What Do You Wish You Had Known, Pre-Application?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>So I'm already working with Matt and other folks to plan our work for next year. </p>

<p>One of the things I'd like to do is to post an "online info session" on CC. While CC is, statistically, a small subset of our applicants, it is an influential subset in the sense that people come here to learn about how to apply to colleges and what to expect, and so I want to make sure everyone here has the right idea. </p>

<p>I'm thinking of just posting a guide to applying at MIT. Some of it will be boring stuff - deadlines, score guidelines, essays, etc. Some of it will be more informative - what we look for, what we care about, that sort of thing. </p>

<p>I know the memories of this past year are still painful for many here, but while they are fresh, any advice you could give me about info to include, or principles to articulate, or stuff you wish you'd know, or things you didn't quite understand, would be useful for next fall. </p>

<p>Help me help CC. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I wish I had known that once you submit your Part 1, you can’t change it when you submit your Part 2 :(</p>

<p>My intended major was wrong</p>

<p>Edit: I realize how silly that sounded. I heard you could only see the essay questions AFTER submitting Part 1, so I filled out that section two months before I did any of my other applications, around September</p>

3

<p>I wish I had known you could take additional SATs and you’ll take the superscore, even after the app deadline. </p>

<p>ANd Chris, please answer this for me?</p>

<p>How many originally wait-listed students chose to get off the wait list for Class of 2013?</p>

<p>How large was the wait-list after the April “do you want to stay on the wait list?” (acc. to MIT website: 455) for Class of 2013?</p>

<p>How many students chose not to go to MIT Class of 2013 from the EA and RA pool (of the 1590 something)?</p>

<p>How many students are in the Class of 2013?
Like, how much room is in this inelastic number that you choose will be the class size? </p>

<p>That way we can estimate how many they will take off the wait-list.</p>

<p>And say hi to Matt, Stu, and Quinton for me! =]</p>

<p>Looking forward to hearing from you guys in late May!</p>

4

<p>let them know to relax and be themselves on the essays ( might have said that in the app i dont remember) and also that the interview is more to get a feel for your personality etc. i showed up with a transcript and resume that my interviewer didnt even want.</p>

5

<p>you should probably let people know that their intended major doesn’t actually matter.</p>

<p>I think it’s useful to know what each part of the application is used for (biographical information, ‘figuring out who you are as a person’ etc. etc.) - this is what I tried to figure out as a prefrosh applying.</p>

6

<p>Re: the guide to applying to MIT - why would this be on CC and not the Admissions Website? (or, if it is, what’s the point of having it on CC?)</p>

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<p>I wish I had known that if you miss the deadline for an interview EA, you never get to interview for RD.</p>

<p>I also wish I knew MIT would reject me beforehand, so I didn’t have to waste 70 bucks.</p>

8

<p>I think the MIT Admissions process is incredibly transparent, especially compared to that in other colleges.</p>

<p>The blogs were probably the most significant part of this. They made me feel like my application was being read by good, honest people who love their jobs and have not only my best interests in mind but also the best interests of MIT and society. I felt confident that if I put my heart into my application and got rejected, it would be because MIT might not be the right place for me right now; similarly I felt confident that if I got accepted, it would reflect that MIT is a place where I’ll be happy for the next four years.</p>

<p>However, there is other information that might be useful to applicants that is not publicized, such as how applicants are ranked and what exactly goes on an applicant’s summary card.</p>

<p>The purpose of the interview is another something I’m still wondering about. I heard from some people that an interview helps show an admissions office that the person is socially capable, has a good sense of humor, etc. I didn’t realize until later that the interview basically writes a sort of recommendation letter for the applicant, and I remember wondering before that what exactly the interviewer reports about the applicant–I actually thought there was some list of checkboxes, and this made me a bit nervous.</p>

<p>I think the most important thing I would love to have known is that applying to MIT is not terrifying. I didn’t realize this until I actually started applying and saw just how much fun writing the essays was.</p>

9

<p>That post “The Match Between You and MIT” should be stressed in your guide. I found it very helpful when thinking about how to convey that I was a good fit, and albeit my essay skill sucked at the time since MIT was my first application. I think many people apply because “it’s MIT” and they could save $70 if they realized that they won’t get in if they’re not a good fit.</p>

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<p>@An0maly,</p>

<p>I honestly had no idea what MIT wanted for me to be a “fit” when I applied. I wrote all my essays with the idea of just being myself in mind. </p>

<p>I think that everyone who wants to go to MIT should apply. I honestly believed that there was no chance I would be accepted… so if everyone operated on the “I want to save $70” basis, then I wouldn’t have applied and wouldn’t have gotten accepted.</p>

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<p>They should definitely read [MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research](<a href=“MIT Institutional Research”>MIT Institutional Research) to see what is really assess and the importance of each component and also the [MIT</a> Admissions: The Match Between You And MIT](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/) and the related blog archives</p>

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<p>@Omega - </p>

<p>All of this info IS on mitadmissions.org. But not everyone reads it. It doesn’t hurt to have it here too.</p>

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<p>remind applicants that there is in fact a quota for international students, and be crystal clear about AA, which is what a lot of people are concerned about.
contrary to what you have been saying, stats of URM are significantly lower than stats of lets say… asians.</p>

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<p>[MIT</a> Admissions: Affirmative Action](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/affirmative_action/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/affirmative_action/index.shtml)</p>

<p>I think they do a pretty good job of that, eh?</p>

<p>Most of my problems with the application process stemmed from not having a high school. I didn’t really know what the SAT or AP tests were until I started looking at college as an option last year.</p>

<p>A section for first generation college applicants would be immensely helpful to those who don’t have parents familiar with college (or willing to help) or counseling offices that aren’t prepared to help students apply. Most of the necessary information is readily available on the site, but something in the style of [MIT</a> Admissions: Homeschooled Applicants: Helpful Tips](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/homeschooled_applicants_helpful_tips/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/homeschooled_applicants_helpful_tips/index.shtml) could be encouraging to those who would not otherwise think they’re capable of applying.</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>How, exactly, do you conclusively know information that MIT has never published or provided? If you’re basing your statement off of CC data, you should know it’s not representative, or even certainly reliable. Any ■■■■■ can state whatever he or she wants to further rile up and provide evidence for the anger of a group already piqued.</p>

<p>Anyway, I can’t think of anything I’d have liked to know before. Maybe that my interviewer and whoever read my application would not be saying “I can’t believe a girl like this would think she should apply here.”</p>

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<p>I think an online webchat type thing offered on the admissions site would be more helpful! (similar to the ones caltech offered)</p>

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<p>MITChris,</p>

<p>Personally, I thought an earlier post of yours was really helpful, the one where you gave some specifics about admission statistics. I’ve been thinking that you should save that post, so perhaps you might incorporate it in the information you create for CC. The information I found most useful is in these paragraphs:</p>

<p>"- 25% of our applicants were valedictorians of their class. 51% of the class of 2014 are valedictorians. HOWEVER, of the 2196 valedictorians who applied, only 427 were admitted. So being a valedictorian was not your ticket, though it is a good thing! In any case, 94% of our admits were in the top 5% of their class. Our median SATs were in the mid 700s for all applicants.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>31% of the class were identified as being “academic stars”. Examples of academic stars include being a Siemens Finalist, qualifying for the USAMO, and so forth. Like with everything else, being “starry” in this way is a good thing, but it doesn’t secure you a spot in the class. Of the nearly 900 academic stars who applied, less than 500 got in.</p></li>
<li><p>19% of the class were identified as being art, music, or athletic stars. These are people who may have played major concerts as soloists, or who have been recruited to be varsity athletes. One of our art stars has designed several US stamps and a major art installation at the UN, and has been supporting his family since the age of 8. Same as with the academic stars, this helps, but isn’t a meal ticket: of the 900+ AMA stars who applied, around 300 got in."</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I think this is useful because quite a few posters on CC who are strong in one or more of these areas – or their parents – may have the impression that their chances are really strong, if not almost certain. Sometimes the greatest anger in rejection seems to come from the most highly qualified candidates. The fact that just under half of the “academic stars” didn’t get in, those qualifying for USAMO, Siemens finalists, etc., is a pretty strong dose of reality. </p>

<p>It would also be good to reiterate what you’ve said elsewhere, that MIT doesn’t obsess
about SAT scores beyond a certain level where it’s clear an applicant could handle the work. Most of the threads on CC, as well as the online calculators families use these days to determine “chances,” are based on gpa and SAT/ACT scores, to a large degree. </p>

<p>I’m the parent of a current MIT student, but I also have a son this year applying to liberal arts colleges, who was rejected from his top two choices. One of these schools had been very clear and upfront, so we knew it was a huge reach. But the other school was a painful surprise. Based on the information provided by the school, our son believed it was a match. It would have been helpful to know how much of a reach it actually represented, before going through the process of applying.</p>

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<p>this has no relation whatsoever, but i strongly believe (based on what i see in school) that many people with high sat scores, 2200-2400, cant handle basic physics.</p>

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<p>I would love to know how much time you guys spend on each person’s application. As in, do you really make an effort to check out his/her projects, what he has done, etc. Because often the work one has put into things isn’t easily apparent, especially when they haven’t won ‘awards’ etc. for it.</p>

<p>Do you show your applications to collegues into the relevant fields? For example, if an applicant has some articles about technical things related to computer science or such on his/her website, and the depth is not apparent at first sight. This is not to show ‘technical prowess’ - but that the applicant is really deeply interested in what he/she is doing, not simply taken a ‘summer camp’ or ‘course’ and done a project in ‘two months’ to gain an ‘advantage’, that this means a lot to him/her and is a big part of his/her life and that he/she has a learnt a lot from it in the process.</p>

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<p>@CalAlum - </p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback! </p>

<p>@nikka93 - </p>

<p>I make a point to check out each person’s projects, links, etc. I believe this is standard practice for the office. </p>

<p>As for time - again, I can only speak for myself, but I generally spend about 45 minutes per applicant, reading their application, reading their teacher recs, looking at their links etc, researching their town, their school, their context, writing up my evaluation…</p>

<p>Keep in mind this occurs AFTER someone else has already read the application, and BEFORE several rounds of committee. </p>

<p>It’s a very, very time intensive process. But it’s worth it!</p>