Online Decisions = YES by Ben Jones
Some great news.
We are pleased to announce that MIT admissions decisions will be made available online in addition to the standard postal mailing. We expect to release decisions on Saturday, March 18 at 12:00PM EST (Eastern Standard Time). If this date/time changes for any reason, it will be announced on MyMIT.
Decisions will be available to those who meet all of the following criteria:
- You have applied for freshman admission (not transfer or graduate).
- Your intended entry year (as designated in your MyMIT account) is 2006.
- You applied in Regular Action, or were deferred in Early Action (the system is unable to display decisions for those who applied in Early Action and received a “final” action in December – i.e. admitted or denied).
What is the process for receiving my admissions decision online?
In order to check your decision online, you will need to have registered for a MyMIT account and you will need to know your username and password. When decisions are released, simply visit https://decisions.mit.edu and log in using the same username and password that you use to log into your MyMIT account. There are no interim screens, so you should be sure you wish to receive your decision online before logging in to decisions.mit.edu.
If you are using “remember me” functionality with your MyMIT account, we strongly advise you to log out and log back in to be 100% certain that you know your correct username and password. We will not be in the office on the weekend that decisions are released, so to prevent any delays, you should confirm your username and password well in advance by logging into your MyMIT account.
What if I’ve forgotten my MyMIT password?
You may use our automated system to reset it. Simply visit my.mit.edu and click on the lost password link in the orange log-in box on the left. If you’re having trouble using our automated username/password recovery process, or if you’ve forgotten your username, please email [email protected] with your full name and mailing address. We’ll use this information to locate you in our system and reset your password within a few days.
What if I don’t have a MyMIT account?
If you do not currently have a MyMIT account and you wish to receive your decision online, you will need to register for one using your MIT ID, which was sent to you via postal mail soon after receiving your application. If you have misplaced your MIT ID, or if you never received it, you may call our office to get it (please note that you will be asked to give some personal information for verification).
If you register without your MIT ID, your username and password may not work on decisions.mit.edu.
Will there be any indication of my admissions decision in my MyMIT account?
Although they use the same username and password information for login purposes, decisions.mit.edu and my.mit.edu are intentionally distinct sites. This is to ensure that those who do not wish to receive their decisions online will not have to.
That said, admitted students will see the addition of the Admitted Student Portlet in their MyMIT account beginning on or after Thursday, March 23. (Rejected and waitlisted applicants will not see a change.) If you do not wish to receive your decision online and you have not received your postal letter by Thursday, you’ll want to take a brief vacation from your MyMIT account until your letter arrives in the mail.
Thats so so so so great!
Cheers!
=)
Tick…Tick…Tick…Tick…Tock…Booom!
~ thanks for goody good news … finally ~
Its time to thank all the people associated with the “Online decision” thing. Thank you very much for your hard work.
And are we the first batch of applicants to recieve decisions online in the history of MIT.
If yes then I feel lucky and far more excited.
Cheers!
PS: Fingers already crossed.
Bleh. I’m a big fan of waiting for the mail. But just about everyon disagrees with m. =)
not i, good laura!
i like the mail, its so much more personal than visiting a website or getting an email. i dunno, i cant really justify it i dont think. i just like getting mail!
actually, maybe i can justify it:
ive not been around for a/b 5 days, so i have 86 new emails in my inbox, none of it spam (spam has 13 new :D). my real, physical mailbox cant accomodate that many pieces of post. so, each one is worth more to me. and an mit decision is def worth something to me, so i’ll be waiting for the snail-mail.
Thanks guys.
They say decision’s will be available on March 18 (which, ironically enough, is my older brother’s birthday), but any word on when it’s expected for decisions to be mailed off? I’m planning on waiting, I’m just curious to know whether or not there’s Any overlap, or if decisions are going to be released right as it’s all put in the mail.
Thank you so much for your consideration and support! you guys are awesome! you can’t imagine how happy i am right now! no more painful mail waiting! Thank you really thank you!
Whatever is your decision (if i am adimited or not) I am sure is the right thing. Applying to MIT is one of the most exciting experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I really apreciate all you guys do. I don ‘t know any other university that is so close to students. You really care about us. Again thank you for everything: for the blogs, for myMIT account, for the online decisions, for your everyday updates about the admission process. You are by far the best admission officers in America!
Good luck to all applicants!
Thanks for the very careful explanation of the rationale and process behind this, Ben. Separating the decision portal from the information/tracking portal to avoid inadvertent disclosure is a fine idea. And I know that my son forgot his MyMIT password last year but didn’t have to reset it because he had a stored cookie: THE ADVICE TO LOGOUT AND BACK IN *NOW*, TO TEST YOUR PASSWORD (and reset it if necessary) IS EXCELLENT. I would advice anyone who wants to learn their decision online to take this advice NOW and be prepared, rather than moaning over that weekend.
THANK YOU to everyone involved in this careful and professional roll-out. From an IT professional and a parent, I say, “Well done!”
(And Laura, with the exception of overseas residents, I’m a fan of postal mail notification, too. Some things are just more amazing in real life: not everything in life is best if it is immediate. And waiting through the immediacy doesn’t change the answer in any way.)
YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good news, but darn, I’ll be at a math competition at that time. I’ll have to look for the nearest computer with an internet connection. Heh.
Hi Ben, just curious to know how much of application reading/selection process has completed by now?
Great news! Thank you Ben and all the members of the MIT community!
two thumbs up!
definitely great news!
however it would be good to know when the decisions would actually be mailed.
did anyone check out the decisions site? there is surely interesting stuff written on it. tells us how much MIT cares about its applicants. this surely is fantastic, and i believe MIT deserves the same from us!
am i the onlyone whos been to the site 5 times already? man,its gonna be hard staying away from the site after the 15th.
Thnaks a lot and good luck to everyone!!
Does “12:00 PM” mean noon or midnight? Midnight makes more sense, but we’re not sure. Thanks!
12:00PM is 12 Noon or 12 Midnight?
We are hoping to mail (via postal mail) around the same time, however after the EA mailing issues, I won’t be saying definitively that the letters are “in the mail” until I have confirmation that they indeed are.
12:00PM means noon. Midnight would be 12:00AM.
You the (wo)men.
You guys are great, the only way you guys can top this is if you except me. Tough task but I think MIT’s up for it lol Good luck to everyone, dont’t worry too much!!
Meh. I’m proud of you guys and very happy for the fact that this rollout is happening without a glitch (no pun intended) and very professionally. Surely you’ll have MIT applicants thanking you for years to come.
I, personally, would still wait for the mail, but that’s already been explained in an earlier comment.
Good job guys!
borski.
So – how soon before or after will decisions be mailed, or is it most likely to be almost concurrent?
I think the admissions process is like a band-aid: the more protracted it becomes, the more painful it is. If you are a lucky portion of the .1 who get admitted then it will be admittedly more fun, but seeing it online lets you tell everyone earlier!
my two cents
Once again MIT is the best!
The closer is the date, the more exciting it gets. I have been biting my nails for long enough. =) All of you guys who have applied EA can understand me.
I still don’t know whether I should wait for the snail-mail or just go with the internet version. both have positives and negatives to them. I mean, it feels completely different based on the way you get the letter – sets the mood. hehe.
One more thing. I want to thank the admissions office for all everything they did for us. (Heh, I sound like those guys on oscars. “And I also want to thank my family who have always supported me and kept telling me how great of an actor I am…”) But really, thanks. =)
Heck, I’ve already posted 3 times on Matt’s blog and I was the first to post there when i saw the change in the MyMIT site, but hey I have time to spare (not really, but don’t tell anyone =D)…
I just wanted to say something I haven’t elaborated on and some others have beat me to. It seems like the decision-making process is almost over, and the application process is definitely over. So, without further adue, I would like to wholeheartedly THANK the ENTIRE admissions staff, the MIT Tech team for their amazing job well done, and all the applicants who were posting on these blogs, as I really got to meet some interesting people here! I mean, come on, what other university in the WORLD is this personal with its applicants? Really now?! MIT is number one for me, and will remain number one whether I get accepted or not (Though I hope I do get in =) ) … To the admissions officers, keep up the excellent work you’ve been doing…you’re almost done! To everyone else, GOOD LUCK BECAUSE WE’RE GOING TO NEED IT…and I don’t mean good luck with decisions because that’s already been said like 5000 times… i mean good luck with the wait…I mean, now that we have a date I actually have something to look forward to and now the days on the calendar seem so far apart :( OH MARCH 18TH PLEASE COME HERE QUICKLY! I already mentioned this in Matt’s blog, but it just so happens that it’s my father’s bday :D Go figure, I hope that means I’m going to get a present from MIT =D
Take care everyone..and GOOD LUCK!
Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar
Wow, a friend who’s applying called me all excited. He said a week but it’s actually 12 days
A “calm down, guys. you all rock.” post from the MIT dean of admissions is like getting into a nice, warm bed after a nice, hot shower and falling asleep immediately. Very nerve easing.
I think it’s time The Marilee Jones writes us another one of her heartfelt letters.
(If she has time, that is!)
Or, alternatively, I could stop posting sappy things, and take a shower and a nap. :-D
w0000000000000t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One question: Will you still send the big envelope for admitted internationals through DHL or any other courier on March 18th? If so, admitted internationals would know by Wednesday if they do not want to see online desicions..
The waiting has offically begun.
TO those of you who have visited MIT, which dorm are you guys thinking of staying in if you get accepted and attend? I’m torn between Burton Conner and Simmons Hall.
P.S.- I’m never gonna be able to leave this site.
yes, no potential ulcers now =D
W00t?
I’ll be at school…staring at the digital clock…
waiting…
waiting…
and it hits me.
I’ll either be all for it.
Or dead.
Or maybe I’ll be too cowardly to check :D
Sounds like VERY GOOD
MIT is just SUPER
Now I am really going to be anxious!! Hope not to be on duty in the army on the 18th. A battalion is probably one of the very few places with no computer (at least with internet).
This is very exciting! =D Yea, I think the wait’s officially begun now. Heh… ^^;;
Woah, another Timur.
And yay for online decisions!
I was one of the deferred students who suffered from the EA mailing mishap, and, even though I can get it quickly and without bias online, I think that I will wait to recieve my decision via snail mail.
Woah..March 18th? That is GREAT! Why can’t all the other colleges be this efficient? Whether I’m excepted or not, I can’t wait for the news!
Thanks MIT!
FLAGRANT MIT AWESOMENESS
Wait (almost) over.
Online Decisions = Very Yes.
Sam: I also visited and I’m torn between Third East and Random House.
I’ll be at the same competition as Teck, hopefully Stetson U has wireless internet…? Although it is in the middle of nowhere, so I’m trying not to get my hopes up. If it doesnt work I’ll have to call someone and give them my password to find out.
YAY! I am soo glad. I was deferred too. I think that I will have to look mine up as soon as the clock hits 11 (I’ll be in Texas, ironically probably touring Texas A&M CC).
And, I am in love with Random House, but I haven’t checked out all of them.
I’ll be on a plane. ;_;
Maybe I’ll pay to hop on the wireless network when I land.
Will those of us who were deferred still get the pleasure of a tube or will it just be regular envelopes this time?
They probably did choose 12 noon EST because they figured people would be doing other things, avoiding possible server malfunction, although I doubt that sort of thing would happen on the MIT system. I remember I made a campus visit on feb. break in 2005 and it was HUGE news when a server was broken into, so I don’t think system maintenance will be the problem. Too bad ninety percent of us will be rejected. I’ve never been too good with those odds.
Ha, I just realized… if you guys got your comments e-mailed to you like people usually do on LiveJournal, having these blogs (or, more specifically, keeping up with the comments) would be a royal pain in the butt…
But yay for online decisions. I’m pretty sure I’ll be waiting for the decision to come via snail mail. I just hope I don’t break once I know the decision is actually online… ._.
The information saved me, waiting 1 month wating for the mail will surely kill me.
What happened with me now, can not concentrate on my calculus anymore. 12 days, that is still so painful.
soo.. since the decisions are online on a sat. does that mean that the letters are mailed earlier and therefore might be postmarked on pie day? thats all I’m worried about. decision pressure is too much, so its easier just to hope about small things like that….
MIT IS AWESOME!! WOOT
Waiting patiently and passionately!
Think about how many people are going to be on the MIT website at 12:00 PM EST. It’s going to be so backed up…
I will be in a freezer until May 5. Does that mean I can’t go to MIT even if I get in since it’s after the May 1 deadline?
demented brent!!! how’s it hanging?!!!
btw, its PI day, not PIE
___ no worries :D
no “decision pressure”, man, what happens will :D
btw, im waiting for mail decision, u??
phys exam hard, neh? im not going to check edline until i get back from california…. dont want to potentially ruin the vacation action :D i’ll be back in good old VA on the 16th but i wont show for school until the 17th (senior social!!!)
11 days, 2 hours and 26 minutes….ahh I can’t get off these blogs for some reason although there isn’t anything new to add….how about we have a world record for the most replies to a thread on this one :D It’s already past 70…might as well add a 1 to that and make it 170
Good Luck everyone…God knows we need it more than anyone!
Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar
This is great NEWS!
I know that my chances are low, but I already have a couple of ideas which would leave my mark on MIT. Instead of Pi day
I love you guys at MIT!!! Having already had to wait anxiously for early MIT letters/tubes to travel 2300 miles to Las Vegas, I am most definitely thrilled by the online check. Once again, you come through in the clutch.
Thank you so much,
My letter for deferment came almost the 30th and though I don
Ah 12 days left! The good news is, the 18th is the last saturday of my spring break so I will be… sitting at home because I have yet to make plans. Road trip anyone?
I kind of liked getting my decision the old-fashioned way. Everything’s so automated and digital these days. Here at MIT, everything is done online — but I’ll always remember the day I got my envelope. It’s a sort of symbolic manual thing that I appreciate, kind of like how we pre-register for our classes online, but actually have to file a paper reg form each term.
I agree with Laura, Siddharth, Anthony, etc. I like to receive the decision by snail mail or at least in an e-mail. Because there will be some thing for us to read again and again.
Future generations will probably see emails and online notifications as things of the past–and find themselves saying “I’ll always remember the day I got my acceptance letters in my GMAIL account!” =D
just like degree deodorant: kicks in in the clutch
http://www.degreedeodorant.com
lololol :D
I JUST LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE SO AMAZING!!! I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!!!!!
Hey American Indian Siddharth! (Siddharth Shah think). What’s the tension about. I’m definitely going to check my decision online, because I think admission chances are slim. Rather than being depressed if I’m not admitted, I’ll be ecstatic if I am.
You still haven’t told me how old you are, but I figure that you’re a tad older (than me) because you mentioned that you drive. Then again, how old do you need to be to drive there? It’s 18 here in India, and I’m just about 17.
Hooray for online decisions!
The Real Sid.
P.S.: Who posted with my name?
Wow, the 18th, two days after my birthday- an acceptance would be a great b-day gift!!
aw man
this is gonna be pure agony! but ah well…all must and will be faced
lets hope for the best, im guessing at this point that’s all thats possible :l
Hey everyone there is now 11 days 1 hour and 9 minutes left until admission decision!! Good luck to all!!!!
PS: Aziz it would be cool to countdown all the way to the last minute right?
ok, now THAT is just plain weird…
:D
haha Dani, it’s ON my birthday… :] tho im facin it headstrong!
haha Dani, it’s ON my birthday… but im taking it headstrong! :]
Hey everyone! I think that we should start an official countdown! Everyone who posts please include how much time is left until the online the decision is out!! There is 11 days and 33 minutes left!!
PS: I got the idea from Aziz! (thx for the inspiration)
Thanks!
Hey, “manish”..I’ve applied and gotten in to UIUC and GATech too. Just curious, what are you going for?
Thank you MIT people
You really are the best. I guess only collegeboard has hints of the genuine compassion and love you share for us, but you beat them too 
You are the champions 
It is not the fact that you renounced on your policy that is really overwhelming, but the fact that you did that FOR US (ie, as effect of consistent and insistent requests from us 
). That’s just so “FLAGRANTLY AWESOME” as dyzzy pointed out 
And finally I can see “the original Sid” who agrees with me. Of course, a bit of a tension will be there, but good things are still better to be looked at like gifts of life, not “lacks of disaster”
Thank you Ben !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is a real blessing for international students
Hey ‘The real Sid’/’The Original Sid’. Why so ticked off? After all I assume you became ‘the real sid’ just about two or three weeks ago?????
By the way, me Sid too (and been that way for nearly three years now!!!!). Pleased to meet you.
Hey Ben
I had recieved my decision for UIUC online, and although I was pleased because of getting admitted, I wasn’t very excited. All I got to see was an “Admit” on a bland webpage. But when I recieved my decision for GeorgiaTech by postal mail, I was thrilled to see a nice big packet which said “You’re a yellow jacket now!”, with a nice viewbook inside among many other things. It made the whole application process seem worthwhile, and I really wanted to go to GeorgiaTech after that. I’m sure that if I would have recieved a rejection instead, a sympathetic letter would have made it much more easier to handle than just a webpage that said “reject”.
Although everyone commenting on this blog is definately for online decisions, they represent a very small fraction of the people who have actually applied to MIT. But many of their concerns regarding the decisions reaching late and causing a lot of anxiety and stress need to be considered seriously. I suggest that MIT send the decisions out through postal mail in the middle of March, and also release them online on March 30th, just in case some people dont recieve their letters due to a glitch like the one that happened during Early Decisions, or because they live abroad.
Thanks for reading this awfully long comment!
PS- nice blog, I’ve been lurking around for a while now
Thumbs up man….
thats so awesome.. the admission officers’ hard work paid off…
Hey, it would be a nice idea to have a countdown clock on MIT decisions website. What you you say..??
You folks know that honestly you are more anxious about the countdown than the Admissions folks are. Since they are hoping to dispel some of the anxiety about the decision process, they’re unlikely to want to post a countdown clock on the website. I think you’ll have to run one on your own desktop.
18th.. hmmm. 11 days to go.
i meant pie…mmm… I like pie.
NSA sidd, I got a 98 on the physics exam what did u get hmmm? and I also got a perfect score on the calculus exam…hahahaha….I’m a nerd but its ok.
March the 18th better be my lucky day.
I’m glad that decisions are being posted online. It speeds up the waiting game, but it will still be nice to get a decision (acceptance, not rejection) in the mail. Rejections are OK online, but acceptances deserve a special sort of touch which can’t be gotten on a webpage.
Hey Ben, will you look at my A Level marks too, as well as my SAT I and II? I didnt do too well on the SAT I Crit reading section, but I did well on the SAT II Maths (2c) and Physics.
Waiting for the 18th.
Wow. I’m freaking out. I can’t decide if I want to look online in 11 days or wait for my mail… Either way, I have butterflies in my stomach! I want to go to MIT sooo bad!
Thanks. Getting decisions online is great.
But I guess now the really agonising anxiety really begins.
I love it!
Is it me, or time is slower than usual???
This 11 days are really like years for me. I don’t know whats happening, and I have a very bad problem. A can’t concentrate well when I try to study, I keep thinking and thking about MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT MIT everyday long. Ben I am very sorry, I know you must be bored to hear this from every international applicant but… Has international selection already started?
P.D: I wish I could sleep 11 days long, and wake up on Saturday 18th at 11:59 a.m. hahaha
I can’t leave the blogs!!!!! hahahaha
As time get closer, I really become more anxiuos, I am not very confident about being acepted because here I have met such amazing ppl but who knows? maybe the 18th is my lucky day!
You must be tired but….GOOD LUCK to everybody!
To “The original Sid”:
there IS no tension, is what im saying. stressing over it isnt going to change the decision. obviously i’ll be curious etc but nothing i do now is going to CHANGE anything. might as well sit back and enjoy the wait. go to california, for example :D
oh, and btw, im an Indian American, not an American Indian. American Indian = Native American (like, Cherokee or Creek), which i am not :D
and seriously, aren’t the Native Americans sick of being called American Indians?? its a 500-year-old mistake!!!
im 16 years old. the driving age varies by state here in USA. virginia is 16 years, 3 months or something like that. im going to court march 27 to get my final driver’s license (right now i can drive, but i dont yet have the actual driver’s license, its just a learner’s permit and a paper from my driving school). i’ll turn 17 on april 6.
i can understand for int’l applicants checking online decisions, and its fine for domestic too, but i just like a couple of old-fashioned-and-personal things :D
manish, where are u from? and what date would “Phi day” be??
just how many Sid/Sidd/Siddharth’s are there??
(just how many Jade Fox’s are there?” yay for crouching tiger, hidden dragon, which i never completely saw)
oh, long post…. :(
A wonderful decision by MIT! Thanks.
“I live overseas in Peru and our postal service sucks”
You are totally right Dannel! I am from Peru too. Where r u from? Lima?
Again… GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY!
You wants to bet that MIT’s servers won’t be able to handle the number of applicants trying to check their decision at noon on the 18th.
Ahh, I’ll be at Science Olympiad, as will around 500 other science nerds, significant portion of whom I expect will be anxiously waiting to get back home…
Oh well…It’d be nice if the decisions were sent out earlier in the day, so that everyone could check before going wherever.
I may just end up waiting for the mail!
No tubes, by the by, to whomever asked. Too many papers this time. But maybe, just maybe, the confetti?
This is awesome news!!! I was deffered EA and my country’s mail system is a complete mess, so the physical letter arrived sometime in late january. But then again, that might be because my address was a bit weird then…Anyways, online decisions are a really great thing for me. I agree that there is a certain joy in the anticipation of waiting for snail mail, but I’m REALLY impatient when it comes to these things.
The only bad thing for me is that I have this lunch-party thing for one of my friends at 12:30, so I’ll be logging on the 18th at 12 and then going off to the party in high spirits or really glum. Hahaha. But at least the agony of waiting will be over!!!
let’s change the topic of this page:
predicted AIME scores, anyone?
“Hey, it would be a nice idea to have a countdown clock on MIT decisions website. What you you say..?? “
anonymous I agree with you
Funny how this post looks precisely the same as the email I received. Do I smell recycling?