@AroundHere I have good LORs, I’m working on my essays, I think my interview went very well. My stats are good, but they aren’t up to snuff for MIT. I am submitting research and a music portfolio to show my talents in those fields. Just curious. Thanks!
So, I recently had an interview with MIT. I’d gotten in to my SCEA just days before, but it was too late to cancel. What ended up happening?
I somehow managed to wind up talking about lactose intolerance. I suppose that’s one way to make an impression.
Not to get too off topic on to college sports, but I don’t see how MIT can field so many quality athletic teams and not have some lower standard or “hook” not available to those who don’t don the Engineers’ jersey.
Contrast this to Caltech, which fields many Division 3 teams, all of which rarely win even one or two games (or matches) a season, and universally finish dead last in SCIAC (Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). I know Caltech is smaller than MIT, but how can the Engineers be so competitive without the coaches putting their thumb on the admissions scales, even if it’s gently done?
@84stag My son was admitted to Caltech for Class of 2022 as well and recruited for soccer (no football team). Caltech has recently started to supply athletic support to qualified applicants much like MIT. As they and MIT will tell you, it’s simply a recommendation to the Office of Admissions. The way it was conveyed to us is first, the applicant must be a qualified candidate in the eyes of admissions. Then, when all the qualified candidates are selected, athletics support will certainly be a factor in choosing one qualified candidate over another. So, I suppose the thumb is on the scale, but only after admissions qualifies the candidate, not before.
Finally, the quality of the athletic teams at MIT vs Caltech probably has multiple explanations. First, the size, as you point out, is critical. Caltech participates in a very competitive league with schools much larger and much lower academic qualifications. They just don’t have access to a ton of athletic talent. Second, MIT’s success attracts student athletes from around the world. As they say, success begets success. So, if you are a good athlete and want to focus on STEM, there is no better place or environment than MIT. So, the success is somewhat self-selected. It’s a formula that clearly works.
I know two students who are recruited athletes to both MIT and Caltech. The girl is bright, but couldn’t have gotten in without sports. The boy would be lucky if he survives the curriculum. I also know a girl who was recruited to Caltech last year. She had to declare history as her major. A Caltech history major??
Did they get into either or both schools?
@brazos21 All good points. At the end of the day, a skilled athlete who also is academically qualified is fine with me. As for Caltech playing teams with lower academic standards, that’s partly true and partly not. SCIAC has CMS (Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps) and Pomona-Pitzer. Harvey Mudd, Pomona, and CMC are exceedingly selective, and, with the exception of Pomona, very small schools. Other schools in the conference are quite strong academically, including Occidental and Chapman (but clearly not on par with the others previously mentioned).
And congrats on your son for getting admitted to Caltech. That’s an amazing accomplishment. My son was deferred to MIT and is applying RD to Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, Purdue, Georgia Tech, and a couple others. He’s a 4-year varsity baseball letterman but simply does not want to play after this year. He wants to focus on school and the collegiate experience. I don’t blame him; but neither would I if he’d decided to use sports to help his entry.
The problem I have is that with the hyper-selective nature of many of these schools (I’m talking the smaller schools, not Stanford or Duke), is it fair to the 18-year-old to put them in an environment where they cannot succeed? And doesn’t the school care more about producing the best and the brightest, not those who can run faster or hit a ball further?
@stag84 I can’t really comment on @cocofan’s anecdotal examples of kids he “knows” wouldn’t get in without sports (I’m not sure anyone but admissions knows how kids are accepted and denied). I will respond to a few or your observations (all in good nature of the discussion). Note that Claremont McKenna, Mudd, and Scrips are actually combined for athletics into CMS and compete as one team, so those schools compete as if they were much larger than each independently. Pomona is nearly twice the size of Caltech. And, there is no doubt that Caltech simply does not value athletics to the extent the other SCIAC schools do and it shows. It’s more like a club sport atmosphere. I think they are trying to change that but hard to do when class size is so small and standards so high.
You have a built-in presumption in your reply that “producing the best and the brightest” is mutually exclusive of those who can “run faster or hit a ball further.” Isn’t that resorting to stereotypes? My son had a 1560 on SAT (800 on math), 35 on the ACT, four perfect 800’s on SAT IIs, twelve APs with 5’s, 4.0 unweighted, National Merit Semi, research assistant to a college professor and co-authored an article published in a scholarly journal…he also played three varsity sports every season since a freshman in high school and was captain of two of them as a senior. With that said, there are plenty of kids with similar numbers that probably didn’t get accepted early. If he was compared to another similar candidate (maybe one with more STEM activities), I’m sure the athletics angle helped him. Why shouldn’t it? He is more than academically qualified to succeed at MIT. But, he can also add to the extracurricular life there. That is very important. Be it music, sports, arts, whatever. The singular focus of a place like MIT needs kids who will participate outside the classroom to create an atmosphere that is bearable for all. Now, if my son’s stats and academic qualifications were below average and he was selected over better candidates because of sports, I might agree with you…SEE IVY LEAGUE SPORTS. That is the very reason he didn’t want to go Ivy. He had several offers. But he appreciated that it was academics first and extracurriculars second. Good luck during regular decision. It will all work out…
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Let’s not get sidetracked by debating MIT vs. Caltech athletics here. If you want to start a new thread on the conversation, feel free to do so. However, this thread is not the place for that discussion.
@MITChris has given the MIT answer on the role athletics plays in admissions at MIT. Believe it. Don’t believe it. Your choice. But College Confidential is not a debate society.
@skieurope Sorry about that…I just thought it was a healthy discussion that might help others.
I heard that not many RSI students get in EA…
Half of the RSI students who applied to MIT EA were deferred. I think the ones who really want MIT and don’t withdraw their applications get in RD.
Just out of curiosity, how do you know it is 1/2 @cocofan?
RSI shouldn’t impact the decisions based on how my school did it. The school I went for grade 11 had an internal application and they could send one student whoever they chose. The richest student got selected and just sent off. Based on this, it is not a program that should be recognized. Either that or the school completely cheated everyone.
@minimango I was told by an RSI student.
@equality4all Are you talking about PSBB?
@eulerboy No, the actual RSI. I heard about it when I was in grade 10, and I really wanted to at least apply, but my school chose whoever they wanted and just them off. That school was really messed up in the administration so something like this is definitely likely to happen.
@equality4all Yes, I understand you are talking about the actual RSI. I’m asking whether the school you attended in grade 11 was PSBB. You said “The school I went for grade 11 had an internal application and they could send one student whoever they chose.” Is this school you’re talking about PSBB?
Does anyone know how long the grace period is for recommendation letters? I haven’t been able to get a hold of my English teacher (who has submitted recs for me on common app but not MIT yet), and I’ve been told that she’ll be back in her office by January 10th.
@eulerboy What is PSBB? Google tells me it’s a school in India, and if that is what you mean no, this is in Canada. Just some messed up private school in Ottawa. Idk how they did it but they did it anyway.