<p>So I have read a lot about what happens during admissions as in a group of people sits down and reads the application materials.</p>
<p>Curious as I am, I was wondering if anyone could provide an idea of the procedure in more detail--</p>
<p>-is your whole application seen one time/one go or considered multiple times?
-how many people read over it?
-do students help out too?
-are research projects taken to those knowledgeable in the field, and then that person comes in to the admission group and puts in their opinion?
-do they openly discuss/debate?
-do they each give a score, or something of the like/how does this work?
-do they go through the cycle multiple times so that not all the decisions are made in the top of the stack?
-do they compare you to other people from your own school especially?
-do some readers have more authority than others/how are debates settled?
-how would you describe the stages of the process?</p>
<p>How does it work?</p>
<p>I bet that everyone else is secretly dying to hear about this as well :D</p>
<p>So about 12 people will read your application from beginning to end during the admissions process. There are a variety of readers: admissions officers, faculty members, alums, and I think some students. And there’s discussion and debate about each application during selection, when all of the readers come together and more or less lock themselves in a room until the class is selected. The applications are randomized many times over during the reading and selection processes – this is MIT, and they are extremely careful to remove any biasing factors in the selection process.</p>
<p>Students are not compared to others from their school. International students are read by country/region (and selected in a selection process separate from domestic applicants), but domestic applicants are not read or selected regionally or by school.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! Do you know about this:
-are research projects taken to those knowledgeable in the field, and then that person comes in to the admission group and puts in their opinion?</p>
<p>Since I’ve always wondered how submissions like this are regarded.</p>
<p>Thanks mollie! This was very helpful/stress relieving. </p>
<p>One question though, only “strong” applicants have their applications summarized and reviewed further? Does this mean there is somewhat of a first cut? And if there is, are a significant number of applications denied/deferred at this point?</p>
<p>As far as I know, and my information is a couple of years old now, and should be taken with a grain of salt:</p>
<p>Yes there is a first cut, and no, only a very small number of applications are dropped at this point. There are a few people who apply to MIT purely speculatively. They got SATs of 350 CR/400M/350W, a high school transcript full of D’s but their cousin went to MIT and their family wanted them to apply too, because “you never know”. They get dropped at the first hurdle for being obviously academically unsuitable. If there is any question that they MIGHT be academically suitable, then they pass through into normal reading. </p>
<p>I suspect, but do not know for sure, that this is also where people who did not follow the applicability rules are also dropped. For example, if you are a junior at the University of [Somewhere], then MIT requires you to apply as a transfer rather than as a freshman. MIT also does not consider applications for a second bachelor’s degree. Those who do not meet these requirements, may also be dropped at this point.</p>
<p>^This is my understanding as well, that applications are only dropped after first review for serious academic problems.</p>
<p>
They will try to have research projects properly evaluated, but it’s not always possible. When they do have projects evaluated, I believe it’s similar to the music/art evaluation, where the evaluating faculty member writes a note to the selection committee instead of actually attending selection.</p>
<p>I know this has probably been answered somewhere before, but how does MIT decide who to deny for early action? The same people in Mikalye’s post?</p>
<p>^mathsciencedude - are you referring to outright rejection? If so, then I believe you’re right - only those who would absolutely not be competitive in the RD round are rejected outright. As for deferral, it looks pretty luck-of-the-draw to me.</p>
<p>One of my essays was about my summer project of building a refrigeration unit, which involved welding, HVAC skills, etc. The complexity of my project and my work ethic would almost impress anyone who knows enough to be able to understand what building a refrigeration unit requires.</p>
<p>Do you guys think that someone knowledgable enough about HVAC or simply engineering would read my essay and help the admissions people decide? If they understand how serious this project is, my likelihood of getting in goes up 4x</p>
<p>Well, I mean, keep in mind that a bunch of the admissions officers themselves are MIT alums, and there are students, faculty, and alums who read applications. So the odds of someone who understands engineering reading your application are high.</p>