Upcoming MIT Deadline

Dec 27, 2005

Please remember that January 1 is the postmark deadline for students applying for regular action admission to MIT. This means that you should have the Post Office postmark and mail your materials on or before January 1. If you are applying online, you should click the final "submit" button on or before January 1.

However, I strongly discourage procrastination. The closer you send in your application to the deadline, the longer it will take our records office to process and for it to appear on your Application Tracking. Our records office is fully staffed over the holidays and is, even as I write, busily processing all of the application pieces that have been submitted.

Also, please note that you do not need to express mail or overnight your application.

I especially encourage students who live outside the United States to submit their applications as soon as possible.

I encourage you not to wait until the very last moment to submit your application. If your application is ready to go, click that button, or stamp that mail!

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Procrastination is especially discouraged by the fact that the post office is always closed on January 1st. That puzzles me - not the closing, of course, but the choice of January 1st for a postmark deadline.

Posted by: Kim on December 27, 2005

It must be intentional. It's an MIT challenge. If a student can figure out a way to send something on Jan 1, then that's fine. Carrier pigeon, perhaps?

Posted by: SpeckJr on December 27, 2005

Very sorry Matt! I ran into some serious problems getting my teacher references. Meeting the January 1 deadline itself is difficult, but I will definitely make it! MIT is undoubtedly my first choice, and even if it means not finishing all my other applications, I will get MIT's application through.

Posted by: Lerh Feng on December 27, 2005

^there's the spirit!

Posted by: 0 on December 28, 2005

d'oh

Posted by: 0 on December 28, 2005

I'm glad to see that my teacher evaluations and HS transcript have been processed. Now all that's left is for me to submit App part 2.

Working hard on it, working hard on it...

Posted by: Teck Lee on December 28, 2005

Dear Matt

I just have an request that I would like to make. Could you please thank all the people at the admissions office for sacrificing their holidays to make sure that last minute submitters like me don't get left out. Also, a very happy New Year to all of you!

Regards

Prashant

Posted by: Prashant Malani on December 28, 2005

I'm still working on my application part 2. It's just that I'm never satisfied with my essay. I've written 12-13 drafts so far, and I still haven't found THE ESSAY.

Posted by: Virzhiniya Lekova on December 28, 2005

Dear Matt

It is really close to the deadline but I think I am still not clear about everything. I will take the Toelf and SAT II in January, I sent the office of Admission some letters one week ago to explain about this but still not receive anything back.

Can I send anything else after the deadline?

Posted by: Chieu Minh on December 28, 2005

Sorry Matt, I think this is such a stupid question but I have to ask it. Who will send my evaluation letters, my teacher or I will send it myself, every thing is not very clear where I live, It's a ridiculous thing that I must have one teacher make the evaluation and someone else translate it, some of my teachers are ot really good at English.

Regards

Minh

Posted by: Chieu Minh on December 28, 2005

Yeah, I am a procrastinator. but the reasoning behind me sending my MIT application 5 minutes before the early action deadline was my OCD, since MIT was my first choice, I spent every minute obsessing the application. If I sent it two days before the deadline, I felt that was two days of corrections gone to waste. I

Posted by: matt on December 28, 2005

I have a quick question which, I am sure, applies to more than a few applicants. My semester ends well after January 1st. Therefore, I cannot postmark my Mid-year report by the deadline. Should I just send the report in when my semester grades come out (early-mid February)? Or would it be too late to be processed by then anyway? Thanks for any info you can give me.

-Phil

Posted by: Phil on December 28, 2005

I'm nervous :|

Posted by: scotty on December 28, 2005

I took the Math Level 2 Subject Test and scored an 800, but have never taken the Math Level 1 Subject Test. Should I now take Level 1?

Thanks.

Posted by: Jason on December 28, 2005

Hi Matt,

I'm an applicant from Hong Kong. My school has mailed the school reports and teachers refereces on the 7th of December. However, the MyMIT account shows that these materials sent have not been processed yet. How much longer should I wait before asking the school counselor to mail the materials again?

Posted by: annie on December 28, 2005

Chieh Minh: Usually for evaluation letter, you prepare stamped & addressed envelops + the evaluation forms for your teachers beforehand. They mail the letters themselves after they finish.

Phil: I don't think Mid-year reports have to be postmarked by the Jan-1st deadline. Usually people mail them in after you get your semster grades.

Jason: You really do not need to take Math Level 1 if you have already gotten an 800 on Math Level 2. It's neither required nor necessary in your case.

Posted by: Leon on December 28, 2005

sir,

i m intrested to join the under-graduate course for engineering in mit..i m an indian student,studying in std 12th . ao plz tell me everything abt how to fill up the application form,syllabus of the entrance examination n the fee n the course structure.

thanking u,

urs sincerely

rahul raman

Posted by: Rahul on December 28, 2005

just sent part 2 of my application..im an international RA applicant..all the other parts have been processed...fingers crossed

oh and merry christmas everyone!!!

Posted by: me :) on December 28, 2005

hullo, i have a very amusing but bad situation. see, i had an interview with a different EC than he who i was assigned to about two weeks ago. he hasnt sent anything in yet, which I assume because it hasnt shown up in my application tracking box...And I wanted to report this, but check this out: I know his phone number, his email, where he works, his wife's name, but i can't figure out his last name! so how shall i report this??? and ive been searching like a hungry rat for this guy's last name over the internet. the closest i got was to his yahoo online profile - which failed to mention his name, or anything for that matter. any suggestions? help would be sincerely appreciated.

Posted by: sayeeda on December 28, 2005

This is why I tell all my junior friends to start their applications in the summer after their junior year, ~May/June... not so they have more things to be stressed about, but so they're less stressed when the deadlines roll around.

Honestly, I think I wrote my MIT essays over the course of three months. Every day I would change a few sentences.

Posted by: Timur Sahin on December 28, 2005

Hi Matt,

I am a little worried about my application. MIT has not yet processed my toefl score. I did the test on november 19. I got my printed score report on december 19th. I see no reason why it wouldn't have reached by now. This was the address that the report was sent to :

MASSACHUSETTS INST TECH GRAD

Department: Undergraduate

CAMBRIDGE , MA, 02139

Will my application be adversely affected if the scores dont reach on time?

Another concern is that my interview has not been processed either. I filled in the conducted interview form a couple of days ago after two weeks were up. Mr. Coutts was my interviewer.

Do i start worrying about either right away, or should i give it more time?

I'd really appreciate any advice you send my way.

Thanks,

Amulya

(from Toronto)

Posted by: Amulya Raja on December 28, 2005

well for those of you all nervous about making sure your stuff arrives at MIT safely, try using "Certified Mail" at the post office. that option costs more, but it's not like express mail, if your stuff arrives at the designated address, whoever receives the material has to put a signature on it. even if it's a PO box, the mail carrier will put his signature which means, "yeah this thing is safely at where you want it to be. so stop worrying." and that sheet of paper will be mailed back to you.

i don't know if that was confusing or whatever... but hope that helps.

Posted by: chelsey yoo on December 28, 2005

I have a slight problem

My Application Tracking says that they havent processed my teacher recs or interview, and both were completed a while ago, sometime in October, and I am certain that my teachers sent in my letters a while ago. Should I be worried? Should I call to see if they have them? And what do I do if they never received them?

Thanks

Posted by: Chris on December 29, 2005

Hey.

Since the people at MIT are probably a little busy, let me try and help.

The MIT admissions officers know that the mailmen lose stuff, that people accidentally do stuff wrong (unintentionally of course) and takes that into consideration by not adversely affecting your admissions if there are minor problems.

As for the EC question by Sayeeda, try to email this person, call him.. do whatever and try to find his name. Chances are he's on vacation (it is the holidays after all) and so he might not have reported it yet. Leave a message on his answering machine and/or email him and hope he responds.

Minh, the teachers are supposed to send the recommendation letters, not you. Most schools even make you sign a waiver saying you won't request to look at the rec letters even after you get in.

Hopefully this helps. Good luck to all the regular decision candidates. I applied early and got deferred, so we'll see how I fare too.

Good luck all, and happy holidays!

-Sarah

Posted by: Sarah on December 29, 2005

Dear Matt, A very merry X'mas. I really feel a pang of guilt for paging you all up so frequently on your holidays!! May I send in my optional essays via postal mail along with my ISFAA and the note from the counsellor? Also, will it be a problem if I submit the 'unembellished' (i.e., without the symbols/images) optional essays with my online application in addition to sending in the handwritten one by post? Heartfelt Thanks!!!

Posted by: Siddhartha Verma on December 29, 2005

Dear Matt

My math lecturer had posted the teacher evaluation in the second week of dec but my mit account shows that it has not yet processed the evaluation whereas my secondary school transcripts sent by the school on 7th of dec have been processed. Do I need to ask my Math teacher to post it again on or before 1st of Jan.Pl answer my query at the earliest so that I can do something before the deadline passes out. I am worried. Thanks.

I would like to thank all the staff members for foregoing their holidays and spending time gathering all the application pieces. I would like to wish all the other applicants and the staff memberes a happy new year(in advance) and a belated x-mas.

Posted by: Pradymna Challa on December 29, 2005

Matt,

I have a problem with my toefl score. I did the test on november 17(more than a month ago) but MIT has not yet process my scores. I am a little bit worry about it. It is okay if I do the sat subjects test on january? The other thing is that all my evaluations and my transcript were send by express mail because I was worry about the deadline.

sincerely,

C

Posted by: Cesar Cuevas on December 29, 2005

I believe u guys are the best admissions office...not only has all my application been processed within a day..i sent an e-mail to correct a mistake in my application and not 20 mins later i receive an e-mail noting the correction...U GUYS ARE THE BEST... A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Posted by: me :) on December 29, 2005

Hey Matt,

Just had a pair of last-minute questions.

1. On the activities descriptions, despite cutting I am over by 8 words on the description of one activity and 6 words on another (under on the rest). Will this be a problem? Note: the online counter did notice this.

2. I had my interview near the beginning of the month, but MyMIT still does not indicate interview information was recieved. Should I worry, or is this not an issue?

Thanks,

Sukrit

Posted by: Sukrit on December 30, 2005

Hi Matt.

I hope your holidays were cool and that you'll have a nice new year.

I doubt I will coz of a few(two) problems:

1. I did my TOEFL in April and my SAT 1 in June. Both these tests have not been processed in My MyMIT account. This really worries me because my SAT 2 (which I did in DECEMBER!!) has already been processed. Whats the problem, could you help me in any way? Please.

2. My scool report and teacher recomendations are also not processed even though I made sure they were sent in early December. Do I need to get them sent again? I hope not because this is a real problem for me, getting them in the first place was difficult.

Does it take longer to process things for international applicants? If so maybe that's the cause of all my problems because I'm applying from Kenya. (my MyMIT account-name is kelvinjayanoris).

I will really, really appreciate any help you offer me. Thank you.

Posted by: Edward on December 30, 2005

Oh my, seeling that last post made me worry. I too took my SAT IIs in December, but the scores have not been reported. Is this an issue for concern? Thanks.

Posted by: Lerh Feng on December 30, 2005

Hello Matt

A happy new year and belated merry x-mas. I have a problem here. My math evaluation which I made sure to be sent in the early weeks of December has not been processed yet in Mymit account. Even my TOEFL score which was realeased on Nov-28 didnot appear as processed in my Mymit account.Is it a problem to worry about? Should I ask my Math lecturer to resend the evaluation? I know that MIT receives many applications a day and it is difficult for you to update thousands of accounts the day they receive the materials but this thing is worrying me a lot.Can you help me out.Thanks

Posted by: Pradyumna on December 30, 2005

I know that I have reposted the problem. You can virtually see my worry.

Posted by: Pradyumna on December 30, 2005

Hi Matt, Merry Christmas and happy new year!

I have two questions.

Firstly, I did my interview on Dec 10th, but in the application tracking section, it still says not processed. I filled out the Conducted Interview form 3 days ago, but I haven't got any response. What should I do now?

Secondly, I finished my year 11 in Australia. I have a reference letter and three school awards from the Australian school. Should I send them to you? If I should, when is the deadline for sending them?

Thanks for working hard for us. Wish you have a good holiday.

Posted by: Yi on December 30, 2005

Hello Matt,

Yeah it seems as though you're currently inundated with questions about applications and whatnot, and I took your advice about not procastinating to heart. I sent in all of my forms in the latter half of November, but the problem is that my Secondary School Report and Transcript has still not been processed. I sent it a second time about two and half weeks ago and the first time I sent it was about a month and a half ago. I'm increasingly worried about that report because it's all I have left. I really have no idea what to do now. If possible, could you help me out?

Posted by: Frank on December 31, 2005

is it true that the Jan. 1 deadline really means the first business day after January first, as the Post office is closed on January first? that's what I've been hearing form other schools... applies to MIT as well? and when does the admissions committee actually begin looking at our applications? how does it work?

Posted by: rakefet on December 31, 2005

Hello all.

First of all, I have a serious doubt as to whether I can submit Part 2 of my application ON Jan 1st or should I submit it by Dec 31st. Please help. Very urgent...if you notice the time I posted this.

Next, what I did was, I asked my teachers to write my recommendations and put them inside a sealed envelope and give them to me. Then I put all the envelopes together in one big envelope and then I mailed it to MIT. You know, it costs a bomb to send one envelope to US from India. Is this a problem, or will MIT be unmindful of this?

Anyone who reads this PLEASE HELP.

Earnestly waiting,

Jason

Posted by: Jason on December 31, 2005

P.S.: to the previous comment:

I mailed the evaluations myself bcoz I wanted to save my teachers some trouble.

Jason

Posted by: Jason on December 31, 2005

matt, i love your new hair.

Posted by: nghi on January 1, 2006

The admissions page is not working well. The server says its busy. Will we have at least an extra day to submit the application?

Posted by: anonymous on January 1, 2006

Hi Sir,

I have the same question as the previous guy. The admission page stopped working tonight. What do I do? I have already all my essays written, every thing ready, I just need to fill the form out, I can't just give up like this. Can I send the form 2 by mail tomorrow, post marked Jan 2nd?

Anyway,this is a good lesson for me not be procrastinator again.

Thank you very much

Posted by: Yan on January 2, 2006

Sorry my email should be hotmail as in the second post.

Posted by: Yan on January 2, 2006

I'm wondering the same as the above comment. I've labored on my application and read it over and over and finally got my essay down, and I felt confident going to my computer and submitting my application before I went to bed at 10:15, January 1st, 2006. But when I tried to access the page, it said that the server was down because it was too busy. I would love to apply to MIT and I know procrastination is a terrible habit, but I worked to get everything perfect and now I can't send in my application. What am I to do?

Posted by: 0 on January 2, 2006

The above comment is unfortunately mine and I want all to know I have already made the New Year's Resolution to never procrastinate again, because I cannot go to sleep until I know something about my application and there is no way this pain and suffering is worth holding onto an application for a few extra days to check it.

Posted by: Michael Hollo on January 2, 2006

If I live in Colorado (two hours behind Massachusettes) will I be able to submit until 2AM? I'm still meeting the January 1 submission deadline, not in their time though, arg, at times like this, all I can say is ufdah!

Posted by: Steve on January 2, 2006

Same thing as above. I will call you tomorrow and mail in my app part 2. Everything is done, evals and SAT scores sent and everything, I just can't get to the site. I live in California, so this may be the result of some time zone issues, but I was even trying to apply before 12:00 EST. Is it possible for me to access my online app tomorrow?

Posted by: Jenna on January 2, 2006

Since it's eleven o'clock, I've been trying to post my application part 2, but it doesn't seem to work. What will happen?

Posted by: Brigitte on January 2, 2006

If you think about it, long and hard and harder and longer, it's really funny. Most kids applying to MIT think they're smart enough to get in, or parents are forcing them, so all of the tension that MIT's created, from uptight smart kids, that procrastinate nonetheless. I'm in the same boat as everybody else though, the website just stopped working for me about forty five minutes ago, maybe MIT's trying to teach some dense kids to relax and laugh at the crazy circumstances!

Posted by: Steve on January 2, 2006

I'm so sorry Matt, but this whole ordeal makes me feel sick to my stomache. Despite the fact that I had a delayed flight from New York, I still made it home by 9 PM this January 1, 2006. I had worked everything on a paper application and everything had been saved onto my laptop. Now when I finally was going to send it, KA PUM, site goes down. I'm guessing it's bandwidth. I had already sent Part 1 before this happened. What should I do? I'm insisting all through the night, if that's what it takes. Perseverance and patience.

Hope everything works out with the site.

SHF

Posted by: Santiago Hassig on January 2, 2006

Well, I can see that many people have been having the same problem as me with the site being down, so, I think I'm going to try and keep a light heart until tomorrow. To everyone who can't access their application: if everything is finished and sent in except for the application part 2, which is generally the case, I think they will be understanding if the site isn't allowing us to submit it. I say we all get to bed and let it all play out.

Posted by: Jen on January 2, 2006

I can see it being punishment to teach us never to procrastinate again. I know that I feel sick to my stomach with the idea of not being able to apply to MIT because of something stupid, like me waiting until the last minute. I definitely will remember this night as a reminder when the chance to procrastinate presents itself again.

Posted by: Michael Hollo on January 2, 2006

For any of you checking this site with regards to not being able to submit your application, the MIT site is back up and running and I just sent in my Part II at 1:10 A.M. Central Time. I hope MIT forgives my procrastination as I really would love to have the chance to go there next year.

Posted by: Michael Hollo on January 2, 2006

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Matt McGann '00