MIT FAQ for application year 2011-2012 (with answers by MITChris)

<p>Yes, you should.</p>

<p>Can i send in more than 2 teacher reccomendations (i.e. 2 science and 1 humanities)? </p>

<p>If so, do i give both teachers the form A sheet?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>^ You’re welcome to send in supplemental recommendations. Admissions asks that each one display something different about you (ie, if they’re all just “she’s a good worker”, that’s pointless - but maybe one teacher saw a very creative side to you, another saw how hard you work, another saw…). </p>

<p>However, I think Admissions prefers you only send one form A for organizational purposes.</p>

<p>@deadtom :p</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1193424-there-limit-how-many-letters-rec-you-can-have.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1193424-there-limit-how-many-letters-rec-you-can-have.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I am an international applicant and am wondering about the best way to send application support materials (Letters/transcripts).</p>

<p>Is it OK to get each letter/transcript in a separate small envelope from the teacher/counselor and then put all those small envelopes in a biggger packet and mail that single packet? I will get the teacher/counselor to sign on the sealed envelope flap.</p>

<p>Or, should the teacher/counselor directly mail the letter/transcript to MIT?</p>

<p>The advantage of mailing all the support materials (letters/transcripts) in one big packet is that the admissions office will receive them together instead of one piece after another. Less importantly, it may save a bit on postal charges :).</p>

<p>

It’s not a big deal; don’t worry about it.</p>

<p>

As Piper says, yes, absolutely. Make sure to submit a supplemental document cover sheet with the supplemental letter.</p>

<p>

Either way is completely fine.</p>

<p>Thanks for your answer =)</p>

<p>Should my teacher still fill out the Evaluation A form and attach the cover sheet?</p>

<p>I was in the chat last night and a lot of the ?'s were toward admissions… Do you know if your ? Wasn’t answered if they will email you the answer to your question, or just ask it here? Thnx</p>

<p>So… my school might not approve a request to transfer credit from EPGY to my school. Should I note this on part 2 of the app? Also, how should I deal with sending transcripts from them? Thanks.</p>

<p>Umm, I don’t quite understand the concept of Financial Aid in MIT or other US colleges for that matter. Yes, it is need-blind, it won’t affect the chances of my admission. But, what I want to ask is- 1.) Is it like a loan based system where the student pays it back after graduation? 2.) If yes, then what if the student goes to grad school? Will the time-frame be pushed back to accommodate the student?</p>

<p>Thank you for your time.</p>

<p>

That can be useful, yes. Your teacher could also write a letter and make sure she addresses the questions asked in the form. Whatever she prefers is fine.</p>

<p>

As far as I know, there’s not a follow-up with questions that couldn’t be answered. You can certainly go ahead and ask it here.</p>

<p>

If you took a class and your official transcripts don’t note it, you should definitely mention it yourself. I’m not sure how to get a transcript from EPGY.</p>

<p>

An individual student’s financial aid package consists of a combination of grants (which don’t need to be paid back) and loans (which do need to be paid back). The relative proportion of grants and loans will depend on your parental resources as reported in the financial aid application – some people get mostly grants, and some get mostly loans.</p>

<p>Even loans can be from different sources (the US government vs. private loan companies), and different types of loans have different parameters for things like interest rates and pay-back times. Most loans, even those from private companies, will allow students to defer loan payments if they go directly from undergrad to grad school. Government loans will allow deferral until you graduate from grad school, while most private companies will defer for a maximum of a few years. Either way, interest will generally accumulate on these loans while you are in grad school, so it’s wise to at least pay down the interest.</p>

<p>I was just reading the application packet from the mail, and it says to list all grades from the same class, separated by commas. </p>

<p>On my transcript it only shows the final end of the year grade for each course(including midterms and final exams), and has “semester 1” and “semester 2” columns for half year courses, but my semester 1 and 2 grades don’t show up on my transcript for full year courses. </p>

<p>Do I still fill in S1/2 grades for full year courses, even though it doesn’t how on my transcript? My school uses 4 quarters (2 per semester) so should I list 5 grades per full year course (each quarter grade plus the final grade that includes exams)?</p>

<p>Does quitting a significant activity in favor of research which I like better look bad on my MIT app?</p>

<p>also, are we allowed to mention our names in our essays? when reviewing our applications, the committee will already be able to see our names on the front page of our application, correct?
in other things that require essays that i’ve done, like scholarships or contests, we’re told to leave out our names on the actual essay (and we’re given a cover sheet instead to fill out) so the readers won’t have bias.</p>

<p>@avatarmage - yes </p>

<p>@ CPUscientist3000 - you don’t need to drop your own names in the essays, its all one big folder.</p>

<p>Thank you MITChris. </p>

<p>Also, one of my teachers who wrote me a recommendation went to another school district, and I can’t get in touch with them anymore. I have a letter they wrote me for another program, but is it okay if I don’t have the “evaluation form” paper? I’ll keep trying to reach him, but all of my math/science teachers are gone (because our town re-districted half of all of the teachers, and some also went to different cities.) is it okay if the letter doesn’t address the suggested questions on the MIT form?</p>

<p>Question about MIT’s score choice policy. When I go to unselect scores on collegeboard, a little warning window appears. However, I’m not trying to select by test date, I just want to get rid of the SAT in general. I will be submitting the ACT in lieu of the SAT, so I was just going to get rid of it. I am, however, still submitting the SAT IIs. Is that still violating policy?</p>

<p>

It’s okay in the sense that none of the admissions officers will stop reading in disgust when they see that your teacher hasn’t used the form. </p>

<p>But MIT does put those questions on the form because they have found that seeing the answers your teachers give to those questions is useful to them in the admissions process. A letter without answers to those questions can still be useful to them, of course, but there are reasons they ask the questions they ask.</p>

<p>But if you can’t get in touch with your teachers, what else are you going to do? Don’t worry about it.</p>

<p>

MIT’s score choice policy is that you can choose to send any scores you want. But it’s not necessary to remove scores from your record – if you send both the ACT and the SAT, MIT will only use the scores that put you in the best light. I don’t know if there’s a price difference or anything, but you certainly shouldn’t pay extra money to keep particular scores from MIT: they will use your best scores regardless.</p>

<p>Quick question about letters of recommendation: on evaluator forms A and B, there is a note about how to submit your recommendations, namely either through Naviance, fax, or snail mail; however if you’re submitting them via Naviance, will teacher evaluators have a chance to fill out the specific questions on the form, or will they only be able to address the “questions to consider?”</p>

<p>Since I will be using these letters of recommendation for several different schools, would it be easiest to just use snail mail and ask my teachers to attach their recommendation as well as a completely filled out form A or B? My college advisor suggested that I should ask teachers to provide an MIT specific note, and that when the recommendations get sent, make sure that MIT get’s that note, while other schools do not. My only worry with this is that it seems like they will then be unable to answer any of the questions on the form, and I wouldn’t want to be disadvantaged in the application process because of that. Suggestions?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>If I applied my junior year and didnt get accepted and am applying again as a senior, does this affect my chances? Do they compare me as a junior to me as a senior?</p>