WTP 2012 Rejected?

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Before I begin, I'd like to apologize for the lenghty thread. </p>

<p>Just a couple days ago, I received a letter from MIT Women's Technology Program that read: </p>

<p>"We sincerely regret that we are unable to offer you admission to the summer 2012 Women’s Technology Program. We also did not select you for the waiting list (in case any of the 60 admitted students cannot attend)</p>

<p>We received 269 applications this year, all from very talented high school juniors, resulting in an extremely competitive selection process. The caliber of the applicants was outstanding. Unfortunately, we can accept only 60 students. We had to make difficult choices, and we were unable to admit many highly qualified candidates.</p>

<p>We want to make it very clear that non-acceptance to WTP has no bearing whatsoever on your chances of future acceptance by MIT or any other college engineering program. WTP is not part of MIT admissions, and we do not share any information about our applicants with MIT admissions. WTP has very different acceptance criteria than MIT: some students are not accepted to WTP because they have already covered some of the WTP curriculum, or have had opportunities to explore engineering or science in other programs, or are already relatively certain that they want to pursue engineering in college. The goal of WTP is to introduce students to engineering and computer science who have not had prior exposure to these fields. As such, some students who may be excellent candidates for admission to MIT or other top college engineering and computer science programs do not appear to need the opportunities provided by WTP and thus are not admitted to WTP. </p>

<p>We hope you can find other ways this summer to pursue your interest in engineering and computer science, and that you will think about majoring in these fields when you apply to colleges next fall.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for applying to the Women’s Technology Program."</p>

<p>Needless to say, I was very disappointed. At the same time, I was extremely confused as to why I was denied admission. Judging from the posts by previous WTP attendees as well as the information provided on the website, I felt that I was a pretty good fit for the program. Below is the information I included in my application: </p>

<p>PSAT
CR:73
M:77
W:78
Total:225</p>

<p>SAT IIs
Math IIC:780</p>

<p>Courseload
GPA: 3.97 UW
Ranking: 1/515 (public school in WA)</p>

<p>11th
AP US History
Forensic Science
AP Japanese
English III Honors
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics B</p>

<p>10th
Yoga/Taichi
English II Honors
Japanese III
AP World History
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry</p>

<p>9th
Japanese I
English I Honors
Earth/Space Science
Pre-Calculus Honors
Art II
Health</p>

<p>ECs
Pre-Med Club (10,11): Founder, President
Peer Tutoring (9,10,11): Vice president
Math Club (9,10,11): ASB Representative, President
Forensic Science Club (11): President, State Representative
Taekwondo: 2nd degree black belt
*I have several regional/state awards for math and crime scene investigation competitions, but there was no space in my application for them</p>

<p>Summer Programs
10th Summer Institute of Mathematics at the University of Washington (24 selected from Pacific Northwest and BC)
9th Summer courses at the University of Washington (Math 124 & 125: Calculus with Analytic Geometry and Biology 180: Introduction to Biology)</p>

<p>As you can see, my interests lie mostly in math/science, but I have no knowledge or experience in engineering; while there's nothing impressive about my stats, I thought the nature of my profile suggested that WTP would be a perfect opportunity for me to find out what engineering is about. Was I mistaken in thinking that way? I am so disappointed not only because I missed out on a great experience, but also because this suggests that I stand similar chances in undergraduate admissions... Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Meanwhile, congratulations to this year's WTP admits; I wish I were in your shoes :)</p>

2

<p>I’m sorry to hear you were rejected :frowning:
Personally, I think you were very qualified for the program. The only possible explanation I can think of is because you have had a lot of prior experience in math and science programs in general…
Best of luck in your other summer endeavors!</p>

3

<p>I doubt it’s your qualifications; maybe they questioned your passion for math and science. Be aware that people do a lot and do well in school simply because it “looks good” to colleges. Colleges/Programs don’t want your sole purpose to be to impress them, but to really nail down what you’re passionate about and your commitment to that passion. In other words, there isn’t any reason to invest in stock simply based on high numbers (think the Great Depression). If the institution thinks that the company will be of use to the greater global economy and will continue to rise based on that fact, only then will the institution invest.</p>

4

<p>@emekablue Then may I ask what defines true passion for math and science? How else would I demonstrate my passion?
I, for one, wouldn’t have decided to stay in my school’s upperclassmen-dominated math club as its sole female member if it weren’t for a genuine interest in the subject. It would be hasty to say that I’m simply investing “based on high numbers,” because I’m no math genius and it took me many, many attempts before I started making so-called progress such as placing at competitions. The feeling of accomplishment when things eventually “click” made me keep trying; if I were seeking “high numbers,” I would have quit a while ago. Likewise, I wouldn’t have spent months jabbing at seemingly impossible problems for a chance to learn at a math program nor would I have spent so many hours after school helping peers internalize concepts.</p>

5

<p>Hi saiken-</p>

<p>You sound very well-qualified for this program, and I am sorry you were rejected. My son just got outright rejected from a competitive summer program yesterday, and he felt he was well-qualified for the program, so I know how you feel. I will tell you what I told him.</p>

<p>I think that acceptances to some of these programs is similar to acceptance to top colleges. They are looking to build a diverse group of students, including heritage/race, geographics, socioeconomic, etc. They probably had many young women who were well-qualified for the program, and had to make some difficult decisions. Please don’t think there was anything wrong with you, and don’t think all of your hard work won’t pay off in the long run. Things happen for a reason, and this rejection will open the door for some other amazing opportunity for you.</p>

6

<p>That’s good and you should know this acceptance doesn’t define you, your accomplishments, or your passions at all. Don’t take it personally. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, especially me…
I seriously wasn’t questioning anything about you. Again, don’t take it personally. I simply gave an opinion on possibly why an admissions officer didn’t think you were right for the program. Don’t apply their decision to anything to do with college admissions and don’t worry about it anymore. It’s just a waste of your time. I’m not going to baby you and talk about how you should have gotten in. You did not and that’s nothing to be ashamed about. Especially since a large number of women across the world don’t have anywhere near the number of opportunities that you have to experience math and science and probably would have never imagined such an opportunity. That’s all.</p>

7

<p>We’re in the same boat. I have zero experience with engineering and computer science and modest accomplishments in math/science (awards, AP classes, hobbies, ECs, etc.) I thought I was a great fit and really wanted to learn more about the other half of STEM I was missing. I actually e-mailed the adcoms and asked the “why” question, and the rest you’ll have to find out via PM since I won’t share it here…</p>

8

<p>Hello! As a WTP acceptee this year, I can tell you that your academics were not the reason for being rejected. I have taken very similar courses and have received very similar standardized test results. What I would say is most likely the reason for being rejected is that your application sounds very common. By that, I mean that many of the extracirriculars you listed were likely shared by several other applicants, thus making it more difficult for your application to stand out (which is crucial when competing against nearly 270 applicants). Notable programs you’ve been in, major competitions you’ve won and strong teacher recommendations could have made your application unique and identified you as exemplary.</p>