What are my chances for Upenn and MIT?

Question

8 different clubs
held every single officer position (president/founder, Public Relations, Vice President, etc.)
Golf Team

Comm. Service
over 300 CAS hours

Out of School
FASG officer->Florida Association of Students of German->Student Run organization, statewide competition in Daytona Beach annually for German students->Last year I was Newsletter Editor but because of a lack of man power I did the duties of Historian and Parliamentarian… This year they wanted me to come back as the Fundraiser. Fundraiser Chair is position that has never been offered to a student.

made a club (in school but work out of school) where I go to doctor conventions and I talk in front of hundreds of doctors about poverty in India. My club builds schools in India.

research at a local university (nanotech/lithium Ion batteries)

top 10 in 2 State Science Olympiad competitions

play golf 12 hours every weekend (nonschool) with a teacher (got 1 award

webmaster for a pharmacy Association.

haveMITallumni

I have a good enough GPA but not a not so great SAT/ACT score

btw that is an abridged resume... (not enough room to finish)

Also I am doing early Upenn (Arts and Science not Whartan school)

I want to continue my university research in college

Lastly, pretty good college essays (I have gotten them checked by a 5 people... 1 MIT grad.. 2 teachers... etc.)

last last thing... I am in IB and I go to the 86th top high school in the nation

Answer 1

I'm currently a student at MIT, and SAT/ACT scores are huge for getting accepted. To be honest with you, they could care less about how many clubs you've joined. This is a top educational institution, and they want the smartest students from around the country/world. UPENN would most likely accept you in a heart beat. You can try, but you likely won't get accepted. What you have isn't enough.

*sigh* You're not worth my time. Being accepted into one of the top educational institutions in the country is a huge thing. I should be very proud of myself. Have a wonderful day.

Answer 2

You give a lot of information -- but you don't give the right information. That tells me that it is unlikely that you have the analytical skills necessary for these schools.

To get into either of these schools, you need a 3.8 unweighted GPA, lots of AP classes and SAT scores in the 2150+ range (out of 2400). Lots of extracurriculars are nice -- but they are easy to pad and hard to verify, so I doubt that they are given the kind of weight that people think they carry.

Having these credentials is not enough. Both of these schools reject more qualified students than they accept. One way to stand out is to have great admissions essays -- so it is good that you are spending time on that.

You say that your SAT score isn't that great -- and for that reason alone, I think your chances are not very good.

Answer 3

I imagine MIT will jump all over someone who is dedicated in doing nanotech research/lithium ion batteries (huge market for that stuff, by the way), especially if you're good at what you're doing (i.e., have you published a paper?) If so, I would say you're almost a lock-in for getting in. I would like to say that the person above is so full of herself because she got into MIT, it's making me barf all over my keyboard.

Like standardized tests like the SAT are a marker of intelligence/ knowledge. Yes, let's make a test that is based on your ability to memorize the meanings of almost completely arbitrary words, and your ability to make the least amount of mathematical mistakes than your peers in a timed setting. ROFL!! Take a real test like the LSAT, which is a better marker of intelligence, or the MCAT, which is a better marker of knowledge.