@Jellybae Lol no I didn’t apply, I just like following these threads. But I’m so happy for you! Literally jumped out of my chair when I saw your post 
Seems like just yesterday when we were comparing our mini afros huh? 
@emenya my mini afro is now gigantic! I can’t wait for it to get bigger haha
Yours too! Mine is huge too! (Well I mean as big as you know Nigerian hair will let me grow lol)
@SoMuch2Learn , I don’t dispute that the 32 is higher, correspondingly, to the SAT score. It is still a bit low for an MIT admit. And an interview is extremely subjective. I don’t doubt the URM boost.
Sigh.
Rejected. At least, MIT let me down easy.
MIT admits people who are marginally qualified, at best, but who fit criteria for purposes of “social engineering”. Then they hope those students will have that mixture of assistance and fortitude needed to grow into the center, academically, at MIT. The failure rate is higher than you may imagine, as much of it is masked by an internal drift of students within MIT from the science and engineering [that remainder from the past that makes MIT what it is famed for] to the humanities and social sciences [which play a greater role at the university than ever before]. You do not need to have left MIT, never mind the mad extreme of suicide, to be a de facto failure. You just need to have found that what you had hoped to be, and do, will not be possible at MIT. The world can never get enough of lawyers and social activists, and MIT is growing in the alchemical power transform a mere uture astronomer or nuclear engineer into someone fit for the Ruling Cadres.
Had good stats but my D was denied. Not that upset as not sure MIT was the best fit for her since she was looking at premed. Congratulations to all those accepted. Strong believer that my D will end up where she is meant to be
@LegacyMom Yes, the one and only uclabound1
That’s fascinating, for at least two reasons:
- The enrollment statistics in each school don’t look much different from what they did when I was there (if anything, there are more students in the Schools of Science and Engineering than there were when I was there in the mid-2000s – before the financial crash, a huge number of people “drifted” to Sloan and the promise of a lucrative job after graduation). There are about 100 undergraduates (out of 4500) this year with a declared major in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. (This is also probably fewer than there were when I was there, when the number of people majoring in Economics was about twice what it is now.)
- When I was there, the registrar’s office used to publish statistics on minority enrollment by course, and, well, the numbers weren’t what you would expect if the (and I’m heavily sarcasm-quoting here) “diversity admits” were the ones who drifted to HASS – actually, it was exactly the opposite.
Like I said, fascinating.
Ok, I am going to add my two cents on a few comments above. You can look at the stats at any college and you will see significant shifts from science and engineering to the humanities. I was pre-med myself and ended up not taking all of my requirements due to the rigor. I did stick it out and have a biology degree, but my science and math grades were the lowest. It is unfortunate that students enter as a science and engineering major and are not able to complete the requirements. There needs to be new ways of approaching education in these fields. We recently spent a weekend at Olin, and I applaud them for their approach and hope it catches on at other colleges.
My son received his acceptance to MIT this morning. He had been deferred, so we had no expectations for him to be accepted. He has opened himself up to many other options, so I am thankful for the deferral. We will visit and let him evaluate all of the options when we know what they are. We know the rigor will be a consideration, but MIT has pretty impressive retention and graduation stats.
@uclabound1 Well that’s great. I guess this shows just how random and unpredictable admissions can be. My son got selected to interview for Trustee at USC and, as I recall, you are (or were) still hoping to get in there. But my son did not get accepted to MIT, I may be partial to USC, but I’m sure most would agree you got the better deal. Congrats again.
I was simultaneously shocked, euphoric, and confused this morning to find out that I was admitted to MIT Class of 2019.
I had been deferred Early Action, and after that I had basically accepted that I wasn’t going to get in. I even psychologically convinced myself that it was all for the better. That MIT wasn’t necessarily THE place for me, to the degree that now, having been admitted, I am presented with some very hard choices. I don’t know if MIT is for me anymore. I know I worked extremely hard throughout high school and on my application to get in, but I feel guilty knowing that thousands of people who wanted this wayyy more than I do have been denied. And I, the one who isn’t 100% invested in MIT, was admitted. On top of it all, my parents aren’t willing to pay for my plane ticket to Boston (from WA) for Campus Preview Weekend. We visited MIT as a family last spring, but from what I’ve heard, campus preview weekend is totally different from just a simple tour. I know it will help me decide whether to ultimately attend MIT. Does anyone know if MIT reimburses travel costs? I hate to sound like a spoiled brat saying all these things, but that is the only way I will be able to attend CPW and decide whether make the momentous decision to commit or not.
@Alaier I feel exactly the same way! Although I applied RD and my mindset when I began applying to MIT was “what the heck, it couldn’t hurt.” I didn’t think I would get in from the very beginning. However, having now been admitted, I am put into a very difficult situation. I realize how awesome the school is, but I put hardly any emotional investment into MIT. I feel bad because I know there are tons of other people who would kill to have my spot. I’m just not sure MIT is the right university for me.
The latest patch to MIT’s AshtonTate dBase system worked!!!
There seem to be two classes of students who apply to MIT: Those, many of whom may be much like some of you who were rejected or wait-listed – quite qualified, impressively so. Condolences to anyone on this thread who could have easily replaced some of those accepted, were it not in some cases for diversity of PROFILE (not of race or ethnicity), and that profile would include concentration, geography, gender, and activities/interests. Every elite U has a limit on how many they can admit, so please do not beat yourself up, or “beat up” MIT, if you were equally qualified but were not chosen. Some other University deserves you and will find you.
The second class of MIT applicants is the group I run into all too often: the student who is not very realistic about the competition. I have seriously run into three students recently who applied to MIT but had one extracurricular, zero community service, no awards, good but not great scores and not top 10% of the senior class. Yet these students were “sure” they would or should get into MIT. And although there’s more to non-academic achievement than just the ability to balance one’s time, that in itself could also be a factor, given the rigor of coursework described at MIT by several posters. I also think the aspect of creativity which MIT values can sometimes be evident in non-academic achievement during high school years, which (again) is why students with nothing to recommend themselves besides a good grade in a CS course and a short internship for a tech company should not be surprised at a rejection.
Rejected as expected.
From the moment I start my application I already know clearly that it is almost, if not completely, impossible for me to get into MIT, but being a human, I just can’t stop myself from keeping that little bit of hope somewhere in my heart and thinking about what if I just “accidentally” get admitted. But dreams don’t last forever, and it is finally the time to wake up.
Though unexpectedly, having actually have the rejection in front of my eyes, I got a little bit more emotional than I thought I will, even though this is exactly the outcome I had expected way from the beginning. And this emotion is not a simple one, it is rather a complex mixture of sadness, anger (to myself), maybe even a little bit of envy, but for the most part, I guess it is disappointment. Perhaps I had put way more hope in MIT than I thought I had.
But anyway, my primary motivation for applying MIT is never to get into MIT; I apply just because I don’t want to leave any regret in my life. As someone in love with physics, MIT is always my dream school in term of academics. (although in term of the school itself as a whole, my very first choice is somewhere else…) Therefore, even though I know my chances are very little, I just want to try, try to at least get closer to my dream, even just a little bit. (It is somewhat ridiculous though, I live all my life without having dreams, goals and targets, and suddenly I realize the way I look at MIT is what people call “dreaming” when MIT itself is the one that looking for students who dream for something). If I success, then great; but if I fail, it is fine too. At least I know I have tried my best; at least I know I have done everything I can. It is better to try then fail than to fail without even trying.
I really hope I don’t have to work today, or at least can take a half day off just to enjoy my MIT rejection, but no matter what, it is all over, and I still finished this full work-day today as if nothing had ever happened. My world is not going to change just because I got this glowing rejection from MIT(and really, only if I get that unreachable acceptance then my world will change). Furthermore, there are like another 9 rejections waiting for me in the next few weeks, so I guess let’s don’t enjoy this MIT one too much and let’s move on.
Thanks for reading all these blah blah, I just want to record my feeling at the moment.
@Alaier, MIT will fly you in for CPW if you qualify financially. I would encourage you to give it very serious thought. It is not a good choice for everyone and if your heart is not truly in it, you would be better off choosing your “very first choice” someplace else. You shouldn’t go to a school just because of it’s reputation, you should choose the one that is best for you - academically, socially and financially.
What other 9 schools did you apply to?
Those of us who have been around this board for a while (and I have been here since 2005 and been an educational counsellor for a long while before getting onto CC) see posts from students similar to @Alaier and @uclabound1 every year. These are people who got in despite not being “emotionally invested” in MIT. The other common reaction from some admitted students is that there has been some sort of admissions mistake. We hear that MIT takes all these great geniuses and yet somehow “they screwed up and took me”. From my perspective, having seen this over a while now, admissions mistakes are very, very, very, very rare. The competition for places is so severe, that there is nobody who was admitted who does not match well with MIT. If they are international applicants, this is even more so. Further, we know that there is nobody who was admitted that MIT doesn’t actually want. The trick is how to convince yourselves of the match between you and MIT.
CPW is very helpful, and indeed, it would be helpful even if it were not held at MIT. Frankly, when students meet their prospective classmates and figure out how absolutely awesome these other people are, then that is usually a key factor. Even local admitted students receptions are helpful in this light. I meet a great many applicants every year and I can assure you that all of the admitted students that I meet are amazing. And if you are admitted, and you don’t think that this describes you, then I must correct you. You are awesome.
Of course, most years I also meet brilliant, talented, awesome students who are not admitted. Only a subset of the truly fabulous applicants can be admitted. But those that are, are all well deserving.
Alaier: Check with admissions to see if your trip to Boston can be paid for by the school. It’s worth a shot.