Can an exceptional SAT score of above 2300 get me straight into MIT?

Question

I am a student of class 12 in India
I have an above average school academic career
I got 92.4% marks in my class 10th ICSE exams and am considered among the best students of my class.
I have been also involved in various science and computer competitions and community works.
Is all this and a very good SAT score enough to get me into MIT

Answer 1

At MIT a score of 2300 would not be exceptional.

Check the MIT website. they give an approximate range for the SATs of accepted students.

You have to understand that MIT is one of the top ten universities in the USA. Along with the Ivy League schools, Stanford, Duke, University of Chicago and Caltech.... These schools are all small. Caltech is very small, UChi only enrolls about 1200 and the others from 1400 - 1800 students per year. But they receive thousands of applications from the best students in American and the world. Unless you are completely outstanding, you have virtually no chance of being accepted.

A typical American kid who got into MIT would be from a highly respected high school, would have graduated very near the top of his class - probably in the top 2 or 3 of a class of 200 or more - would have a GPA of 4.0 plus with many Honors and Advanced placement classes, would have shown leadership in regional and national science and math competitions, and would have excellent references from his teachers and people who supervised his research or competition efforts outside school.

I have tutored advanced students from high schools for several years and only one of my tutored kids has gotten into MIT - she had 2400 SAT and had been doing physics research with a prof at an Ivy League school since she was in 9th year. I have had a long list of kids who got into Ivies, Duke and other top schools, but MIT is really hard to get into.

All is not lost, though. There are 4000 colleges in the USA. And there are many excellent colleges that focus on engineering and science that are much easier to get into than MIT.

You can go to the princetonreview.com website and go through their free college search program. It will help to identify some schools that have the areas you want. Also, you can look at the US News college rankings. Any school in the top 100 list at US News is a highly respected school that can give you a terrific education.

Answer 2

No. A good SAT score will never get anyone in the door - it will keep you from getting knocked out in the applications process. A lot of students have SAT scores over 2200; the exact number does not matter when they're this high - the rest of your application becomes very important. You need good scores in your SAT 2 subject tests, excellent professor recommendations, and you should be involved in things outside of school - such as sports, volunteering, etc. You must be able to demonstrate these things to really make them count. I hope your overall transcript is strong as well - you should have A's and A-'s...only a couple of B's might be allowed. And they do look at all of your term results. So acing national exams do not cancel out mediocre term grades.
Involvement in science fairs and math & computer olymiads are also worth little unless you were actually placing in the top set of candidates (i.e. you were in the top 3). A lot of the guys who get in based on performance in competitions and olympiads have gold medals in these things.
Lastly, your exact class rank is important. A lot of admitted students to MIT/Harvard/Stanford, etc. are typically ranked within the top 3 of their graduating class (athletes are the main non-top 3 admitted students).
You really need to be a bit lucky to get in; exceptional students apply every year and get turned down simply because there was not enough space or someone more talented was in the same batch.

Answer 3

What you have now is pretty good.

You should read Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. The character in her book had everyhting you listed plus more and she was rejected from MIT. Make sure you have something that can stand out, unique. Everyone can do well on SAT's, get good grades, and compete.

Good luck. MIT is a toughie.

Answer 4

A 2300+ will certainly help! I got 2 perfect scores in math and reading, but my writing score was only 720, for a total of 2320. I only read this SAT guide, and that is how I got such high scores:
http://www.guideparadise.com/index.php?option=com_guides&task=buy&id=10
I recommend this guide to anyone seeking to get a higher score to get into a first choice college.

Answer 5

No, you need some letters of reference and some activities.

Answer 6

I think it depends