Deferred?

Dec 13, 2005

Shameless thievery from a colleague's blog topic (sorry Matt).

There are a great many more of you that were deferred that admitted. I'm sure that receiving the news that you are deferred has to be disappointing (to say the least) to all of you. Please take heart in knowing that you still have a shot at MIT. Unlike Langston Hughes' poem A Dream Deferred, your dream is still alive. Let's talk about it, openly, and honestly. Please let me know how I can help to put it into a perspective that helps you see the situation from a strategic and global vantage point. Before you respond to me, be sure to read the post by Dean Marilee Jones on the TIM Blog. If it doesn't resonate with you, then your heart pumps ice water.

Please post and let's chat!

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Well, I haven't received anything yet, and I think I've already run the full gamut of emotions.

Sometime around Thursday, I tried to see how I would process acceptance, rejection, and deferral (basically to just make sure I wouldn't feel suicidal or anything). When I think about it now, the emotions aren't nearly as strong. It's a good way to help other people.

Dean Jones's post was excellent as well.

But...I have a question:

Are we allowed to send any sort of supplemental material to try and beef up our folder before the regular reading period?

Thanks

Posted by: Evan on December 13, 2005

Still waiting on the tube...although so many have received tubes compared to those receiving letters, that I'm almost sure I've been deferred. I'm not surprised, but a little disappointed.

Do you know why myMIT is going down tommorrow?

Posted by: Alexandre on December 13, 2005

i don't know what my status is..i wish i did...i was probably rejected..if i was will i still be able to access mymit?

Posted by: April on December 13, 2005

APRIL, EVAN, ALEXANDRE,

I'm sure you'll know something by the end of the week. I know that my words probably ring hollow right now. Just hold tight.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 13, 2005

Has anyone from MN received the tube yet?

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 13, 2005

not to re-post what I said in your later thread, but judging from the 4 or 5 of us that posted in Matt's topics, no one in MN seems to have recieved anything.

Posted by: Ben Smith on December 14, 2005

Well, since we're doing this on a state-by-state basis, has anyone from TN heard yet?

And Bryan, the comforting is much appreciated. Although I was hoping to get something (preferrably a tube) today so I didn't have to do my Stanford essays

Posted by: Evan on December 14, 2005

I believe no one from the Mid-west has heard anything from MIT yet. is this true?
If so, tomorrow might be *the day* for mid-westerners

Posted by: DJ on December 14, 2005

I got my rejection letter. I am sad.

Posted by: ZOOM on December 14, 2005

Thanks...if we don't hear tommorrow, I'm so not going to school and calling the Admission Office the minute it opens!

Posted by: Alexandre on December 14, 2005

same here...except i don't have to skip school...oh the joys of homeschooling

i am seriously about to cry...ANOTHER 24 HRS OF WAITING

Posted by: April on December 14, 2005

I too am getting nervous. Especially considering my decision was sent to a friend in The Next House, MIT. I'm still having trouble believing it's taking USPS 4-5 days to deliver a package within the same city! Other app deadlines are nearing and I don't want to waste money on the apps unless I'm deferred or rejected. It's a close call. If I don't receive my letter tomorrow, I will have to spend nearly $350 in app fees, even though I have a chance at EA. I've tried calling MIT, but get the same responses--"We can't do anything, call back on the 16th!" Why couldn't they have made it the 15th! That way we can still refrain from submitting applications due on the 15th! Any suggestions?

Posted by: Adnan Esmail on December 14, 2005

I just got my deferral letter :(

MIT is still my top choice, though, and I was wondering what kind of materials I could send that would be helpful. Will extra essays and recommendations help? Anything else?

Posted by: Emily on December 14, 2005

Haha, I'm totally obsessed with CC and MIT posts now...this anxiety is really starting to get to me; it's so hard to concentrate on normal homework, because there's like this little annoying pin-prickish thought always in the back of my mind. I just really want/need my letter.

Posted by: Leigh on December 14, 2005

Adnan, that sucks. Still, if you haven't heard by now (like me) it's unlikely we've been accepted, considering that the deferrals and rejections weren't posted until Monday (check out Ben's blog).

I'm willing to bet that we lost this fight. We'll live to fight another.

Best of luck.

Posted by: Alexandre on December 14, 2005

nothing from TN yet. trust me, i think my postman has taken out a restraining order against me b/c i've spent the last week or so looking for the tube and stalking my mailbox and the post office......but i think if we get something, it should be tomorrow...

Posted by: yasha on December 14, 2005

I revieved my lovely defferal letter today. Honestly, is it worth pursuing? Is there really much of a chance of being accepted? If there is what additional matterial (if any) would help?
Thanks

Posted by: queensman on December 14, 2005

queensman, don't worry about getting a deferral. There's only so many people that MIT can accept through EA... you still have pretty much the same chance of getting in. I already got deferred by Caltech, and they suggested that materials like a third (fourth?) letter of recommendation and notification of new activities and achievements would help. Of course, make sure to keep your grades up for the midyear report.

Hang in there, it's not over yet!

Posted by: Alex on December 14, 2005

lol, I love Langston Hughes's poem A Dream Deferred, it's beautiful.

Posted by: Josh on December 15, 2005

Deferred<- i used to want to be able to change my application cause i kinda botched. but i don't seem to care any more for some reason?

Posted by: Jeremy on December 15, 2005

now i am REALLY worried..has ANYONE called in and gotten an admit? i don't think so...oh well..it's not like i expected anything else

if i'm deferred i'm not sure if i'll do anything...i'm not sure WHAT i could do

Posted by: April (still waiting) on December 15, 2005

is there a higher probability of getting in on regular admission if deferred from early decision?

Posted by: neil sikka on December 15, 2005

the admit rate for deferred pple is 23% i think

Posted by: April (still waiting) on December 15, 2005

i'm deferred..got my letter today

Posted by: April (still waiting) on December 15, 2005

I haven't gotten my letter yet, but I was deferred. If anyone wants to talk off the forum, my e-mail address is BNHrobotics@gmail.com (please don't spam me) and my AIM sn is extremerobotics. It would be nice to chat with everyone, work together and get to know people with common interests.

Bryan

Posted by: Bryan on December 15, 2005

i shall try to resist the temptation to spam you

jk

i'm glad i was deferred..i was sure i'd get a reject

aim sn: digigurl101

Posted by: April (no longer waiting but deferred) on December 15, 2005

I was deferred as well. =/ Finally called after another day of not getting anything in the mail. My contact information's on my website.

Posted by: Catherine on December 15, 2005

Hey Mr. Nance,

You seem like a cool guy. I just wanted to thank you and the rest of the admissions team for doing such noble work. It's impossible to please everyone, but you guys did the best you could. I got deferred, and I have to admit that I was disappointed, but at least you guys gave me another shot.

Thanks again

Posted by: Dave Kratz on December 15, 2005

i was deferred too. 23% april? i like those chances...

Everyone who was deferred...read this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=125531
trust me, it'll help.

Posted by: Sharat on December 15, 2005

I'm excited. I'm deferred. I'm ready.

Regarding decision:

"Gradual Progress. The marriage of a maiden brings good fortune. Persistence in a righteous course brings reward."

"Keep it balanced with that
{K}nowledge {O}f {S}elf [determination]"

-Words without a source...try and leave them be like that for a contrast:
We got a word or two from a source we want to know; we know this place. Every person who completed an application to this institution should be proud of themselves.

Best of health and heart to all

And, do share, Nance, some of that tasty global perspective... what is your understanding of how we can view the time we have left as giving the deferred more chances for helping your side understand us?

Posted by: Ron Zipkin on December 15, 2005

Yep, I was also deferred. I agree with Sharat. 23% are good chances. I was upset I didn't get in (hopefully 'yet') but the last days of waiting have done so much damage to my nervous system that I am glad I have at least some sort of an answer. =)
Also I agree with Dave - as hard as it is to be deferred, lets thank the admissions team for giving us the chance. And also thank them for all the effort they have put in. I am sure it is not the easiest thing to do - defer or reject the applicants. So lets show that we are thankful for whatever we got in the mail.

Posted by: Timur Starobinets on December 15, 2005

I was deferred today, and I am not at all unhappy. I realize that I still have a chance with MIT, and I am not devastated. I am wondering if the deferred applicants can send supplimentary materials to MIT (to make ourselves look better

) between now and March. Would this even make an impact on the final decision? Thanks!!

Posted by: Anne on December 15, 2005

Deferred as well, but looking at everything not a bad boat to be in. All I can say is that I'm so glad we have enough snow for some skiing to distract me till March when the decision from MIT and all my other schools come in. Until then I've got some other things I'd like to do, and hopefully the wait won't interfere with those. Good luck everyone

AIM is Druber4Twober if you'd like to talk about MIT or anything else.

Posted by: Drew on December 15, 2005

I got my letter today. Deferred :(
It would be cool if all of we who have been deferred could chat on IRC.
my server is irc.ashen.us #mit

I'll be around most of the time.

Posted by: Daniel on December 15, 2005

I was deferred as well, though it was probably for the best, as I was ready to start singing "You Look Wonderful Tonight," by Eric Clapton, to the MIT Tube/admissions package, had I gotten in early.

I think a good sense of humor really helps with the resilience thing that Dean Jones was talking about. I know that whatever happens in the end, the admissions committee will have made the best choices they could given the information they had. There's really no point in being bitter or sad, ESPECIALLY over just a deferral. After all, as Dean Jones said, they're just "holding on" to our application to review again.

Posted by: Zack Yang on December 15, 2005

I'll live, but I don't really know anymore about going. It was statistically impossible for me to get in, and I'm sad to say that nothing's changed. No Asian male has ever made it to MIT from my high school. I shouldn't have expected any different from myself.

Good luck everyone.

Posted by: N on December 15, 2005

I'm pretty sure 23% is the percent of early action applicants who get in EA and RA combined.

Posted by: dan on December 15, 2005

Hmm, if thats the case then around 350 of us who were deferred are going to make it. I didn't have the exact number but its not an exact science anyway.

Posted by: Bryan on December 15, 2005

I'm just absolutely grateful that MIT allowed us to call today.

Posted by: Rose on December 15, 2005

Woah, another Timur S.

:D

Posted by: Timur Sahin on December 15, 2005

I find that there's a difference if you got deferred because of underqualification, but when there's the chance that it could be your race, it makes it all the more agonizing and horrible.

I wish we could transcend all racial barriers and such. It's impossible, I know, but should that have been the case, I would be much more at peace than I am right now.

Posted by: Nathanael Lee on December 15, 2005

Nance Nance Revolution-
What is the percentage of people who got deferred/rejected?

Thx

Posted by: Wayne on December 15, 2005

I've still recieved nothing. To reference an earlier entry, I think if you dumped a pile of coal on my chair right before I sat on it, you'd have a flawless diamond necklace in three hours flat.

Yes, I'm that tense. Tomorrow, it'll have been a week since the stuff went out, and I'll be in school when the mail comes 'round. All I want to do is stake out the mailbox some more.

Has anyone in WI recieved anything?

Posted by: Rhiannon Carr on December 15, 2005

i still haven't gotten anything in milwaukee, or anyone i know for that matter...

Posted by: cheesehead on December 15, 2005

Yeah, I still haven't gotten anything, ended up calling today when i saw that there was nothing in the mail, was easy enough and didn't have to wait really. Got the deferral, kinda what I was expecting, just don't like the idea of waiting another 3 months to know for sure

Posted by: Drew on December 15, 2005

I copied this from Ben's blog...

Earlier today, I posted something on Ben's blog to the effect of "I called today...I was denied. I lost this fight; I'll live to fight another...Good luck to the rest." That turned out to be essentially true except for the part about my being denied, and the part about my losing this fight.

I called in this morning, and had a dialog that went something like this.
Me: Good morning. I'm calling to check my admission status.
Officer: ...Your status?
Me: Yes...the decision.
After checking my identification
Officer: Unfortunately, we could not offer you admission. The competition was very tight this year.
Me: So I was denied and not deferred?
Officer: Yes, you were denied.

After telling all my friends that I had been rejected, and receiving very comforting replies, I went home. It so happened that my mother had also called MIT, and learned that I had been deferred.

Obviously, I called Cambridge again, and learned that this second decision was the correct one.

I want to be clear: Marilee and Ben have been so supportive, and their statements have been so genuine, that I feel absolutely no anger against MIT or the admissions office. But between the mail screw-up and now this fiasco, I can't help but feel somewhat betrayed. I'm not sure who, if anyone, is to blame, though.

Thanks to all of you for your support - especially April, who tactfully responded to my "rejection" earlier.

I suppose this goes to show that miracles do happen. At the very least, the support I received, coupled with my happiness to be deferred - when I previously would have been unaffected by the defferal - is a good outcome. They say that all's well that end's well. I'm so happy I could spit!

Good luck to you all; God bless the admissions office (minus that lady I talked to this morning, I hope there's a special place in hell for her. JK.)

Alexandre.

Posted by: Alexandre on December 15, 2005

Last night I found out I got deferred. It wasn't the greatest feeling, of course. But after Dean Jones' blog I realize that it isn't the end of the world. And that there still is actually hope. I thank the whole admissions staff for all your hard work and it is truly appreciated. I wish you guys the best of luck with the RA bunch, and have a nice winter break!

Posted by: 0 on December 16, 2005

Oh well, I called yesterday just to learn that I was deferred... I am now trusting a lot in the MIT Admission officers when they say that we DO have a shot in regular action, and I hope I can do better and get IN! After all... MIT has been my dream school since I first thought about college. So yeah, Nance, I got deferred... Even if I know "it's not the end of the world"... It felt like it for a few hours... but NOW, I'm doing my best!

Posted by: Omar Fernandez on December 16, 2005

i might get in trouble w/ this post..

the one thing i hate about our society is the emphasis we put on race. the last couple of years i've been looking for good engr. summer camps..wut made me mad is that there are SO many that are just for minorities..i don't see how this can be right..it isn't my fault i was born white and it seems as if pple are discriminating against me in the name of affirmative action...I AM NOT SAYING MIT DOES THAT..i don't mean that...after lots of searching i finally found a couple of camps i could apply to (they had to be free i'm cheap..well..just broke)..the one i got in was at Pittsburgh Univ. i guess you can say i'm shelterd..but being homeshooled i have NEVER thought about race..i don't think it matters..i grew up in a church of about 200 pple represnting over 25 countries..i never thought about race..i didn't think other sdid either..the summer program i went to proved me wrong..all of a sudden i was a minority because of my gender (how does that wrk out?!?!) i was forced to take a class called "cultural awareness" a misnomer..i had to sit through this teacher bashing my race every class.. that's all it was.."it's all white ples fault that blacks are a minority in engr" EVRY class! it was hard for me and when i tried to speak up she ignored me or twisted my words...i guess the purpose of this post is i don't understand y race matters..we're all the same..that's why whenever possible i don't submit my race or gender..i see no reason why whoever is asking for it should need it..please don't understand me...almost all of my friends are minorities...(i hate that word) i just wish we lived in a world were race didn't matter...i am not saying i was deffered cuz of my race! definately not..i dont' think that at all

well..that's all..congrats on your deferral pples!

Posted by: April (no longer waiting but deferred) on December 16, 2005

if you applyed to two schools early action, does that make the schools not want to accept you because they think that they're not your first choice? my dad is convinced thats the reason i got deferred

Posted by: Jen on December 16, 2005

I have a question (on behalf of my son--he's out-of-town currently) on the Supplement materials for deferred students:

What is the date they need to be postmarked and what additional materials should students provide?

Thanks for all you do, MIT Admissions!

Posted by: Mom of Deferred (Excited) App on December 16, 2005

It makes me very sad to be deferred. For more lamenting, I wish I were a Native American. Then again, if I were, I'd probably like to take over the casino business instead of going into Science.

Posted by: insanepin on December 16, 2005

I was deferred...I called in today because I still hadn't received anything. Ho hum.

Posted by: Jes on December 16, 2005

Well I was deferred by phone this morning. However, it is not a bad thing or a good thing. Accepted is the positive, rejected the negative, deferred the neutral. All deferred seems to be is changing the deadline for submission for the application from November 1 to January 1. It is like we applied RD instead of EA.
I also got accepted to my second choice school today which is definitely good because I was not expecting a decision until March. I spent the day relearning why I liked the school enough to make it my second pick and would definitely not be disappointed to go there. Besides its also one of the about 20 schools where I get to L-O-V-E E=mc2. (Seriously my only experience with E=mc2 comes from the limited amount of chemistry we did with it and unfortunately it does not look like we will get to it in physics this year because of lost time.)

Posted by: Justin on December 16, 2005

I got deferred by phone this morning. The lady I talked to sounded either tired or annoyed, but I can see why if you guys were as swamped today as it sounds like you were yesterday(thurs). I am so glad that it is friday and that I know. Still no letter yet, tho. I live in CO so maybe that is why it is taking so long. Does anyone know what kind of supplemental materials we can send in? Is it only restricted to essays and letters of rec, or can it be something more creative?
p.s. congrats to everyone else who was deferred, i'll keep my fingers crossed for us in march.

Posted by: Sarah on December 16, 2005

April (no longer waiting but deferred):

I agree completely. In "A Separate Peace" John Knowles states that one of his characters "never loved his school as much as when he was breaking its rules" and Jefferson claims that a true patriot questions his government. Thus, I feel that I serve, rather than condemn, MIT when I say that I am disappointed that it favors those who were born a particular skin color, in addition to those who have achieved the most.

We've abolished discrimination from our laws. We will never truly transcend racism, until we strike discrimination from colleges' admissions' patterns. And MIT should lead this trend, just as it leads in everything else.

Posted by: Alexandre on December 17, 2005

Justin - what is your second choice school? Congratulations!

Posted by: Alexandre on December 17, 2005

Georgia Tech
Just about every school where you can L-O-V-E E=mc2 (ie get a nuclear engineering degree) is a good, well-respected school. It also made the application process so much easier for me. Instead of starting from 20000 colleges, I started from 20. I did not have to worry about the instate v outofstate issue because no instate school offers the major (which is weird considering the two nuclear reactors in the state). I did not have to agonize about whether I wanted to go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford or Caltech since none of them have it (it gets annoying explaining to everyone why you dont want to go to [insert college of your choice here]). Also, it was what made me consider MIT instead of opting for the easy way out which would have been Tulane (which did the unforgivable thing of gutting the engineering department. They kept only chem and bio and dropped civil, mech, electric, and computer eng and sci).

Posted by: Justin on December 17, 2005

Congrats about GaTech, Justin. Same thing happened to me. I went out looking for my MIT deferral letter (which I have yet to recieve) and found a GaTech acceptance packet. Did you get a phone call about the Presidential Scholarship thingy? Apparently I was selected as a semi-finalist and I have to go through some more stuff before the final selection so I am not really sure what being a semi-finalist really means yet. It would be great to get the scholarship...but if I did AND happened to get accepted to MIT I would be in a pickle. I mean, MIT is definately top choice, but it would make the decision process much harder. I mean, $45K a year for the top university or free for a pretty good one... hard choice. Especially since grad school is what matters. I plan to go on to get a PhD, so in my mind, it would be best to end up at MIT. I was kind of hoping that the decision process could be made easy and that I would only be accepted to MIT and have nobody else take me. The only thing I have difficulty handling at this point is just the money situation. MIT has been my top choice school since middle school when I started up my robotics work.

Here is a question that I would like to get a response to from an admissions officer: If I don't get in to MIT for undergrad or it turns out that it would be financially impossible for me to go and I end up going to University of Florida, how would that impact my chances for getting accepted to graduate school at MIT? I definately plan on going to graduate school. UF is a great option for me because I can go almost for free. Its not a bad school, but it isn't exactly the top either. Any thoughts or suggestions on that? Thanks

Posted by: Bryan on December 17, 2005

alex,

i dont' want to accuse anyone..it is disappointing that race has a factor but i like to give MIT the benefit of teh doubt..if there were two equally qualified pple and one was a minority and the other wasn't..which one would they admit? maybe it would be a "benefit to teh college as a whole" to admit the minority...but it isn't MY fault i was born white! (i hate being called white..my skin may be white but i am an AMERICAN..if you were talking about ancestors...i'm norwegian and irish...i'm not white..i'm american)

idk..it just made me mad to have to sit and listen to my "teacher" degrading my race and essentially blaming ME for the fact that her race IS a minority..

the one thing i love about living in America is that we ARE different..it would be awfully boring if we were all the same..i just wish that it didn't have any bearing in college descisions

Posted by: 0 on December 17, 2005

oops
that was me!

Posted by: April (no longer waiting but deferred) on December 17, 2005

april, i know what you mean, but i'd just like to point out that MIT only gives (slightly more?) consideration to underrepresented minorities. and i understand that you can't change that you were born caucasian, just as i can't change that I was born indian, but i think the reason that we still have that policy is that (on average), we get more opportunities than people of other races. that doesn't make it right, but i know that one of the things that drew me to mit was its amazing diversity. besides, mit would not accept people who didn't deserve it, underrepresented minority or not.

and alexandre, we can't strike 'dicsrimination' as u call it from college admissions until we come to a point where the majority of the poor and underprivileged don't come from a certain race, like they do now

by the way i don't think indians are considered minorities - at least, not from what the teachers at my school tell me. (apparently we are genetically the same as caucasians, so we aren't a minority even though we aren't classified as caucasians) if anyone could confirm or refute this, i'd appreciate it, only b/c i think its interesting.

Posted by: Raksha on December 17, 2005

Raksha,

It is true that technically Asian (China, Japan, etc.) and Indian sub-continent are minorities. Yet, it is also true that as far as colleges/universities are concerned, they consider Native American, "Hispanic" and African American the *under-represented* minorities.

There are genetic arguments, but I don't believe they are considered when you note your race/ethnicity. I believe it can be equally proved that most of the Indian subcontinent is both oriental and caucasian. Much of Alexander the Great's armies came as far as Multan in present-day Pakistan where many settled. Additionally, Arab traders visited and settled in India and Pakistan. The Mughal (Mogul) empire who ruled the subcontinent were descendents of the Mongols from China. Also, Buddhists from Nepal traveled throughout the area (especially the Punjab).

Back to the college issue: My son is half-Pakistani and it is of absolutely no benefit to him. The tech/engineering schools have a very large Asian/Indian population.

Hope this helps!

Posted by: Mom of Deferred (Excited) App on December 17, 2005

Don't you find it patronizing that MIT considers "underrepresented minorities" as a special subset of Americans that are so inferior as to need its protection? Worse, every black and hispanic MIT acceptee has to wonder whether he got in because he was as qualified as everyone else, or if he got in because he was black/hispanic. I would hardly consider "discrimination" an incorrect word choice.

And it is not in the college's best interest to admit a less qualified applicant so that they can say they are racially tolerant. (this last comment applies to several schools, like UPenn, but not to MIT.)

Posted by: Alexandre on December 17, 2005

as to what Mom of Deferred (excited) said, i'm half-korean and that fact alone is not going to get me into MIT, i still have to get the grades and do the projects just like everyone else

there is barely any diversity in my school, my brother and i, and a few others are about it, so i'd have to say thats MIT's racial diveristy was something that attracted me.

and i thought there was no genetic differences between any of the races... hmm maybe i'll go into genetics

Posted by: Jen on December 17, 2005

Ron,

Global perspective.... Keep your head in the game.Remember, will re-examine your application for regular. Look like an NFL wildcard game. You might not have the Superbowl, but you advanced ti the next round, In this pool, that's really saying something.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 18, 2005

Jen,

We have no way of knowing if you've applied EA somewhere else. Even if we did know (like maybe your GC sent us the wrong letter of rec) we would not hold that against you. Besides, we know that if you are applying to MIT you must swim in the deep end of the think tank. We would be fools if we didn't expect you to apply to other schools.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 18, 2005

Mom of Deferred (Excited) App,

I'd try REALLY, REALLY hard to have all supplemental info in by the end of January, beginning of Feb. at the latest.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 18, 2005

Justin,

Congrats on admission to the home of the Ramblin' Wreck (GT). I have 2 cousins who attended. One was EE and he works for Bell South and the other was a College All-American linebacker who went on to have a 10+ year career in the NFL. He now works for the GT Athletics department.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 18, 2005

Bryan,

Your undergrad application will have no bearing on your graduate application to MIT. We are 2 completely different offices. In fact, the graduate process is completely de-centralized. Each department makes it's own admissions decisons at the graduate level. So no matter where you land, work hard!

Conversely, attending MIT as an undergrad does not gaurentt that you will be admitted to a MIT grad program.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 18, 2005

Alexandre,

Alexandre,

Here is where your logic falters. WE DO NOT ADMIT UNQUALIFIED APPLICANTS. No student at MIT ever has to wonder how he or she got to MIT. We are a meritocracy, plain and simple. There are no back doors to the infinite corridor. It is sad that in the 21st Century in America we are still dealing with the societal blowback of racism.

Choose your words carefully... Affirmative Action protects many more clusters than URM's. It is a tool that ensures equity throughout the admissions process for all people. The last time I checked, there is NO majority race at MIT.

Finally, I don't know how you make the leap form equal opportunity afforded by Affirmative Action to inferior status.

Remember # 25 & 26 from my previous post, dated October 21, 2005: "I've Got 99 Problems... Admissions Is Not One".

25. DO NOT EVER BELIEVE THAT IF YOU ARE A STUDENT OF COLOR THAT YOU WILL BE ADMITTED SOLELY BECAUSE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

26. If you are not a student of color don't fall into the trap of thinking you was not admitted because of Affirmative Action. If you are admitted, it will be because of merit. If not, it wasn't because someone else took your spot.

Posted by: The Nance Effect on December 18, 2005

Thanks for the replies Mr. Nance. This is all very helpful for us.

Posted by: Bryan on December 18, 2005

Thanks, Mr. Nance and (Mr. McGann's blog) for clarification on the Supplementals.

I have one more concern... My son (still out-of-town) has an unusual charter-school type background and he has yet to finish Biology and Chemistry this year (Senior)--though he has two years of Physics. He won't be starting his Chemistry until Winter Trimester, but still will finish a 3 credit (1 year) course in Winter 1.5 /Spring 1.5.

His first trimester grades were mailed two days before EA decisions were mailed, so they crossed in the mail. His teacher noted the unusual circumstances with Chemistry.

My question is: his next trimester ends March 9th, should the school fax his second trimester grade report to MIT for verification of his Chemistry class and grade received?

Thanks again!

Posted by: Mom of Deferred (Excited) App on December 18, 2005

Hmmm...

If MIT's RA was 14.3% and EA 13.5% last year, and EA 12% this year, assuming trends are proportional, MIT's RA this year will be about 12.7.

Which means that those of us not in the 12% (aka, deferred) have a .7% chance of getting admitted in regular.

Posted by: ???? on December 18, 2005

Last year ~12% of the defered applicants were finally excepted. It's almost the same percentgae as the amount of applicants accepted early this year. So we do really have a pretty decent chance of getting in. Hope this makes some of you guys feel better.

WE STILL HAVE A SHOT. So don't worry, apply to other colleges as backups and just hope for the best.

PS- I want my tube in March!!!
PS 2- Wouldn't it be funny if they sent out rejections in a tube? No thats just scary, forget I ever mentioned it.

Posted by: Sam on December 18, 2005

scary??? that'd be EVIL

ps- i want a tube 2

Posted by: April (no longer waiting but deferred) on December 18, 2005

No, it means we have a 12.7% chance of getting in regular. In fact, we have a better chance of getting in regular than the average regular applicant, because we've already survived the lightning elimination round (we weren't rejected).

Posted by: Alexandre on December 18, 2005

Mr. Nance:

Thanks for your response. One point is still unclear to me, however; I hope you won't mind my asking:

I never said that MIT does admit unqualified applicants. However, 10% of engineerings students nationwide are women; at MIT, that number is 40%. Is this really because women are so much more qualified than men? Or is it because a qualified woman has an easier time getting admitted than an equally qualified man? (Same thing with racial minorities).

-AG

Posted by: Alexandre on December 18, 2005

i got deferred and i actually happy about it. cause i got deferred from one of the top colleges in the world, not country, WORLD. i have nothing to be ashamed of and even if i don't get in i know it was not for me. but i still love MIT and there new APPRENTICE.

Posted by: Carly on December 18, 2005

it's not because of reverse sexism that 40% accepted are woman. and no, you can not compare that to the 10% of women engineering. If you think about it, women are pretty new to engineering, the number of females interested in engineering have increased immensely in the past few years. This means that within a few years, that 10% will go up drastically. (a flux of women studying engineering now will be engineers in a few years hence bumping that 10% up immensely) so just because you didn't get in, don't blame it on other factors, other people. take that time to think about what you can do as an individual to improve yourself.

Posted by: to alexandre on December 18, 2005

I am not bitter about being deferred, and I am certainly not blaming that on affirmative action. I am debating a statistical and political reality.

Posted by: Alexandre on December 19, 2005

W/ record-low admittance levels this year, how do we know that RA won't just be EA all over again?

Posted by: 0 on December 19, 2005

oh good greif..i hope not