<p>I've been put on the MIT waitlist, and there's not much for me to do except to wait (the opportunity to accept your position on the waitlist doesn't come until April, I think, and I plan on sending a new letter of recommendation from my robotics mentor).</p>
<p>However, I have had some bad weeks lately, and some of my A's have dropped to high B's. Of course, I am going to try my best to bring these up (the grades don't get finalized until the end of the year). However, will MIT see that my grades have temporarily dropped like this? How much could this hurt my chances in the waitlist?</p>
<p>No, they won’t see these grades – you don’t need to send updated grades if you accept your spot on the waitlist and the waitlist is utilized after May 1. </p>
<p>Of course, if you’re admitted off the waitlist, you’ll need to send your final transcripts to enroll, and rescinding your offer is always a possibility if your grades drop too far. </p>
<p>@molliebatmit has mit released the statistics for percentage of applicants waitlisted? I heard it’s about 3%… but that seems outrageously low haha</p>
<p>You also should have alternate college plans. The stats on waitlisted students are horrible as far being ultimately admitted. I checked the latest common data set from MIT and that wasn’t good. From the 2012-2013 common data set, 18,109 applied to MIT; of that 849 were offered waitlist status; 766 accepted the waitlist status; however, 0 were admitted from the waitlist. I didn’t check the years before to see if it was any different. I seem to recall there have been people admitted off the waitlist in the past, but just not very many.</p>
<p>Whether they are able to go to the waitlist varies from year to year with the number of students who accept the initial offer of admission. In years when they are able to go to the waitlist, the admit rate off the waitlist has been similar to the admit rate in RD – 7-10%.</p>
<p>If you’re on MIT’s waitlist, it’s time for you to focus all your energy on your “Plan B” school. </p>
<p>Sure, there’s always “a chance” you’ll get off the waitlist, but the odds are against you, and you have no control over the variables that affect those odds.</p>
<p>I just checked the latest common data set before my previous post. As I also stated, I seem to recall that there have been admits from the prior years. Taking a few more minutes to look up the data, here it is for the last few years.</p>
<p>Still some pretty long odds. So, the original advice still holds; work on Plan B. If your good enough to make it on MIT’s waitlist, you’re good enough to do very well at another top school.</p>
<p>The waitlist is not ranked, so let them know of your continued interest. But get ready to love your back-up choice. Really - the best school for any student is the one that loved them most. It’s not the school that “makes” a student. It’s the student who is able to take advantage of the opportunities in a wide variety of settings.</p>