Official MIT Class of 2012 Regular Action Decisions Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
201

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Low test scores?!!!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 1990 (710 M, 640 W, 640 R)
[</em>]SAT II: 770 Math 2, 600 Physics
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: 4 UW, 5.59 W
[<em>]Rank: 3/385
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP - 4s on Eng 3, US Hist, and Chem; 2 on US Gov; 7 AP tests to be taken this year
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Pretty good
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Fantastic
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Fantastic
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Interview: Fairly decent
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): I applied for the Cross Country Team
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Austin, Tx
[</em>]High School Type: public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Mexican
[</em>]Gender: M
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars:
Amateur Filmmaker
Band (marching and concert)
Community Service
German Club
Herd of Nerds (school pride)
Physics Club
Science Olympiad
Speech and Debate
Student Council
UIL Academics
Cross Country
Latin Dance Troupe
Track and Field
AP Ambassador (Director of Foreign Languages)
Class Secretary
Student Leadership Team
[</em>]Awards:
Several school awards
NMS Commended
National Hispanic Scholar Finalist
AP Scholar
Several band honors (made all region band 2 yrs, a region and a district solo)
Several awards from German competitions
Several Science Olympiad awards
Film placed 5th in nationwide contest
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>My test scores make me look like an idiot compared to the rest of you! Good thing I'm Mexican! Since I was very young, lowered academic expectations was the only benefit of being Mexican that I could ever see, no joke.
I'M CRAZY EXCITED!! I can't wait to get my nerd on!!</p>

202

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

[/quote]
possible, but not probable</p>

203

<p>^^ your test scores add up to 2020 not 1990
740+640+640=2020</p>

204

<p>oops! i made a 710 in math. sorry.</p>

205

<p>somebody count the % of girls vs. guys</p>

206

<p>MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research</p>

<p>These are last year's statistics. Yes, MIT does admit a higher percentage of female applicants.</p>

207

<p>They have enough applicants with excellent academic stats to choose from. The essays and ECs will make the difference. In any case, it is their prerogative to pick as they wish to suit their needs.</p>

<p>For better or worse, this article is a must read:</p>

<p>Newsweek.com:</a> Society: Inside The Admissions Game</p>

208

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

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Over and over and over? Yes, I think that there are probably many applicants who follow that rule. But nearly every accepted URM with averge stats and few extracurriculars writes well enough and gets good enough recs to get in, and every 2400 with amazing awards who has displayed enough, character, passion on personality on these forums is unable to convey the same through an admissions application?
Needless to say, I doubt it. I think there are people who are rejected who shouldn't have been, and I think there are people who got in who shouldn't have. My friend and I who got waitlisted this year have done, easily, twice as much for our school and community (not to mention academically) than the two hispanic girls who have gotten in over the past four years.</p>

<p>It's hard to call it bitterness when the differences are so stark. I'm DEFINITELY not saying every URM who gets in doesn't deserve it - there are some AMAZING applications I've seen, on here and in person - but you've gotta admit, when a 2x USAMO + 1x other USA_Os gets outright rejected, it's pretty ridiculous.</p>

209

<p>"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"</p>

<p>You could also say that people who expect to get in with lower stats and grades than the bulk of applicants come off arrogant, because they think their wonderful personality should trump their performance. </p>

<p>I also don't like the granstmanship analogy mollie made. It's true that it's a good idea to find out as much about any application process as you can, whether it be grant or college application. The problem is that people only have one shot at this, so what they are looking for should actually make sense. And people will disagree on this, but what they are looking for in terms of personality doesn't seem logical to me. In most job applications, highlighting your mistakes and how it didn't bother you that you made them would not be an asset.</p>

<p>In any case, don't worry too much about it if you are rejected. For scientists and engineers, your own skill level is paramount.</p>

210

<p>I don't think there's any difference between an undergraduate application and my grant application (other than that my application places basically zero emphasis on my grades and standardized test scores). And I don't think that considering grantsmanship implies that students should emphasize various aspects of their personality -- even if you're talking about strictly academic aspects of the application, it's exceedingly useful to tie everything together into a coherent whole. Again, each applicant doesn't get that much of the admissions committee's attention, so students who present a clear, strong case for themselves are at a considerable advantage. </p>

<p>The truth is that most applicants coming straight from high school don't have any truly outstanding academic achievements to highlight, and in that sense, the job of the admissions office is a lot more difficult than the job of an NIH study section. MIT has to separate the effects of background from future potential.</p>

211

<p>"But nearly every accepted URM with averge stats and few extracurriculars writes well enough and gets good enough recs to get in, and every 2400 with amazing awards who has displayed enough, character, passion on personality on these forums is unable to convey the same through an admissions application?"</p>

<p>Wow, I hear alot of people that got rejected that sound very full of themselves.</p>

<p>I want to point something out here, 12 hours into decisions the "highly-qualified" rejected applicants decided that their rejection couldn't possibly be based upon their "qualifications" but it must be because of AA quotas. Honestly, the best lesson I learned in life was when not to pass the buck. Anyone who blames others for setbacks in their lives needs to stop focusing so much on ECs and start looking at their own personality, even in cases where AA is involved.</p>

<p>I find it ironic that the poster I quoted placed the line "character, passion ... [and] personality" in reference to the rejected 2400's. What I am seeing is a lack of character and a sense of superiority shine through in alot of these posts regarding URM. The best way to convince everyone else that you deserved admission is to diminish the achievements of others?</p>

<p>Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the "highly qualified" rejects look bad on paper from what they've given us but I have not read any essays or letters of recommendation from an admit, reject, or waitlist. Is it possible that these URMs might have so much more humility and consideration towards others (enough not to insult people about their accomplishments) that it shone through in the rest of their application?</p>

212

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: Math 780 CR 650 WR 670 (2100... I was soo mad when I got my score... since I spent the whole day before to pick up messes after my robotics officers, and since scores are pretty much same as the previous test... no superscoring)
[</em>]SAT II: Math Chem Chinese 800
[<em>]ACT: 33
[</em>]GPA: 3.96 UW , 4.3 ish W
[<em>]Rank: Does unweighted.. so i wasn't in the first decile
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC10 :128.5, AMC12:117, AIME 4 since 9th grade, 5's (Calc BC (10th grade), Chem , Stats)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: It was very simply written since I really can't write well. However, I felt that I told them all that I wanted to tell them.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Lit one probably normal... since I can't write well and don't talk much in the class.
math one from stats teacher, he is 81 years old now... one of those super old professors that knows like everything
extra from robotics coach: knows me well, liked how I am responsible compare to all the guys on my team... hehe and he is a MIT Alum
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Normal? since she writes like 100+ of them and don't actually know us
[</em>]Supplementary Material: OMG I sent them soo much stufff... art portfolio, a essay on what I did to catch up on math when I moved to this year competitive school to show resilience, also this LED sign i made. like those clock things that swings back and forth, I programmed it to who my name, "MIT" logo and the dome.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): female robotics president [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Bay Area
[<em>]High School Type: Very competitive, even though only ranked 70s on country cuz of lack of APs, but students score better on statewide test then like all of the California schools ranked before it.. except like one school
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese (moved here in 6th grade)
[<em>]Gender: XX
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: I said I would, but not going to because I figured out that I am not gonna get any
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Robotics Co-prez, math secretary, JETS, science club and aikido club in 9th and 10th
[</em>]Volunteer/Work: I taught middle school kids about robotics over the summer instead of going to those expensive camps...
[<em>]Awards: x4 AIME quals, JETS team first in the state in our division, Stanford math contest stuff.. nothing big
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:
I found out about it during robotics competition where 50 robots competed in. The just of it is that, most of the girls got in, and I didn't know of any guy who got in. I was quite upset since neither my co prez nor my friend's co-prez got in, and I thought they are totally qualified.
As a girl with low stats who got in, I ask myself, did I really deserve it? Did I take other's spot just cuz I am a girl? I talked with some of my guy friends who didn't get in, they assured me that I've done a lot and I did deserve it and that I should be just happy. It was very nice of them, but I do feel bad for a lot of people who didn't get in and deserved it more than me. I know a lot of you are very mad, and who am I to say anything since i did get in, just so you know that some of us does feel a bit guilty.</p>

<p>When I was accepted to Caltech I thought it was a mistake, or well I just got lucky that they don't care about CR and WR scores.... but now that I am in at MIT too, I guess I have more confidence in what I've done.</p>

<p>For me, a lot of things I do , or apply for, I don't except to get. My parents always convinced me to try, just in case. For as long as I know , I was going to Zhejiang University in China up till when I was 11.</p>

<p>PM me if you want to know about what I wrote for my essays.[/ul]</p>

213

<p>@collegealum314</p>

<p>"In most job applications, highlighting your mistakes and how it didn't bother you that you made them would not be an asset."</p>

<p>But highlighting a past mistake and how you corrected/overcame the repercussions and learned from the overall experience would be an asset.</p>

<p>I think the whole point with that is that these people who got rejected who should by all rights been accepted have never failed, look how some of them are handling it, failure builds alot more character than regular success.</p>

<p>And I still haven't seen someone with straight 500's on their SATs and a 2.5 gpa get in so it's not like the accepted URMs are slouches, just not as dazzling.</p>

214

<p>@RabbitHole -</p>

<p>I didn't have a 2400, I sure as hell didn't have amazing awards, and I was waitlisted...I was talking mostly about the dude on page 7 or so, and many of the other people who have posted. I'm okay with my waitlist status as far as qualifications go, and I CERTAINLY wasn't expecting an acceptance OR insulting anyone; look at the general tone of the thread before attacking me personally. In fact, I noted the "character, passion, and personality" in ADDITION to the 2400s. Go look through the forums, and the other posts of the people who have been rejected...they know that stats aren't everything and have, in all liklihood, lived their lives with that outlook.</p>

215

<p>@rainynightstarz</p>

<p>You know, there was a day when 2100 on the SAT's and a 3.96 UW GPA was considered excellent.</p>

<p>Guilt is only good for correcting behaviors within yourself that cause problems for others. There is no reason to feel guilty for how the world works or succeeding in what you have attempted.</p>

216

<p>The best advice I have ever received regarding applying to colleges was to "make your application read like a story." I absolutely think mollie's analogy stands. Your application is your only voice inside that committee room, and every word you put down matters.</p>

<p>Who knows why the person whose essays were lauded by their literary genius friend was rejected, or why the person who pwned at all the USN_Os was rejected as well, and not even waitlisted? Looking at their stats, I can't even hold a flame to them. And why did some of the URMs with stats below those who were rejected get accepted? I have no idea. I agree that it doesn't seem fair to punish or reward someone based on the race of their parents.</p>

<p>But regarding those who have laundry lists of accolades and extracurriculars achievements, there must be something contextual that we don't see with these basic stat summaries. Maybe the person who did phenomenal on all the USN<em>O contests went to a school with an excellent science program and which routinely offered those tests to their students. Not all of us went to those schools. No one had heard of any of the USN</em>Os until I got my AP Bio teacher to sign me up for it. My school doesn't offer AP Physics or Languages or the majority of the AP classes, for that matter. Our AP Chem teacher is universally despised and likely hasn't been fired because his family's been with the school for years. I was unaware that we were supposed to do labs in AP Chem until I picked up a prep book, and he tells us that his goal is to teach us enough so we can get 3s and pass.</p>

<p>And my school is relatively good. Maybe those URMs that you complain about have a lot more going on in their lives than you give them credit for, and if you put them in MIT they're going to take off. Would I ever argue that the person who was amazing at everything through high school wouldn't have done amazing at MIT? No. </p>

<p>Admissions is fickle, and applicants are made of more than numbers and essays. I'm just saying that you can't say someone got in "just because they were a URM." Without more information, we can't make a claim like that.</p>

<p>This comment is sort of all over the place, but I hope this makes sense.</p>

217

<p>@silentsailor</p>

<p>Good luck with your spot on the waitlist, I hope you get in (if it's what you want).</p>

<p>I was responding to the general tone of this thread over the last 24 hours. I picked a quote from your post because it was the nearest at hand, I did not mean to single you out. </p>

<p>To sum up, what I have been seeing from these admittedly brilliant applicants, is an encompassing sense of entitlement and the mentality that scores and sci-fairs are everything. Having a 2400 and being a USAMO finalist are really impressive accomplishments (I presume about USAMO, I have never heard of it) but the way people act it's like they feel those accomplishments should guarantee admission to any institution of the applicants choice.</p>

218

<p>@mollieb: I agree with what you say if the academic profile is roughly the same. What constitutes "roughly the same" academic profile is a point where I think we disagree, though. But yeah, I agree that the point is to decide who has more promise in science and engineering.</p>

<p>"And I still haven't seen someone with straight 500's on their SATs and a 2.5 gpa get in so it's not like the accepted URMs are slouches, just not as dazzling."</p>

<p>I wasn't talking about URMs. In many cases, AA has nothing to do with it. Mammal's daughter had a 2400 and 4.0 unweighted GPA plus a nice research project in bio, and she got rejected. </p>

<p>"I think the whole point with that is that these people who got rejected who should by all rights been accepted have never failed, look how some of them are handling it, failure builds alot more character than regular success."</p>

<p>I think this is a lousy argument. Michael Jordan was cut from the varsity, and he was bitter about it for years. Sure it spurred him to practice harder, but it still made him angry. It was still on his mind in the NBA, when he used to check into hotels under the alias of the guy who got the last spot on the varsity team that year. Ironically, he was cut for the same reason many people justify rejecting very smart applicants. The coach said he was cut in spite of being a better player than the guy he was cut for because the guy was too tall for anyone to be able to guard him on the JV.</p>

<p>When the Jackson 5 (Michael Jackson's first singing group for young people; Michael Jackson is a singer for those super-young people) got second place in a singing contest, they threw the trophy in the trash. Yes, neither Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan gave up, but they were hardly ok with people telling them they were second-best. Anyway, let's not rub salt on the wound of people who got in. First of all, not all of them are even complaining, so it is unwarranted to make statements like "well, maybe they need to work on their personalities" or that they were arrogant.</p>

219

<p>everyone here is amazing! good job!</p>

220

<p>To all this discussion over who deserves to get in and who doesn't, I say "whatever".</p>

<p>At the end of the day it's not MIT's mission to make people happy by admitting them. MITs mission is to improve society through science and technology. Sometimes that involves admitting an applicant with remarkable and demonstrated talent in science and technology from the start. Still, other times that involves admitting a weaker, though still very strong, applicant from an underrepresented background who might one day provide inspiration to a future generation or a future community who can identify with that individual. And the truth is, URM or not, while at MIT, the vast majority of matriculated students will rise to the challenges and flourish. </p>

<p>In my mind, the most effective way to influence world change is to strategically place unified leaders in as many pockets of society as possible.</p>

<p>And, whatever MIT's methodology, the proof is in the pudding. I'd say they're doing a pretty damn good job. </p>

<p>I just want people to recognize that this isn't about <em>them</em>. The notion of "fairness" is, frankly, somewhat irrelevant.</p>