<p>I sent an email to Matt last night asking for clarification on this point. I’ll post here when he replies to me.</p>
<p>From Matt McGann:
So expect a more extensive blog entry on this topic soon. In the meantime, it’s fine to send updates/supplements via postal mail or email, up until early February or so.</p>
<p>what is the deadline for supplementary recommendations?</p>
<p>I don’t know for sure – that’s something I would expect Matt to address in his upcoming blog entry. </p>
<p>If you want my opinion, though, I’d say as soon as possible, and probably by about Feb 1. MIT usually tries to start selection committee around mid-February.</p>
<p>I would echo Mollie’s AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.</p>
<p>Reading of folders has already begun, and while they will usually wait until the folder is complete before reading (they are still opening mail), a lack of a supplementary recommendation is not going to flag the file as incomplete. You really want to get the supplementary application into your file before it is read if possible. Assuming that the supplementary is important in reflecting aspects of yourself that do not show up elsewhere in the application (and if it is not, then why send it), then you really want that in now.</p>
<p>Realistically, everything needs to be in to the file before it it read. I have had people requesting interviews from me in February or March, which I have always turned down explaining that by that point the decision will already have been taken, and the interview will be meaningless in influencing the admissions decision.</p>
<p>hello
long story short i really want to get into a school like MIT because of its all around strength in the science fields. although i have proved my passion for science through research, competitions, and grades, i still have trouble with the humanities</p>
<p>nothing lower than a B+, but i have quite a few of them in the humanities courses.
only A’s in the math and sciences though.</p>
<p>will this have a big impact on my chances of getting in?</p>
<p>thanks for this. Are folders know being viewed as complete even though they do not have the midyear report? it was my understanding that any extra awards/events since applying, in october for us deferrees that happened should be put in there, meaning a application wont be complete without it</p>
<p>^I would strongly assume they must be – there’s no way they could wait until February to start reading folders. Unless they’ve perfected some sort of time-slowing mechanism they haven’t let us know about. :)</p>
<p>I know that folders are currently being read.</p>
<p>molliebatmit, thanks for the update rule! My son was just named an Intel STS semifinalist. Do you recommend that he sends in this update immediately?</p>
<p>
As I mentioned above, if it were me, I would update as soon as possible. Application reading has already begun, so updates which will be seen by all readers must be sent in soon. If he waits for the midyear report, this will likely be seen by all or most readers as well, but will not be seen in the first read of the application.</p>
<p>
Students whose high schools don’t rank are not included in that statistic. </p>
<p>It’s certainly not that students who aren’t in the top 20% of ranked high schools are automatically rejected at MIT. It’s that most students who apply to MIT and who aren’t in the top 20% of their high school classes don’t present compelling applications overall.</p>
<p>Given the holistic way MIT evaluates applications, there’s rarely one thing that will get an applicant rejected.</p>
<p>How about a person with an 800 SAT out of 2400 score? He/She has certainly got the courage to apply.</p>
<p>molliebatmit, thanks for the reply!</p>
<p>I sent my December ACT scores on December 28, 2009
I applied EA (got Deferred)</p>
<p>When MIT receives them…should I see 12/2009 next to the ACT scores on my Application Tracker? Because I haven’t seen it :/</p>
<p>I asked about this yesterday but I think it could be a wrong thread. I think this is much more suitable. </p>
<p>I am thinking of sending application to MIT, in my country we have grades from 1 to 6. But it is really hard to get 6 (to get it from maths you have to start in Olympiads and so on). Really good students in high school have GPA around 5.0, sometimes little more (like 5.1). I can see it’s much different than in US…</p>
<p>Does MIT counts that getting high average in some countries is much harder than in US, and it’s not really comparable?</p>
<p>@ansar: I guess so, and I have the same problem too. I’ll wait until Jan 22.
@Perewoj: From everything I’ve heard so far, yes. They have been aware of the differences among places. Beside GPA, there is the class rank, which probably says something about that. However I think the best way is to ask your counselor to explain the situation in a letter.</p>
<p>From Matt McGann’s blog, [url=<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/international_applicants_helpful_tips/international_men_women_of_mys.shtml]here[/url”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/international_applicants_helpful_tips/international_men_women_of_mys.shtml]here[/url</a>], confirming everything 12npm12 just said:
</p>
<p>I would also add that one of the many functions of the Educational Counselor (interviewer) is to ensure that there is someone local who can help to provide additional context in which an international applicants accomplishments can be interpreted. For example a Marshall Islands candidate might indicate that they are a prefect. Then an EC assigned to the Marshall Islands (and to the best of my knowledge there is only one EC covering the Marshalls) could explain what that means. In some school systems there is only one prefect elected by the students, in others, as many as a third of the class are appointed by the administration, and in many others, there are no prefects at all.</p>
<p>@Handala92:</p>
<p>I have already used this in the Part 2 App Additional Info 
I think they won’t penalize you.</p>
<p>[Correct me if I’m wrong and if I’m doomed for Part 2 already.]</p>
<p>@Handala92 & Kenhungkk:
I guess that’s alright (are there MIT’s rules for writing???), but I prefer a more creative and inspiring way :)</p>