<p>As we start a new admissions season around these parts, I was thinking of doing some housekeeping of the sticky threads, and I'd like some input. Please feel free to weigh in even if you don't typically post on this board -- if you're reading, I'd like to know what you think.</p>
<p>FAQ thread
I have an FAQ thread stickied at the top of the forum, and MITChris has been answering questions about the application in his own thread. Should I sticky Chris' thread and unsticky mine? Should I merge the two? Is there anything gained by having two threads for questions about the application?</p>
<p>Interview thread
In the past, we have had a single interview thread for questions and discussion about the interview, making it easier for our resident ECs (especially Mikalye) to keep an eye on questions about the interview. This year, we have an interview advice thread started by Jimmy797, but it's not generating much discussion. What sort of format would you prefer for discussion about the interview?</p>
<p>Results thread
Do you find it useful to have last year's results thread stickied at the top of the forum?</p>
<p>Other
Are there threads on other topics that you'd like to see stickied or featured?</p>
<p>I will come back in a bit for some more helpful advice, but for now:</p>
<p>FAQ - I think the two threads should be merged</p>
<p>Interview Thread - Maybe the discussion could be separate from the advice, as I don’t think people notice the discussion as much on the help thread itself.</p>
<p>Results Thread - Yes, it is very helpful at the top</p>
<p>Other - I will look around and see :D</p>
<p>Thanks for being so on top of things mollie :D</p>
<p>^This too, then – if anybody has suggestions for threads to feature, link them. I would strongly prefer to keep no more than three stickies, but an unlimited number of threads can be added to the features.</p>
<p>(I actually just discovered that I could un-feature threads. I didn’t know how to do that previously.)</p>
<p>Reminder: No one, not even me, can give you an accurate chance at MIT!
How Should You Report Your Race/Ethnicity? (another MITChris post)
Interview Discussion</p>
<p>Stickied:
Interview Guide
MIT FAQ (yours and MITChris’s combined)
Results Thread</p>
<p>The MITChris’ FAQ generates more responses, generally I think people will place greater weigh on threads started on admin officers, and also it specifically says “I will answer your questions”. So I think that should be stickied instead.</p>
<p>The reason the Interview thread isn’t generating discussion is precisely because it’s stickied! I know it’s paradoxical, but people generally perceive sticked stuff as “dead” and would rather participate in “live” discussions. For example, I almost never glance at the sticky threads out of habit, although I know they’re extremely useful! Think of the stickied thread as a “disclaimer”, it’s always there so I never read it… maybe I’m just weird? Same thing with the “Featured Discussion”. I never even realized they’re there until now!
Another reason is the the subject name “Interview Guide” doesn’t really generate discussion, as people perceive it as a guide to read and digest, not to ask questions and contribute to it. Instead, perhaps another thread with a more “question provocative” name would elicit more response, such as “Interview Help for 2010-2011 application”. The interview guide can be moved to the “Featured” section and be referred from inside the new Interview thread. The few response that we do have in the Interview Guide thread can be moved to the new thread (if that’s possible?)</p>
<p>The results thread isn’t really helpful. If anything, it’ll make people focus on their stats even more and engender more “chance” threads/posts.</p>
<p>So basically I suggest only two threads to be stickied, MITChris’ “FAQ” thread, and a new Interview thread, and you should start that.</p>
<p>Hmmm…what about making a thread about the essays? Essays are a hot topic for (almost) every applicant. The more info about it the better…i think.</p>