MIT FAQ for application year 2013-2014

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Welcome to the MIT forum on College Confidential! </p>

<p>Several current MIT students, MIT alums (including alumni interviewers), and MIT parents post on this forum, and we're happy to answer any questions that we can. Current MIT admissions officer Chris Peterson (MITChris</a>) also posts here, but he is returning from a year off, so go easy on him.</p>

<p>Some questions are asked here very often, and I'll try to cover them in this FAQ.</p>

<p>When will the application be released?
MIT is not a Common App school, and the application for the upcoming year is usually released in approximately late August or early September. We can tell you what the essay questions and word limits were last year, but there is no guarantee that the questions will remain the same. But never fear: the application will be released in plenty of time for you to complete it!</p>

<p>What are the application deadlines?
MIT has both an early action (EA) and a regular decision (RD) round of applications.</p>

<p>MIT's EA program is non-restrictive (you can apply to other schools, as long as those schools allow applicants to apply early to other places) and non-binding (after you are admitted, you can choose whether or not to attend). The EA deadline is November 1, and decisions are usually available online around December 10-15. EA admits get financial aid information with RD admits in late March, and are required to reply to MIT by May 1. </p>

<p>Applying to MIT EA is not automatically an advantage for your application -- the EA admit rate is usually about the same as (and sometimes lower than) the RD admit rate. A sizable percentage of EA applicants are deferred to the RD round, and are given the opportunity to send in supplemental materials before RD consideration begins. International students are not allowed to apply EA.</p>

<p>MIT's RD deadline is January 1, and decisions are usually available online around March 15-20.</p>

<p>For more information, see MIT's webpage [here[/url</a>].</p>

<p>What standardized tests do I need to take to apply to MIT?
For native English speakers, MIT requires either the SAT I with writing or the ACT with writing. MIT additionally requires 2 SAT II subject tests, one in math (either Math Ic or Math IIc) and one in science. It doesn't matter which math or science test you take.</p>

<p>For non-native English speakers, MIT requires either the SAT I with writing, the ACT with writing, or the TOEFL (with no option preferred over the others). MIT additionally requires 2 SAT II subject tests, one in math and one in science. </p>

<p>MIT superscores the SAT and ACT, so only the highest scores from each section will be considered for your evaluation (and there is no need to use Score Choice to select which test administrations you would like MIT to see). If you take both the SAT and the ACT, MIT will only use the better set of scores in your evaluation. There are no preferred SAT II subject tests, and there is no preference as to whether you take the SAT or the ACT.</p>

<p>If you have taken AP tests prior to applying to MIT, you do not need to send MIT an official score report. Self-reporting your scores on the application will be sufficient.</p>

<p>The latest test date for EA applicants is the November date (no rush report required), and the latest test date for RD applicants is the December date, although January tests will be accepted at MIT's discretion.</p>

<p>For more information on MIT's testing requirements, see the standardized test requirements [url=<a href="http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/tests%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/tests]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;/p>

<p>Who can write my letters of recommendation?
MIT requires two letters of recommendation, one from a math or science teacher and one from a humanities teacher. Matt McGann has confirmed for me that a teacher of any subject that, if it were taught at MIT, would be taught within the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences ([url=<a href="http://shass.mit.edu/%5DSHASS%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://shass.mit.edu/]SHASS](&lt;a href="http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/dates%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/dates)&lt;/a&gt;), is fine for the humanities letter of rec. This includes foreign languages, history, writing, literature, theatre, music, and others.</p>

<p>MIT does not require that the letter be from a teacher you've had in any particular school year, although you should carefully consider whether a teacher you had as a freshman or sophomore will remember you vividly enough to write a good letter for you.</p>

<p>See more information at Matt McGann's blog [here[/url</a>].</p>

<p>What's this about an interview?
MIT alumni known as Educational Counselors (ECs) try to interview all applicants to MIT, though students who do not live within a reasonable distance of an EC have the interview waived. In late summer or early fall, the contact information for the EC assigned to each applicant will be visible in the MyMIT portal; each applicant is responsible for contacting his or her EC to schedule the interview. </p>

<p>You must contact your EC before October 20 (EA) or December 10 (RD) in order to secure an interview. Every year on CC, we see several students who neglected to contact their ECs prior to the deadline but who still want an interview. Contact your EC early!</p>

<p>The interview is a relatively informal conversation about you, and an opportunity for you to ask the EC questions about MIT. You should dress in a way that makes you feel comfortable -- there's no prescribed dress code.</p>

<p>For more information on the interview, see the MIT site [url=<a href="http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/interview%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/interview]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;], and look for posts on this forum by Mikalye, our (awesome) resident EC.</p>

<p>I got a B/4 on the AP test/700 on the SAT! Did I ruin my chances to get into MIT?
Probably not. MIT's admissions process is holistic, meaning that all factors relevant to your application are considered when deciding whether or not to admit you.</p>

<p>Still, MIT's applicant pool is very competitive -- check out the admissions statistics [url=<a href="http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;] for the last admitted class, and the CC results thread for the [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1428656-consolidated-mit-class-2017-ea-rd-results.html%5Dclass"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1428656-consolidated-mit-class-2017-ea-rd-results.html]class&lt;/a> of 2017](<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_freshman_application/some_recommendations_about_rec.shtml%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_freshman_application/some_recommendations_about_rec.shtml). Also be sure to check out the CC results threads for the classes of 2016/2015/2014/2013/[2012[/url</a>].</p>

<p>Chance me!
No. Read [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-accurate-chance-mit.html%5Dthis"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-accurate-chance-mit.html]this&lt;/a> thread](http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/546625-consolidated-ea-rd-2012-results-thread.html) by MITChris instead.</p>

<p>Best wishes, and again, welcome to MIT CC!</p>

<p>-Mollie, MIT class of 2006 (brain and cognitive sciences/biology, MacGregor resident, cheerleader)</p>

2

<p>Mollie or Chris or anybody: Does anyone happen to know MIT’s policy on undocumented students? One of my friends is undocumented and he really wants to go to MIT. He is discouraged by MIT because he will be competing with IMO gold medalists and people of that sort if he is an international student.</p>

3

<p>You do not need an IMO to be an international student who gets in to MIT.</p>

4

<p>Piper: I see what you mean. He is a Chinese citizen and it is supposed to be really hard for Chinese internationals to be accepted. He was really wondering if MIT will just blindly consider him a Chinese international student or if his application would be considered as a special case.</p>

5

<p>If they are made aware that he is not a US citizen, he will compete in the international pool, unfortunately.</p>

6

<p>Thank you beforehand for the information… I have a question about interviews.</p>

<p>I know that for MIT Admissions, the student is to contact the interviewer to schedule a meeting. However, does the student have a choice in what region he/she wants to interview in?</p>

<p>My situation is a bit strange because I attend a boarding school that’s far away from home.</p>

7

<p>I think it will default to your home region, but if you contact the Admissions office, they should be able to switch you over.</p>

8

<p>Can son apply for transfer to MIT this Fall or does he have to wait until next year? The MIT website suggests a minimum of 1 year and max of 2 1/2 years of college. </p>

<p>Son is starting as a freshman in the EE honors program at a&m in Fall '13. He received 45 hours of advanced placement credit via 10 AP Exams. So, technically starting as a second semester sophomore. He will take about 30 credits this year, so will have a total of 70+ at end of 2013/2014. (Engineering at a&m requires 129 for graduation). </p>

<p>So, when should he be applying if he wants to transfer to MIT? thanks</p>

9

<p>I don’t believe he can apply for a transfer in the fall. He might be able to apply in the spring.</p>

10

<p>Piper I am sorry, I may not have phrased my question properly. Did you mean he might be able to apply for admission to Spring '15 but not Fall '14? Thankyou</p>

11

<p>Or did you mean he can apply for Spring '14?</p>

12

<p>perazziman - Ah, yeah, I meant that the soonest he could possibly apply is spring '14, and even then that might not be available. He’ll definitely be able to apply for fall '14, though.</p>

13

<p>Thanks Piper.</p>

14

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>If I have started another college and dropped out, can I still apply as freshman to MIT? Do you (and how?) check if somebody already started college before? Can I just say I took a gap year? At the time, it was go there or don’t go to college at all, so I enrolled, but now that I’m able to apply to MIT I’m afraid it’ll come to bite me in the ass. I’m an international student btw.
One more question, how do you compare work experience to extracurriculars? My school had very few of them (and they aren’t very important in our system, so even the few of them aren’t fancy), so I have only one, although it is relatively important and I was the leader. I have 5 years of work experience, working in my father’s shop, which has taken a lot of my free time. Does MIT look positively on it, although it’s not nearly fancy nor interesting? I suppose it has some value as it was to alleviate my family’s financial hardships, but I don’t think it can make up for the lack of fancy work I see here.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

15

<p>

No, if you’ve enrolled as a degree-seeking student in a college, you are not eligible to apply as a freshman. Applying as a freshman and saying you took a gap year would be lying.</p>

<p>

Yes, absolutely. There’s no rank-ordering of extracurriculars – whatever is important to you is helpful.</p>

16

<p>

</p>

<p>Going in to an application with the plan of lying is not only stupid (if they ever found out, any degree you earned could be revoked – it’s not just about the application), it’s also wrong. How is this not obvious?</p>

17

<p>“No, if you’ve enrolled as a degree-seeking student in a college, you are not eligible to apply as a freshman. Applying as a freshman and saying you took a gap year would be lying.”</p>

<p>I’m not sure if I expressed myself correctly; I <em>am</em> taking a gap year, something like deferring college in america. I am enrolled on paper, but I never took a class nor decided a mayor or anything college related, besides free health insurance, which is why I’m enrolled at all. If I were to transfer (and be accepted), I’d still be a freshman. So, to clarify, if I ever had contact with an university other than MIT, I go the transfer route? Am I eligible for transfer, my situation and all?</p>

18

<p>You enrolled. You are not eligible to apply as a freshman.</p>

<p>You are also not eligible to apply as a transfer until you have completed a year at your current institution at the time you intend to enter MIT.</p>

<p>[Before</a> Applying | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/transfer/before]Before”>Transfer eligibility | MIT Admissions)</p>

19

<p>Additionally, asking if you can lie is fairly clear expression to me. This isn’t “any contact”, this is direct enrollment. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>No. In America, deferring college is deferring college, and a gap year is a gap year.</p>

20

<p>And, just to be explicit, in America, students who have accepted a spot at an institution and who are deferring their enrollment for a year are not allowed to apply to other universities as freshmen during that deferral year.</p>