Why Applying Early Action to MIT is a HUGE Mistake

My step daughter was deferred Early from Stanford and she took it very hard. Seeing a child you love go through that is very painful for a parent. She was then accepted RD to Stanford, MIT and Dartmouth and went to Stanford and was very happy!!! Unfortunately, the college application process is a total head bender and you just have to learn to take the hits and keep moving forward.

@Nerdyparent

No, you are still failing to understand.

YES, building a nuclear reactor is really cool and that’s pretty much something unheard of for a kid. But you don’t know what went into his application. Maybe he was a complete jerk that was arrogant. Maybe he neglected his school work in order to pursue this project. Would you accept someone who disregarded other important aspects of life just to put everything into one project? Someone who thinks that just this one part of their app will get them in?

I wouldn’t.

By your logic, everyone who has been admitted to MIT has done something more impressive than building a nuclear reactor?? Please think about what you are saying for a moment.

I think most people read it as, everyone else must have outshined the nuke kid
maybe they already had a nuke kid that year;)

@Eidetic From one parent of a deferred son to another, I truly understand your disappointment. They wouldn’t have applied if they didn’t think there was a chance of admission. It’s sobering to realize that MIT, along with other elite schools, get so many high caliber applicants that they could fill multiple freshman classes from their amazing applicant pool.

Several things I would say. First is that MIT never claimed there was any advantage to applying early. We cannot be angry at an institution for failing to live up to a promise they never made. A cursory glance at previous years’ acceptance rates make it clear.

Second, we should count our blessings. Over 2,000 EA applicants would do anything to be counted in the deferred pool. Our kids are still in the running!

Third, and I say this with gentle humility as a parent who has made a lot of mistakes, this is an opportunity to speak hope and encouragement to our kids during a time in their lives when they may feel insecure and unsure about the future. Railing in anger about a disappointing outcome doesn’t help. It only serves to perpetuate a victim mentality. Rather than focus on the heartbreak, we can take this time to build up our kids and let them know that hope is not lost. We fully believe that they will succeed wherever they land. Their worth is in who they are, not in an institution.

I believe the most honest of them all is Stanford. They reject most of the applicants and only deferred about 9%. Deferral from Stanford is an honor. Deferral from everyone else is pretty much a rejection.

I’m sorry for the ambivalence you’re feeling. We defer as few students as we think we reasonably and responsibly can. It’s not easy for us either.

@sarangool by that logic, a Nobel prize winner like Malala may not have the “it” factor, since her Nobel prize is just one thing.

This kid does not need to study at MIT

Also, a Nobel laureate does not need to study at MIT

@4kidsdad:


[QUOTE=""]

This kid does not need to study at MIT
Also, a Nobel laureate does not need to study at MIT

[/QUOTE]

I’m curious how you arrived at this conclusion.
Can you explain?

So an outright rejection would be better?

Can’t make some people happy.

Blame the college instead of understanding their process, and how it has gone in the past.

If MIT doesn’t want your child, your child would not want to go there as a “borderline student”.

Your kid had his choice of entering the SCEA pool at other schools instead of MIT. He could also apply early to public universities like Michigan or UV even with his SCEA app. If you somehow thought his chances were high, then you were misleading yourself.

If a kid’s dreams are crushed by not getting into one tippy-top school, then you as parents and his GC have not done a good job of setting expectations and making sure he has a solid list of matches and safeties that he would be happy to attend. There are lots of other great schools for kids interested in STEM. He doesn’t have to go to MIT to get his dream job or win a Nobel prize. Criticizing a top college because they can’t let everyone in is ridiculous. You would be singing a different tune if he had been accepted.

True! Smart kids does not need MIT to be successful in life.

@Nerdyparent

But that’s not her only thing??? She has a story behind her life. If she was a hypothetical applicant, she could write about her experiences. You think she got a Nobel Prize for nothing?

You’re ignoring the points brought up about the applicant being possibly arrogant or dull in every other aspect. This thing is, YOU DON’T KNOW. You’re not in admissions, you didn’t read that kid’s app. As an outside observer you can only assume so much, and you are stepping past the boundary.

Instead of trying to fire back with a witty response, maybe you should consider what you’re trying assert before replying.

OP posted once and never come back.

@sarangool I’d say a kid who can build a nuclear reactor has a pretty interesting story too.

But I digress


Before we draw the ire of a moderator for deviating off topic, I merely wanted to make the point that talented kids have many options and not to fixate on just one school.

If 95% of deferrals will ended up in rejection pile, yes, it is more honest to reject them right away so they will not have high hopes and look somewhere else. For my child we treat deferrals as rejections, because we know that MIT deferrers 70% and Caltech 40%. What about others who do not know this statistics?

OP has only posted once and hasn’t returned since. Just keep that in mind
 @Eidetic

I am sorry but I agree 100% with the OP. Same for any restrictive or single choice early action school which defers a significant percentage of their early applicants to regular decision.

These kids applying early are required to make a sacrifice to not apply to any other private school or to any Ivy or to a school w early decision. Not everyone wants to go to a state school. If the applicant makes the required sacrifice of not applying elsewhere early, MIT (or Princeton or Yale or wherever else offers restrictive or single choice EA) should uphold their end of the “contract”. Changing the terms after the fact is not right or fair. How many would choose to apply and make that sacrifice if they understood the majority would actually not receive an early decision? Don’t mention the fine print-I don’t care that “if they had done their research they would have seen it is a pattern”. We are talking about kids who expect institutions and adults to be straightforward and truthful.

If you knew you only had a minimal chance of receiving an early decision, would you still apply early, forsaking all others? Probably not.

MIT is not restrictive EA.