Could being rejected during EA harm your chances when later on applying RA?
You only apply to MIT once and it should have no effect on your chances.
but keep in mind that 10% of applicants are admitted EA and only 5% of deferred students are admitted RA.
The stats for this year’s incoming freshman class were:
Early action applicants 6,519
Admitted early action 625
Deferred to regular action 4,535
Deferred applicants admitted during regular action 248
For more on this see: http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats
If you are rejected in the early round, end of story.
You don’t apply to both early and regular action but your early action application can be deferred to regular action and evaluated again. Applying early action shows MIT that you are strongly considering attending if accepted over most other top schools. But there are other ways to show that even if you apply at the regular action date instead of the early action one. For example, I wrote a highly specific letter to MIT that explained why I thought the school was perfect for me. Also, my college guidance counselor called admissions and point blank told them that it’s my first choice. (College counselors will only make those kinds of statements when they are sure because they want to be trusted in the future)
Does MIT admits recruited athletics and special students (children of faculty, etc) in the first round? If so, about hwo many?
“Prospective athletes to MIT are subject to the same rigorous, academically-focused admissions process as all other applicants.”