Guidance and Advice for High Schoolers

I often get asked for advice from high school students who aspire to get into prestigious colleges (such as my alma mater, MIT) or major in STEM with hopes to work for a place like NASA one day. Hopefully this blog can shed some light on my personal experience during high school and answer some questions from those who are college-bound.

How did you get into MIT? How can I get into MIT?

One of the most common questions that I receive is “How did you get into MIT?”. I wish I could give the fail-proof, step-by-step guide that guarantees admission to MIT, but that does not exist. I am also not an admissions counselor who makes these decisions so I cannot tell you exactly why I was admitted. Instead, I think talking about how I spent my time in high school may prove more valuable. Otherwise, I would encourage applicants to check out this old but still relevant piece written by an MIT admissions counselor that filled me with hope when I was applying to MIT.

What types of classes did you take?

I attended a public school in New Jersey that was 1. my only option (turns out that some towns have lots of options for high school) and 2. took students from all the neighboring towns. We had access to a decent number of honors and AP classes, but not all. When it comes to access, every school is going to be different. Perhaps you attend a magnet school, boarding school, or private school. Perhaps you attend a public school just as I did. While the offerings at these different types of schools may be vastly different, what is important is that you make the most of whatever opportunities are currently open to you. If your school has AP/IB/Honors classes, consider taking them. The goal should not be to get perfect grades. The goal should be to challenge yourself, build a serious work ethic, and discover your interests through learning. College will require all of these things from you and it is best to start that process before you get there.

I took all of the AP classes that interested me in high school which was basically all of them except for AP World History (sorry history fans!). Taking these classes, on top of practicing for track and cross-country and doing my other extracurriculars resulted in many long nights of studying and homework. I remember working until 2-3am in the morning and, on particularly bad nights, getting up around 5am to finish whatever I didn’t have time to get to. There was no one telling me that I had to do this. I did not have external pressure to do well from my parents or teachers, and I didn’t particularly have any goals in mind, like attending a hard-to-get-into college. And the world would not have ended if I had turned in incomplete work or skipped a studying session. I believe that I was determined to work as hard as I could because I have always had a love for learning and a curious nature. Because the drive was internal and not external in nature, I think it made it easier for me to deal with stress. Don’t let others drive your life when it is the only one you have. Instead, do things because you want to and then do them well.

Sounds like a lot of work. How did you handle it all?

While these sleepless nights likely contributed to my good grades and prospects for college, I do not necessarily recommend this lifestyle. I had to made sacrifices to get all the work done and paid the price for overworking myself: mental health issues, less time for friends, health issues that prevented me from being the type of runner I wanted to be, and more. I would never want to repeat high school in this way if I had a choice. I was totally burned out and graduation felt like it couldn’t come soon enough. To this day, overcommitment of tasks, determination to get them all done well and on time, and dedication to the things I love continue to have negative impacts on my well-being. But these traits are also a part of who I am as a person and I continue to work towards being more balanced for my overall well-being by enjoying hobbies that bring me peace, joy, and relaxation.

What did you do outside of the classroom?

When it comes time to fill out college applications, you may be asked to provide the details of your extracurricular activities or in other words, what you do outside of what is required in school. It may seem that being involved in a lot of things will make you appear to be a better candidate, however I have found that focusing on the activities that you truly love, quality over quantity, is better. Ask yourself this:

Were you an “along for the ride” member or the innovative leader of a club?
Did you create something new at your school because you were passionate about it?
Would an interviewer or admissions counselor be able to feel your genuine excitement and dedication for your activity in your application?

I felt like writing my college applications was easy, because everything I wrote about was something that I meaningfully chose to do, worked hard for, and enjoyed:

Being varsity and captain on the cross-country, winter and spring track teams (this sport was my life and I grew so much from being a part of it!)
Competing in NAACP ACT-SO in the categories of Essay and Mathematics (which I actually won at both the state and national level and ended up publishing this short essay as a result)
Public Speaking and Debate where I participated in Princeton Model Congress and lead sessions at other model congresses
Participating in the MIT MITES program the summer before my senior year in high school and receiving multiple awards
Being secretary to my high school’s Honors Society which reminded me how important volunteer work really was (and encouraged me to continue it in college)

My school did not have any STEM clubs I could join at the time. If I could change things, I would have tried to start one myself now that I know it is possible. So if you are looking at this list and thinking “my school doesn’t have any of those things” here is your invitation to be the trailblazer. I could write a full essay on any one of these activities and never run out of material because I truly enjoyed them. This should be the aim when joining clubs and activities — do it because you love it, not because you are checking boxes.

What were your grades like?

I did well in most all my classes in high school but there are two grades that I will never forget. The moment I received the first perfect score on the Geometry final exam and the moment I got my first “B”. For the former, I was at a total shock when the teacher revealed that someone in the class got all the questions right. “It couldn’t be me”, I thought. I absolutely loved learning about theorems and discovering new branches of mathematics but I was certainly not a natural talent at this new subject. I studied hard to understand the underlying concepts and was very nervous for the exam. I was in total shock when it was revealed that I was the one with the perfect score. We often doubt how far hard-work and dedication can get us. We think that you need to be a naturally born genius to do extraordinary things. But I am telling you now that I am no genius and this moment taught me that hard-work and dedication can really pay off, especially when you least expect it.

Now back to the “B”… it was in a public speaking class, an elective, and we were given a homework assignment to come up with potential bills to propose. I misunderstood what we were supposed to do and got a failing grade on the homework. As a result, there was no way possible for me to secure an “A” by the end of the quarter, no matter how hard I worked. I begged my teacher to consider fixing my grade and she denied me. So when I got my report card that quarter, there it was, a single “B” bright as day. In the moment it felt like the end of the world but reflecting back I am thankful every day that she did this.

For me, getting a “B” was a form a failure. I had never “failed” in this way before and it taught me an important lesson: it is what you do after you fall down that matters most. I ended up getting an “A” on my final speech for the class and that “A” felt like the best “A” I had ever received because I felt that I had actually improved. So if you are feeling hopeless or dejected because your grades are not the greatest, my advice to you is to focus on personal growth instead of the past. You can’t change the past but you can change your future and we as people have limitless potential. As long as you are acting on that potential by improving, growing, and learning, you are moving in the right direction.

Final Thoughts?

When you approach college applications by thinking about what “looks good”, you can lose yourself. Getting perfect scores on your SATs, straight As in school, and tons of volunteer hours every quarter may “look good” but is it actually good? Perfection can be robotic. Humans are not perfect creatures. I was not a perfect student. And I think that most colleges are looking for people and not robots who can recite answers on queue. So yes, it is possible to get into a school like MIT without perfect grades. To me, grades should just serve as indicators for your readiness level. Would you be able to handle the difficulty/workload of the school? Would you be able to succeed here? Colleges don’t want you to struggle, they want you to succeed. Once you pass that first hurdle, it goes beyond the grades and it is your person, your character, that will stand out most.

Lastly, college and university is not the sole determinator of future success. If you are not accepted into your dream college it can feel like the end of the world. Like all your hopes, dreams and prospects died with the rejection letter. But life does not work that way. Doors are generally never shut forever and ambition can do powerful things. Succeed where you land; be the best version of yourself no matter where you end up. In the end, it is the quality of your character that will open up opportunities for you.

Want to get into MIT? Read This.