Chris Peterson SM '13
Jan 4 2017
here’s your reminder to follow @tinycarebot
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Process & Statistics
The admissions process develops seasonally and repeats cyclically. From the panoptic point of view of our office, we can tell, almost feel, the stress of the process as it gathers, crests, and breaks, partially because when it does, it breaks over us, and our office is deluged with emails, phone calls, and blog comments, to say nothing of spillovers to sites like Quora, College Confidential, and /r/ApplyingToCollege.
A snapshot of our incoming email traffic to the main admissions [at] mit [dot] edu account sent over the last 90 days. That's ~22.5k new cases, with an average response, from a human, in around a day. You can see the massive spikes at the EA and RA deadlines.
One question we are often asked at this time of year (i.e. right after the Regular Action deadline) is what applicants should do now that they've hit the submit button. The simple answer is to fill out the FUN Form and otherwise just sit tight until March. It's good advice, but hard to follow,... read the post »
Dec 15 2016
MIT Early Action Decisions Now Available Online
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Process & Statistics
MIT Early Action admissions decisions for the Class of 2021 are now available at
> > > decisions.mit.edu < < <
You can log in using the same username and password that you use to log in to your MyMIT account. There are no interim screens, so you should be sure you are ready to receive your decision online before logging in to decisions.mit.edu.
This year, 8,394 students applied for early admission to MIT, and we have offered early admission to 657. These students hail from more than 500 high schools scattered across the globe, from New England to New Zealand. We can't wait to welcome them to campus to join the 4,524 outstanding undergraduates who already call MIT home. Though they all do different things — biology and bhangra, physics and feminism, rowing and robotics — they are united by a shared standard of rigorous academics, high character, and a strong match with MIT's global mission to make the world a better place.
We deferred 5,853 applicants. These students... read the post »
Dec 12 2016
Watch the 2.009 webcast tonight at 7PM ET!
Posted in: Miscellaneous
2.009: Product Engineering Processes is a capstone course in Course 2 (Mechanical Engineering) and one of the most famous courses at MIT. For my fellow FIRST alumni out there, it's sort of like FRC, but for products. From the website:
In 2.009, Product Engineering Processes, [150] students work in large teams of approximately 20 individuals to design and build working alpha prototypes of new products. Students learn about creativity, product design, working within a budget, and gain unifying engineering experience.
The effort spans the early phases of product development, including: opportunity identification; generating ideas; gathering customer and market data; selecting ideas, devising concepts and building sketch models; building and testing mockups; customer evaluation of mockups; embodiment design; and construction of a high quality functioning alpha prototype.
The large teams must work effectively to realize this task, so students also learn about group... read the post »
Dec 9 2016
Reaffirming our support for undocumented students
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Freshman Applicants, Process & Statistics
As many of you know, there has been a lot of uncertainty in the United States since the election last month, with many students sharing their hopes and fears regarding the new administration, and many faculty articulating and affirming values they share as educators. In President Reif's letter to the community on November 9, the day after the election, he wrote that "Whatever may change in Washington... it will not change the values and mission that unite us."
One subject of uncertainty since the election has been the educational prospects of undocumented students, including (but not limited to) those who are registered for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Since 2012, when the program was launched, we have admitted and enrolled students with DACA; in 2014, the Tech profiled Jose G. '17, the current President of DreaMIT, the student group for undocumented students at MIT.
Because DACA (like immigration enforcement overall) is essentially a practice of executive... read the post »
Dec 7 2016
MIT EA Decisions To Be Posted Thursday, 12/15/16, at 6:28PM ET
Posted in: Miscellaneous, MIT Facts
I've stopped watching this sneezing puppy long enough to tell you, as the title says, we will be releasing Early Action decisions online next Thursday, 12/15/16, at Tau Time (i.e. 6:28PM ET).
To check your decision on the 15th, visit decisions.mit.edu and log in with your MyMIT username and password.
In order to verify that you will receive a decision on the 15th, you should visit decisions.mit.edu and log in with your MyMIT username and password. I recommend you do this now to make sure everything works for you. Strange things happen to people who don't verify they will receive their decision!
It doesn't matter how many times you click that refresh button, it won't make the decisions happen any faster...
If you've forgotten your MyMIT password, you may use our automated system to reset it. Simply visit MyMIT and click on the lost password link. There is a similar link for forgotten usernames. If you're having trouble using our automated username/password... read the post »