceptan a gente internacional con olimpiadas nacionales o internacionales de matemáticas. ¿lo peor de todo? Ni mi colegio ni ninguna persona me ha ayudado a poder intentar siquiera ir a una, y como tengo que entregar en menos de unos meses todo mi portafolio y todo estoy bastante triste e impotente. Siento que da igual que haga, porque mi perfil no tiene una medalla de matemáticas peor si proyectos importantes, pero quería preguntar aquí y desahogarme un poco porque me siento súper desilusionado

I'm looking for some real-life success stories.

Has anyone here, or someone you personally know, gotten into MIT for a master's, PhD, or research program from a Tier 3/non-IIT college?

If yes, I'd love to know:

What was their CGPA?

Did they have research papers or internships?

How important were extracurriculars and leadership?

What do you think made their application stand out?

Most of the profiles I come across are from IITs or other top institutes, so I'm curious to hear about applicants from less well-known colleges.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

Hello, I'm a 9th grader (Not USA, India, or Europe), and my goal is to get into MIT.

I’ve always wanted to attend universities or colleges like these and earn a degree in engineering, but I think I started study too early.

I took my final exam after 9th grade, and my total score was higher than half.

While my English is excellent my math is a bit weak, I would say very. This is why i'll push myself as hard as I can and finish 11th grade as well as I possibly can.

Can't say what my SAT score is, but I think it's below average. I've also never participated in any academic competitions (except for the geography one, which I managed to fail spectacularly, lol)

I'm also learning C++. slowly but surely

Not sure if it's important to know, but I hope it helps you come up with some suggestions for improvements

I'm sick of engineering at all, electric engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, aerospace engineering, architertury (even if it's not fully engineering branch). I'm not afraid of doing mistakes (because I do them every time lol), but also can't co-operate properly, im socially disabled person. My break is just to explore world in minecraft with worldgen mods, + build something that had to look beautiful

This is what on admission will look at, according to my gemini 3.5 flash. But your opinion is way more valuable. I would like you to advice me something to fix, or do something for admission, so, I kindly ask you to leave your comment containing valuable opinion

Can i get LORs written by profs. From University in my city which I'm not enrolled in but their Profs. know me (ive been there for other works like clubs etc )

I'm in a non attending school which makes it impossible to get from my own school 🥀

I think MIT (and other universities) should evaluate gap-year applicants differently from students applying directly from Class 12.

A productive gap year often gives students the opportunity to conduct research, build real-world projects, compete internationally, or gain industry experience—things that are difficult to achieve while balancing school. Comparing both groups using the exact same expectations may not fully reflect the growth and accomplishments of gap-year applicants.

I'm not asking for an easier admissions process—just a context-aware evaluation that recognizes the different opportunities and experiences each group has had.

What do you all think? Should admissions criteria account for a well-spent gap year?

So basically, I'm a 12th grader with science and aiming for MIT for undergraduate studies. I don't really have any international olympiads or medals or something (yes Ik they are not compulsory at all), I don't even have any coding skills currently, although I am thinking of learning soon as I want to be a developer (also have interest in robotics).

I do like graphic designing and I'm giving my friend some designs (like app icon and UI/UX ideas) for the app he's making. I don't take any formal course for it, just relying on Google, articles and yt.

Regarding academics, neither a topper nor a bare passer. Although I believe that I can somehow get good marks in the SAT.

So I don't know what I can do in a few months to be "considerable" for MIT. The academic year in my country starts in April, so I'm thinking if I should take a gap year (drop year) to gain some more experience or apply this year too (if by chance it works). Is there anything else that I can do except graphic designing?

And this might be a funny question - but does being a moderator and founder of a 20k members sub matters?

Any suggestions are appreciated.