<p>Matt's blog says they will probably accept fewer applicants than last year, and that means that the acceptance rate will be less than </p>
<p>(383/3098)*100 = 12.3%</p>
<p>that is an amazingly low number...especially for early admissions. MIT is my first choice...and these last two weeks have been absolute hell for me, but everyone has kept telling me that i will get in. Until you actually submit your application, it's easy to be confident, but once its in...it's so easy to see how big the 87.7% is compared to 12.3%...and how easy it is to fall in with that 87.7%. Right now...it's looking like 7 out of 8 applicants will be deferred or denied...mostly deferred. So it took me this long to realize this, and to realize how important it is, but we've all got to prepare for the worst. Most of you, unlike me, have already been preparing or are already done, but i know for a fact that there are a lot of "MIT or bust"ers out there...and i was one, but we've all heard horror stories about people who prepared for the best, and got screwed in the process. And the thing is, most of us have a real fighting chance at MIT...its just the luck of the draw that gives you that final edge, so i'm sure we'd do extremely well at other universities. It just kinda dawned on me how important it is for ALL of us to work on other apps...and i know most of you have been, but there are a few out there that have been putting it off till december 15th...and all i know is...i dont want to be doing last minute apps over my last christmas break of high school. and come on, think how much more relieved you'll be checking your mailbox on december 15th(ish) if you know that most of your backup applications are done. </p>
<p>and keep in mind that quite a few people will be accepted after their deferrals...its just the rule that doesnt allow them to accept more than 1/3 of the class early that keeps many of us from being admitted early. </p>
<p>also...for everyone else who constantly reads the '09 decisions thread...dont. its very discouraging, and keep in mind that there were only about 20 or 30 decisions on that thread (i dont remember the exact number, and i'm not going to take the time to count), so that means there were HUNDREDS more decisions, and most of them were probably not like the ones posted. i know its hard to not look at those threads and try to find some similarities between your stats the the admittees'(is that a word?) stats, but take it from someone who's read through that thread about 20 times...its not worth it at all. </p>
<p>I'm curious as to why they are accepting fewer this year. If the competition is greater, shouldn't that mean more people accepted (unless they reduced target size for freshman body)?</p>
<p>they had a really high yield (ppl choosing to enroll after being admitted) last year, so the class size ended up a lot bigger than they expected. They're probably expecting a high yield, so to get the 'right' class size, they're gonna try and accept fewer people. its like if they want 1000 ppl...and 1200 out of 1500 admitted choose to enroll, they'd cut it down to like 1200 or 1300 people...so about 1000 ppl would enroll</p>
<p>Just to clarify a few things in addition to what salank said --
1. MIT doesn't want to accept more than 30% of its class through early action.
2. Yield has been very high in recent years, and presumably it will also be high this year. The EA pool in particular is often quite committed to attending MIT -- obviously they didn't apply SCEA to Stanford, ED to Cornell, etc.
3. There are a limited number of dorm rooms at MIT, and all freshmen have to live on campus. Nobody is happy when you have to squeeze five people into a Baker triple, or two people into a Macgregor lounge. So even if next year's applicant pool is made up solely of Nobel laureates, only 1000/(yield estimate) students will be accepted.</p>
<p>I can certainly understand why you say that now, but in reality it doesn't work out very well. My S was in a "crowd" room first semester (2 students in a single) and it wasn't a great scene for either of them. YMMV...</p>
<p>Yeah, I realize that at this point you guys are just "let me in no matter what the conditions", but the living situation is absolutely critical to your happiness at MIT. </p>
<p>The housing system is designed so that you are happy in your home and are experiencing the greatest amount of support possible. If you're squeezed into a tiny space with too many other people, you will not get enough sleep or private time, you will not be happy in your home, and you will be miserable and stressed out and still have to keep up with an absurd workload.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yeah, I realize that at this point you guys are just "let me in no matter what the conditions", but the living situation is absolutely critical to your happiness at MIT.</p>
<p>The housing system is designed so that you are happy in your home and are experiencing the greatest amount of support possible. If you're squeezed into a tiny space with too many other people, you will not get enough sleep or private time, you will not be happy in your home, and you will be miserable and stressed out and still have to keep up with an absurd workload.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>give me a t3 connection a cot and a closet and i'd be happy :)</p>
<p>The thing is, cujoe, a closet would be more fine than a large-ish room with 3-4 other people. I've lived in an environment with multiple people for several years now, and I know the hell it would be if it were to become even remotely crowded. A closet would be great in comparison. ;)</p>