Does MIT prefer EA applicants?

[SuperCuber]

<p>The numbers speak for themselves. 772/6404 applicants, or 12.1%, were admitted who applied Early Action, and this rises to 15.7% if you include those who applied originally to Early Action and were later waitlisted to regular action. By contrast, only 6.1% of those who applied regular action were admitted (increasing only slightly after removing those who were deferred from Early Action). What's up with this? Or are the people who apply EA just that much better?</p>

[1123581321]

<p>It can’t be easier to get in EA because some people who are deferred EA end up being accepted RD. The people who apply EA aren’t necessarily “better,” but rather just a better fit; people, who are passionate enough about MIT to put together their materials earlier and forgo SCEA to similar caliber schools like Yale and Stanford, are more likely to have demonstrated a strong interest in math and science. In other words, they like math and science, so they like MIT, which likes math and science.</p>

<p>And then again, the number of applicants is also less for the EA round (a large number of qualified applicants may have applied to Y or S instead, or skipped the EA round altogether), so naturally the admit <em>percentage</em> would be higher.</p>

[MITChris]

<p>No. </p>

<p>[Admissions</a> Bulletin - RA News, EA Results | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/admissions_bulletin_ra_news_ea]Admissions”>Admissions Bulletin – RA News, EA Results | MIT Admissions)</p>

<p>

@me

Now that the dust has finally settled on the Early Action period, we can release some statistics - and, even more importantly, some context in which to understand them.</p>

<p>This year was our biggest Early Action cycle ever. We received just over 6400 applications during Early Action, and we admitted 772 students - both record highs. And while it is impossible to know at this time exactly how many complete applications we will receive during Regular Action, we expect the final total (Early + Regular) to exceed 17,800!</p>

<p>Let’s put these numbers in some historical context.</p>

<p>Just a few cycles ago, in 2007, around 3300 students applied during Early Action, and we admitted 390. About 12,400 students combined between Early and Regular Action applied that year - far less than the 17,000+ we expect for this year.</p>

<p>So what changed?</p>

<p>Well, for one, more students are applying to MIT every year - which makes me extra happy that we’re expanding undergraduate enrollment with the opening of Maseeh Hall.
**
But the most striking shift, in terms of our process, has been in the proportion of students who apply Early Action vs Regular Action.</p>

<p>For a very long time, the application proportion was stable: about 1/3rd of domestic students applied Early Action, and about 2/3rds applied Regular Action. And, because we don’t have any preference for students applying Early, our admit rate followed our applicant rate: we accepted about 1/3rd of our students Early and about 2/3rds of them Regular.</p>

<p>Today, however, almost half of our domestic applicants chose to apply during Early Action! So the number of students whom we accepted in Early rose accordingly. To do anything else would be unfair to those students who merited acceptance during Early Action.**</p>

<p>One byproduct of this is that we were able to offer a final decision (admitted or not admitted) to many more students than last year. For those of you who were deferred: nothing has changed in our policy or practice from last year. Your application will be reconsidered without prejudice during Regular Action. We take many deferred students every year during Regular: our deferral constitutes neither a ‘delayed acceptance’ or a ‘polite rejection’, just an opportunity for reconsideration.
**
Another byproduct is that the number of students we accepted in Early Action rose quite a bit. However, it’s important to remember that we don’t have any sort of preference for applying Early, nor do we give any ‘bump’, of any kind, for applying during either cycle. If you are a student that we want to bring to MIT, we will admit you. It does not matter when you apply.</p>

<p>I’m hammering this point home because, as with everything else in the college admissions process (SAT scores, GPAs, etc), raw numbers can be deceptive without the context in which to understand them.** And what we don’t want people to think is that they get any sort of edge by applying to MIT Early. If you want to apply to us Early, then great! But if you would rather apply Regular, you’re all set. You’re going to receive the same, fair, unprejudiced evaluation either way.

</p>

[MITChris]

<p>Also: international students can only apply in Regular, and we have a quota on international students; their admit rate is much lower, and brings down the “overall” RA admit rate. </p>

<p>Numbers will play games with you!</p>

[bobtheboy]

<p>Is there any purpose to applying early, then, other than knowing earlier? It seems like having the extra time would be beneficial if there is zero benefit to your chance of admission, so, then, why do so many people apply early?</p>

[MITChris]

<p>Because people want to get it out of the way and really like MIT.</p>