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A lot of Kolkata boys might be wondering how did Sahil Akhtar get MIT. The truth is that he applied and got in because he made his profile look so damn good.
The HOW to the process is what we are going to reveal in this blog. And perhaps, you will get a good insight of how do people actually get into MIT and do big stuffs before that.
PS I, Aditya, am a student of the same school from where Sahil graduated in. So... I have a really insider information on what he did and what he didn't.
Let's get started!
Introduction
Mohammed Sahil Akhtar in his latest vlog. January 2024
Sahil Akhtar graduated from my high school the year before I came for my junior year in 2023. He was the buzz of the town in those early days. The boy who 'cracked IIT'. The one who got into the most prestigious university for engineering on the face of the earth. MIT. No not the Madras one. I'm talking about Massachussets Institute Of Technology, in Cambridge Massachussets. I (apparently) joked with my newfound friends that this Sahil fellow was reaching the skies while we were sitting and fooling around. I don't really remember if I said that, to be honest, but Sahil Akhtar is undoubtedly a genius of the finest breed.
Mohammed Sahil Akhtar is a currently a freshman at MIT pursuing a major of computer science and physics and a former student of Delhi Public School Ruby Park. He is best known for representing India at the 2022 International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Georgia and winning a gold medal for his home country. He's always been passionate about computer science, mathematics, astronomy and physics and his CV certainly shows that.
How did Sahil Akhtar get MIT?
Of course he had good grades. He got a 1530 in the SAT, with the distribution being 790 in mathematics and 740 in EBRW (evidence-based reading and writing). He also performed exceptionally well in the IELTS by securing a bar of 8.5 (out of 9), with the distribution being a 9.0 in reading, a 9.0 in listening a 7.0 in writing, and an 8.0 in speaking.
His high school grades are no joke either.
94% in 9th grade
98% in 10th grade
93% in 11th grade
96% in 12th grade
But grades aren't everything. As Sahil points out in his video, almost every applicant has equivalent or higher grades. MIT(as do all foreign universities) has a holistic approach and has other means to select candidates.
By far his most outstanding achievements is getting a gold medal in the IOAA(International Olympiad On Astronomy and Astrophysics). If you don't know, the IOAA is the most prominent exam in the field of astrophysics for high school students, and countries from every corner of the earth send their brightest students to compete in the exams.
OLYMPIAD GOLD was everything (almost)
Getting a gold medal in this exam means that you're the BEST, and I repeat the BEST in that particular subject of a person of your age. It's harder than getting AIR 1 in JEE Advanced by a long shot.
Almost all geniuses are known to play music, and Sahil is no exception. He played the keyboard and was a member of the school band, often collaborating with other band members to produce music. He was also a core member of the Math Club in my school, being a lecturer and an integral part of all its activities. And of course, he took part in local Astronomy events.
His extracurriculars
He didn't slack off in summer either.
Whenever I go through his profile, I realise how insignificant I am in the universe.
Oh yeah, he also casually got a rank of 99 in JEE Advanced. Just a 99.9848 percentile, out of around 600000. No big deal.
To top it off, here's a list of all his honors.
Sahil Akhtar is the epitome of what students in India today strive to be. I don't know how so many achievements are even possible for a human! However one thing is for sure, it was not easy. Years of toil lay behind his certificates, and he certainly does inspire me and countless others to work as hard as him.
But that doesn't mean you can't get into MIT.
He worked hard and he got it. Working hard is completely dependent on you. And in the end, you just need to show a genuine passion for your research/academic interest. Because that's what attracts these top universities to take you in.
Read our blog on how Shaurya Sinha got into Stanford.
And also on how Nitya Agarwal got into Dartmouth.
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