<p>^The possibility of getting into any top college is minute.</p>
<p>Dear God. The point is getting into a top college is made infinitely easier with an Olympiad medal. Better?</p>
<p>Yesssssssssssss. Hahaha. :)</p>
<p>@mystic</p>
<p>Well, let’s just say we know Stanford’s flaws better than anyone. ;)</p>
<p>On a more serious note though, rivalries aside, Stanford is a great school, not just for engineering but in general too, and I have no qualms in admitting it. :)</p>
<p>2 years from now, maybe I’ll come back to this thread and post : “Thank you. This post was responsible for me getting into MIT”.</p>
<p>Sorry for digging this up 
But i had something to add. I read this as my first post in CC when I joined last year and believed that the process was holistic and ‘you don’t have to be an Olympiad medalist’ to get in. Sheesh…worst mistake I made…</p>
<p>I realize today that I was tremendously wrong in doing so. Unless you have an international olympiad, your chances there are zilch…whatever be the rest of your app.</p>
<p>last year around everyone( at least most) thought that I would actually make it to MIT, even without Intl. olympiads. I had done a lot of research, invented a device and sold it, represented my country for the international robotics competition etc… but I lacked the quintessential aspect of an admit…the IMO/IPhO/IChO/IOI …i wasn’t even interested in these so I used up my time in my ‘passions’ …Never worked out.</p>
<p>Still happy to be at an awesome place today, but it still hurts to know why you got rejected there and what you could have done instead.</p>
<p>This thread couldve saved me the painfully long process of applying to MIT. I wish I wouldve started lurking on CC earlier 
Worst online application in history. Insane word limits.</p>
<p>@quiver: A thread worthy of being necro-ed.</p>
<p>^^I feel the same!</p>
<p>I’m going to have to second quiverfox totally here. It’s not about MIT really. As a US citizen, they seem to take a well-rounded group. When it comes to India, the numbers speak for themselves. Like adarshnet, I was hoping (in retrospect, rather foolishly) that I could one day say “Thank you. This post was responsible for me getting into MIT” or atleast witness someone else say it. Unfortunately, I can’t. And I don’t see this happening any time in the near future. I’d love to be proved wrong with the next set of admissions, though! Amazing college. Just a partially flawed admissions process. Those word limits were CRUEL.
Coincidentally, this was the very first thread on CC I read as well! :D</p>
<p>I don’t see what the problem is if MIT takes only International Olympiad medalists (It does not actually, but sine you insist). Winning an Olympiad medal not only requires an usual amount of hard work, but also the kind of intellect, determination, passion and enthusiasm that sets them apart from the rest. There are only a few other competitions (such as the Google Science Fair) or extenuating circumstances (like a physically disabled person who does really well) that could match the rigor or the talent demanded by Intl. Olympiads.</p>
<p>[The</a> Trouble with External Validation | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/the-trouble-with-external-validation]The”>The Trouble with External Validation | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Also, quiverfox, so you just assume that the Olympiad medalists do not have anything spectacular in their application apart from their medal? The majority of Olympiad medalists I know are also inventors, nationally/internationally recognized pianists, patent holders, entrepreneurs and whatnot.</p>
<p>Applicants crib when the admissions process is not meritocratic. Now when MIT is actually trying to implement one, you are complaining that the best students are actually getting in? Being an Olympiad medalist who got rejected at several ivies, it agonizes me to analyze what part of my application actually went wrong.</p>
<p>I earlier argued why Olympiad medalists deserved a place at colleges like MIT. But, as far as “holistic admissions” goes, you should not have anything to complain against MIT. Kartik Sawhney (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/india/1384140-chance-me-mit-stanford-cornell-caltech.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/india/1384140-chance-me-mit-stanford-cornell-caltech.html</a>) who deserved to get into every college he applied to was rejected everywhere save Stanford (where he was admitted) and MIT & Caltech (where he was wait listed). If you adhere to the “ideal admissions process” you expressed in your previous posts, why was he rejected over Saif Ali Khan’s daughter who was admitted to Columbia with no particular awards to stand out?</p>
<p>TL;DR: MIT, Stanford and Caltech continue to have the most predictable and meritocratic admissions process in the US.</p>
<p>Fine …valid argument 
but
</p>
<p>Can you name a few Indians with these :)??</p>
<p>@Nash1995- Completely agree with you there-
With what little I’ve seen of the admissions process, you’re absolutely correct. However, I still stick to my point about the admissions process at these schools (or atleast one) being slightly flawed. There is absolutely nothing wrong about admitting International Olympiad Medalists. In fact, I would be skeptical of their judgement if they took someone without external validation in PLACE of an IO Medalist. My problem is that they don’t take anyone (or like, only one) who ISN’T an IO Medalist. I guess the answer to this is that they have so little space and so many medalists they’d rather play safe and take someone who has already proved their mettle than someone who could ostensibly be faking passion on their app. However, Olympiads/ Google Science Fairs aren’t the only meter-stick to measure the “fit” of an applicant. When it comes to domestic (US) applicants, these colleges stress that awards aren’t nearly as important as passion and involvement. When it comes to international students, they reverse their stance. Are IOs a measure of passion? Yes. Are they the only ones? No. The harsh truth for internationals, especially Indians, is that someone should go and tell every 10th or 11th grader to give the Olympiads so they have a good chance at admissions. So many people choose not to give them or simply don’t know they exist. In no way would I belittle the incredible achievement of an International Olympiad Medalist; I respect them for their intellect and hard work, but I will still hold to my views on a flawed process. It’s unreasonable to expect a change in an autonomous institution in another country and I don’t expect one. My opinions are, however, free for me to air. :)</p>