Admissions updates by Matt McGann '00
...including the state of the mail and EA application tracking.
Early Action updates
Please continue to be patient with the application tracking system. We are receiving buckets and buckets and buckets of mail to open and process, and we are doing so as quickly as possible. Please do not harass your teachers or counselors if you don’t yet see a recommendation on the application tracking system. Allow two weeks from submission date for documents to show up in the tracking system — this means there may still be documents mailed in late October that have not yet been processed. When we are up-to-date with mail processing, we will let you know on the blogs. Until that time, relax.
Don’t worry about the Mid-Year Grade Report until January, unless you’re on a trimester system.
I don’t yet know on what date we will release early action decisions. We have in the past preferred to release decisions on a Saturday; December 13 or December 20 would be the likely dates, but it could be any day in December. We have not yet made that determination, and any speculation on specific dates for decisions would be just that — speculation. I promise you that as soon as we know what day decisions will be released, we will let you know.
A few leftover questions from the EA deadline: we will not be enforcing a hard cutoff at the deadline for this year’s early action; no need to worry if you clicked submit a bit after midnight, you will still be considered for early action. Also, we have said that we will be flexible with word limits and with essay formatting; if the online submission was badly misformatted, you can mail in a correctly formatted version.
Regular Action updates
The deadline to schedule your interview if you are applying for Regular Action is December 10. If you haven’t yet contacted your Educational Counselor (interviewer, or EC), I recommend you do so very soon (right now is a great time)! You can find your Educational Counselor’s name and contact information on your MyMIT page. Note that this deadline is before many ED/EA schools release their decisions, so if there is a chance you will be applying to MIT, I recommend you go ahead and have your interview now.
January is the last month for Regular Action applicants to take required standardized tests. There are a number of options to fulfill the stardardized test requirements, including the ACT and the TOEFL, but if you will be taking the SAT Reasoning Test or SAT Subject Tests, remember that the late registration deadline for December is one week from today, and that the January registration deadline is December 26. If you take the January test, you must list MIT as a school to receive your scores.
And, of course, January 1 is our postmark and online submission deadline to apply for Regular Action.
Updates for Applicants from India & China
Outside of the United States, India and China are our largest applicant countries (which makes sense, since these are the world’s most populous countries). I have a few updated notes for applicants in these countries.
For applicants from India: You must submit your Part 1 (the Biographical Information Form) before having an interview. The Part 1 is not very time consuming, as it does not require any essays, but does require that students either pay the application fee of US$65 or obtain a fee waiver. Fee waivers may be obtained from a student’s guidance counselor or school official and are available to domestic and international students.
For applicants from China: We have added new high schools to our high school database. These high schools are not included in the College Board list of CEEB codes and may not be choices in other schools’ drop-down menus, so be sure to review all of these choices in the high school list from China before clicking the “I cannot find my school” button.
Also for applicants from China, please note that interview assignments will be changing soon. Due to the large number of applicants in China, we will not be able to offer an interview to every student in China; many students’ interviews will be waived, as they are in other countries where we do not have sufficient interview coverage. If the admissions committee needs more information on a student with a waived interview, we will not hesitate to contact you and perhaps do an interview at a later date.
For all applicants
I hope your senior year is going well, and that you are enjoying your year in addition to your college applications. Best wishes!
@ akash and Hiral
While this link does not state how many applications were received from India, it does state that currently in the entire undergraduate population of MIT there are 31 students who are citizens of India. Of the graduate population, there are 237 students from India. There is no listing of their profile. Here is the link:
http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/stats/geofinal.html
This site also shows how many students are from each state in the U.S. and how many students are from each foreign country. The information is very interesting – take a look!
Should I be calm, scared or “bold”. I cannot imagine M.I.T giving me a nod. I like your blog, keep your good works!!!
How can I tell which standarized tests are missing from my files? Do you wait on all documents before you start reading?
@matt
thankx for the information there
but i would like to ask you i have’nt given any advanced placement exams kinda thing in our country *india* . . .so will their absence it affect my application in any way ?
i found that link very useful …..
thanks for that too
i completely missed a lot of things up there ….
i mean that i havent given any AP’s coz there are’nt any in my country
Hi,
How big the pool this year?
whoops, in my haste meant to say “how big do you think the EA pool will be this year”
@Timur: We’ll announce that in a few weeks. We’re still counting applications as we process the mail.
Hello!
For those of us who took Nov. 1 SAT II’s, do you wait for those scores to come in before reading the apps?
Once the admissions officers know the date for early action decisions, will it be emailed to applicants or should we check the website ourselves?
Also, out of curiousity, why Saturdays?
What should we do if we are on a trimester system?
“I hope your senior year is going well, “
It was going well until I got sick in the first few days and quite often since then. :(
anonymous: So then those that don’t make it have a chance to recover before they return to school. Actually, it’s probably due to some aspect of the process of informing the students being easier when they are out of school or something like that.
Clara I.: I think it is supposed to be your first set of grades you receive. So on a trimester system, you would send your grades in after the first trimester (I don’t know if that’s right, my school is on a quarter/semester mix of a system).
My school sent out my secondary school report and transcripts on Oct. 22 but they still haven’t been processed. However my teacher sent his recommendation on Nov. 1 and it has been processed. Should I have my counselor fax them again?
Please, please, for my sanity, allow the decision date to be earlier than later.
But I suppose a decision date is a decision date (by the identity property! nerd fact!), so I won’t be too heartbroken.
Thanks for the update!
I had my interview in october…but have not submitted part 1 yet….will this effect my application…
P.S I am from India
I had my interview in october…but have not submitted part 1 yet….will this effect my application…
P.S I am from India
I am from pakistan and the name of my EC appears on mymit account but it disappears the other day. This is continuing for a week. What should I do?
Yes, my interviewer told me that many applicants from India often have the interview but end up not applying after all. He wanted to know if I had applied. I had done so, at that time.I enjoyed applying.
In the “Early Action Updates” section, you said
“Don’t worry about the Mid-Year Grade Report until January, unless you’re on a trimester system.” What do you mean by “unless you’re on a trimester system”? My high school is on a trimester system, and I won’t have my first-term grades until January.
I had my interview in october…but have not submitted part 1 yet….will this effect my application…
P.S I am from India
I am from India and applied early action. I sent the secondary school transcript and teachers recommendations together. MyMIT has processed Evaluation A but not Evaluation B or the secondary school transcript.
Should I panic?
(It’s been 2 weeks since I sent them.)
I’m not too worried about when my recs and mid year school report will be processed but do you guys at the admissions office have enough time to read and decide if you’re processing mail into the end of October? (whoa run on sentence) Anyways have fun; I know I am.
Matt is for real. I can attest to the BUCKETS of mail that are sitting in the Admissions Office. I’ve never seen so much mail in my life except at the post office.
So don’t harass the adcoms too much, they are human too
@ Vinay
I think international students cant apply for the early application.. http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/early_action_versus_regular_action/index.shtml So dont worry…if u r nor Us citizen then ur application will be processed under regular action and for that you have plenty of time so dont worry and no need to panic
What is the fax number to fax materials to the admissions office?
Yeah, I had an experience with buckets of mail once (many of them packages actually) at summer camp that had to be sorted as quickly as possible and…yeah…I was late for lunch that day. As much as I was overwhelmed I’m sure it wasn’t remotely as huge as the buckets you guys have. So good luck with your buckets, and I definitely have not and will not tell my mom that a couple of things haven’t shown up because she’s sure to make me unnecessarily pester people.
Hey Matt. Do fine arts supplements (I’m a violinist) go through the you, and should we have received confirmation of receipt by now? I sent audition tapes in over email and don’t know if they were eaten. Thanks.
dear matt…
how many applicants do you get from India and how many qualify??
Also, India seems to be largest country commenting on this site!
I have already submitted my part I and I also have my interview tomorrow, wish me luck.
Question! (not necessarily for Matt but for anyone who knows the answer)
I know that my guidance counselor sent the secondary school report and transcript in the same envelope as my two teacher recommendations, but only the teacher recommendations are in the tracking system. Is this a cause for concern or should I wait a few more days?
My teacher sent in the recommendation form about a month ago, and it still hasn’t been processed. should i be worried about this?
I second Claire: Let the decision date be earlier!!
My school is ridiculously slow at sending midyear reports. Will this be a problem?(We are on a trimester schedule, and I handed in the form already).
Whew! Thank goodness. I was getting a little worried that my second TE was the only thing not in (especially since it was the one done by my slacker teacher, lol) but now I feel much more relieved and confident that it must be somewhere in that giant pile of mail. Thank you for this blog! ^^
@ kelly
i had the same issue, but now everything is accounted for. it might take a few days, but it should all show up soon.
i hope the EA decisions are made before dec 20, because im leaving the country for a vacation with my family, and i can’t wait to find out! i’m so nervous!
although this is my first ever comment but i’ve never missed any of ur entries (esp. regarding the finaid). so what does the stats. say about the no. of indian students applying every year to the UG course and what is their profile like?
I would also like to know about what akash asked for.
Ok, this makes me feel better because one of my teacher recommendation s isn’t showing up and I don’t want to keep asking him because he’s said he has sent it in.
I need to chill out.
I submitted my Part1 and then took the Interview. It was great! The EC was superb and told me a lot about MIT ,which made me more wanting to go there.
No surprise that The largest number of applicants are from India and China. The deal is, how many of those will get in! *Tries to be Hopeful*
All the best to all.May the guys and gals who deserve to get in, do…
PS:I am from India
Hi Matt, I am a PRC citizen by currently studying in Singapore. My EC is based in Shanghai however and I realized out schedules do not allow a face-to-face interview. I have sent an email to the [email protected] and expect to have an answer before things really tighten up. It is perfectly fine with me if another EC based in Singapore can be assigned to me. Thanx
Excuse me, Matt, I have a question posted too late for you to notice from your previous entry:
“I somehow forgot to mention National Merit Semifinalist and Nation Hispanic Scholar [on the awards list]. Would those be… important enough to send in a proper resume if I don’t get accepted Early Action? Or since that’s public information, do you already have that [in each applicant’s file]?”
@Anon11:15pm: We do not wait for November scores to begin reviewing applications. The November scores will arrive, though, before we enter selection committee and start admitting people.
@Anon11:18pm: When we know the date, it should be put on the website and emailed. Saturday is a good day to release decisions for many reasons; one of those reasons is that many Guidance Counselors have asked us to release decisions on a Saturday.
@Clara: Students on a trimester system should have their first trimester grades sent in when the first trimester is complete.
@Anon12:50am: It shouldn’t affect your application, but please submit your Part 1 soon.
@Saad: The information on your MyMIT account is current.
@Tiffany: No need to worry. We’ll have plenty of time to make thoughtful reviews of all of the applications.
@Anon2:17am: I’m sorry, I don’t have country-by-country numbers to release.
@Dongliang: It’s been fixed; you now have an EC in Singapore.
@Anon10:14am: On your Application Tracking on MyMIT, if you click on “Details” in the upper-right corner you will see the specific tests we have. You can compare that with our testing requirements.
@Navdeep: No, it will not impact your application; we know that almost no schools in India offer Advanced Placement exams.
@Anon12:14pm: Don’t worry yet about materials that haven’t been processed; I’ll let you know.
@Molly: That’s fine, we’ll look for your first trimester grades in January.
@Vinay: No, don’t panic. Please be patient as we process documents.
@Merritt: I’m sorry, there is no confirmation for music supplements. It goes directly through the Music Department.
@Kelly: I’d wait a few more days.
@Anon2:40pm: Not yet; I’ll let you know when we’re up-to-date with the mail processing.
@Watson: No, this isn’t a problem.
@Narce: Sure, those are reasonable things to include in an update if you’re deferred.
@Angela: Hold of on the faxing a little while longer. I’ll let you know.
@Avneet: I don’t have any solutions for you; it sounds like taking the TOEFL in December may help you with all of your applications, not just MIT.
@Mitch: You should fill out the Conducted Interview form on the MyMIT Application Tracking.
Thank you for this post! :D
@Avneet: For MIT, you need
a) SAT 2 scores
b) Either SAT 1 scores or TOEFL scores. So, if you haven’t taken TOEFL but have taken SAT 1,it should be okay with MIT. Can’t say the same about other colleges,though.
My school sent out my transcript October 7th and it never showed up in the tracking system; they mailed another copy on October 30th. Since the first one inexplicably went missing, I’m a little paranoid right now – I understand that mail is a bit backlogged now, but how long should I wait before I start asking the school to fax things? I don’t want to send extraneous copies, but I definitely don’t want parts of my application to be missing…
I’m a Permanent Resident of U.S. and have applied to MIT in EA program. I came to US last year and since English is not my first language, I’ll be taking TOEFL in December, 2008. I don’t know how the scores will work because there’s no exam before December. And the deadlines for the EA applicants to submit their scores is in November. I would really appreciate if you have any suggestion/solution for me. Thanks
Hooray, the last piece of my application showed up over the long weekend =D It’s great to know you guys are working through the holidays to try to process our apps.
@Matt & Monorina
Thanks, for considering my question.
You won’t believe that how complex my case is. I studied in India for 15 years, till 10th Grade and then moves to U.S. I gave Xth grade Indian Board exams and got good grades in it, but it’s not possible to convert them in letter grades. I’m getting so many problems in all of my apps since I have to explain everything.
The main concern is that if I would be considered more of an international applicant, since I pursued most of my courses in India, or as an domestic applicant just because I’ll be here for two years before going to college?
My only chance for a SAT test is of Jan 24, 2009. But they don’t allow SAT-I & SAT-II both tests at the same day. So what should i do?
Waiting For Your Quick Reply!
@Narce: If you applied Early Action, I would actually recommend sending an update with those awards right now. Then they will be able to take those honors into account in both the Early Action cycle and (if necessary) the Regular Action cycle.
@Angela: I would personally hold off on faxing things for now. Give it about another week to see if it shows up, and stay tuned for updates about the mail on the blogs. At the very least, call the Admissions Office before you fax anything so they can give you a latest-news update on the state of the mail.
Oh, glad to find that there are Indians selected, A ray of hope for me!
please i wans register with this college please lead me through.
Yay!! I wasn’t sure if you already had those things since many colleges already sent recruitment letters mentioning that they knew I held those titles, so thanks much for the info!
I’ll make sure to send a full resume if I need to!
@ Emmanuel – Ajayi,
All the information is given HERE. Let me know if I helped you a bit.
Actually I’m a US citizen so i am allowed to apply EA
What should I do if a file is complete except for the alumni interview which was done a long time ago? Would a file be evaluated as complete without the alumni interview., especiall since they ar enot required. I know teacher recs can be faxed, but would it be improper to contact the interviewer to let he or she know that the summary was never received?
Hey Matt- I would just like to say as an early action applicant, your updates are very helpful and reassuring to us seniors who are counting down the days
Thanks alot-
Laura
my college doesnt issue 11th grade reports as they arent considered here we didnt even have proper terms so what should i do i only have my 8th,9th nd 10th grades
(IM FROM INDIA)
@madmatt : You said that fee waivers are available in India, but I don’t have a guidance counsellor. Whom should I contact ?
Dear Matt Mcgann
My SAT scores are 670M 600CR 500W. Do I stand a chance for admission into MIT?Please advice me.
hey matt…
i just read ur entry dated 8th july 2005… http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/meet_the_admissions_officers_m.shtml u said lagaan was ur fav. movie….is it still ur fav…well if u like indian movies we can tell you some awesome productions….. A Happy Indian
ppl out of india also like bollywood
@ Younis
I had that problem applying for EA. You could try taking the ACT+W, since it’s an either/or option between ACT and SAT I. Then you could take the SAT II on the day they offer it.
Matt, should we call the admissions office to check if a supplementary recommendation has been received? Also, when would you expect to receive SAT scores for the November test?
@ SAT – The admit rate for those with math scores in your SAT range is 10%, and for those with CR scores in your range is 9%. So in short – yes, you do have a shot. Obviously your chances aren’t as high as someone who has a 2400, but Matt and the other admissions officers have made it pretty clear that there is no minimum SAT, and that standardized tests aren’t even that important in the application.
If you think you could do better if you take the test again, though, it might be a good idea to retake it in December or January (if you’re applying RA or get deferred)
@Avneet:
MIT classifies domestic applicants as US citizens or green card holders. The international applicant pool is more competitive because MIT has a cap of 8% on admitted international students.
Best of luck
@ Isuru
I can only answer a couple of your questions. Regarding the SAT Reasoning Test, I think more than 700 is competitive.
By seeing your SAT subject tests scores, though, I think that that won´t be hard for you. all teacher recs must mailed as a matter of fact, MIT does not have an online system for teachr/counselor recs like in the comon application. And your EC email (interviewer) weill be provided when you pay the fee. If there is not one availabe, they will waive your interview (which, according to many people, does not disadvantage you in any way. Dont know if its true)
@ Matt (or anyone else)
Since everyone seems to be worried about whether or not their stuff is in this massive pile of mail, why don’t you just make sure to tell us when you’re done with the bulk, so that we know when we’re supposed to worry? Or would that cause more trouble then it would solve?
thanks lexy!I am retaking the SAT1 in january2009.
hi,
I have alot of questions.
1)I did Sat subject tests on 0ct4th
Got 800 for maths2,phy, chem ech (altogether2400/2400)
I’m doin Sat subject reasoning tests in dec.
How much would be enough to get me accepted.
My high school record is great.
I am a citizen of Sri Lanka. Did edexcel AL
plus the local srilankan AL both.
2)Do all applicants have an interview. Like ones here.
3)Theres a problem with my name
I have 4 initials. For most of my certificates all of them appear. But since in SAT u can enter a first name , middle name & surname the first 2 dont appear in the score report.Would that cause a problem?(most guys in my country do have alot of names,)
1 more question
can i apply online & send the things that i cant send online like teacher recommendation sheets by post
would that cause a prob?
*i’m doin sat reasoning in dec
small error in 1st note which says
“SAT subject reasoning”
If one of our recommendations is indeed missing, even after all the mail has been opened and processed, will we have a chance to have our counselor/teacher mail it in again? and without being penalized? Thank you.
Don’t worry guys, most of you won’t make it, and those of you who do will wish you had never applied.
Nobody’s going to listen to this comment, but whatever.
hey, thanks for this post
my school’s on a quarterly schedule; we’ve finished the first quarter already, but end our second quarter, and thus our first semester in january.
should I send in the first quarter report for EA, or wait til january?
thanks!
Heyy, Lagaan is one of your fav movies? wow.
After all is said and done with the mail… if for some reason you still do not have one of my teacher’s evaluation, would I be given the opportunity to have my teacher fax it to you? I know it was sent twice…
Thanks for your reply
@ Anon,
What do u think about my name.
U an Indian????
Man i have schooled in India……….
any update??
any update??
“Don’t worry guys, most of you won’t make it, and those of you who do will wish you had never applied.
Nobody’s going to listen to this comment, but whatever.”
Now that’s just a cruel thing to say! It’s a fact that most people here will not be accepted early or even at all, but I can’t imagine almost any people disliking MIT once they’ve been accepted!
My dad didn’t do that well when he attended, but he never once regretted coming to MIT!
I can’t handle the wait! Absolutely terrified!
Hi Matt-
1. Cheers to you for keeping up with these intensely stressed-out commenters! (No offense, everyone)
2. As a potential domestic transfer applicant, are my chances better in February, since Sept. is open to both US and international transfer students?
Thanks in advance, and sorry if #2 is a little off-topic.
oh wow
its that time of the year again
good luck prospies
is the application tracking function updated in real time? in other words, is there any benefit to checking more that once per day?
I am a kenyan citizen and i wish to apply for regular action, what are the requirements for me to qualify for admission.
It has been 5 weeks since teacher rec form A was mailed. Can we fax it now since it still has not surfaced?
What if a piece of information was incorrect? One the the scores given for an SAT subject should be 10 points higher. Is there a way to correct this?
I listed my parents as separated (I live with my mom) on my application, but their divorce became final on 10/21/08 after I submitted my EA application. Should I write a letter to the Admissions office notifiying them of the change in personal information?
Hi Matt
I am INDIA.The MIT form asks to fill up name in a specified format. Since I’ve always written my name like this -‘ABHILASH I.G’ I’m confused.What should I do?
Also the Teacher Evaluation Form A asks for a science or math teacher.Does Comp. Science come under it bcoz our comp. sc. teacher is the only one who has known me for a long time as we’ve been involved in a lot of projects. The PHY and CHEM techers have shifted from our school and we have new teachers.Will it affect my admission?
Also how do I get the fee waiver?
hi matt i really want to know this. i’m from a very small town and may be the first one in the whole region to apply consequently i’ve not participated in many scholarship tests as a simple reason i was not aware about them. also my school doesn’t provides a lot of ECs.
so the question is are these factors considered while judgeing the applications? if yes what else is considered then. I’m from india.
is a maths 730 and physics 640 good enough for MIT ?????
@ Matt/ Anon
What scores would play a bigger role in determining my€ entrance 2 MIT:SAT subject tests or reasoning??
Why isn’t writing considered much in entrance 2 a lot of univs? Is it because it was introduced recently.
A question regarding the teacher evaluations forms: Can they be written by teachers who taught me in Grade 9 or 10, or does it have to be only Grade 11 and 12? Does MIT have a preference?
@ SRV
Maybe you should consider retaking the tests.
10% of all students that took Math 2 and Physics have 800 on those exams.another 10% have between 760 and 790.
@isuru
Do not worry about SAT2 if you have 3 800’s.
Do you get the SAT2 results on a printed form? Look there for the stats. Only students hoping to get to very good schools take in fact the SAT2, and there are a lot of 800’s there. And I suppose almost all with 800’s in Math2 and Sciences are trying to get into MIT, also.
What about your research project essay; is this a sound one?
@ Alex,
No what i meant was the 10% thing. I thought 10% of all applicants who get admittedto MIT have 800 in those-but what u meant was that 10% of all ppl who sit get 800 right?
To tall u the truth I knew very little about MIT until very recently. I got to know the admission procedure very recently. I thought u had 2 submit 1 short essay & long essay only as a freshman applicant?
@ ALex,
I did 3 subjects FOR SAT subjects-maths2,phy,chem. (All 800)
Would doing 3 subjects improve my chances for admittance compared to a person who did 2.
(Where do u find the stats about the SAT subject stuff?)
@ Anon,
I did SAT reasoning in nov.
Have 800math, 700 CR & 720 Writing. I had applied for dec even before I did the nov tests. Do u think I should do the tests in dec. I guess i can improve in CR.