Official MIT Class of 2012 Regular Action Decisions Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
181

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>** Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2150 (M 730 CR 680 W 740)
[</em>] SAT II: Math 770, Bio 710, Chem 700
[<em>] ACT:
[</em>] GPA: 4.0/4.0 unweighted
[<em>] Rank: 1/210
[</em>] Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): IB MATH SL 6
[/ul] **Subjective[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Main one was excellent, supplementary pretty good, short ones good as well
[</em>] Teacher Recs: pretty good
[<em>] Counselor Rec: pretty good
[</em>] Supplementary Material: dance supplemental
[<em>] Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>] Location: California
[<em>] High School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian Indian
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid: Y[/ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: FIRST, Mock Trial, Science fairs, music, dance<br>
[</em>] Awards: nm commendation, science fair awards, dept. awards<br>
[*] Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I got into FREAKING MIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT INTO FREAKING MIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT INTO FREAKING MIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/list]</p>

182

<p>I'll see you in Atlanta then, mathwiz =)</p>

183

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 800 Math, 770 CR, 780 Writing
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics, 790 Chem
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: 4.0
[<em>]Rank: 1/126
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):
AMC - 104.5, 100.5, qualified for AIME last two years (4 last year)
AP Bio - 5
AP Chem - 5
AP Physics C (both) - 5
AP Calc BC - 5
AP Stat - 5
AP CS A - 5
AP CS AB - 4
AP Euro - 5
AP US - 5
AP English - 4
AP Env. Sci. - 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Good, I thought...perhaps talking about choking at the geography bee was not suitable?
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Humanities one was apparently epic, science one was great, just not as good as the humanities one
[<em>]Counselor Rec: no clue, we have a small class but I dont have confidence in my GC's intelligence....
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Sent in a DVD of me on a TV academic challenge as well as a scientific abstract...spanish teacher sent in a character rec detailing how I help out teaching middle schoolers.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): [/ul] None, other than I might have been the strongest chem student in next year's class >_>
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: NY
[<em>]High School Type: public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Not listed
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: XC, Track (400m), basketball (wrote about it in a short essay), Science Research, Math Team, Academic team, some tutoring
[</em>]Awards: AIME, NYSML, USNCO, USABO, ISEF (qualified this year on the day of decisions), National Merit, AP National Scholar, Presidential Scholar Nominee,
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Not much to brag about after a head-scratcher. All I wanted was a waitlist, but it looks like my chances at playing D3 basketball were just cut in half....</p>[/li]
<p>It's been real. I can't badmouth a school that I could see myself in, and if I decide to go to grad school...I'll keep my options open.</p>

184

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 780M, 790CR, 760W
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 German +Lstn., 790 Chem
[<em>]ACT:none
[</em>]GPA:4.164
[<em>]Rank:top 10
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):AP: Chem-5, USH-5... AMC 100.5, AIME-4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays:didn't do any of the optional essays, but the ones I wrote were solid
[</em>]Teacher Recs: perhaps not particularly well written (well, one of them), but spoke highly of me
[<em>]Counselor Rec: very good, know her very well
[</em>]Supplementary Material: nothing....
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): weakly recruited athlete [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: MA
[<em>]High School Type: decent public (US News Silver medal)
[</em>]Ethnicity: white
[<em>]Gender male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: swimming, peer counseling, sci team
[</em>]Awards: sci team state champ 2007 chem lab, a lot of leadership awards for swimming, etc.
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Definitely show some interest if you want to get in (do optional essays/interview). I can't say I didn't see it coming, nor can I say i particularly care. Que sera, sera.[/ul]</p>

185

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: Math- 800, Reading- 660, Writing- 740= 2200
SAT II: Math 2c- 800, Chemistry- 760
ACT: n/a
GPA: 4.3 W, 3.9 UW
Rank: Top 10% (unweighted rank)
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5(5) Calc BC, 4 Chemistry, 4 APUSH, 4 English Language. And Sigh, 88.5 AMC 12</p>

<p>Subjective
Essays: I slaved over them for weeks, and my friend who is pretty much a literary genius loved them.
Teacher Recs: Excellent
Counselor Rec: Pretty good
Supplementary Material: Research paper on nanowire photoluminescence; Two supplementary short-essays revealing more of my character; Very specific recommendation from my graduate student research mentor
Interview: GREAT, he said that he gave me "top marks" and even wrote an "extended" interview report
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None
Location: Northern California
High School Type: Mildly competitive public
Ethnicity: Persian
Gender: M</p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: Math team+middle school team coach, SHARP research program at UC Berkeley, Internship in Cadence Design Systems, Speech and Debate, Tae Kwon do, volunteering.
Awards: -2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th places at various Tae Kwon Do tournaments
-3rd Place in the annual CSU Fresno Leapfrog Math contest
-5th place in the annual national Persian Olympiad Farsi language exam
-NFL Degree of Excellence (Speech and Debate)
-AP Scholar with Honor
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: At first when I saw the decision, I was only slightly disappointed, but now the feeling has finally started to seep in. After getting waitlisted by Caltech, I thought I might have had a better chance because of my shining interview report. Guess I'm just not quite good enough to be given a spot. Good job and good luck to the new class of 2012!</p>

186

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<pre><code>* SAT: 2400
* SAT II: 800 Chem 750 Math 2 740 Physics

* ACT:34
* GPA:4.0 UW
* Rank:1
* Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):AP: Chem-5, USH-4, Calc AB 5, Stats 5
</code></pre>

<p>Subjective</p>

<pre><code>* Essays:pretty good
* Teacher Recs: good
* Counselor Rec: very good
* Supplementary Material: nothing
* Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None
</code></pre>

<p>Personal</p>

<pre><code>* Location: MI
* High School Type: po-dunk public
* Ethnicity: white
* Gender male
* Applied for Financial Aid: Y
</code></pre>

<p>Other</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: Cross-Country (captain), Track, Quiz Bowl (captain, #1 team in region), FIRST Robotics (captain), NHS (VP)
* Awards: Presidential Scholar Candidate, 3-years running Flint Metro League Math/Science Competition champion, other localish things
* Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I feel kinda crappy about this, because there honestly was NOTHING else I could have done at my school. I did perfect on everything I could, took almost 60 credits worth of college classes, and became captain or other leadership position of every EC I'm involved in (im captain of track now). I just don't see how it is possible for someone attending my school to get in. Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck getting into Harvard and Princeton!
</code></pre>

187

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2210 (800 Math, 700 Critical Reading, 710 Writing)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Chemistry, 770 US History
[<em>]ACT: 36 (36 Math, 36 Science, 35 Reading, 35 English)
[</em>]GPA: 4.36 Weighted, 3.92 Unweighted
[<em>]Rank: N/A (School doesn't rank)
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC10: 126.5, 131. AMC12: 103.5. AIME: 2, 5, 3.
5 - AP Calc AB, AP Chemistry, AP US History. 4 - AP Euro.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Not great, but decent.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: No idea how they turned out, but my teachers really like me, so I'm sure they were great.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Excellent. She always brags about me.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None.
[<em>]Interview: Lasted about 2 hours, and he told me a lot about MIT.
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): URM[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Bay Area, CA
[</em>]High School Type: Suburban public, sends about 5 to Ivies, 3 to Stanford every year. Hasn't sent anyone to MIT in past 4 years.
[<em>]Ethnicity: African-American
[</em>]Gender: Male [/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Academic Decathlon, Youth and Government, Model UN.
[</em>]Awards: National Achievement Scholar, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Honor, Presidential Scholar candidate.
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] When I look at those who did and did not receive acceptances, I realize how much admissions doesn't depend on mere stats anymore. I am sure those who were not accepted will have a great undergraduate experience wherever they end up going.</p>[/li]
<p>To the others who were accepted, see you at CPY!</p>

188

<p>Did any internationals get in?</p>

189

<p>My tutor received a perfect score in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and was rejected.</p>

<p>Sometimes, we wonder why these things happen. But know that if you are an outstanding applicant, statistics guarantees you a spot at a perfect university you'll come to love.</p>

190

<p>nobody got in from my city, i only heard 3 ppl from my country got in</p>

191

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2360 - 800 M, 770 CR, 790 W
[</em>]SAT II: Math IIC - 800, Bio E - 800, Physics 800, World History 790, Chemistry 770
[<em>]ACT: n/a
[</em>]GPA: 3.75 uw
[<em>]Rank: 14 / 384
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): all 5s on four AP exams. taking five more exams this year.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: definitely good
[</em>]Teacher Recs: haven't read, but probably good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: probably generic
[</em>]Supplementary Material: n/a
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): sent in a college transcript with five college-level math courses, if that counts.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: NY
[<em>]High School Type: good public
[</em>]Ethnicity: white, Russian
[<em>]Gender: M
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: lots of stuff, most importantly, Science Olympiad
[</em>]Awards: n/a
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>I'm a bit disappointed that I got rejected from both Caltech and MIT... hopefully other schools will like me more!!</p>

192

<p>One thing that's worth thinking about (re: the discussion on pages 11/12) is what scientists call grantsmanship.</p>

<p>I'm applying for a very competitive fellowship right now, and my thesis advisor and the postdocs in my lab keep telling me that I need to tighten my research proposal, put the ideas up front, and hammer away with the idea that my research is critical, that I'll have the resources to do the experiments I'm proposing, and that they'll be funding great, publishable-in-top-journals science with their investment.</p>

<p>Grantsmanship is critical for my application, because each study section is reviewing hundreds of applications in a very short period of time, so I only have a limited amount of their attention to make a case for funding. Applications that make good use of grantsmanship tend to be funded, while even great applications that don't make a good case for themselves don't tend to be. </p>

<p>That doesn't mean that the science in a good grantsmanship proposal is necessarily better or worse than a poor grantsmanship proposal. However, you can't rely on your past achievements or the beauty of your research plan to sell itself -- you have to, as my advisor says, tell the reviewers what you're telling them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them. </p>

<p>It is very similar in college applications. For schools like MIT, you can't rely on your achievements alone to catch a reader's eye. You have to catch the reader's eye yourself.</p>

193

<p>^^ "admitting so many students without clear evidence of really strong intellect and effective work habits"</p>

<p>Just because some people who DO have strong intellect and effective work habits get rejected doesn't mean that people who get accepted DON'T have these qualities. I am very sorry for your daughter's rejection, but I don't think that the people who get accepted are not as smart or do not work as hard as the people who get rejected. In fact, people who have amazing stats might come off as arrogant in their applications, if they feel that their stats will get them in, so essays/etc. do not count as much. I'm not saying that this was the case with your daughter, whom I do not even know, but I'm just putting it out there as a possible reason why so many amazing applicants get rejected.</p>

<p>Also, yeah, that was MIT - but she is no longer head of admissions.</p>

194

<p> Waitlisted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2380 (800 CR 800 W 780 M)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 bio, 790 chem, 750 physics (ouch!)
[<em>]ACT: N/A
[</em>]GPA: 113 or something, I don't even know.
[<em>]Rank: 1/786 at time of application, 2 now.
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Seven 5's on APs (bio chem apush english stat psych calc ab), 96.5 on AMC (AIME cutoff was 97), semifinal on bio olympiad but that was this year and they didn't know about it.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I just went back over them...my short responses are the best I've got, they're personal and informative and well-written. My long essay isn't as good but still well-written...I definitely don't think they're what kept me from being accepted.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: They're from pretty much my two favorite people ever (physics teacher and 11th grade english teacher). The one I had a chance to read was absolutely hysterical =) The other one said it's one of the best he's ever written and I trust him completely on that count...I KNOW these aren't what kept me out.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: That lady's a skank. It probably didn't hurt me, I just don't know her, she can't use spellcheck, she lied about how long she's known me, and I got her in trouble with the administration once for not doing her job.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: I listed more clubs I'm really involved in (left off NHS, for example) and my "create a thing" essay was about this time I wrote out a curriculum for an imaginary school...it was cool, but done last-minute.
[<em>]Interview: Went really, really well...I'm actually seeing the woman who interviewed me again for a river clean-up next week, which is cool because she was pretty cool.
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Published in a historical journal? Female? State competitor? Worked 25 hrs/week? Financially irresponsible parents? Whatever it was, it didn't work.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: San Antonio, TX
[</em>]High School Type: Huge (4000?) and crappy. All the talent comes from maybe 15 kids and this is the first year we've (those kids) had the power to start programs (olympiads, etc).
[<em>]Ethnicity: White
[</em>]Gender: Chick
[<em>]Applied for Financial Aid: At $50,000 a year? Hell yes.
[</em>]Extracurriculars: UIL Science (state level, team won state once, 4th in state, helped build the program, whatever), UIL current events (again, state), Model UN (sec. general, awards, taught newbies), JETS TEAMS (11th nationally large school), Government Club (senator, founding member, do school newspaper articles and video announcements and stuff), environmental club (local cleanups, awareness), worked a hell of a lot, French Club, French Honor Society, UIL math stuff, lots of tutoring, and I run (just not for school, talked about it in my short essay).
[<em>]Awards: AP Scholar w/ distinction, national merit, published, chem olympiad qualifier (didn't take test because they limit it to two per school), highest AMC in school.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I'm kind of annoyed that I can't make affirmative action jokes anymore, and I think that the waitlist is an easy out on behalf of the admissions office. I'm taking it as a rejection but I'm not too bitter...liklies at Columbia and Rice, and hell, at least my boyfriend got waitlisted, too. I can't figure out why I didn't get in (not enough math?) but I'm still happy with what I've accomplished over the past two years and a rejection from my first choice isn't about to change that. Congratulations to all of you who got accepted, and I mean that =)</p>

195

<p>im a little bitter. just read through this thread. i, myself, was rejected from mit. seeing SO many 2400s, excellent grades/ecs/awards getting fully rejected and seeing URM's with NOT as GREAT (not saying they aren't great) getting in....wrong. lost respect for MIT admission process.</p>

196

<p>isnt it possible that they liked their Essay's/Recs/EC's more?</p>

197

<p>Sometimes I think scoring in the 2200s/700s ( as in not near-perfect but still good) would have been more beneficial, at least for applying to MIT. I was well aware of the "scores dont matter too much" mantra, so I conveyed my personality in every place possible. Guess I just wasn't interesting enough.</p>

198

<p>Rejected
International</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]Toefl iBT: 116/120; R:30/30 W:30/30 L:30/30 S:26/30
[</em>]SAT II: Mathematics l.II: 750 Chemistry: 750
[<em>]GPA: ~3.6 u.w.
[</em>]Rank: top 10%
[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): IB Full Diploma Candidate. HL Chemistry, Spanish A1, Biology(in German). SL Mathematics, German A2, History(in German). Taking two other High School diploma programmes alongside, with extra subjects for both of them.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: Amazing!
[<em>]Teacher Recs: Average (very good actually, but probably average for MIT applicants)
[</em>]Counselor Rec: Nothing Spectacular
[<em>]Supplementary Material: Mathematics research paper on Galois Fields and Cryptography, very good and quite comprehensive actually.
[</em>]Interview: Amazing, talked for two hours and got into deeper subjects (you know the drill)
[li]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None. [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: San Salvador, El Salvador
[</em>]High School Type: Private, Urban School (German School) Quite elitist.
[<em>]Ethnicity: Latin American
[</em>]Gender: Male</p>

<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Linux User Group, Programming, Basketball Varisty team, Community Service (Built ~7 houses for the poor), Managed the Solar Plant in my School, Redesigned the Library's Database.
[</em>]Awards: Cambridge First Certificate in English: A(?), Deutsches Sprachdiplom I(?)
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Hmm, I am still full of bitterness, but here are some pieces of advice: Concentrate on your GPA (do not change to a bad school which can make you get a 4.0, even if it'll probably help you, you will lose the learning opportunity), forget about MIT for a while until you get your decision! It's not worth it "falling in love" before, it makes a rejection quite painful. Some internationals help their teachers fill out the forms, however, it is better if you just let them fill those and give them a paid envelope so they send them, that way they will feel free to write great things about you without inflating your ego. </p>[/li]
<p>And remember, they have quotas on "internationals", which is undertsandable, but dissapointing nevertheless, so chances are, you will not be accepted unless you <em>really stand out</em>. Trust me, apply to other schools, and think outside the U.S.</p>

<p>[/ul]</p>

199

<p>When do they send out the financial aid letter?</p>

200

<p>I just want to say that, skimming through this thread, I hardly see a difference between some of the rejected and the accepted; everyone's application looks absolutely OUTSTANDING, and I really don't envy the admissions staff for having to choose between so many great applicants. So if you were rejected, you really have no reason to feel bad about yourself... I'm sure over the next two weeks or so you're going to get into some marvelous colleges.</p>