How will be evaluated by MIT?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>My name is George and I am planning to apply to MIT next year as an international applicant from Israel. </p>

<p>My situation is quite unique compared to other international applicants. You see, unlike most international students who complete all their studies in one country- usually their home country-, I studied in Israel ONLY from 1st to 9th grade (inclusive). After completing 9th grade I moved to the US and finished my Junior and Senior years here (I am applying as an international students because I am still here on a visa). Now I am in the midst of my double gap years. I am planning to apply to MIT next year. </p>

<p>As a result of this peculiar arrangement, my academic information is really weird. In Israel, for example, I was enrolled in the most challenging classes my school could offer- 5 units mathematics, 5 units physics, 5 units history, and 5 units English. These "5 units" classes are equivalent to the American APs.</p>

<p>In the US, on the other hand, I only took two AP class my Junior year because I did not know the role AP courses play in admissions around the US and also, since my first language is Hebrew and my second language is Russian, I preferred to invest time studying English instead of focusing on things I already know from Israel like math and physics. </p>

<p>Also, while in Israel my grades were very high in all subjects, in the US my grades in courses that required a good control of the English language weren't as impressive (to say the least). </p>

<p>The differences between the two schooling systems is also expressed from my EC's. For example, in Israel there was not such a thing as "clubs" while in the US it is a completely different story. </p>

<p>So, my friends, my questions would be-(1) how will I be evaluated in MIT ? Will I be evaluated based more on my performance in Israel or in the US? (2) Will I be put in one poll with other international applicants or with domestic applicants (3)What about recommendations? Should I ask recommendations from my Israeli or American consular? What about teacher recommendations? </p>

<p>Thank you very much!</p>

2

<p>1) we’ll evaluate you based on everything, but primarily your high school experience
2) if you are an american citizen, we will consider you domestically; if not, internationally
3) just get them from your teachers or, if you are in your military service, sometimes that is OK too</p>

3

<p>I am not an American citizen. I am here on a J-1 Visa.</p>

4

<p>MITChris Thank you for the quick response! </p>

<p>I have another question. Could you conform what T26E4 Wrote here :</p>

<p>“I think you’ll see that MIT’s international student pool strangely stays about the same year to year yet we know that more internationals are applying. That points to unofficial quotas. And while MIT may be need-blind in admissions, that does not mean that they will meet all the financial needs of students who can not pay. Being admitted but not affording the school = not attending”
"</p>

5

<p>Also, could you please specify what you mean by “high-school experience” ? :)</p>

6

<p>^Regarding your questions about “quota” and “FA”, that is not true.
There is no unofficial quota for any kind of applicants. If there is a quota, it would be an official one. AFAIK, MIT can ONLY admit int’ls up to the number of visas granted to them by US Government. So no there is no unofficial quota set by MIT but instead they are limited by the the number of visas made available to them by the government.</p>

<p>As for the financial aid, I can only point you to the MIT SFS:
[MIT</a> - Student Financial Services](<a href=“MIT Student Financial Services”>MIT Student Financial Services)
But to sum it up, no, if you are admitted and indeed in need of financial assistance, they will be covering your need. They will cover much more than just the tuition. However you must note that, as I understand, MIT expects you to cover a fraction(an extremely small one) of your expenses thru this way or that way yourself(like working on/off-campus, UROPs etc.).</p>

<p>That student contribution excludes parent contribution and MIT finaid. I can only speculate about the reason behind this move but I believe that they are doing this to make the students more responsible and have them get some work experience.</p>

7

<p>we do have a quota for international students. we can only admit about 100 each year. but T26E4 is dead wrong. we are need blind and full need for our intl students.</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>Basically, everything will be put into context of what classes were available to you at the time, what classes you took, the fact that you were learning a language at the time, etc. This isn’t a numerically decided decision or anything - they make sure to take your opportunities and your hardships in mind.</p>

9

<p>i can see how your us grades can hurt you, unless there’s full justification in terms of language difficulties or whatever. how bad are they? if you received Bs are better or Cs or lower can make a difference. if you cannot handle academic rigor here in us then your good Israel grades could be called into question. you can supplement your grades by doing well on sat and subject sat, for example. but academic rigor and performance is atop most college’s consideration for admission.</p>

10

<p>Okay I’m super excited because I just learned how to quote on CC!! I have a few things to say: </p>

<p>

I completed grade 1-10 in my home country and finished the last two years of HS in the US (I, too, applied as an international). By “primarily your high school experience,” Chris (MIT Admissions) means the final 4 years of your secondary education. I provided the grades and relevant info from my grade 9-10 at the previous school (and I explained in detail the grading system and the general academic atmosphere in that school—simply because I was pretty sure that I was the only person who attended that particular school who applied to MIT) AND the transcript for grade 11-12, among other things (extracurriculars, awards, etc), from my US school. You do not NEED to provide any info/grades/whatever for anything below grade 9. After you’ve submitted these things, MIT will evaluate your performance and potential in the context of BOTH learning environments – whether you have challenged yourself and taken full (or close to full) advantage of the resources/opportunities AVAILABLE to you. </p>

<p>

I took a gap year myself, and I personally know of at least 8 internationals in my class who took one or multiple gap years (the most interesting case is someone who graduated from HS 5 years ago! =D). So the act of having taken gap years itself does not hurt you, as long as you can elaborate on the things you’ve done since graduation nicely in your essay. I wrote a 400-word essay describing my rewarding gapping experience. </p>

<p>

This is completely fine. If this helps, I took only ONE AP class my junior year–and I didn’t even get a 5 on that particular subject’s AP exam. Do not overly self-pity (or dramatize) your having-to-learn-English-as-a-second-language situation though! Many international admits have done exactly the same thing, and also many U.S. applicants have learned to speak a foreign language fluently. Know that MIT requires a TOEFL iBT score above 90 (although I highly recommend trying to get a 100+ score). </p>

<p>

This is understandable and MIT thoroughly realizes that. I went to school from 7AM to 5PM every day and 6 days a week back in my home country and had virtually no time for any extracurriculars (I played volleyball for fun and played keyboard in a band that practiced like once a week), whereas I engaged in ~5 clubs/teams while in the US. You do not need to explain the lack of your EC’s back in Israel in your app. </p>

<p>

Totally up to you. Two of the most important criteria for recommendations are “specific and storied.” A teacher who can elaborate on your merits and character with supporting detail and specific stories is much better than one who can’t say much about you beyond your academic performance (which is already available to Admissions on transcript anyway). All but one of my recommenders were Americans. (For the record, I had 5 recs submitted on my behalf… but you definitely don’t need that many letters UNLESS all the recommenders have completely different things to say about you while NOT contradicting each other. The 5 people who recommended me were: AP Lang teacher, AP Bio teacher, my counselor, my research mentor/director, and my gap year job’s employer). </p>

<p>Chris answered your 3 questions very nicely. So… any other questions?</p>

11

<p>hey jeff what you did in your gap year? .i wanna know exactly .actually i am thinking you did something super dooper that mit was compelled to accept you .isnt it ??
also one question: what if someone completed some courses at a college in his home country during his gap year and he is now applying (still) as a freshman to MIT .would he be considered a freshman in that case ???</p>