I’m a little confused about MIT applicationsAnswered
Hi, I’m going into 9th grade this year. So I might seem young to be worrying about this. I’m confused about the MIT application process. Firstly part of the application is a secondary school report with high school transcript. I’ll be honest, I have no idea what that is or how to make it. Second one evaluation is for languages, humanities, social science. Languages means like Mandarin or French, etc, yes? And lastly, I need to take the ACT as I live in Canada. How do I take the SAT subject tests?
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2 answers
Hi! It's totally okay to be thinking about the application process this early, but remember that a lot can change in a few years, so don't be too worried about minutia. I recommend these two resources to get you in the MIT application mindset:
1. https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/be-yourself/
2. https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/highschool/
As for your questions: first off, the Secondary School Report is a form that is submitted by your high school counselor and typically summarizes your academic performance throughout high school. MIT's form is designed for U.S. school systems but may be adapted for international school use. Many international schools do not calculate GPA, class rank, and other statistics, so your school counselor/principal may leave those spaces blank. The Report includes your high school transcript, which is a record of the classes you've taken and the subsequent grades earned. Because many grades are not available until after decisions are made, MIT asks that predicted grades be sent if available. Final grades are only required for admitted students. The Report also includes the results of external examinations you've taken (such as the International Baccalaureate, A Levels, French Baccalaureate, or CBSE) which are required for entrance to universities in your home country.
Second, yes, languages refers to English as well as foreign languages like Mandarin or French. MIT recommends four years of English, two years of a foreign language, and two years of history and/or social sciences.
Finally, taking only the ACT is perfectly fine. MIT no longer requires SAT subject tests, and does not need an SAT score if ACT scores are submitted.
Hi @1.21Gigawatts, I'll answer your questions.
1. Secondary school report with HS transcript. 99% of High schools have something their HS counselor sends out with the applicant's HS transcript. This is called the School Report or School Profile. Sometimes this is posted on your HS website, other times it's an internal document. What's on this report is the school demographics, # of APs, # IBs or Honors offered, Sports offered, ECs and Clubs offered, Grading Scale, Avg. Class ACT or SAT test scores, and any outstanding honors or awards. For instance, your school might have had 22 Collegeboard National Merit Finalists. I wouldn't worry about this until you are ready to apply because this happens on the back end of your common app or MIT app between your school and MIT. You do not get involved in this.
2. Teacher Evaluations - MIT has 3 different evaluation reports that are reported through the application portal. 1. One humanity teacher evaluation, 1, STEM teacher evaluation, and 1 HS counselor evaluation. You invite these 3 people on your application portal to write your evaluations/recommendations when you apply.
3. MIT is agnostic to whether you submit an ACT or SAT composite score. Therefore you decided which one you want to study for and which one to submit. There is no advantage to submitting both an ACT and an SAT score, just 1 will suffice. Keep in mind that successful applicants generally have 35-36 ACT scores and 1530-1600 SAT scores.
4. Collegeboard eliminated SAT subject tests over a year ago so you can not take an SAT subject test anywhere in the world. If you are an older student applying for the first time, you might have taken a subject test pre-2020 and schools will consider them if you have them but for 99% of applicants, this policy would not apply. If you can't take the test, you can't submit the test.
Hope this answers your questions completely and in detail.
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I'm not familiar with the process myself but might consider reaching out to MIT directly. (your hs transcript is your grades/marks). I believe languages refers to more language arts like writing etc... I also believe you can register for both SAT and ACT. I dont live in Canada but I was able to take both pretty easily.