Hi
I am a junior applying next year. From what i have read and heard the international students accepted to MIT have got medals from olympiads. Is it fixed? I mean is there any case where MIT has accepted a student although with not many prizes in his life , and with no medals from olympiads? Also is there a quota for the number of the accepted students from a certain country ? Are the students applying from the same country compared to each other ?
Thank you
Simple answer-
Yes, Yes, Yes.
Complicated answer-
When you see numbers from past years it becomes clear, from India for eg they take 3-5 people a year. Olympiad win is a big boost that is often the deciding factor among internationals.
Also it is worth noting that the olympiad must be a recognized one of international merit like IMO.
Yes, absolutely. Some of my international friends at MIT had these high-level awards, but some didn’t. The criteria for international students aren’t fundamentally different from the criteria for domestic stuidents, it’s just that the competition for the international spots is much fiercer.
No, there aren’t any country-by-country quotas, just an overall quota for the number of international students who can be accepted each year.
No, not directly, but all the international applicants are read at the same time (that is, not interspersed with domestic applicants), so, in a sense, all the international applicants are being compared with each other. Also, the admissions officers are familiar with standard operating procedures in a variety of educational systems in a variety of countries, so they are familiar with what would be a standard vs. excellent vs. truly outstanding track record in each country without having to directly compare the year’s applicants.
@molliebatmit Thanks a lot for your response!