<p>SO what should I do. Make a funny video ? if so what should the content be ? I got waitlisted and want to impress MIT ?</p>
<p>I’m not an expert in this, but I would say do the following:</p>
<p>1) Sometimes in the next few weeks… send MIT a letter detailing your achievements and activities since you last contacted them. Make a bullet list, and include a brief description of each.</p>
<p>2) Maybe at the end of the first page or on a second page, write a short paragraph on why you think MIT is still the best school for YOU.</p>
<p>3) If third quarter grades came out, send those too.</p>
<p>4) If you think an additional teacher recommendation would help, send that as well.</p>
<p>Other than that, there’s nothing more you could do. If you don’t get in, it wouldn’t be because someone else impressed them better after they got waitlisted. Good luck!</p>
<p>I also got waitlisted. It’d be really great if people who had gotten waitlisted could share their experience. What did you do?/ how often did you update them?/ or something similar. I once saw a video of a guy who sang about how much he loves MIT and eventually got in. The video was really awesome ([YouTube</a> - Complementary in Kinetic Typography (RRT + MIT)](<a href=“Complementary in Kinetic Typography (RRT + MIT) - YouTube”>Complementary in Kinetic Typography (RRT + MIT) - YouTube)). Do we have to do something like that? I’m not sure if I can.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Wow, that video is actually fantastic.</p>
<p>
No, no – no singing required. :)</p>
<p>iceui2’s advice is right on the money. Keep them updated on important things that happen to you, reaffirm your interest in attending (because the waitlist stage is the only stage where stated interest does matter in admission), and think about whether there’s a recommendation you could send that would make your application stronger.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about doing this too quickly – it would be fine to wait until May 1. After MIT sees how many accepted students decide to enroll, they will decide whether they can go to the waitlist. At that point, they will go into committee again and pick the n students they are able to admit, notify those students, and see how many of them choose to come. If there are still spots open, they will go to the waitlist for a second round.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, I think you should make sure all your documents are in, because it’s a fairly quick turnaround from the waitlist offer of admission to when you need to decide to attend MIT or not, and you will want to have the financial information in front of you as you decide.</p>
<p>Thanks. I also saw that video on youtube. I was thinking about it, but that would seem like i got my idea of getting into MIT from youtube (especially someone who did it last year and got in). New ideas ?</p>
<p>Here is he story of how one waitlisted student was eventually accepted at Wesleyan–
[The</a> Gatekeepers: Inside the … - Google Books](<a href=“The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College - Jacques Steinberg - Google Books”>The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College - Jacques Steinberg - Google Books)</p>
<p>Thanks for the recommendation, 1moremom. I just bought it off Google eBooks. Fascinating read thus far.</p>
<p>we’ll have instructions coming soon!</p>
<p>like right here: [MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: “Waitlist Q&A”](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/waitlist_qa.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/waitlist_qa.shtml)</p>
<p>Looks like size of waitlist has increased dramatically in the last couple of years. </p>
<p>According to Matt McGann’s blog in 2009 there were 454 applicants (2.9% of the applicants) offered a spot on the waitlist , in 2010 the number increased to 722 or 4.3% of the applicant pool. This year about 1,000 or 6% were offered a spot.</p>
<p>Also, note the following</p>
<p>2009 accepted 1597 to fill a class of 1075
2010 accepted 1611 to fill a class of 1075
2011 accepted 1715 to fill a class of 1125</p>
<p>So basically in 2011 MIT accepted 100 more students to fill a class that is only 50 students larger. Unless the yield rate declines, the number of people getting in off the waiting list should be smaller than last year. Combine this with the fact that the number of people offered a spot on the waitlist is approximately 35% higher in 2011 than in 2010 and it looks pretty grim.</p>
<p>I was just waitlisted… What can you do to help you get out from the waitlist and into the the school?
Thanks,</p>
<p>Agreed that the waitlist is far too big.</p>
<p>@Leighk
- Pray that there is a significant vacancy for waitlister’s
- Send one nice update to MIT. Tell them what you’ve been up to. Put some effort in writing a well-crafted email, and don’t make it too long!</p>
<p>Does MIT admit students based on the geographical area? Midwest seldom have kids going to MIT and my s. applied to MIT and got waitlisted. It was heart broken for him. He even went to interview… Seems like it is pretty grim. He got 100% on all his class and the highest GPA you can get. SAT 35, SAT subjects of 800 and got wait listed. Lots of extra activities… Is it bad luck or what that he applied to MIT this year. Wonder what is his chance if he try to transfer next year from other college.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This really isn’t true, unless you mean certain states in the midwest like Iowa or something. </p>
<p>Sorry to say that chances look pretty slim, and transferring is tough too. It’s typically a 6% or lower admit rate from the waitlist, and the waitlist is a MIT-caliber pool unlike in general admissions. My feeling is that transfer admissions is based more on academic performance (and primarily on performance in college classes), but I have no proof of this.
If I were in your son’s position, if I didn’t get in off the waitlist I would try to crush my classes at whatever university I ended up at and then try to transfer.</p>
<p>^^^ Yes, this is definitely not true. I’m from Chicago and I know about equal proportions of kids from around the country. Additionally, MIT puts out geographic admit data, and the Midwest is not underrepresented, statistically speaking. I’m sorry that your son didn’t get admitted, but when the admit rate is under 10%, it comes down to something more subjective than “x got a perfect SAT score” or “y has a 4.0 GPA”.</p>
<p>I also got deferred and am planning on submitting arts supplements and another teacher recommendation. I know that they said they would notify us in late May, but can anyone tell me from experience around when they have notified the waitlist in the past?</p>
<p>Thank you for all the recommendation! I also really wonder why the wait list size is so big. My chance of getting in is so tiny.</p>
<p>Yea they have around 1000 people on waitlist! This is one big number</p>
<p>The wait list size at colleges about MIT’s size used to be a couple hundred at the most. In the past 15 years that has grown. I’m not sure what the point is to have so many.</p>