Early admission and ACT

my son wants to apply early for MIT but he also want to Take ACT for the second time in Oct. , will MIT accept this or does my son need to make sure his test results is available before November 1st? He says he can do this but I am not so sure.

He’s correct. When in doubt, verify with the college’s website as what is the last accepted test date for one school may not be the case for all schools. From the MIT website:

http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/tests

It is all laid out on the MIT website http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/dates

So MIT is fine if his ACT score won’t be available until Nov. 13. Ok thanks everyone :). Just seem like a risk to me but oh well, what’s done is done

@hepler It’s not a risk. MIT straight out says they will accept it. They wouldn’t lie. A good idea is to include on the application the fact that there will be test scores from the October exam on the way. My daughter actually took a January SAT for the regular deadline of January 1st, and her scores weren’t available until February, and MIT was fine with that too. (There is no longer a January SAT.)
By the way, there is no need to pay extra to rush the scores. MIT will wait for the them.

Hi - [not]Uglymom , yes, it is a risk because he will not know his score until Nov. 13 and he wants to apply EARLY for MIT. I wish he signed up for his Second ACT in Sept so that way we will know he should do the regular admission or not. His last score is very good but it is a couple points away from MIT standard. he didn’t go over some parts for ACT so that’s why he wants to do it again

@hepler0112 You may want to worry more about your son’s MIT interview, or whether he submits a special portfolio, than keep on worrying about the ACT score. MIT is not very score focused, so whatever his scores, its not likely to matter. The ACT taken on the dates they say is FINE, it really is, as everyone here has already told you. MIT is very clear about what dates will work for EA. And the date your son has is good. They will consider the new scores.

Remember EA decisions come out in late December, and chances are, your son will be deferred as thats the most likely scenario for most kids who apply EA, the vast majority are deferred. Note this is very different from Stanford’s process where the vast majority of EA applicants are REJECTED! You can look up those numbers to understand the process of EA at MIT.

What is much more important will be his portfolio which is optional and what he has done over the summers and how he writes and interviews. While the MIT interview is optional, its now available all over the world, so its highly encouraged that your son sign up for one and complete that. He can submit a music, art or maker portfolio. Those things make or break an MIT application, not the score on the ACT so much. I know kids with great football talent, with an ACT of only 31, who got into MIT and
played football all four years, and got mostly As at MIT. MIT loves sports talented kids, as well as music, art and science focused kids.

If he needs more time to gather materials for a portfolio, that might be a reason to delay applying to MIT.
The ACT is not a reason to delay applying, both because MIT does not care that much about tests and
because the date your son has is fine.

If MIT loves your son’s application, but they are worried that his ACT score is too low, they will not reject him they will defer and give him a chance to submit better scores. If they don’t love his application they will reject him regardless even if he has a perfect ACT. This happened to my daughter. She took the physics subject test and only got a 620! She was deferred. She took the Chemistry test in January and did much better and got accepted. Besides for the better exam results the only thing new she submitted was an extra essay explaining why she thought MIT was the perfect place for her. I really believe they loved her application, but that her low score concerned them. They don’t want to accept someone if they are afraid that the student will not be able to handle the work because the work is hard!
Again, if they reject your son early it won’t be because of his scores. Don’t worry.