<p>I think the OP completely missed my post on the first page.</p>
<p>“When we talk about merit in the admissions process, what we really mean, for the vast majority of applicants, is closer to the idea of qualified or prepared. Based on a bevy of data in your application - your scores, your grades, your teacher recommendations, your courses, your achievements, and so forth - can we conclude that you are prepared to handle the material at MIT.”</p>
<p>I would say meritocratic admissions would reward those who are the BEST rather than those who are SUFFICIENT.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Even though I know you likely won’t pay any attention, I can’t help but respond.</p>
<p>MIT has said [url=<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/many_ways_to_define_the_best]again[/url”>Many Ways To Define “The Best” | MIT Admissions]again[/url</a>] and [url=<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/in-praise-of-holistic-admissions]again[/url”>In Praise Of Holistic Admissions | MIT Admissions]again[/url</a>] that they’re not looking to build a class around numbers. They’re looking for people they believe will succeed at MIT, will take advantage of the resources the institute offers to go above and beyond. Numbers don’t tell you that. Gender and race don’t tell you that. Heck, even if you participate in a lot of ECs, or are top in your school, that doesn’t necessarily tell you that either. They’re admitting people. A resume is not a person. It is a piece of paper. Inherently limited.</p>
<p>Life is not “fair”. Or at least, what you appear to define as “fair” - everything going your way. It never will be. Over 18,000 people applied. You can’t rightfully say that you’re among the “top” of those 18,000. You’re not part of the admissions office, you don’t know what they’re looking for. They try their hardest to make the right decisions. They can’t admit everyone who deserves to go. It’s just that way. And based on your reaction I don’t personally believe you deserved to go in the first place. Sorry, but anyone who pulls the “I’m special this process is biased” card doesn’t deserve something like this. If you’re so sure MIT has no idea what it’s doing, why are you so angry that you didn’t get in? Heck, why did you even apply in the first place?</p>
<p>The people over at the admissions office know, after years and years, what kind of student will succeed at MIT. It’s not necessarily the one with the best numbers. Past a certain point, numbers mean absolutely nothing. Maybe the process isn’t “logical”. With something like this, logic is difficult. There are too many variables. But however you look at it, plugging the application into some magic “this person has the best numbers” machine is not logical.</p>
<p>…also, whining about race and affirmative action is about the most annoying form of whining about a rejection ever.</p>
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<p>1) Yes; the point about sufficiency is to knock down the complaint, often raised, that students are admitted to MIT despite being “unqualified” for some other reason. </p>
<p>2) define “best”. It’s a trickier epistemological problem than you might think. See also: [In</a> Praise Of Holistic Admissions | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/in-praise-of-holistic-admissions]In”>In Praise Of Holistic Admissions | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Ok, not only do you not know anything about statistics, you clearly have a stick up your butt. I thought I could be anal retentive and bitter sometime, but wow. Or maybe you don’t realize that using asterisks clearly translates to a censored curse word. Either way, I’m glad that whatever opportunity you had at going to a good school like MIT went to someone who is clearly more deserving. Too bad all your other schools won’t be able to tell. I’m hoping for your sake that you’re really kidding. Hey, I have to admit, I enjoy trolling every once in a while too.</p>
<p>Just curious – what are people using as the definition of “meritocracy”? How do you propose to measure merit?</p>
<p>What system would you propose in lieu of holistic admissions? How would you make the process more fair while preserving the ability to pick the most intellectually promising candidates (and not just those most adept at gaming the system)?</p>
<p>EDIT: I think Chris and I are getting at the same point. It’s not trivial to decide which applicants are most full of merit, however you decide merit is defined. This is, I think, especially true among high school students, who have generally had very little opportunity to succeed or fail outside the highly differential resources provided by their families and schools.</p>
<p>I think MITChris makes a good point with his article. Also, the MIT applicant pool is very large rather self selecting. Take your rejection with grace, lyxdeslic, especially consider it appears that you have a good chance at going to Yale next year.</p>
<p>As MITChris already alluded to, your supposed “evidence” is bogus. It’s totally unscientific and statistically irrelevant. A group of active CCer’s in no way represents the MIT community as a whole. What’s worse is that you pointed ONLY to SAT scores in your initial post. </p>
<p>Why are you complaining about a one paragraph rejection letter? What, do you prefer a long one that lists all the things you did wrong on the application? I sure you don’t. If you’re not in, there’s really nothing more to say about it. I got rejected as well. I didn’t feel so bad though since I understood what I got myself into when I decided to apply to MIT.</p>
<p>atomicbaseball, I read your post.</p>
<p>I know MIT is admitting people and not numbers, but there is some stereotype that all 2400, ‘geniuses’ are no lifers who just study and grind all day. That is not true at all.</p>
<p>I also understand that it is a very human process. This however leads to many mistakes (see all the suicides).</p>
<p>Honestly, MITChris, in a second reading of these blog posts, it still sounds like I was right:
"In fact, in a certain sense you could say that our job, as an admissions office, is emphatically not to admit the “best students” to MIT, but rather to admit those applicants who will become the best MIT students. We are selecting the right mix of ingredients from which MIT graduates will be produced. This is why, incidentally, David put so much emphasis on making the most of your opportunities. Because we don’t care about what you’ve done so far as much as we care about what you’re going to do at MIT. "</p>
<p>What a couple of clowns. From Stanford, thanks MIT for letting the ivy league have these kids. No jk, community college would probably readjust their attitudes.</p>
<p>Considering the way you handled your rejection, maybe MIT would be better off without you, too.</p>
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<p>How the hell do you purpose doing that? Do you have some sort of crystal ball?</p>
<p>If anything I would have thought my stock trading EC would have shown them my potential</p>
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<p>Calexico, if you have problem with this, then you just fundamentally disagree with our process. Which is fine! As David said, [it’s</a> about the process](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/its-not-fair]it’s”>It’s not fair! | MIT Admissions). If you disagree with what we’re trying to do, then you probably wouldn’t have liked MIT anyway, because it’s constituted of people who represent this goal.</p>
<p>I don’t think I deserved to get into MIT. However, I think it is wrong to encourage this culture of silence where those who think they were wrongfully denied are then criticized for voicing their opinion. I’m sure someone better-versed in history or sociology could point to the correct Wikipedia articles for all to enjoy.</p>
<p>Perhaps this?: <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_of_silence_(expression[/url])”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_of_silence_(expression)</a></p>
<p>Point being, if EVERYONE who complains about getting denied is automatically unworthy of being admitted, then aren’t we just encouraging people to take the words of a college admissions office as those of a god? It’s like, here are the basic options:
A) You feel like you deserve to get in. You get in. Hooray.
B) You feel like you do not deserve to get in. You get in. Hip hip hooray.
C) You feel like you do not deserve to get in. You do not get in. Oh well.
D) You feel like you deserve to get in. You do not get in. Boohoo. Feel free to be sad, but make sure you NEVER make the argument that admissions made a mistake, because then you are an ARROGANT, SELF-SERVING, IGNORANT, ANTI-SOCIAL ELITIST.</p>
<p>If I go to CalTech I will be pranking you guys hard. You will regret denying me. I promise.</p>
<p>lyxdeslic:</p>
<p>Here’s someone who actually agrees with you. Of course, you won’t get much sympathy from a group of people who have been brainwashed by MIT’s overblown perception among high school students.</p>
<p>MIT’s not a meritocracy, and it’s an embarrassment to the institution. Giving students an advantage because of the obstacles they’ve overcome is one thing, but MIT blows that WAY out of proportion. Look at MIT’s gender admissions statistics on College Navigator, for instance: [College</a> Navigator - Massachusetts Institute of Technology](<a href=“College Navigator - Massachusetts Institute of Technology”>College Navigator - Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Acceptance rate is 7% for males and 17% for females. There were statistics a few years ago that pegged the African American acceptance rate at about 30%. </p>
<p>As a private institution, MIT has the right to admit who it wishes to admit, but that this issue has escaped all scrutiny by MIT students is an embarrassment to the student and alumni population. As far as I’ve seen, MIT students have a striking inability to think for themselves and to resist authority. They have no ability for rigorous thought outside of pure numbers, and they often refuse to make obvious extrapolations due to a deeply-penetrating denial that their authority (the MIT administration) is always correct. They take everything that authority says at word and refuses to give it a second and independent thought. That you’ve been harshly criticized for a counter-opinion (with hordes of evidence to support it) is merely further evidence of that.</p>
<p>But count your blessings. Now you don’t have to put up with 4 years of such docile attitudes!</p>
<p>“I don’t think I deserved to get into MIT. However, I think it is wrong to encourage this culture of silence where those who think they were wrongfully denied are then criticized for voicing their opinion…”</p>
<p>Fully agreed! That MIT applicants and students immediately dismiss this issue and take their administration’s word for every single thing is incredibly disturbing.</p>
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<p>Amen to that!</p>
<p>Yet both of you guys would’ve wanted to go if accepted…lol</p>
<p>lyxdeslic I really hope you don’t get into Princeton either.</p>
<p>Wow you and phuriku are a bunch of real rebels for having a contrary opinion about wanting to go to an elite university the vast majority of people have no shot at attending. You guys must be seriously really independent and interesting in real life.</p>
<p>CC is really teeming with this sentiment of entitlement.</p>