Race to MIT, TU München, KTH Stockholm, and UCL

Key dates:

• Mar 7, 2026 - SAT I Deadline
• May 8, 2026 - SAT II Deadline
• Jun 4, 2026 - TOEFL Deadline
• Oct 15, 2026 - Application Deadline at KTH Stockholm
• Nov 1, 2026 - Application Deadline at MIT
• Jan 29, 2027 - Application Deadline at UCL
• May 15, 2027 - Application Deadline at TU München

SAT Test Center Addresses:

• ACTR/ACCELS - 20 Esplanadna Street, 6th floor
• UMA/IEU building - 42B Akademika Glushkova Avenue
• TOEFL-IELTS Center - 9 Prorizna Street, office 13

Key vocabulary facts:

• 40,000–50,000 words - typical Doctorate student at the top US universities
• 20,000–35,000 words - typical Masters/Doctorate student
• 15,000–20,000 words - typical native English-speaking Bachelors student
• 18,000 words - suggested level to build erudition for securing admission into MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, ETH Zurich - considering weak extracurriculars
• 15,000 words - erudition for securing admission into Berkeley, Princeton, UToronto, UCL, ICL, UEdinburgh - considering weak extracurriculars
• 10,000–12,000 words - needed for the top 1% SAT score of 1550+
• 8,000–10,000 words - needed for the top 1% TOEFL score of 120
• Knowing 2,000–3,000 SAT-specific words can significantly boost your score, focusing on words that appear frequently in SAT practice materials
• A familiarity with Latin and Greek roots (e.g., bene = good, mal = bad, tele = distant) and affixes (e.g., -tion, -able) helps deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words
• While vocabulary is important, top SAT scores also depend on reading comprehension, grammar skills, and the ability to interpret texts.
• Top 1% TOEFL performance also requires mastery of grammar, listening skills, and academic language fluency.
• VG: I tested my vocabulary (T1) and got 21265 words result
• VG: Another somewhat useful vocabulary test (39 out of 40)
• VG: This other test (T2) gave me the result of C2 level and 33894 words.
• VG: This other test (T3) is very much like SAT/GRE word list and the result I got was 14800 words
• VG: This 100-question test (T4) is much like SAT/GRE word list and kind of outdated but effective. I got 15800 words
• VG: Another 200-word test (T5), much like SAT/GRE word list, gave me 16230 words
• Useful Barton Vocabulary Test for IELTS

Essential word lists:

• Barron’s 800 Essential Words for TOEFL
• Barron’s 3500 Words for SAT
• Academic Word List (AWL)
• Barron’s 800 High-Frequency GRE Words
• Manhattan 500 GRE Word List
• Explore newspapers (e.g., The New York Times), academic journals, and textbooks
• Read a mix of fiction and non-fiction from sources like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and academic journals.
• Use flashcards and apps (e.g., Anki, Quizlet) to practice word meanings and usage in sentences.

Flashcard apps:

• Anki, Quizlet
• Flashcards App