<p>Yes, I was thinking of asking for an extra recommendation from my research mentor (for some reason I did not send one to Caltech nor MIT the first go round, which was dumb), and since I continued my 4.0 in more STEM-y classes that may help a bit, but I want to do everything that I can to help my application. </p>
<p>Maybe plead was a strong word though. I was thinking of going more in-depth on my background (I come from a very out of-the-way state and go to a very non-stem school) and what my accomplishments mean in that context. </p>
<p>By the way if you know of any programs for the summer after senior year that are worthwhile I’d appreciate any intel (please PM me!).</p>
<p>@huehuehue32 I was deferred and then accepted, and that was probably partially due to being an STS Semifinalist… I’d guess it’s somewhat of a game changer if you were already deferred.</p>
<p>@whatsoutside Intel is a game changer. The things that are going to mean the difference in March for those deferred will most likely be something beyond their control at this point. Most people filled out their EA applications many months ago–if some great honor was bestowed upon you since then, don’t worry about being deferred, just worry about finals now and make sure to add those new honors in your February update.</p>
<p>@lidusha:
I hope you are not done. I find your contributions interesting and informative.
Though I will admit when a thread derails itself, like the evolution thread, I stop reading it.</p>
<p>I doubt this is an accurate description of the process. I would also emphasize that it appears admissions are somewhat stochastic so someone’s rankings within the set of early applicants is likely to change even in the absence of significant information. My guess is that there are some very strong applicants who are very likely to be admitted a lot of relatively weak applicants who have little chance of being admitted and a decent number of students on the margins who may or may not get in. </p>
<p>One could test this hypothesis by comparing the performance of students admitted EA to students deferred then admitted later. Assuming the admissions criteria are well correlated with success at MIT if something along the lines of what collegealum is proposing is true there should be a significant difference in performance between these two groups. If instead the admissions process has a lot of noise we would expect a smaller difference.</p>
<p>My impression as a current student is that high school awards are relatively unimportant when you get to MIT. Not entirely unimportant but if the highlight of your grad school application/resume is stuff from high school you’re in trouble. That being said I think the actual learning that you do in high school remains quite important while at MIT in at least some cases.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t make the assumption that admissions criteria is well-correlated with success at MIT, especially if you mean academic success. </p>
<p>What has been said is that once it’s clear that you will be able to pass the GIRs, then they look for other things in your record. Those other qualities may be academic prowess, athletic talent, an essay they identified with, personality, or many other things. </p>
<p>Though other talents may lead to academic success (e.g., someone with teamwork skills may be better at coordinating with other people to do psets or class projects,) I don’t think that admissions looks for other qualities because they think it will translate to success in classes or even career-related activities such as research.</p>
<p>@UM But they like to see consistent success not just recent success. As for what you learned in HS being important, much of it is wrong or outdated–that is a downfall of some at MIT. Once something is learned wrong, it is hard to unlearn it.</p>
<p>Are there actually students at MIT who learned incorrect stuff in high school that significantly impedes their success? Certainly in math this is not the case.</p>
<p>especially in math… and in CS as well, knowing how to approach a problem is key, it is really hard to unlearn the approach drilled into you… I am not talking 8.06 or below, rather beyond that, often math majors are trained to do well on AMC…</p>
<p>would submitting a music supplement help my chances in any way?
i honestly don’t know what i could do more at this point. the deadlines for everything i know of have passed already…</p>
<p>/\ anything that shows your passion, your creativity is a good idea: "This year, MIT Admissions introduced a new maker portfolio supplement as an optional part of the application. In addition to the music and art supplements, which are also optional, the application now provides a structured way for students to submit information on hands-on projects, such as coding a new computer program, rebuilding a car, or designing an entire costume for a play or performance. " (MIT News)</p>
<p>As far how you would add it to your February supplement, you might have to put it on the cloud and insert a URL in the update, others can probably answer that part of your question better.</p>
<p>Send an email to <a href=“mailto:admissions@mit.edu”>admissions@mit.edu</a> – be sure to include your update, name, and DOB, so they can match it to your file.</p>