Information for deferred students

<p>Hi Chris,</p>

<p>I applied EA and was deferred, but I have three questions regarding sending information at this point.</p>

<p>I am considering sending a music video as a supplement. Would I fill out the supplement form and provide a YouTube link? Also could this video be submitted after the RA deadline?</p>

<p>I now realize that I should have submitted an athletic recruitment form. Is it too late to do so? I see there is a form online, but I am wondering if there is another way in which I could provide more specific information?</p>

<p>Lastly, I believe explaining a bad grade would increase my application appearance. I don’t know how I would do this now considering I have already completed the interview and the application. My reason is well justified and I believe is important to share.</p>

<p>As always your feedback is greatly appreciated,
Thank you</p>

<p>Does anyone know how much you’re allowed to add to your application? Like for example, can you submit extra recommendations or supplements?</p>

<p>Yep, you can send in new things. Just remember to go for quality/new things instead of quantity ^^</p>

<p>Everything “supplemental” has to be in basically by 1/31, right?</p>

<p>What if something new happened and you would like to tweak on of your essays…is that possible?</p>

<p>^ unfortunately no.</p>

<p>Hi Chris,</p>

<p>First off, thanks for being so in touch with the community, it’s really great that you/MIT are so open about the admissions process. My interest in MIT has grown significantly because of it (and the student blogs).</p>

<p>I applied EA and got deferred, and had a few questions:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Is there anything in particular that you would like to see in terms of supplemental materials?</p></li>
<li><p>Along the same lines, is there anything I should not send in, as it is too trivial, etc?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there any way I can express further interest in MIT, and would it benefit my application?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a way I can find out why I was deferred (if there is indeed any particular reason)? I am homeschooled (and have some other unique circumstances) and don’t know of any similar applicants that were deferred/rejected/admitted, so it is very hard for me to compare myself to other applicants.</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a deadline for sending in additional materials?</p></li>
</ol>

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

<p>

Yes, end of January is good. Earlier is better, of course</p>

<p>Hi all,
There should be a blog post up very soon with more information for deferred students. I can provide a few answers here based on my own knowledge.</p>

<p>Yes, you can submit supplemental information. There will be a spot for updates in the mid-year report, and it’s pretty free-form. You can use the mid-year report to update MIT on any relevant news: new awards, quick notes you’d like them to see, newly-composed sonnets, etc. Anything you think is important enough for MIT to know is welcome.</p>

<p>Finally, there’s no way to find out the “reason” you were deferred, and, in fact, such a reason doesn’t exist. The reason you were deferred is that MIT feels you’re competitive for admission during the regular round.</p>

<p>In the unlikely event that not as many people apply RA as the admissions office expects, does that mean they will be able to admit a higher percentage people RA round? (Aka will the admitted number stay the same)</p>

<p>Yes, there’s a target class size, not a target admission percentage.</p>

<p>Please wait and send us supplementals in the midyear report. This is our preferred way to receive information from deferred students! </p>

<p>As mollie said more updates will be coming later.</p>

<p>Hey Chris, additional recs can just be sent by the person to MIT Admissions Office right?</p>

<p>Thanks once again for the info :)</p>

<p>How exactly are deferred EA students reevaluated in RA? Do we still have a label on our application saying we were deferred EA and will we be evaluated against the pool of deferred students or the entire RA pool? Is our application affected any way, positively or negatively, that we applied and were deferred EA or is it really just like applying freshly again?</p>

<p>if we include another essay in our mid year report, will it be read with as much consideration as our other main essays? (or will it be treated as an accessory)</p>

<p>Chris,</p>

<p>I asked you this during your [open</a> thread](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/ask-me-anything]open”>Ask Me Anything | MIT Admissions); I hope you don’t mind me inquiring again. I almost submitted an additional 500-word essay with my Early Action application, but I hesitated because I wasn’t sure it was worth your scarce time. I’ve since reconsidered.</p>

<p>My concern is this: you seem to subtly recommend against submitting additional material, as per your “How to send us updates (if you must)” paragraph in your [EA</a> Results](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/admissions_bulletin_ra_news_ea]EA”>Admissions Bulletin – RA News, EA Results | MIT Admissions) post from last year. Is there any prejudicial effect associated with another submission? I may be simply misinterpreting your emphasis on the fact that this is in no way required.</p>

<p>Enjoy the holidays! I’ll keep my fingers crossed.</p>

<p>I’m not Chris, but I believe the “if you must” is intended to indicate that updates are not required – Chris is discouraging people from sending extra material simply because they feel they ought to send them. </p>

<p>It is fine to send extra material, but you’re right that you need to judge whether it’s useful or not. If it’s not useful, you shouldn’t send it – not because the admissions officers will be angry or annoyed (they won’t be), but because any application is most effective if it’s as concise as necessary, but no more concise than that. </p>

<p>Deciding how an application is best presented is not a skill whose usefulness is limited to college applications. I’ve written a few grant proposals for science funding during my time in grad school, and I’ve realized that knowing when to add additional information and when not to is crucial for successful applications of all sorts.</p>

<p>I know this has been asked and answered, but I don’t understand. If EA applicants are deferred, and additional material isn’t required or expected, then how does a deferred applicant get admitted? It’s the same application. If something else is sent in/updated, how does that warrant an admit? What does the update have to consist of to do this (this is more rhetorical, I guess). Will the comments and notes accompany the applications, or will it just say “EA” or “deferred”? How can our applications be unbiasedly reevaluated?</p>

<p>As far as I know, although deferred EA applications are re-read and re-discussed in committee, they keep their original summary cards – they are not re-summarized during RD. I’m not sure if any notes are kept during EA selection that remain with the application.</p>

<p>The admissions officers are limited in the number of applications they accept during EA, since they don’t want to admit half or two-thirds of the class before seeing RD applications. I guess the simplest way to think about it is to imagine that MIT has only one round of admissions: in that case, everybody who is admitted would be admitted all at once. In the actual case, many students are deferred because the composition of the RD pool is unknown. </p>

<p>It is possible (and, indeed, common) for deferred EA applicants to be accepted RD without sending any additional material. Deferred EA applicants are deferred because their applications are already very strong, and the admissions officers think they will be competitive for admission during the RD round.</p>