<p>What do you mean everyone can’t do siemens or intel?</p>
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I don’t know if this is useful information for you guys, but I’ll tell you anyway.</p>
<p>The number of students they admit each year is based on what they predict the yield will be that year. There aren’t necessarily huge repercussions if they admit too few people (because they can always admit from the waitlist), but if too many people decide to come, the class will be too big and there will often be crowding in the dorms. So there’s a lot of effort that goes into determining the number of students they need to admit to meet the target class size.</p>
<p>Last year (or was it two years ago? I think just last year), Harvard eliminated its early action program, and a few of the Ivies eliminated ED. So MIT anticipated having more people applying who might have otherwise been admitted ED somewhere, or gotten into Harvard EA and decided to go. So they admitted around 500 students EA, when usually they admit more like 350.</p>
<p>So the number of students admitted EA this year may be around the same as last year (because IIRC, the yield prediction ended up being spot-on), but be aware that the number of students admitted EA is not a constant number, and it’s fluctuated quite a bit in recent years due to things happening at MIT and at other schools.</p>
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<p>Everyone doesn’t have the resources to know/do stuff for things like that. You can say that the internet has made this a nonissue, but when you go to an average public school where most go to local universities and community college and nobody’s heard of honor societies, it’s pretty evident that the resources just aren’t there for things like that.</p>
<p>speaking of Intel/Siemens, anyone go to ISEF last year?
how significant do you all think that is?</p>
<p>Is NFAA merit/honorable mention worth anything/prestigious?</p>
<p>Also what is up with this, some failed Caltech prank?
[Caltech</a> East Campus](<a href=“http://east.caltech.edu/]Caltech”>http://east.caltech.edu/)</p>
<p>@An0maly: I agree. I hadn’t even heard of Siemens or Intel or AIME or any of those until I started researching MIT.</p>
<p>@feuxfollets: They’re just jealous of MIT’s awesomeness.</p>
<p>I meant that not everyone is into hard core science. I’m applying to MIT partially for the business school. I couldn’t get my project together in time for siemens or intel, but I’m doing science fair this year… not everyone is applying to MIT for science, and stressing those top competitions that are only for math/science leaves out a group of applicants. I mean, it can’t be a requirement or a huge deciding factor of admission. They have to consider people that are good at art or english alongside those who are good at math/science. Yes, MIT is a technical school, so people do need to have some good science background, but they have a ton of humanities as well.</p>
<p>@kitkatkatie</p>
<p>Your post on the last page was one of the best I’ve ever read on CC. I completely agree. I, too, was transfixed on ivies/stanford/MIT, but when I started visiting schools and started to find out what was really important to me in choosing a school, a lot of ivies went and MIT emerged as my obvious first choice. For example, I was all excited to apply to Harvard, but I hated it when I visited. It was totally not for me. It really hit me then that it all shouldn’t be about “how prestigious can I possibly get.” If you can’t picture yourself at a school, you have no business applying there. Harvard is arguably the best college in the world, but definitely not for me. MIT, on the other hand, was perfect. I loved everything from the academic intensity to the juggling club. It seemed like I had so much in common with MIT, and everyone who visited with me felt the same way. When I heard the info session and read some of Matt’s blogs about fit being more important than perfect SAT/ACT/GPA, I got very excited because I really think this is the place for me, and if my thoughts are true, I will get in. If not, I’m sure I’ll fit in somewhere else.
I guess my point is that we should not be so hung up on getting into the best school possible, but the school that fits you best. For me, that school is MIT, and I’m sure of that. I just hope that my application will portray me in a way that gives a sense of who I really am, so the admissions committee can see the match that I see.</p>
<p>You guys are all so right. I chose MIT cause 1) Location: stayed 2 months up there this summer, if you haven’t visited, its the best city ever. 2) Hacks: The fact that you can go to the best tech school in the US and still find time to have an awesome sense of humor. 3) Rigor: I want to be challenged, I want the hardest course load possible. In 50 years I want to look back and say I did everything I could’ve ever done. 4) Funding/Prestige: There is a lot of money to be had here, whether for Fin Aid or a job in a physics lab all 4 years. Plus you get to say you go to MIT ;] 6) Everyday on campus this summer, for the first time in a long while, I actually felt at home. It is one of the most comforting places on earth. Its nice to be around others who share your passions, rather than trying to explain a great theorem to someone in a math class. The ability to share ideas and collaborate with like minds is a truly inspiring process.</p>
<p>This is interesting. I found a sample of MIT’s comment sheet for a applicant( Maybe class of '06?) Here it is: <a href=“Forrest Fenn Treasure Location: Yellowstone”>Forrest Fenn Treasure Location: Yellowstone;
<p>Thats pretty cool, a quick google search shows that he was in fact accepted.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks a lot bobwrit.</p>
<p>That’s interesting stuff :O</p>
<p>Awesome. It’s really interesting to see the reviewers’ notes on his application. I like how they said that he was a “future hacker”. XD</p>
<p>I wonder if there are any more annotated admissions files out there… Preferably more recent.</p>
<p>ok so I got deferred by Caltech. So much for a morale boost :/</p>
<p>I am going to be very nervous on wed 16th</p>
<p>Same Djokovic, I saw your post on the Caltech thread :(</p>
<p>same here, as well</p>
<p>Who cares about Caltech, MIT is so much better :)</p>
<p>I agree. Caltech and MIT are so different, there’s no use in comparing their admission trends.</p>