<p>Just before Christmas break I asked my GC to fill out 22 counselor recommendation forms. Amazingly she finished the very next day, but there were two small errors.</p>
<p>(1) Misspelling on the recommendation letter. "bur" instead of "but". Is it a big deal?</p>
<p>(2) On the MIT recommendation form, section G, she put a checkmark correctly on three of the questions, but on the last one she put the checkmark between two boxes. What should I do? I have emailed her but I don't think she has email access if she is not at school. How will MIT interpret this? Will they call her for clarification?</p>
<p>(1) Probably not a big deal if it is still comprehensible. That’s out of your control anyway.</p>
<p>(2) That doesn’t sound like a mistake. How do you know that she wasn’t putting you between two categories in those boxes (i.e. not in either category, but somewhere in between)? That’s what it sounds like to me.</p>
<h1>2) Is that even possible for her to do? I seems like you can only check the box, not check the sides of boxes. Do you really think that is the case? On the CommonApp for other schools she gave me the highest ratings for them all.</h1>
<p>MIT doesn’t use those boxes quantitatively (i.e. assign a numeric to each, say 5 for the highest rank and 0 for the lowest, then sum the rank for each category and compare applicants).</p>
<p>Rather, those guidance counselor reports, besides the fact that they are optional (though recommended if possible), are used qualitatively. MIT is looking at every applicant holistically, from rigor in curriculum, to extracurricular activities, to the interview and recommendations, to your essays. MIT evaluates each piece, giving an overall picture of who you are in their effort to match applicants who fit best at MIT.</p>
<p>While I am not associated with the admissions office, I don’t see why that would be an issue. If you are concerned and looking for an official answer, your best bet would be to call or email the office when they re-open next week.</p>
<p>On the MIT forms I’ve even seen evaluators put checkmarks in different areas of the box to indicate a specific level within the category. For example, putting a checkmark in the left side of the “exceptional” box would be intended to indicate less exceptional than a checkmark in the right side of the “exceptional” box.</p>