Does anyone in here have a link to some real facts on MIT admissions stats ( other than college data.com)?
Maybe some site that lays it all out in one simple to read form. Or a PDF or other document.
I was having a discussion with someone yesterday about the difficulty of entrance. We know 3 guys that went to MIT
in the 80’s. The person I was discussing this with is an engineer, and he thinks it’s not as hard to get in as everyone makes it out to be, so I’d like him to have some hard facts/data. This person deals with a lot of engineers all day long, and just assumes if you get good grades and get some decent scores on tests, you have a chance.
@RightCoaster --I’d love to see it. I legit know someone whose plan is to have the wife quit her job (husband is an engineer, wife is a physical therapist) in order to lower their income to around $110K and therefore make MIT affordable.
I just can’t…even… (as the kids say). I mean, it’s a total crapshoot to just get IN to MIT.
MIT uses holistic admissions, so it’s common to reject someone with a 36 ACT, but accept someone with a 33 ACT. A lot of factors used in admissions, don’t show up in the statistics.
yeah, I have the CDS data, but was looking for something more spiffy, a neat graph or something.
I was hanging out with him the other day ( he has a kid my son’s age) and he suggested my younger son apply there because he’d be a good candidate. Ha. Yeah. OK. He’s a decent student, but I’d estimate his chances at less then .005 %. This guy hires and interviews engineering candidates/interns. from local Boston area schools. I was trying to tell him that our kids have a chance to get into WPI if they keep their studies up and do decently on SAT/ACT. I tried to tell him how hard it is to get into MIT now and I just don’t think he quite understood how competitive it is now, not just for MIT, but many of the quality engineering programs.
@RightCoaster I got admitted to MIT in the 80s, and there’s zero chance I’d be admitted today with the (lack of) stats, ECs, and course rigor I had. MIT has a lot of admissions stats on their website: http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats
@RightCoaster --I’ve found, in general, that parents with kids younger than say, current sophomores are mostly stil hiding out in lala land (not the movie, lol!). They don’t want to believe they will have to pay THAT MUCH??? and they think their little johnny who makes straight As in pre-AP Algebra 1 Is a rock star headed for MIT.
@RightCoaster You could suggest that he volunteer to do alumni interviews for MIT. I’ve heard some of our local interviewers complain about how rare it is for the great kids they interview to be admitted.
@carachel2 That’s a bit nuts:) I’m pretty sure MIT’s need based aid is on a sliding scale, and $110K isn’t a magic number. Hopefully he’s running the NPC, and not using the “average net price by income ranges” you’ll find in College navigator.
@Gator88NE --oh I’ve told them. They listen with their ears but not with their hearts. Their kid IS smart, but I think he is average smart i.e. did not blow the PSAT away this year as a sophomore, etc. Active in band, but no other major ECS. Great kid. Will do well–but from what I see here on CC he is just not in that line for MIT.
And also they have a family member whose daughter is at MIT on a “sports scholarship” and after trying to tell them twice that wasn’t possible I just had to stop. They won’t listen.
With financial aid now based on previous previous year (is that CSS or just FAFSA?), they’d have to cut their income a couple years in advance of applying. Crazy!
@Ynotgo --yes, that looks correct. And she would need to STAY stopped for a number of years, correct?
They have two other kids and honestly the dad works in an industry here that is awesome while it lasts but is highly exposed to routine layoffs. It would be so foolish of them to have the wife quit her nice stable job.
@Ynotgo , he’s not an MIT graduate, ha. He just doesn’t understand the landscape today. Congrats on your acceptance in the 80’s. BTW, 2 of the 3 friends I know from MIT, did really really well in their careers, and the other one has had a nice career but did not cash in like the other 2.
My younger son is actually a pretty student and is involved in robotics, math team, varsity and club sport, good grades etc. but I wouldn’t consider him a " genius kid". He works hard, but I don’t think he’s got it in him to score super high on the SAT/ACT.
Compared to some kids at his school, he might have a better chance at acceptance, but compared to others a much worse chance. So, no, he’s not going to apply, unless he totally aces the tests and just throws in an application with the full expectation that it’s a total lottery app.
It is interesting to discuss applying to top schools with others. I am more of a realist and insist the chances are slim or none, while others I know say I’m a stick in the mud and that you don’t achieve greatness if you don’t try and that it doesn’t hurt to send in an app. They say, " you never know." I don’t really like that.
I’m not even going to lie. The idea of taking a lower paying job crossed my mind when D was in middle school. I quickly mixed that idea and decided it was better to get a higher paying job and pursue merit opportunities. I’m not surprised that others think to do it for financial aid purposes. The problem is, it’s hard to predict admissions to the schools where that strategy would make sense.
@carachel2 Yes, stay out of the workforce for a number of years. It’s pretty obvious how doing that would affect the business contacts one needs to maintain to have a career. So, a whole new Mommy Track for her. Does she buy into this, or just the dad?
I don’t understand why any college would think that community service is any different than adding on another AP. It students think immunity service is what it is going to take, why couldn’t they approach community service with just as much self-centered calculation as any other endeavor.
It seems to me that what the universities are saying it that they really want is character. Not a filled box of things checked off as done, but a real person with depth and values that are not quantified by checking off a box. Sorry…no formula is going to find it simply, Those are values are not identified by community involvement if community involvement is identified as the “in.” Grooming takes whatever form leads to winning the prize.
Ironically, any path they identify will lead to many kids pursuing it rather than embracing their “individuality, their health, their happiness, their ethical principles and behavior…” simply bc admissions is their ultimate focus.
@Ynotgo -well, physical therapy and healthcare in general is a pretty easy on/off ramp for working. With the exception of maybe needing to update themselves on an electronic medical record, I think most find it easy to come and go into the workplace.
@itsgettingreal17 --I suspect a kids family from our school did that. This student made the news when they were accepted to all the Ivy schools plus some additional. The news article highlighted the family. The dad works in IT and the mom “previously worked in software development” or something similar. I was like…hmmmmm…well played, well played!!!
Of course, I don’t know them. They could’ve had health problems, needed to stay home for a sibling…I have no idea. I’m totally speculating.
I love these stories about possible strategies to get financial aid. After my older son was accepted to Lehigh, I figured out that the only way I could manipulate the EFC on Lehigh’s net price calculator to an affordable cost was to adopt all of my kids’ cousins and make them all go to college at the same time. Strangely, my older son did not think this was a good idea as his cousins are currently in elementary school. So he’s now at our in-state flagship UMD.
hey @RightCoaster Totally agree that people do not realize just how hard it is.
DC had great scores and EC’s etc but imo still has .005 % chance and HYPSM… its sad but competition is so intense now. Last year we had a very qualified kid not make it into MIT after that nothing would surprise me. This kid ended up at Brown and is very happy, so that’s the silver lining.
Luckily DC is very grounded and hopefully can take any refusals coming our way, mostly RD except the one coming out tomorrow I think
I agree NHS at our school seems to be a kind of joke, DC refused to be a office holder as most the kids are just doing it to add to their resume, Luckily our school does not have community hour requirement so DC can do community service for meaningful ( to DC) causes.
Regarding costs lot of people do not realize that most of the top schools do not give merit aid - do not know any merit aid at MIT just financial. Most of the top schools that is the case I think.