<p>From my dad:</p>
<p>Where/How do they store all the stuff that comes in with applications (like recommendation letters)?
What if some things do get lost?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Don't they hold the stuff in a file of some sort? I expect all the files are stored together so nothing gets lost.</p>
<p>Stuff goes in a physical file with your name on it, and there's an entire mail staff that opens the mail and files it away. </p>
<p>You will be able to track pieces of your app via MyMIT -- you will see when each piece has been processed, and if a piece gets lost you can mail/fax a new one.</p>
<p>oh ok, thanks a lot</p>
<p>I might add that this is a good reason to mail stuff in early -- during the peak mailing-stuff-in days, there's a pretty big backlog in the mail room (~1-2 weeks) and people freak out.</p>
<p>I trust the MIT records people, but I have less faith in the US Mail itself -- when I was applying to grad schools last year, one of my recommendation letters disappeared into the ether and I had to really hustle over Christmas break to get a new one faxed before the deadline.</p>