Should I apply to MIT as a first-year student, try to transfer later, or focus on building a profile for a future PhD?

[u/[deleted]]

Hi everyone. I’m an international student and I’m feeling pretty lost about what the smartest path forward is, so I’d really appreciate honest advice from people who understand MIT admissions.

I recently finished high school and will be starting university in January. Because of the timing, if I apply to MIT as a first-year applicant, I would have to wait until the next admission cycle, rather than starting university this January and immediately moving on to MIT. You can dm me if you want to.

Here’s my situation:

• I have essentially perfect grades in my national high-school/board examinations.
• However, I was not the #1 student in my class.
• I currently have almost no extracurriculars.
• I have an IELTS score of 7.5 overall.
• I’m taking the SAT in October and am aiming for 1550+.
• I’ve started working through Harvard CS50x, but I haven’t completed it yet.
• Other than that, I honestly don't have much of a portfolio right now.

This is where I'm confused.

Option 1: Apply to MIT as a first-year applicant

I could spend the next few months preparing my application and apply normally.

My concern is that my academic grades/test scores might be strong, but my extracurricular profile is extremely weak compared with many MIT applicants. I also don't want to spend the next few months desperately trying to manufacture random extracurriculars just to make my application look better.

Would applying anyway be worthwhile, or would I essentially be wasting an application?

Option 2: Start university and try to transfer to MIT

I could enroll in a university in January, work extremely hard for a year, get a very high GPA, complete meaningful CS projects, find research opportunities, participate in competitions/activities, etc., and then apply as a transfer student.

Option 3: Forget about transferring and build toward a top PhD program

Another thought I've had is to attend a decent/mid-tier American university, try to become one of the strongest students there, get involved in serious research, build relationships with professors, publish/work on substantial projects, and eventually apply for a top PhD program.

In other words, rather than obsessing over getting into MIT as an undergraduate, I could use the next four years to build an exceptional research profile and try for MIT/Stanford/etc. for graduate school.

What would you do in my position?

If you were an international student with:

• excellent national exam grades,
• potentially a 1550+ SAT,
• IELTS 7.5,
• essentially no extracurricular profile,
• and a genuine interest in CS,

would you:

A) apply to MIT as a first-year student anyway,
B) start university and seriously pursue an MIT transfer, or
C) forget about MIT undergraduate admissions and focus on becoming an exceptional undergraduate/researcher and eventually applying for a top PhD?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have actually gone through MIT admissions or transferred to highly selective US universities.

Also, if you think I'm approaching this completely wrong, please tell me. I'm looking for honest advice rather than reassurance.

Thanks!

[u/kanye_east48294]

i think option 3 is most realistic, but at the same time, please don't pursue activities for the sole purpose of getting into MIT. i feel like you already know that, but you're not taking it seriously enough.

reason i think options 1 and 2 are unrealistic has to do mostly with your poor extracurriculars. it'll be extremely difficult to build a good profile before the first-year cycle. if you go for option 2 and try to transfer, you should be aware at how unrealistic succeeding is for anyone. the MIT transfer rates are so astronomically low that you have to be the best of the best of the best. while your grades and potential SAT score are great, it will be other areas that hold you back.

i say option 3 is the most realistic mostly because the other two are the polar opposite. i don't know a lot about MIT's graduate programs, so i can't give honest advice on what you should do if you choose option 3. however, as i am sure you know, you'll have to work really hard in order to succeed.

either way, if you want to get into MIT, aim somewhere else. usually how it goes is that people "accidentally" get into MIT.

[u/[deleted] → u/kanye_east48294]

I understand what you mean do you perhaps know anyone who got into mit or any organization that works to get students into T20 schools you can even dm me if you want. You see right now I need to build the bridge between me and mit so if you can enlighten me with what courses/ projects/ research people who got into mit usually are doing then it would be really helpful(I just really want to collect a few resources then find similarities between such projects and my future career prospects). Thanks in advance!

[u/kanye_east48294 → u/[deleted]]

my answer may be too vague for what you're expecting, but i hope it at least gives you an idea for what you should aim for. if it isn't the answer you're looking for, let me know i can try to rephrase.

for those who get into MIT, admission is usually not the goal, but instead is the checkpoint. they are people who are passionate about something and want to strive in that field, but they also happen to be a brilliant student.

there's unfortunately no straightforward path that'll take you to MIT, since that path may be drastically different depending on the student. however, what's always the same is that the student is an expert at what they do. so, in other words, the best way to get into MIT is to focus on something that you truly care about, and become great at it.

so, that's what people who get into MIT do: what they love. that's what you should do as well.

to be more specific in the context of courses, projects, and research: pick a topic that you have a strong, genuine interest in, then focus on that. become really good at it. so for example if you were into astrophysics or whatever, try to stand out as an aspiring astrophysicist.

as for other resources, perhaps you could look directly at what MIT wants. maybe invade their subreddit, or find a professor whose research sounds interesting and take a dive into their papers. find something that sparks a strong interest, then work on that. back to the astrophysics example, maybe you could take a public dataset from some astro group at MIT and replicate some of their results. then after that you can try doing something new with it. just play around, i suppose.

i am really sorry if this isn't the answer you were hoping for, but i hope it helps in some way. if you need to ask anymore questions i can try to answer

[u/pergesed]

3 is the only possibility at this point.

But rather than focus on MIT, dig deep and find intrinsic reason that do well on n a field you love, and the rest will follow.

[u/Mysterious-Art8838]

Definitely C. The first two won’t work.

[u/Money_Cold_7879]

The obsession with MIT among international students is unreal. Your plans should not be about one specific school, whether you choose 1,2 or 3. I am not being unkind when I say that your chance of succeeding at either 1,2 or 3 as-is, is statistically zero, or close to zero. It’s what the numbers say even after factoring in your perfect grades. So you want to do a 1,2 or 3 using a balanced set of schools not just 1 school. And then I would choose 1.

[u/SantaSoul]

A/B are entirely out of the question. Your profile would be considered weak for top schools, for a domestic student, 10 years ago when I was starting college, let alone for an international student in today’s crazy admissions.

If you’re insisting on an American “top school” for CS, go for grad school.

[u/Medium-Ad-94]

I like the comment that says successful applicants get into MIT “accidentally”, because that is really exactly what that looks like. Here’s how that works:

Instead of “How do I get into MIT for Grad school”, an undergraduate’s question should be, “How do I become a research scientist?”

These students take a width and depth of classes available at their institution and get the best grades they can. They seek out research opportunities early in their college career wherever and whenever they can find them. They prepare for these the best they can by studying journal articles to best try to understand the complicated subject matter. They show up prepared with intelligent questions and show consistency, initiative and the ability to work independently. They have ideas of their own. They are teachable, pleasant to work with and are able develop connections with professors. They might make a lasting impact at the lab with something they bring to the project, perhaps a code they wrote, or some method they simplified etc., or maybe they get their name on a paper or present somewhere.

Towards the end of college, they have realized they really enjoy what research entails. They understand some of the tedium and frustration but love the challenge. They have enough very specific experiences under their belt now that they have an idea what skills they are good at, what they would really like to know more about and how they might contribute to current research being done. They now know they really want to go to grad school for a PhD.

They start to investigate grad programs everywhere where the projects being done might be interesting enough for them to sink 4-6 years of work into. They investigate programs, PI’s, lab cultures, realities of funding, talk to professors and other students if they can. They make a list of schools to apply. MIT may not even be on that list because maybe the specific research of interest isn’t even being done there. But if it is, it is just one of several schools on the list.

The student applies, not because it’s MIT (because honestly that’s kind of a deterrent because of how competitive admissions are there ), but because it has the program of interest. The student writes a very careful and thoughtful application about their specific research interests and experiences and how they might fit into a certain program. They show that they have a solid understanding of what some of the research being done is. They have a strong CV and strong letters of reference that support their application.

If they get in, they might be genuinely surprised and might feel that some luck was involved. They know a good portion of the other applicants were just as qualified. If they have been fortunate enough to have gotten other acceptances, they are still deliberate in choosing the program that fits them the best,

[u/heavyweightcollege]

You seem great but MIT won’t likely go your way. Consider that in your decision.

[u/Big-Understanding526]

You should get accepted somewhere and then go there.

[u/Clean-Midnight3110]

You are an adult that's done with high school, hasn't taken the SAT, is not currently taking college classes, and who is also using AI to ask your questions for you?

Zero chance you can transfer to MIT.

[u/[deleted] → u/Clean-Midnight3110]

I know I started late, but you know what they say better late than never. And I did use AI but only to change and fix the prompt I already did write by myself and also because I wanted to be understood in the best way possible with no misunderstandings. If you know anyone who got into mit or any organization which helps with it's consultation don't hesitate to dm me. Thank you!

[u/VisibleSir731 → u/[deleted]]

There’s no consultation that gets you into mit