<p>When I told my interviewer that I still hadn't submitted my application (about 2 weeks before the EA deadline) and that my teachers probably still hadn't sent their evaluations either, he hinted that it was probably already too late to be considered for early admission, saying something along the lines of, "If 3000 people are applying early and admissions has already seen 2999 before yours, it's unlikely that you'll stand out very much." This seems to somewhat contradict the application summarizing/grouping and committee discussion process described on Matt's blog, which doesn't appear to take submission date into account. It's also very disconcerting to consider that even if I had submitted my app much earlier, the date of receipt of my teacher and counselor materials could have had such a significant bearing on my admission decision.</p>
<p>Furthermore, someone posted earlier about some connection to an MIT educational counselor who said that MIT has a pile of EA applicants who will be automatically admitted in the spring but were deferred due to the constraints of their very conservative EA policy. It's possible that applicants were placed in the "deferred but admitted later" pile rather than the "admitted early" pile based solely on the date they submitted their application, since it must clearly have been some factor unrelated to their applications if they will certainly be admitted anyway.</p>
<p>I'm therefore very interested to see just how much MIT cares about the date you submit your application, for early action applicants, anyway. Obviously, given MIT's already very low EA acceptance rate, there might not be enough evidence to make any real conclusions, but I think it would still be interesting to find out if there's any pattern based only on dates. If it seems that the submission date really could have placed someone on the "deferred but admitted later" pile, it would certainly be some consolation to those who submitted their app on or near the deadline and were deferred!</p>
<p>So, to all EA applicants, please, if you don't mind, post the date you submitted your application (or, if you submitted your app much earlier than your teachers sent their evaluations, the approximate or probable date that all your materials arrived) and your admission decision. Thanks!</p>
<p>The submission date makes no difference. Applications are triaged and then randomly distributed to individual readers throughout November. After the readers write their summaries of applications, admitted students are selected in a committee setting. This occurs during the week directly preceding mailing of decisions.</p>
<p>For the record, I mailed Part 2 from the Southwest USA sometime around 10/25 or 10/26. The last thing to be mailed was one of my teacher recommendations, which (according to the teacher) was sent on 10/29. According to myMIT, Part 2 was processed on 11/1 and that teacher's mailing was processed on 11/3.</p>
<p>On top of all that, I submitted SAT scores from the November test administration, which would (in theory) delay consideration of my application even further, while they waited for the scores to arrive.</p>
<p>yeah -- it is highly unlikely that your time of submitting your app influenced a decision, provided that it was turned in before the deadline of November 1. I know for a fact that Admission committee doesn't start reading apps until November 1.</p>
<p>I turned in mine around October 15th, but my interviewer/teacher recs were not all completely processed until November 3rd.</p>
<p>I'm not necessarily suggesting that they actually read the applications before November 1, or even in the order they're submitted, but if this</a> information is correct, then what factor could be placing someone in that "pile" if he/she would be admitted under normal circumstances? I realize that the very existence of such a factor depends on the validity of jenz129's information, but if that "pile" does exist, and if my EC wasn't just trying to slyly encourage me to get my materials in early to make the admissions office's job of processing a little easier, then there must be something that decides who goes on that pile.</p>
<p>Maybe the validity of what jenz129 said and the legitimacy of my EC's suggestion shouldn't be accepted as easiliy as I'd like to accept them, and, naturally, I'm interested in this mostly because I'd readily embrace some connection to submission date as evidence that my chances might still be good despite my deferral, but, even so, come on, guys, it's the holidays--humor me.</p>
<p>Okay, well, consider this. They could only take 383 early. There were "X" applications they WANTED to admit, but couldn't, due to a limit on the amount of early acceptances. So, they had to pick the 383 best applications of the "X", and defer the rest. In a few months, they will place the rest of the original "X" applications alongside the entire regular action pool, and see who the best of this new group are. These folks will be offered the remaining spaces in the Class of 2009. Due to the strength of some of the deferred "X" from the EA round, it's inevitable that many of them will be offered admission along with the strongest candidates in regular action.</p>
<p>i think that this is a false assumtion. if this were the case then i would not have been accepted. I sent my part two in Nov 3 and sent my November SAT scores. Plus my test scores were not outstanding compared to the rest of the pool. my recs were sent quite early (probably about a month before the deadline), but everything else got to them at the last minute. Plus from what i have heard, they read them all and summarize them on those E3 cards before they begin to admit, defer, or reject anyone. I think everyone had their application read equally and the admissions department really looked at what type of person you are. i could not see them caring about when you sent in your application.</p>
<p>I do understand where you are coming from, I am sure being deferred is torture. They cant admit everyone that should be admitted early and maybe the difference was just something like whose essay and personal statements they liked more. There probably exists some sort of pile with kids that are going to get in RD. I hope you are one of them.</p>
<p>I doubt that there exists such a pile. It's hard enough to come to a decision on 383 acceptees as it is, why would they make extra work for themselves to come up with a SEPARATE group of students they would like to guarantee admissions to in the spring?? It seems like unecessary work to me, since in the spring they would have to worry about setting the standards for tons of RD applicants already, so they might as well just stick all the deferred applications under those 'standards' since there's really very little prediction of the strength of the RD pool to come. For all we know, an army of supergeniuses may apply which would defeat the entire point of the "deferred but will admit" file.</p>
<p>Anyways, date mailed has little to no influence, even if you mail it AFTER the date. If your application is TOO late, then they'd just defer you to Regular Decision, if it's ok, then you're considered ealy action. Either way, to answer your question, I submitted my part II sometime mid October, but one of my teacher recommendations didn't get there until like november the 10th.</p>
<p>I submitted my application (part 2) on November 4th, and my transcript didn't get there until the 24th (at least they sent an email that day asking where it was, and then sent another email that they had found it and it had just got there really late). I got accepted though, so when it got there didn't matter for me anyway.</p>
<p>All of my teacher stuff--transcripts, recs, whatnot--got sent in early/by the deadline because I gave it all out uber early. My part, though, was submitted online at approximately 12:04 AM November 6th E.S.T., about five minutes after the official EA deadline. And I got in... so, yeah.</p>
<p>matt's blog seems to suggest that they didn't start reading until 11/6, so i don't think when you submit (well, before the deadline, of course) makes a difference.</p>