So do we have a date for decisions on early action applicants yet? All I've heard is "mid-December" and the suspense is pretty much killing me.

Good luck with those and thanks for your work.

Posted by: Matt (hopeful '12) on November 27, 2007

Hi Ben

How many EA Apps were received?

When is the decision date?

Thanks,
Everybody who applied EA

Posted by: 0 on November 27, 2007

OH HAI.

(Just hoping my app won't get lost =/. And good luck with those others apps...)

KTHXBYE

Posted by: PS on November 27, 2007

Hi all,

We'll still be reading applications for awhile - when we get into selection committee, I'll have a better idea of a decision-release date. I'll definitely keep you posted.

-B

Posted by: Ben on November 27, 2007

LOLCATZ FTW!

Ben, you just managed to go up about 50 places in my book!

Posted by: Snively on November 27, 2007

OH HAI BEN JONEZ.

I HAS PURRFECT SAT SCOREZ AND GPA AND XTRACURRICULARZ AND ESSAY. I CAN HAS ADMISSIONZ?

KTHNXBAI!

Posted by: 0 on November 27, 2007

im in ur blog, hijacking ur commentz...

Great post Ben. Made me laugh out loud right in the middle of the Athena cluster...

Posted by: Paul on November 27, 2007

HALP! I NEEDZ ADMISHUNS! LOLZZZ.

Ha ha, keep up the awesome work

BAI!

Posted by: Morgan '12? on November 27, 2007

There were 3,937 early applications received (up 13% from last year)

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N57/earlyadmissions.html

I wish us all good luck.

When does the admissions committee go into session this year? (a preset date or when you guys finish reading?).

KTHNXBYE,
~Donald

Posted by: donaldGuy on November 27, 2007

Oh dear...Is that emph{my} shredded application that I see?

Posted by: 0 on November 27, 2007

If only it were this easy to get into MIT =)

Posted by: 0 on November 27, 2007

I WILL KILL YOU AND CHRISTINA.

That is all.

Posted by: Keri on November 27, 2007

WUT

Posted by: Jess on November 27, 2007

3,937 early applications

So if 11% (390/3493) early actioners were admitted in the first round last year, and we assume that about the same number is admitted in the first round this year... 9.91% (390/3937) will be admitted this year.

...

Aw man. I hate statistics ):

(A lot of you guys probably really wished you didn't read that, but you know you were thinking it!)

Posted by: Natasha on November 27, 2007

i am probably in the bottom 10% lol
*sad face*

Posted by: me on November 27, 2007

I laughed out loud at that. Wow.

I'll place 10 bucks on the 15th for online decisions, by the way. Any EA takers?

Posted by: Shannon on November 27, 2007

That is so cute!!
It somehow reminded me of my calc teacher from two years ago. "Wen zee deerivativ of zee function iz positiv, zee function iz happiii, wen it iz negativ, zee function iz sad". We also had to print binder covers that says "I *heart* Calculus" on it. It was such a fun class.

Posted by: 0 on November 27, 2007

I bet it is 14th at 11:59PM

Posted by: Nick on November 27, 2007

I'll bet the 16th at 12:01AM

Posted by: Leko on November 27, 2007

12/15/07, 11:47 AM Eastern +/- 1 minute

Posted by: Snively on November 27, 2007

LOL!!!! Please tell me it's on Facebook?!?! =D

Posted by: Jing Jing on November 27, 2007

For a moment I actually thought you got a cat and placed it in the midst of your shredded papers.

That would be awesome tho. =p

@ Natasha -
Except it isn't all random chance. If you have a very solid application, it's like holding 20 lottery tickets, in comparison to the standard single lottery ticket. So it might be ~10% overall, but your odds (depending on the strength of your application) might be higher than that.

But then again, it's not fair to compare college admissions to the lottery, so just take this as extended analogy of sorts.

Posted by: Oasis on November 27, 2007

You know you've hit it big when you have your own <a> Wikipedia article </a>

I picked the one that seemed the most interesting

Posted by: Karen on November 27, 2007

Rats, the link didn't work. I guess I don't remember HTML as well as I had thought.

here

Posted by: Karen on November 27, 2007

@Oasis: Man, this proves I need to word my comments better. I know it isn't all by random chance :D Some people's applications are going to be stronger than others. When I typed the comment, I was just thinking that the 500+ increase in EA applications compared to last year means that the acceptance rate is going to fall, and I wanted to see by how much (the rate will possibly be sub-10%! That's a leetle beet gobsmacking.)

Also, I sort of took an "all things being equal" stance (er, cateris paribus, I think? Wasn't really fond of economics), especially since, apparently, that huge percentage increase came from previously ED Princeton & Harvard hopefuls (thus, a lot of them must have had a good application - or, at least, I would hope people applying ED there would have good applications) (also, darn you, Harvard and Princeton, for trying to be fair and equal to all and increasing the competition!). So, if the applicant pool is increased by strong applicants, people with strong applications will still have a lower chance of getting in.

I really have no idea what I'm saying anymore. Redundancy! Incoherency! Carry on now!

PS: I wasn't trying to be, er, moaning and complaining about the increased app pool and/or self-pitying, and I'm sorry if it seemed that way because totally not what I want! I just... really like numbers? GAH I FEEL LIKE I'M SPEAKING GIBBERISH.

Posted by: Natasha on November 27, 2007

Hi, just wondering, if I wanted to add extra information to my apps (like recently elected positions, etc.) could I email those in? And if so, to whom?

Posted by: Ginger on November 27, 2007

Suppose that we're deferred to RA. Can we add say...a photo album (it's not "my family vacation" I promise)...to our application under RA? (as long as we mail it (UPS probably) by Jan 1?)

Posted by: job on November 28, 2007

MIT certainly does a good job advertising itself.

However, its sad because that means many more people fall in love with MIT and more people apply, which in the end, means more people get rejected and their dreams ruined.

Posted by: 0 on November 28, 2007

ROFL, we need to add this one to the Facebook group so it can be with the "I CAN HAS TUBE?" LOLZCAT. Hope that wasn't my app shredded for the cat [love the look of guilt on his face] ^_^> Have fun with admissions Ben, I'm sure that we can trust ya'll to make good decisions.

Good luck fellow EA applicants [also, best wishes and good luck to those RA applicants working on their app]!

Posted by: De Petagma Saru on November 28, 2007

omg if you like lolcatz and postsecret, you'll love lolsecretz.blogspot.com!

Posted by: Grace '11 on November 28, 2007

You are so lucky guys! I am an international applicant so could not apply early... That's unfair:)

Posted by: Dorota on November 28, 2007

You are so lucky guys! I am an international applicant so could not apply early... That's unfair:)

Posted by: dotty on November 28, 2007

Actually, I'm suddenly curious as to why MIT doesn't allow internationals to apply early
Is it because the admissions officers want to keep them in a completely separate pool?

Posted by: Hyun Jin on November 28, 2007

Actually I've read some time ago in one of the blogs that it is beacue the admissions want to see all the applications at once so that it is more fair:)

Posted by: dotty on November 28, 2007

Dotty's correct.

International is so competitive that they want to look at them all together instead of spread out.

Posted by: Snively on November 28, 2007

"MIT certainly does a good job advertising itself.

However, its sad because that means many more people fall in love with MIT and more people apply, which in the end, means more people get rejected and their dreams ruined."

I guess that is true in a way- because of these blogs it's like the only school that i actually get excited about.

Posted by: jimbo on November 28, 2007

So the admissions office is closed, so I thought that I would try on here to get an answer tonight. I just found out that my school didn't send part of my transcript (I spent a year abroad and have some letters/transcripts from the school I attended there and I thought they had sent them). Is it okay if I send them separately now?

Posted by: Becca on November 28, 2007

It couldn't hurt, and it doesn't really sound like supplemental material, so admissions probably wouldn't mind. The worst that happens is they don't see it.

Posted by: Snively on November 28, 2007

this is kind of random, but I was just on collegeboard.com and they say that MIT will inform early applicants by December 15th. Is this the set date for decisions or just a "no later than" date?

Posted by: jennifer on November 28, 2007

Hey Ben

I was just reading your post from 2 years ago..again... (the one about admissions guys being insincere)...What a great post!!

Posted by: 0 on November 28, 2007

@ Jennifer -

That's more of a "guideline."

Last year (2006), the decisions were available online on December 9 (if you opted to see it online).

The year before that, the admission committee mailed the decisions also on December 9.

Will it be another December 9 year?

(I didn't apply MIT EA, but even during Regular Decision it came sooner than I thought. I was actually caught off guard the morning of decision day (someone else actually reminded me that the decisions were going to come out in less than a day). I was still in Taiwan then, so I read my online decision just a little bit past midnight. Anyways, I'm rambling. =p)

Just don't think about it too much (ok, I know this sounds very hypocritical now I'm in college, but I'm being earnest), and the decision will be here before you know it.

Good luck! =D

Posted by: Oasis on November 29, 2007

Dec. 9!?!
Ahh!! Panic!

Heart pounding, fingers twitching... NERVOUS BREAKDOWN!!!

(Dec. 9 is in less than 2 weeks!)

... keep a tight grip on my PHYSICS book!!
(sorry, I just like Physics... don't mind me)

MEGA-GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

Posted by: Anon9 on November 29, 2007

Are you kidding? If it was 3 weeks I'd probably have an ulcer from anxiousness!

Posted by: Nick on November 29, 2007

WOW THAT IS EARLY. D=

AND I FOUND THE LOLZ CAT PICTURE ON FACEBOOK! =D

Yay!

Posted by: Jing Jing on November 29, 2007

I am a sophomore in an American base on Okinawa trying to get to MIT? Any suggestions (money-saving, GPA, cat-repellant, etc.), please email them to me.

dark_fennec1@yahoo.com

PS: Tell Sarah Brubaker that Kubasaki High hasn't forgotten her. I know her brother, Erich.

PPS: Hack idea #1: repeat the gnome incident...with beavers!

PPPS: Hack idea #2: Unleash the raw fury of FIVE LIVE BEAVERS in the library (or the auditorium, or somewhere)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROFLMAOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K THX LOL,

Taran

Posted by: taran on November 29, 2007

question: about how many students get in from canada every year?

Posted by: 0 on November 30, 2007

Hey guys,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I didn't want this rumor to go too far - I don't yet know the exact date, but it definitely won't be as early as December 9th.

I'll let you know as soon as I know!

-B

Posted by: Ben on November 30, 2007

HAHAH so cute

Posted by: 0 on November 30, 2007

Hi Ben,

I'm still missing a recommendation from my science/math teacher. My teacher sent it off before the deadline, and by now she's faxed it twice. I'm so worried that I'll get deferred because of that one letter. There's an extra letter of recommendation that was sent but I'm not sure how "incomplete" my application will be. It's been three days since my teacher faxed it the second time (11 since the first time), and it still does not show up on the tracker. I will keep on waiting and maybe ask my teacher to fax it again, but I'm wondering how much it would hurt my application if that letter got there extremely late, or not at all.

Thank you,
Lisette

Posted by: Lisette on December 1, 2007

Lisette, don't worry! If your teacher sent it by mail and faxed it twice, I can practically guarantee you that MIT has it somewhere. The tracking system is good, but it's not necessarily perfect - if you really want to make sure MIT got it, just give them a call. They'll be happy to help you.

Posted by: Paul on December 2, 2007

Sorry Ben if I was distributing misinformation. =/

@ Taran -
I've been to Kubasaki! In fact, I actually competed against you guys in track during my frosh year in high school. Camp Foster was definitely an interesting place to live at for an extended weekend

Posted by: Oasis on December 2, 2007

please please please announce a date! i know ben said definitely not early as the 9th. will you be sticking to a saturday? (so maybe the 15th) or will it be even after that?

even a time range of a few days will be helpful!!
thanks a lot.

Posted by: 0 on December 2, 2007

just look at all these people breaking this kid's hopes.......

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/140124-chances-mit-harvard-georgetown.html

Posted by: 0 on December 2, 2007

Hi, I'm a 6th former in the UK at the moment (from elsewhere, however) and am presently having epic-sized personality issues with my physics teacher, to the point where I really want to drop the subject (there aren't other physics classes). Due to timetable restrictions I can't take another science. Would I still be expected to take a science SAT II?

Posted by: Katrina on December 3, 2007

Yes, you need a science SAT II, regardless of your circumstances.

Posted by: Snively on December 3, 2007

Hey,
I am a non-traditional non-traditional student. I am currently 33 years old and I am enrolled in a two year Marine Bio program. On top of that I have been attending college off and on over the past 11 years and have currently amassed over 60 credits so far. By the end of the Marine Bio program I will be up to about 170 credits (but only an A.S. degree!).

I would like to transfer to MIT, but it seems as though I (will) have too many credits to so. I would gladly 'ignore' any credits that I currently have and enroll as a sophomore.

Is this possible?

Posted by: kenosky on December 3, 2007

A quick question for Ben:
In the 2nd part of the application, there is a COMPLETELY OPTIONAL essay on "something that you have created". As a 16 year old, I have not CREATED any thing significant yet. How should I write this essay? Can I write a concept or idea I have learnt, instead of "created"?
I know you will say this essay is "optiaonal" but from all advices I got any thing "optional" is actually not optional and we better write it. Thanks for you thoughts!

Posted by: To Ben on December 3, 2007

First of all, I am not Ben but I want to reply to the last post. I didn't write any optional essays last year and I got accepted for early admission. Furthermore, I wrote my essay about 'something I do outside of curricular activies' about walking to school! Sitting around worrying about acceptance won't help at all. To tell you the truth, last year, I forgot it was the day the decisions came out until I came home from going out to dinner with my friends and my dad reminded me. Just take a chill pill. And I wish you all best of luck from my gap year in Germany.

Posted by: Amy Fritz on December 4, 2007

Thank you, Amy. Just curious, what are you doing in Germany? Why dod you take a gap year? I am considering this as well.......

Posted by: TO Amy on December 5, 2007

Ben: They're so awesome, I devoted a facebook application to them! It's a mashup of LOLCats and the bible. Can't get any better than that, right? hah!

http://apps.facebook.com/lolcatbibleverses

Posted by: Bradjward on December 5, 2007

What am I doing in Germany? Sometimes I ask myself that too! I am an exchange student over here. I am spending another year going to high school. (I am in the 11th grade here in the college bound school, though I take math and robotics with the 12th grade and math with the 13th grade) School is really boring, but the experience here in germany is great. For once in my life the focus in on being social and living life and not academics, which a good lesson for me to learn. I had a tough time making the decision to take a gap year because I didn't want to leave the academic circle for a year and then have to get back into the swing of things... plus now I will be older than most in my class at MIT, but I decided that I would kick myself 10 years down the road if I didn't take the experience. Plus, this is a great way for me to revamp before hitting the gas pedal at MIT next year. As you can see, I am missing being nerdy because I am spending my free hours in school looking at MIT admissions blogs! So, if you have the drive to take a gap year do it! Just make sure you plan it well. For example, I lost a scholarship because I chose a gap year, and I also had to fill out a lot of paperwork to save my other 2 scholarships. Best of luck,

Posted by: Amy again on December 6, 2007

I have a few questions to ask:
I am a permanent resident in US but I moved here only this year so I had my schooling up to 11th grade in India...since I joined in the senior year over here I had a few mandatory courses for graduation which did not allow me to take enough APs and even the research courses I am surely capable of. Will the MIT admission staff consider this?? At present I have AP Chemistry and am doing really well in that...I am planning to take the AP Physics and English exams by studying on my own since I cannot do it through my school..so should I put this down in my application,,where?(i would be registering for the exam in march though)...

My teachers here do not know me very well but I have managed to get my evaluation forms done from my Chemistry and English teachers..but I feel it would add to my application if i could send along the recommendation letters from my previous school teachers...can i do this??

one last question....in India we did not have different levels of courses like "regular" or "honors". How should I complete the Self-reported course work section of the part 2 of my application as it is for the students in the U.S school system only ??

I know I have written way too much..sorry for that but please help me..

Posted by: moni on December 8, 2007

Still no date for EA decisions, or am I missing something?

Posted by: Julia on December 9, 2007

Hey Ben

I'm an international Applicant and I was a little confused about the interview part. It says on one page that "You are not required to have an interview, but if you choose to have one, it is your responsibility to schedule it"

The deadline is quite close actually, but if I don't have an interview, will it affect my application?

Thanks

Posted by: Shitij on December 10, 2007

Hi! Could you tell me how influential sending in a musical recording would be? I listed in my application that I've played the flute for many years and have attended a couple honor bands. How beneficial would a recording be?

Posted by: Annie G on December 14, 2007