<p>Yeah... for those who are deferred, you have nothing to worry about. It really just means delayed gratification. Last year at least, the acceptance rate for EA was practically the same acceptance rate for deferred candidates in the regular pool. Technically, your chances only decreased by .2%. In fact, your chances could be HIGHER, because so many of those who were deferred applied binding to another school and got in (and therefore will be cancelling their application). Once you take those ppl out of the equation, you could argue that your chances have increased! I really think that's why so many MIT EA people are deferred. It's cuz for many borderline candidates, they wanna make sure you didn't get in somewhere binding first, and then they plan on accepting you (this keeps their acceptance rates lower, and their yields higher). I wouldn't be surprised if they already have some of us earmarked on our application as 'admit RD', so long as we do not cancel our applications.</p>
<p>not sure about the whole binding thing--usually the people who are the best matches for MIT haven't applied early decision to what is likely an IVY league school. Many probably applied to Caltech, UChicago which are also great fits for MIT matches, but those are all non-binding EAs.</p>
<p>It might not be MANY, but I have heard one or two people who were deferred at MIT, but didn't care because they were accepted at Penn, and Columbia (both binding). Therefore... we have already lost 2 people... and Im sure there are more... and its very likely that there are enough more to make up for the .2% decrease in acceptance rate.</p>
<p>yea i do agree about the early decision acceptees freeing space, but i disagree about MIT deferring people to ensure they aren't accepted binding-even if someone is accepted to MIT, if they are accepted ED, their space becomes open so there's no incentive to defer a good match.</p>
<p>Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 760M + 690CR + 660W = 2110 Overall
[</em>]SAT II: 750 Math 2, 760 Physics
[<em>]ACT: Did not attempt
[</em>]GPA: ~4.3 W, 4.0 UW. My school does not offer AP, only honors in grades 11 and 12. I have gotten As in the most difficult classes I could take.
[<em>]Rank: School does not rank by exact numbers (4 of 100, for example), but I'm in the highest percentile ranking.
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): None
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I really liked my essays. I wrote about how witnessing my mother return to college while I was in middle school helped motivate me. I also submitted a supplementary essay about my senior project. I'm currently researching various ways to grow algae on an industrial scale (for biofuel production).
[</em>]Teacher Recs: These should have been fantastic. I have a great friendship with both of the teachers, and they both seemed very enthusiastic about me going to MIT. I also had my dean of students (who I also know quite well) submit a recommendation. I haven't read any of these recommendations, but I believe the letter from my dean spoke of my leadership abilities within the community.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: This should have been decent as well, although I don't know him quite as well as the aforementioned staff members.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Essay on algae-based biofuel (see above)
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Probably my senior project on algae-based biodiesel. If not, my school has really helped me develop my skills in public speaking and teamwork.[/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: San Diego, CA, USA
[<em>]High School Type: Public Charter
[</em>]Ethnicity: Caucasian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Internship in the SPAWAR Unmanned Systems branch, Tutoring (math), Summer Camp Counselor, COSMOS at UCSD (2005), FIRST Robotics (2 years), Botball (2 years). I also founded an engineering club at my school with a friend of mine (this year).
[</em>]Awards: Rotary Youth Leadership Award (Rotary International)
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I don't have too many comments, but I think I still have a decent shot in regular decision. I'm guessing that I was deferred because of my standardized test scores. In hindsight, I probably should have tried the ACT as well (or maybe studied a bit more). However, MIT still admits many people at my level. I believe there is hope :)[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>"People don't fail because they aim too high and miss but because they aim too low and hit." - Les Brown</p>
<p>Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 760 M (lol), 800 CR, 760 W (12)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math Level 2, 790 Bio M</p>
<p>[li]GPA: 4.128/4.33 Unweighted, school gives 4.33 for A+</p>[/li]
<p>[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): did not take AMC, thought it would hurt, but didn't. AP's-Bio, Calc BC, English, USH, US Govpol, Comp Gov Pol, all 5's. Taking Physics C, Chem, Lit, German, Euro, and Calc III/DiffEQ this year.
[/ul]
Subjective[ list]
[</em>]Essays: teh secks
[<em>]Teacher Recs:teh secks
[</em>]Counselor Rec: sort of teh secks
[<em>]Supplementary Material:abstract that was banging from siemens paper, 2 reccs from research mentors, gov school recc
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):research a lot, Siemens semis, all kinds of nerd stuff in lab [/list]
Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: New Jersey
[</em>]High School Type: Large Public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Brown
[</em>]Gender: have *****
[<em>]Applied for Financial Aid: N
Other[list]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: If you want to know, u can look up one of my chances threads
[<em>]Awards:siemens semis, nj governor's award for debate, PF debate state champ/national qualifier. others less sexy </em>*
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] be yourself, chill with it.</p>
<p>niceilike...
Of course they are still accepting the most qualified candidates (whether or not they applied ED somewhere else). BUT, I disagree that there is no advantage to deferring a qualified applicant. Deferring the 'next most qualified' applicants allows them to increase their yield rates, by not offering admissions to those who would never be able to end up coming. This also lowers their acceptance rate for the EA pool. This way, when the EA acceptance rate, and the RD acceptance rate are equal, it dis-incentivizes people to apply early because it appears there is no advantage in admissions. This way, MIT can get a better picture of who has MIT as their top choice. Imagine if they made the EA acceptance rate higher than the RD. Then, tons of more people would apply EA to get the advantage, because its not binding, and you can still apply to your other EA/ED school of choice.</p>
<p>ben jones thats some cool stuff. it's easy to say this since im accepted, buti think i would say it regardless of what happened... im glad that basically all of what you adcoms say is genuine in terms of what hte admissions process is. its really a holistic examination of the applicants. of course, my two friends got deferred which boggles my mind cause theyre unbelivably smart and have great apps, but i understand its tough with so many good applicants.</p>
<p>I think the main reason ea rate is lower at mit is b/c of the 30% cap. but w/e we'll never know the inner workings of MIT admissions, unless we decide to work there.</p>
<p>@njtitans: i agree with you b/c i got accepted, but honestly i can see MIT deferral/rejection being more devastating than at other schools, b/c even though they make it seem so perfect and understanding, the admissions process still can only take ~10% of people. So basically, the 90% reading the blogs and being like "wow that's awesome, I love MIT, I'm the perfect match" who get rejected are probably feeling it more than those who get rejected by a more impersonal application system. For kids who get accepted though, it's truly a fairytale.</p>
<p>niceilike, what school in jersey do you go to? msg me if you dont wanna post it</p>
<p>Bridgewater</p>
<p>Deferred</p>
<p>Stats: [ul]
[<em>]SAT: M:660 CR:600 W:540 (Okay, don't laugh yet--Look at my ACT)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II 790 Physics
[<em>]ACT: C:33 E:35 M:33 R:30 S:33 Essay:10
[</em>]GPA: 4.00 (School does not do weighted GPA)
[<em>]Rank: 1/261 (1 of twelve)
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): None, but took every AP course offered besides AP English
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I think my main essay was awesome--I wrote how I lost an important school election and then rebounded from it. The point of the essay was to show my resilience and determination.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I'm pretty sure they were great, especially my Humanities rec.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Most likely GREAT. He and I really get along.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Two recs: One from a camp counselor who was really impressed by my ability and work ethic during a summer camp, and another from my Taekwondo instructor (known him for seven years)
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Mostly my character and resolve to make a difference in the world (and that was no B.S.) I was the Student Government Tech Director during Junior year and did a LOT of stuff with computers.[/ul]
Personal [ul]
[</em>]Location: Oregon
[<em>]High School Type: Public (about 1100 students)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Korean
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes [/ul]
Other [ul]
[<em>] ASB Technology Director (11), Senior Class President (12)
[</em>] Taekwondo 3rd Dan Black Belt and Assistant Instructor
[<em>] School Orchestra
[</em>] Tutoring
[li] Flying airplanes [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reason why I think I got deferred: While I think I met all of their criteria for the "match" between me and MIT, I never entered any competitions and never won major academic awards. Had I done some of that, I think I would've gotten in.</p>
<p>Wat if u never took them becoz u never had the opportunity or if such competitions were not there in ur area.... do MIT admin consider that??</p>
<p>
[quote]
BUT, I disagree that there is no advantage to deferring a qualified applicant. Deferring the 'next most qualified' applicants allows them to increase their yield rates, by not offering admissions to those who would never be able to end up coming. This also lowers their acceptance rate for the EA pool. This way, when the EA acceptance rate, and the RD acceptance rate are equal, it dis-incentivizes people to apply early because it appears there is no advantage in admissions. This way, MIT can get a better picture of who has MIT as their top choice. Imagine if they made the EA acceptance rate higher than the RD. Then, tons of more people would apply EA to get the advantage, because its not binding, and you can still apply to your other EA/ED school of choice.
[/quote]
I think you've got it the wrong way around -- the EA acceptance rate is low not because MIT is committed to deferring qualified candidates, but because MIT is committed to admitting only 30% of the class early. </p>
<p>If, in some hypothetical future year, everybody wanted to apply RD, but there were 500 really super-awesome EA applicants, they would accept all of them rather than deferring the majority. The way the applicant pool stacks up now, there are just too many good candidates applying EA, and they're forced to defer large numbers of them to the RD round because of the 30% cap.</p>
<p>Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 690 CR, 740 M, 570 W (11)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 MII, 780 Chem, 760 USH
[<em>]ACT: 32 (28E, 32M, 32R, 35S)
[</em>]GPA: 3.83/4.51
[<em>]Rank: 5th of 500
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Calc BC - B (AB - 5), Psych - 5, USH-5, Chem - 5, Art Hist - 4, Euro Hist - 4, Env Sci - 4 ( :( ), Eng Lang -4, Taking: AP Govt, AP Macro/Mirco Econ, AP Eng Lit, AP Physics B ( :( No C at my school.), AP Bio, AP Stats, MV Calc/Physics with Calc I <- dual enrollment
[/ul]</p>
<p>Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Main one was pretty good, I wrote about risk for the fun one and a typical ChemE one for the second one.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: From Env Sci teacher (who is sponsor for several of my clubs) and AP USH Teacher (who is the sponsor for my main club.)
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Pretty good...He calls me Mr. FLVS and Mr. MCC because I took a lot of classes there...
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None [/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Florida
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y/N. Not yet but will in January[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Academic Team, Environmental Service Organization, Drama, MATH Club and Envirothon
[</em>]Awards: AP National Scholar
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Be honest[/ul]</p>
<p>Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2350 (800 M, 800 W, 750 CR)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 750 Chem, 750 Lit
[<em>]ACT: none
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 (97.42/98.00)
[<em>]Rank: not released
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5 AP Chem, 5 AP Euro, 5 AP US, 5 AP Calc BC (5 AB subscore), 5 AP Bio, 5 AP Macroecon, 5 AP Microecon, 5 AP English Language; this year, AP's Stat, Studio Art, Psych, English Lit, Spanish, Physics C
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: pretty good, I feel; my strongest one was about my love-hate relationship with violin
[</em>]Teacher Recs: good and great
[<em>]Counselor Rec: great; my counselor says I'm the best student he's had in his 20-odd year career
[</em>]Supplementary Material: violin recording; I thought this was pretty strong
[<em>]Hook (recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): nothing really
[/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: upstate NY
[<em>]High School Type: public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: math league captain, philharmonic youth orchestra (violin), wind ensemble (flute), art club, yearbook editor, National Honor Society
[</em>]Awards: honor roll, Scholastic Arts Awards (2 silver keys, 2 honorable), American Chem Society award, Sokol High School Literary Awards (poetry, $100 prize), Spanish National Honor Society, National Spanish Exam Medalla de Oro, Math League All-County Awards, Wellesley Book Award, National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, National AP Scholar
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I think the weakest part of my application was the interview, which for me was to be expected. Maybe I also portrayed myself as spread too thin...?[/ul]</p>
<p>DEFERRED</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT: 2310 - 780(M), 770 (R), 760 (W)
* SAT II: Math -760, Physics - 730, French -800, US history - 750
* ACT: Did not take
* GPA: 4.00 UW (school does not weight)
* Rank: 1 out of 425 (one among 10 students having perfect A's in all HS courses)
* Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 7 APs, 4 taken until now (a score of 5 in each of them), taking three this year (including Calculus BC).
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective</p>
<pre><code>* Essays: Very good.
* Teacher Recs: 1 outstanding, 1 great.
* Counselor Rec: Should have been very good.
* Supplementary Material: None
* Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Girl Scout Gold Award candidate. Gold Award project shows initiviative, creatitivity and commitment to community.
</code></pre>
<p>Personal</p>
<pre><code>* Location: Seattle, WA
* High School Type: Inner-city public
* Ethnicity: Asian Indian
* Gender: Female
* Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
</code></pre>
<p>Other</p>
<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: Girl Scouts, Dance, French Club, Girl Scouts
* Awards: AP Scholar, Northeastern Univ. Book award, nothing outstanding.
* Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Another example of female + near-perfect scores + excellent EC doesn't necessarily mean EA Accept.
</code></pre>
<p>Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT: 2310 (800M, 770CR, 740W)
* SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chemistry, 770 Physics
* ACT: 35
* GPA: 4.0 UW/4.7894W
* Rank:1/252
* Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): APs: Chemistry - 5, Physics B - 5, Physics C: Mech - 5, Calculus AB - 5, Psychology - 5, World History - 4, U.S. History - 4, English Language - 4, Computer Science AB - 3, taking at least 5 more this year; AMC 12: 109.5, AIME: 5
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective</p>
<pre><code>* Essays: Ok to good, threw in an extra essay about a piece i arranged for electric violin/guitar (mailed the music along with app)
* Teacher Recs: Solid
* Counselor Rec: Probably really good
* Supplementary Material: none
* Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
</code></pre>
<p>Personal</p>
<pre><code>* Location: Charleston, WV
* High School Type: Public
* Ethnicity: Chinese
* Gender: Male
* Applied for Financial Aid: Y
</code></pre>
<p>Other</p>
<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: MathCounts coach, Science Bowl Captain, Quiz Bowl Captain, Student Council Rep., Youth Symphony 1st Violin, Church Basketball Team starter, Beta Club, Videogame Club President/Founder
* Awards: National AP Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist, National Chemistry Olympiad, ARML, State Math Field Day 1st Place, West Point Bridge Design National Semifinalist, SCORES Competition Winner
* Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: No real hook made me a typical Asian male candidate. Nothing I could do... Four more months.
</code></pre>
<p>[ size=+1][ color=blue][ b]Deferred[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[<em>]SAT: 2230 (780M, 700CR, 750W)
[</em>]SAT II: 790 Math II, 690 Bio M, 680 US History
[ <em>]ACT:31(did not report)
[</em>]GPA: 3.97 UW, 5.22W
[ <em>]Rank: Top 1% of 5500+ Lee County Sniors
[ ]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5Calc Ab, 4Calc bc, 4English Lang, 4Macroecon, 3Microecon, 3Us/Euro History, 4IB Econ
[ /list]
[ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: ?
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Did not read them but the teachers think im the best thing since Adderall
[ <em>]Counselor Rec:Idk hes a dumb</em>* but it should have been great
[ *]Supplementary Material: Letter from employer at Engineering Firm
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Recruited Athlete[ /list]
[ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location:Fort Myers, Florida
[ *]High School Type: Large Public (2000-2500 students)
[ *]Ethnicity: White (Crap! I yell at my dad for not marrying an eskimo)
[ *]Gender: Male
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: Y[ /list]
[ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: Math Team Captain, Mu Alpha Theta, Youth in Government State Officer, Varsity Baseball Captain, Boy Scouts, Order of the Arrow, NHS, Duke Tip 3 yrs
[ *]Awards: Eagle Scout (age 13), Vigil Honor OA, USC RHP, numerous math Team Awards
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]</p>