On: “I built a fusion reactor in my bedroom – AMA”

[fletchowns]

I would have to imagine these days average high school GPA for incoming freshman to MIT is > 4.0

[jsprogrammer → fletchowns]

No need to imagine. It has been sampled and estimated: < 4.0 [0]

'04-'05 seems to be the last year MIT reported high school GPA's [1]; probably because the number is meaningless.

[0] http://www.acceptancerate.com/schools/massachusetts-institut...

[1] http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2005/c.html

[argonaut → fletchowns]

To add on to amluto's point, that's because your average elite college admit is cookie-cutter: great grades, great test scores, probably did a sport, did some extracurriculars with some leadership/responsibility. A cookie cutter average admit to MIT needs great grades to be competitive because they all look similar.

Standing out exceptionally in one category (such as extracurricular projects) is not something the average admit to MIT posseses.

[amluto → fletchowns]

average != minimum