Information for waitlisted students

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Everybody seems to have a lot of questions about the waitlist, so I'll try my best to answer them here.</p>

<p>First, MIT will announce the size of the waitlist in a few days. Last year, 389 students were placed on the waitlist, 319 accepted a spot, and 40 were eventually admitted to the class of 2011.</p>

<p>The waitlist is not ranked -- MIT will go back into selection if and when it's determined that they need to draw from the waitlist.</p>

<p>If you get an offer from MIT (which usually happens around mid-May), they will send you a financial aid offer at the same time, and you'll have a few weeks to make a decision. You should pick a college by the May 1 reply deadline and send in whatever deposit is required by that college, but if you are accepted to MIT and decide to go, you can just notify that college that you will not be coming in the fall.</p>

<p>Matt answers these questions (and more) in this</a> post from last March. He talks a little more about the waitlist admissions process in this</a> entry from last May.</p>

2

<p>Thanks for the great info. Are we supposed to send in more awards/EC's or essays or anything to help us gain acceptance?</p>

3

<p>Thanks mollie! Helpful as usual :)</p>

4

<p>Those statistics seem to be different from the ones on the MIT website:
MIT</a> Admissions: Admissions Statistics</p>

5

<p>You can send in supplemental information if you'd like. As for regular admission, it's definitely not required, but if you have something that you think would be really useful, by all means send it in.</p>

<p>I only have one friend whom I know got in off the waitlist (because for most of the time I was at MIT, basically nobody was admitted off the waitlist), and I know she sent in an abstract of some research she'd done, as well as another recommendation letter.</p>

<p>EDIT: Arr, Chelmar, I forgot that the Common Data Set is a year behind -- the statistics I put in the first post are from 2006, for the class of 2010. So let me correct myself: last year (class of 2011), 499 students were placed on the waitlist, and 20 were ultimately admitted.</p>

6

<p>Ahh, thanks for the clarification!</p>

7

<p>What sort of supplemental information would they like to see? What's a good idea to send?</p>

8

<p>I think a supplemental recommendation from another teacher or important adult in your life would be great.</p>

<p>In Matt's blog entry, he says

[quote]
If you are still interested in MIT, you should stay in contact with us. A letter, a phone call, notes from people who know you well... these are good things to provide. Keep us up to date all the way through May 1 and beyond if you remain interested.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So even a letter saying, "I'm still interested in MIT, and here's why" would probably be helpful to your case.</p>

9

<p>So writing a letter all about why we want to go to MIT would be a good idea? It wouldn't sound desparate? Or is desperate good now? </p>

<p>I am so very confused. I knew exactly what to do with a rejection--deal with it and move on. I don't know what to do, now that I'm waitlisted. </p>

<p>Thanks for the advice, Mollie, and thank you for all the other helpful answers you've put up on these forums. They are very much appreciated.</p>

10

<p>Desperate is good now, I think. :)</p>

<p>As far as I'm aware (and keep in mind that I'm not an expert at waitlist admissions), stated interest in MIT does matter at this stage. I think this is because they want to go to the waitlist as sparingly as possible -- if they need 20 more students in mid-May, they want to be able to admit 20 people and have them all come, rather than admitting 20, having 10 come, and having to go back to the waitlist.</p>

11

<p>hahaha mollie thanks for the post it's very helpful.. I'm a caltech waitlist though, but nevertheless, questions are the same :)))</p>

<p>i have a question about research paper.. So.. are we supposed to be sending like the whole paper or just the abstract or some kind of summary? And is it supposed to be like a research research paper (you know, like tests, experiments, results..) or just a plain research about some subject is considered good too?</p>

12

<p>I would send just the abstract, personally, and if you choose to send the whole paper, make sure you put the abstract on the first page at the top.</p>

<p>I think it would be okay to send either kind of research paper.</p>

13

<p>More questions Mollie, sorry! </p>

<p>What is the average 'waitlist admit' like? Are the waitlist admits people who do something amazing between now and May 1, like win something on a national level? Are they students who sent in a lot of extra material, like extra recs, personal letters, more essays, etc?</p>

14

<p>I don't know for sure.</p>

<p>I would place my bets much more heavily on "extra material" than on "doing something amazing between now and May 1", although doubtless that would be helpful.</p>

15

<p>If I can just add one plea to Mollie's excellent post. PLEASE make sure your financial aid application materials are completed if you are on Waitlist!!</p>

<p>IF we go to waitlist, we would like to be able to send actual awards, rather than "please complete your application" messages, so it is important that you be sure that all forms we need have been received.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

16

<p>I hope you all saw Matt's</a> new waitlist post.</p>

17

<p>I just read in the Tech that MIT waitlisted 700 students this year.</p>

18

<p>MIT Admissions off Wait List</p>

<p>2008 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist....739
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............???
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited...............??</p>

<p>2007 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist....499
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............???
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited...............20</p>

<p>2006 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist....389
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............319
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited...............40</p>

<p>2005 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist....469
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............401
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited...............0</p>

<p>2004 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist....604
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............524
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited...............1</p>

<p>2003 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist..491
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............427
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited...............0</p>

<p>2002 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist..379
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............296
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited.............37</p>

<p>2001 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist..564
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............156
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited............122</p>

<p>2000 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist..548
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............464
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited............131</p>

<p>1999 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist..662
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............547
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited.............14</p>

<p>1998 Number of Qualified Applicants Placed on Waitlist..620
.........Number Accepting a Place on the Waitlist............528
.........Number of Wait Listed Students Admited.............34</p>

<p>MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research</p>