Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

Undergrad.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

I didn't mean for what I said to be interpreted as such. I wasn't referring to Latin as useless. I probably should have elaborated: if I go to the other school I will have taken nearly every high-end class available, leaving me with taking "textile manufacturing", "fashion", "weight-lifting", office/teacher aid, etc. which would be absolutely useless classes just being used to fill up my schedule aside from Latin, AP English, and AP Physics.

Thanks again for such lightning-quick responses. I wasn't expecting anything for a few days.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

Hi, I don't know if you can do this, but I would like to get an opinion on how likely I am to get accepted. I am in 10th grade, I have a 4.0 GPA, I have not taken the ACT but I am predicted to get in the low to mid 30's. I am tied for class rank of 1. I enjoy learning a lot. I am in the top percent in math (according to tests and competitions). I will be taking Calc A+B next year along with AP Psych, Chemistry, programming and the other standards. I have a physical disability which is why I am not taking higher level classes (I do not have the stamina to take a full day of school). I would prefer to be taking Do you treat people with disabilities any differently? Is two years of a foreign language required? I am looking at electrical engineering if that matters.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

I haven't been able to get a straight answer out of the internet so I'll ask it here. When will regular decision admission decisions be available? All I have seen off of MIT's website is "mid-march". Can some one elaborate a more specific date please?

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

It has been on Pi Day recently, so I think 3/14 is a good guess.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

How and when will MIT let us know when they release the decisions before hand? or will they just dump it on us the day of?

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

They let us know a little over a week ahead of time for early decision IIRC, so it will probably be something along those lines. Historically though (last 3 years, if not more), it has been Pi Day, so that's a pretty good guess.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

As a junior, I need to decide what to do next summer.

I am planning on majoring in Mathematics, and have been taking classes at our local university (Oregon State University) for a few years now. I also have a slight interest in aviation, and have done some work on a flight simulator (autopilot design).

Last summer, I did a programming internship at an OSU lab that does research into running robots (I worked on the control system and a simulation for a robotic leg they are building).

At this point, I see 3 possible activities for summer:

1) Do mathematical research and write a paper in a lab at OSU (this is what I would prefer, but it's not likely I will get the chance to do this).

2) Create an autopilot in this simulator, and write a paper (or two) about it. This would be done alone.

3) Work in a lab (possibly the same one again), without the chance to publish a paper.

Although I am aiming for #1, I need to weigh my options between #2 and #3. Is it more beneficial for me to work in a lab again, where I would probably get a strong reference, or would it be more beneficial for me to work alone on this autopilot, and write a paper about it?

Thank you for your time.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

You know what, I will tell you this: do what your heart desires. You should not be doing these internships to have that extra ec on your application. You should be doing it because you feel like it. Your heart must have a passion for it, if not, don't even bother wasting your and the professors' time.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

So how did everyone who applied fare?

I'm pretty disappointed, I got rejected from MIT and waitlisted at CalTech, so it wasn't too great a weekend for me. Good thing this week is the Sacramento Regional to relieve some of the disappointment (hopefully)...

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

I was also rejected, as was my friend, teammate and fellow drive team members. I never expected to get in but if I didn't apply I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.

Through College Confidential I know of more successful FIRST members, although I'm not sure they are on CD.

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

Any recent Regular Action admits on CD? If so, you should come to CPW!

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

Hello Chris and Ellen,

If either one of you could answer my questions it would be greatly appreciated.
(fairly long post incoming)

First of all I would like to say that the 18.01 and 8.01, 8.02 video lectures posted online by MIT have been a great aid in my self-study of the AP Calculus and Physics C exams and without those videos I would not have scored 5's on said exams and subsequently would not have had a decent shot at my application to Oxford, Imperial and University College over in the UK.


From the statements made earlier in this thread, there appears not to be as large an emphasis as one might suspect on the quantifiable aspects of the college application(ACT,SAT,GPA). It appears that these qualifications merely serve as a minimum barrier to entry. After all at the higher score ranges(I'm talking the level of SAT scores north of 700) missing a single question on a section or getting a B in a singular class could mean the difference in an entire percentile point. Is the trend towards the de-emphasis of academic test scores at the top schools like MIT a result of the lack of accuracy of these tests?(every tom dick and harry applying has a 4.0 GPA, 2340 SAT and 36 ACT) Or is it simply because MIT value student motivation and "fit" over purely academics?

Which leads me to my next question, because of the increased encouragement to pursue individual interests students are joining more and more clubs and activities in the hopes of bolstering their admissions chances. Many of which have no desire or interest whatsoever to actively participate in clubs and activities but to do so anyway, vying to gain positions of leadership for the sole purpose of college admissions. These students can without a doubt write brilliant, flowery essays describing their experiences and fake enthusiasm in an entrance essay. Is is possible to spot said people straight away from their application forms? How does MIT separate genuine motivation and desire from passion that is feigned?

Last question (I PROMISE!:D ). MIT does not make as large an effort to academically screen their applicants as say Oxford or Cambridge which pass their students through rigorous internal, academic interviews and tests such as the notorious Cambridge STEP exam for math majors seen here. http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/admissions/step/
Have you personally met or admitted a student at MIT whom has not been able to handle the MIT course load because he or she was not screened well enough academically?

I do not mean these questions in any way shape or form to be a knock on MIT or any other US institution's admissions processes in case it has come across that way, I have not had anybody of noteworthy legitimacy answer these questions for me and reading college confidential did nothing but exacerbate the problem,ultimately leading me away from applying to schools in the US. Thank you so much for taking the time out of the day to read and answer these questions.

-Sebastian

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

Hi Sebastian,

Since I'm just a student and not a member of the admissions committee, I can't really answer your first two questions from the perspective that you're looking for. From what I'm aware of, your guess is pretty accurate. I also believe that MIT is able to determine which students are genuinely passionate about the things they do even from their applications, but again, I don't know what process exactly is used for this.

Regarding your third question, I have never met an MIT student who was unable to handle the course load because they were academically unqualified. I know that MIT strongly believes that each and every admitted student is qualified and deserves to be there, and from what I've seen, they're absolutely correct. (The few students who I've seen struggling with the course load usually have another reason for that, like that they've overloaded themselves or are having personal issues.)

Good luck with your decisions!

Ellen

Re: I'm an MIT Admissions Officer. Ask me Questions!
 

Got rejected, same with Caltech. Still waiting to hear back from some others though, so I'm still hoping. Congratulations to any who got in.