MIT staff blogger Chris Peterson SM '13

MIT Early Action Decisions Now Available Online by Chris Peterson SM '13

MIT Early Action admissions decisions for the Class of 2026 are now available in the application portal. To check your decision, login to the portal and visit your Application Status page. There, you will be able to see your decision by clicking View Update. There are no interim screens, so you should be sure you are prepared to receive your decision before you click View Update. 

This year, 14,781 students applied for early admission⁠01 This is a small decrease from <a href="https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/mit-early-action-decisions-now-available-online2020/">last year’s record high</a>, likely driven by endogenous factors, but still well above our pre-pandemic baseline of ~9,000 EA applications. to the MIT Class of 2026, and as of *checks watch* right now, we have offered early admission to 697. Though they are all different in their own way —  sailors and sculptors, aviators and architects, poets and poi spinners — they are united by a shared standard of rigorous academics, high character, and a strong match with MIT’s mission to use science, technology, and the useful arts to make the world a better place. We can’t wait to welcome them to campus to join the 4,529 outstanding undergraduates already enrolled at MIT. 

We deferred 9,489 applicants;⁠02 I know this looks like a large number, and it is. As a matter of philosophy, we have typically preferred to defer, rather than deny, a majority of our early applicants, because we want to make the most informed decision we can; the disruptions of the pandemic have only increased our inclination in this regard. these students will be reconsidered without prejudice in Regular Action. If you are deferred, you are not expected to send us any new information besides the February Updates and Notes Form, which will be posted in mid-January to your application portal. We have posted more information for deferred students here; you can also read posts from bloggers who were deferred here, here, here, here, and most recently here and here.  

Given the competitiveness of our pool, we have also informed 3,959 students that we will not be able to offer them admission this year. This decision has been made with care, and it is final. I know this can be a difficult decision to receive, but trust me: it works out okay in the end. Take a deep breath, shake it off, and go crush the rest of your college applications (or whatever else you choose to do) this year.

The balance of our applicants either withdrew from our process before we issued decisions or requested to be switched to Regular Action after applying, and we have honored their preferences accordingly.  

We recognize it’s a lot of effort for all of you to apply to MIT. It’s an honor and a privilege for us to read your applications. Thank you for sharing your story with us. 

Again, congratulations to the newest members of the Class of 2026. I’ll be closing comments on this post to focus the conversations on the open threads for admitted, deferred, and not admitted students.

All best, everyone; wishing you a healthy and happy end of 2021, and bright beginnings to 2022. 

  1. This is a small decrease from last year’s record high, likely driven by endogenous factors, but still well above our pre-pandemic baseline of ~9,000 EA applications.⁠ ↑
  2. I know this looks like a large number, and it is. As a matter of philosophy, we have typically preferred to defer, rather than deny, a majority of our early applicants, because we want to make the most informed decision we can; the disruptions of the pandemic have only increased our inclination in this regard.⁠ ↑