MIT FAQ for application year 2013-2014

<p>As a Quest bridge finalist interested in applying via regular decision to MIT, I would like to know if it’s possible to replace a recommendation letter originally included in the quest bridge application with another recommendation of another teacher through myMIT account. Will it cause any ambiguities or is the Quest Bridge application final and unable to be unedited if used in lieu of MIT’s application?
Thanks.</p>

<p>Sorry, I’m away at a neuroscience conference this week and haven’t checked over here in a few days.</p>

<p>

Not annoying, just… frequently-asked. Yes, it’s normal, because the application tracker is manually updated. Test scores are similarly submitted to MIT electronically, but it takes some time for the admissions staff to go through them and update the tracker for everybody. Don’t worry until MIT posts/sends an email that they are done sorting all the application materials, at which point you can re-send if they don’t have your materials. In the case of Naviance stuff, if it says that it’s submitted on your end, it is almost certainly fine.</p>

<p>

I don’t actually know what the normal process is for the conducted interview form, but if the box is checked, it sounds like you’re okay.</p>

<p>

If the grades show up on the official high school transcript, you don’t need to send an additional college transcript (although you can do so without it being a problem). The classes and grades just need to be officially confirmed somewhere.</p>

<p>

MIT doesn’t really have the capacity to evaluate full research papers or reports, so they generally just ask for the abstract, or for a discussion of the research experience in the essay.</p>

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This shouldn’t be a problem, just make sure you include a clear note explaining what you’re doing – it should be clear that you want to replace a recommendation, not simply add a supplemental recommendation.</p>

<p>Hi Mollie,
My son has applied EA and I have a question regarding an inadvertent mistake that he has noticed in the self reported grades. He has all "A"s in high school till now except three "B"s. Inadvertently, he has mentioned two "B"s instead of three "B"s. However, his school has submitted the original transcript where everything is right. He is looking for ways to inform the admission officer. Would you suggest any particular approach.
Thank you,</p>

<p>^ He should send an email (include his name and DOB) to <a href=“mailto:admissions@mit.edu”>admissions@mit.edu</a> along with the correction.</p>

<p>Hi,
I am a mother of a senior in HS who already submitted his application. Does anyone know if being accepted into E2 @ MIT have any weight in applying to MIT? I havent been able to find any stats, but maybe it doesn’t help or hurt. Any insight?</p>

<p>I’ve never heard of E2. Can you expand?</p>

<p>It is one of the summer engineering programs offered by MIT. He applied for Mites and was put into E2. Approx. 2000 kids applied, he was one of 70 that got in. Fully paid for by MIT, amazing opportunity for him. Stayed on campus and got to participate in classes…</p>

<p>^ Huh, I’ve never heard of it before. I wonder if it’s fairly new. In any case, it looks like it’s run similarly to MITES, which to my knowledge doesn’t show much correlation with MIT applications either way.</p>

<p>Thanks for replying. He did receive an excellent letter of assessment from the professors at MIT, he included the letter of assessment as one of his supplement letters of recommendation. The waiting is the hardest!</p>

<p>^ That sounds like a good thing to do :)</p>

<p>Waiting <em>is</em> hard. Best I can recommend is keeping yourselves busy and make sure he keeps his options open/has backup plans he’s satisfied with.</p>

<p>(Oddly enough, I kept busy by… applying to more colleges. 16 total. For no particular reason, as I had reach/safeties.)</p>

<p>I applied EA, but only just finished a scientific research paper that I’d like to submit if possible. I know MIT only wants to see the abstract. Can I email that to admissions so that they can add it, or should I see if I get deferred and submit it then? I mentioned that I was doing research in my additional info but did not do a good job of explaining it.</p>

<p>Either way is fine.</p>

<p>Hi, I took the October ACT, but my scores won’t be sent until the writing mark has been processed (hopefully on Monday). I believe it still takes a couple of days from then before MIT Admissions receives the scores. Since these new results significantly boost my composite (once superscored), is it advisable to email the results to MIT Admissions before they process my application? In my application, I gave my September ACT scores but requested in the optional section that MIT wait for my October scores. I’m a US citizen but have grown up abroad, so I am not entirely familiar with the system. Thanks so much for the advice!</p>

<p>You don’t need to email or rush the results to MIT. The admissions office is still waiting and accepting test scores for EA from both October (ACT/SAT)and November (SAT)test dates. You did exactly what you needed to do by informing admissions that you would be sitting for another exam.</p>

<p>Thanks so much! You’ve put my mind at rest :)</p>

<p>As a quest bridge finalist interested in applying to MIT through the regular decision, I would like to know how to send supplements to MIT such as mathematical papers. Do we send it via part 2 of our application even though it is stated that Quest bridge application would be considered in lieu of MIT’s? The last question is: The tracking page in myMIT account doesn’t say if documents such as SAT scores were received. Is this because I haven’t sent the Part 1 which I’ve been told is not necessary because once again Quest Bridge is in lieu of myMIT’s application? If so, will the tracking page work normally after the Quest bridge application is forwarded to MIT during December? Thanks</p>

<p>Hi, I’m an international student from Spain.
In the MIT admissions page says that in order to submit a research paper, you can submit another letter or an abstract in layman’s terms. My biology teacher was my research mentor, but she has already done my science letter, and she will be talking a bit about my proyect, so I don’t think another letter will be very usefull. ¿could someone explain to me what a abstract in layman’s terms? I have no idea (English is not my main language)
Also, in spain high school consists of 6 courses, so should my principal fill out just the last 4 courses?
I don’t think GPA can be calculated with our score sistem, and my school does not calculate students rank, so is it possible to not send those?
Thank you very much.</p>

<p>An abstract is a concise summary of project that briefly describes the content and scope of the project and identifies the project’s objective, its methodology and its findings, conclusions, or intended results. The abstract is a description of your project (what you specifically are doing) and not a description of your topic (whatever you’re doing the project on). Abstracts are usually quite short. </p>

<p>The admissions office is eager to avoid receiving dozens of inch thick treatises on topics that are only appreciated in their respective fields. Rather they are looking for a summary of the research and you have the option to submit a letter rather than an abstract: What did you study? Why did you pick that? What did you discover? What was your personal contribution to the research project? What did it mean to you? Barring the odd cure for cancer, the process and the learning that you took from it are more important than the project results. </p>

<p>Your high school transcript should contain all 6 courses. Your school report should explain how the grading system works so that MIT can understand it For example, in one of the schools in my region a grade of 72/100 is a solid A achieved by <8% of the students. A score of 75/100 is awesome, and achieved by maybe one student per year. As long as MIT can understand it, GPA is much less important. A lot of schools do not calculate school rank, but again the school report should help MIT to understand how you fit. Are you near the top of your school class? At the top? Near the middle? Roughly. The less that MIT knows about your school, the more important it is that the school gives MIT enough information that it can evaluate your accomplishments in context.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help Mikalye, I guess I should start with that now.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I asked for my school transcriptand forgot to ask for this year’s grades. In MIT admissions says that you need to send predicted scores, but my grades for this trimester are not predicted grades. In general in my high school and most spanish the grades at the end of the year are better. Should I send this trimester grades?</p>

<p>Also in the MIT application part two I can’t fit the names of my scholastic distinctions in the space provided.</p>

<p>Last thing, sorry for the inconvenience, I took the TOEFL and got a score between 100-105. It is just above the recommended, and I don’t want to be rejected for possible language issues. Would a cambridge FIRST exam with 79/100 even be considerated as additional material or it would be a loss of time?</p>

<p>Again, thank you very much.</p>

<p>If an EA applicant has won additional accolades since submitting their application, how can they send the update to the admissions office? I have not been able to find an email address, like most other schools have. Would email be the way to update the application and, if so, what would be the best email address?</p>