Even More for Admitted Students: Share Your Story by Jess K. '10
Another open thread for '11s.
So you got into MIT. Congratulations!!
Today is December 13, which means it’s exactly one year to the day when I discovered I got in. In honor of that anniversary, I’d like to hear your stories. I know you all found out online this year, which in my opinion is far less exciting than a giant postal tube, but it’s still an exciting thing. ARE you excited? How excited? How did you react when you found out you were going to be a part of the Class of 2011? Did you dance? (I did!)
One year ago, I hadn’t been thinking about it. Literally, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind for a month. I was barely reading the blogs, just trying to get two scholarships and the Stanford app done (I ended up never applying there, actually). Only two kids from my school applied to MIT early action – Curtis, a good friend since fourth grade (and a freaking genius) and myself, so I only ever talked about it to him, really. I actually even refused to tell other people where I’d applied early, or that I’d applied early at all. But somehow, that day was the first day we actually began talking about it since we had turned in our apps. (When I was YOUR age, we didn’t have online decisions.) Anyway, I made some comment like “I wish they didn’t do the big envelope/small envelope thing,” to which he replied, “No, they don’t send big envelopes. They send tubes.” This just got me even more depressed, because I was sure I wasn’t getting a tube, and I wanted at least some way to mentally prepare before I read the words on the page.
So I’m driving home and I pull into my driveway and my mailbox is open – but I didn’t let myself hope – I just thought, it probably fell open or the mailman forgot to shut it or whatever. So I parked my car and – calmly – walked out to the mailbox.
And there was the tube.
I screamed. I stood there in front of the mailbox, on the street, screaming my head off.
Then I did a victory dance. (Scared the crap out of my dog, too.)
When my sister got into college two years ago, she tricked my mom into thinking she hadn’t gotten in. So I did the same thing – after I came home from swim practice later that night (yes, the first person I told I got into MIT was my swim coach), I hid the tube under my desk, took out the letter, and stood at the door when my parents came home. My dad walked in first, so I told him I got deferred before giving them the letter. He took the letter, skimmed it, said “Oh, good job,” and then went into the living room to do his Sudoku puzzles.
“Mom, I got deferred from MIT.”
“Oh…well, that’s okay.”
I gave her the letter.
“AHHHHHH!!”
My mom then proceeded to call our entire extended family.
So now it’s your turn to open up. Anybody have any particularly good admit stories to share? How did you find out? How did you react? Are you still celebrating? I think I still am, after a year (even though it’s a week ’til finals. When did THAT happen? I’m almost done with my first semester at MIT. You guys are almost done with high school. Man, the passage of time is a scary thing).
Firsty Post!!!
My aunt was in Stop and Shop when I called her and she started to scream for about 10 min.; the manager came to ask her is she was ok!
I heard over the phone that she told him that her nephew got into MIT!
I’m still in shock….
Lol i was so excited that I typed in Firsty…I meant First!!
I had totally convinced myself that I was getting deferred – I know a bunch of really competitive students in the county, and was just resigning myself to reading the deferral. And then I opened it online and didn’t even read past the first sentence, started screaming and running around trying to find my mom.. My mom started screaming too, and we started calling everyone. My entire English class screamed CONGRATULATIONS at me; it’s spreading throughout the school.
And yes, I’m still excited. Every day I tell myself “You got into MIT!!!” Wow.
I’m the only person from my school who applied (EA or regular) and I’ve never visited the campus, so even though MIT’s always seemed like my dream school, I’ve never thought MIT would think so.
I knew I wouldn’t get anything done on Saturday morning before it went up (I had a huuuuge semester-long project due the next week), so I decided to sleep in late. My mom woke me up at 10:52 am (it went up at 11 am my time), handed me a cup of coffee, and turned on my computer, saying “I HAVE TO KNOW! LOG IN!”
Seeing the blog about who was/wasn’t admitted before I logged in got me really intimidated. I was so tense, my hands were shaking, and my mom was leaning over my shoulder – me still in my PJs, hair askew, barely awake! I must have typed in my login (although I can’t remember…) and all of a sudden it popped up on the screen: “It is my pleasure to offer you…”
I barely had time to register those words when I jumped out of my chair screaming. My mom shrieked and both of us burst into tears and jumped up and down, crying. Our screams scared my little sister, who had no idea what was going on, and it was at least five minutes before we could explain it to her.
Then I called everyone I could think of on my cell phone, while my mom did the same.
I went out that afternoon and chopped off all my hair – as a celebration.
It took my until yesterday to read the whole letter because everytime i get through the first line I’m too happy to continue
i figured i was deferred too.. so i was shocked (in a good way) when i read my acceptance letter online. then i got my tube, with the confetti & the poster inside =)
also,jess… i saw you once a few months ago at an info session at kresge when i was signing in.. and i went, hey, i think i read your blog once! and you laughed and turned to your friend and said something along the lines of being a celebrity. anyways, looking back on that now, & how nervous i was about getting in… it seems weird to think that i might get to go to MIT now too =)
(okay, I know I’m deferred but I’ve a good story nonetheless..) so I went to the orthodontist today, and he asked what I was planning for college. So I answer “MIT is my top choice, but I was deferred” and he gapes at me, while his lower jaw starts twitching.. he is beyond speaking capability for about two full minutes, but then proceeds with fixing my retainer. He can’t speak of anything else besides MIT and Boston for the rest of the appointment .. I think to some extent he might be more excited about the prospect of MIT than I am.. but only to some extent (I wasn’t the one who started twitching..
)
I found out by accident too. I was under the impression that I wouldn’t be able to know about it until Monday online, so I was just double checking my application status Sunday night in the middle of annotating, and then I pulled it up. I read it. I didn’t really know what I read. Then it dawned on me and I read it again. I honestly thought i pulled up a prank site or something for the first three minutes, then I realized that it was true.
After jumping up and down and shaking with excitement, I told my dad in the most coherent sentence I could muster (which wasn’t very coherent at all). Then I told my three of my five closest friends. Needless to say that I was too excited to finish annotating that night. Oddly enough, way more people found out about it than I had planned to tell. It really is a strange experience.
My story is pretty much like everyone else’s.
I was checking my email on sunday night, when I read one from a friend of mine who applied early, as I did. His message was short: “So…accepted/deferred?”, and he gave a link to the online notification page.
After reading the intimidating message “DO NOT PROCEED UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU WANT TO FIND OUT ONLINE!!! OR ELSE!”, I weighed my options. I had not been glued to my computer as some of guys were; I didn’t even know that the letters were going out this week. I was pretty sure I was going to get deferred at best- after all, your worst critic is yourself. I clicked “Ok, your funeral…” and the letter came up instantly. I read the first line, and for the first time since I can remember, I lost the ability to read. I sat there for a few minutes wondering if the site was legit, then I guess I yelled “Holy Crap!” really loud and scared my family. I went outside for a few minutes in the semi-cold and decided that it wasn’t a dream or anything. After that, it’s pretty much the same as everyone else.
lol…i meant some of you guys, not some of guys
Well, unlike many of you who had no idea you would receive your decisions online… I knew perfectly. I didn’t want to tell anyone WHEN I would receive the decision because I was so sure that I would be deferred (like many of you have already said) that I didn’t want to experience the embarrassment. I told my mom, dad, and my microeconomics teacher that I would receive the decision Saturday… but didn’t specify an exact time.
So I woke up at about 7:30 AM; I couldn’t sleep! My mom was actually out for the morning at the gym and my little brother spent the night at a friend’s house. I was home alone which made the time pass soooo slowly. I called a friend to chat a bit, watched part of the movie “Swim Fan,” and ate breakfast. My mom called me at around 10:30 to tell me that she was going to get her nails done. When it was time for me to log in and receive my decision, I was still home alone. Like many of you have mentioned, the first sentence of the letter confused me: “On behalf of the admissions….” The first time I read it I leaped out of my chair and ran across my room screaming. Then I thought, “I better re-read that,” so I returned to my comfy chair and tried to read two sentences this time. Finally, I read a good amount of the letter and called family and close friends. My home-alone status allowed me to run around the house screaming as much as I wanted! My mom was in the nail salon when she found out. (She later told me that she scared her nail technician by jumping up and down.)
this stories are exciting. I hope I willl join the crew.
Regular decision applicant
The night before, I decided to stay up the entire night, or stay up as long as I could so I would be so sleepy to think about MIT anymore. I ended up going to bed at 2 o’clock, which isn’t too late in my definition. The next morning, I got up at 7 (and I never get up that early) and started walking around my house.
Then I saw my dad taking my brother out, so I told him, “i know I won’t get in.” and he gave me a huge hug that I would be fine.
Then, I started calling my friend, Pei. Throughout that week, I had been calling a lot of different people and randomly started screaming.(I was a bit crazy. Okay, maybe a lot crazy). My friend, Pei, who also applied to MIT EA, was at work so she couldn’t check hers. So I decided to check hers first. and SHE GOT IN! I was so happy for her and started screaming for about 5 minutes. Then my sister, who was standing beside me, nudged me and told me, “you have to check yours, too.”
It took me about another two or three minutes to bundle up courage, and I finally clicked it. And I did exactly what Zaira did. I couldn’t comprehend what I was reading. Only after scrolling up and down the screen for a couple of times, I finally found the word “welcome to the class of 2011!”
I jumped around the entire day!
Oh, I forgot to say I spent the entire morning walking + singing disney songs. And let me just tell you, if you want to scare anyone in your neighborhood, this is the best way to go.
Jill,
We came here to share our stories of excitement and gratefulness, but you suddenly posted an entry about MIT being a sure thing since you were two. To us, you sound like a jerk. The people giving the decisions are the admissions officers, not you, not your parents.
Ooh! This is fun!
I was so sure that I would get denied/deferred that I didn’t check the website on Saturday because I didn’t want to be depressed all weekend. So, Monday when I got home from school, I had it in the back of my mind that I might have a letter, and I’d be happy if I was at least deferred and not rejected outright. So, I walked up the driveway and my dad says, “Did you order something from MIT? Because there was a tube in the mail…” I said, “Tube???” and ran in the house to make sure he wasn’t joking. Sure enough, there was a tube. I remember a lot of screaming and jumping around and hugging after that. I had to read the letter twice to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating or something.
I had to go to work right after I found out, so I’m lucky I didn’t have an accident in my haze of excitement. When I got home, I drove around my neighborhood stopping to tell people I knew that I got in. It was so much fun.
I think the best part was the next day at school when I got to tell the teacher who said that applying to MIT was “unrealistic” for me.
Since then, I’ve been finding creative ways to tell people. I still can’t quite believe that I’m in. I never dreamed I’d actally be accepted early. I’m SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AHHHH!!! I LOVE IT. These are great. You guys are making me cry!
So, for the week before, I had no idea when MIT was going to let people know decisions, or even how. I told this to my friend, who apparently always goes on this website called college confidential. He told me that he found out MIT would post decisions on December 9th, but for a while I wouldn’t believe him because everyone else I know is finding out about their early schools on the 14th or 15th. Finally, though, I managed to find in tiny letters on the MIT website “For important information about admissions decisions, click here.”
So I decided that even though decisions would be posted at 12, I would wait till Shabbat was over, even though I don’t normally observe Shabbat that strictly (if at all). So, after synagogue, I sat at home reading the Kite Runner for 5 1/2 hours (really good book!) to pass the time. All the while my parents kept teasing me about not checking. At 5:25, I ran up to my room with the computer and booted it up. The screen immediately said that my battery was critically low, but I was afraid if I went back down to get the chord my parents would see me and know I was checking, so i decided to risk it and hoped it wouldn’t die on me. Like everyone else, my hands were shaking crazily, and for the first time in my life I really did feel like I had lost the ability to read. It took me forever to get past “On behalf of the admissions committee,” and I kept telling myself I had been deferred because there was no “Congratulations.”
Finally I regained my ability to read, continued scanning the sentence, ran to my parents’ room and whispered “I got in!”
And hence began the screaming.
I remember when I got my first MIT application my sophomore year. I don’t know why I got it, though. I jumped up and down the kitchen, and my whole family thought I was crazy. And that was JUST an application. It actually felt like an acceptance letter.
The initial plan was to sleep in until 12 EST (which was 11 my time), but my nerves didn’t really agree with that idea, so I spent the whole morning trying to avoid thinking about it (another dismal failure). At 10:30 I couldn’t take it any more and logged on to the MIT chatroom to freak out with everyone else. Suddenly people were reporting their decisions! It wasn’t even 11:00! Were they early??? I clicked my way over to the decisions page… “Wait, what? Pleasure…Class of 2011…are they serious?? Is this some round about way of saying I’m deferred…? OH MY GOD!!” Of course, my dad had to be right there with his video camera, RECORDING my freak-out session. But it didn’t matter, because I was IN!!
Man, I never realized how well I had psyched myself out of getting into MIT… I stll can’t believe that I’m going to the school I’ve been daydreaming about since sophomore year! YEAH MIT!!
Congrats to all those people who got in early to MIT. You people must be at the top of the world for these days… Hope I will be as lucky as you guys for my early and regular application…. Have a fun filled and a total crazy college life ahead.
I was initially planning to simply wait for (what I thought would be) the inevitable deferral letter in mid-December. Unfortunately, about a week before the decisions came out, one of my friends emailed me telling me when I could find out if I got in or not. I was basically freaking out for the rest of the week.
In addition, I had definately read her email wrong, and had somehow gotten it in my head that the decision would be released at midnight (12 AM) rather than noon (12 PM). So Friday night I stayed up really late, trying desperately to quell my nerves with multiple games of Freecell and Minesweeper, waiting for midnight. Around 12:15 AM, I realized my mistake. Oops. I then resolved to sleep in really really late the next morning so that I wouldn’t stress for too long before REALLY finding out. Ended up having really weird dreams that night.
I woke up in a horribly depressed mood and almost wanted to stay in bed all day. Around 12:05 I finally got out of bed to check the decisions. My dad decided I needed moral support (which I probably did) and came down to check with me. When I finally read the admission letter, it took me about twenty seconds to process the information. Much high-pitched squealing ensued (something I usually completely avoid on principle).
When the tube came on Monday, another round of squealing followed. I spilled confetti all over my computer chair when I opened it, and I think I’m still sitting on some.
Have since been in a ridiculously good mood (which I think have scared most of my friends).
o man.
i was in the middle of doing my usc application essay when my friend IMed me at 11:54 and asked me if i got in. i told her that i wouldn’t know for another 6 minutes, but apparently her friend had already checked online. so naturally, i freaked out and went to the decisions page. i think i actually started crying before i clicked the decision button and after finding out i got in, i just kept crying for 2 hours (lol, yeahhh, im kinda silly). man o man. then i preceded to call my best friend, my roommate, and then my mom (…in that order), all of whom thought that i got rejected cuz i was crying so much. haha. apparently they couldn’t understand a single word i was saying over the phone due to all of my blubbering. baaaah im so happy. :D
…i guess im not applying to USC anymore.
Well, I was actually really lazy the morning the decisions came out. I was still in bed because it was only 9:00 A.M on a saturday morning XD because i was too lazy to get out of bed i decided that the anxiety was too much to check online and I’d wait for the mail. However, a certain someone -.- called me and made me go check. So i reluctantly got out of bed, turned on the laptop, braced myself for a rejection, typed in decisions.mit.edu and my username and pw, clicked login. I read the first two words “Dear Kathy,” and started to feel the disappointment. However, as I read the next sentence, I screamed “OMG! I MADE IT!” lol…my boyfriend laughed his head off because he had checked it prior to calling me (yeah, hes that certain someone that made me get out of bed). Then I started crying and hyperventilate in between “OMG”s. lol…my dad thought I was in trouble so he burst into my room. I told him the news and he was really really happy and congratulated me. Yeah, sorta like Jesse’s dad, he didnt really tell anyone but my mom called my whole family near and far even the relatives in Norway to let them know the good news. lol
Back in the REAL day, when a) decisions were not online and b) nobody knew when decisions were coming out, because said information was not posted all over the internet, it was tech week for my senior musical and I was at dress rehearsal.
My mom and brother showed up at the theater and told my boyfriend they wanted to see me. I figured I was in trouble (my boyfriend had been over at the house that day when my mom wasn’t home), so I made excuses not to go find her.
When I did go looking for her, my brother came running at me with a big envelope. I was all “Where’s Mom?” and he was all “LOOK AT THE ENVELOPE” — and there was my folder.
I almost passed out. But then it was time to go on and sing my song, so I had to get it together. Good times.
My parents had assured and reassured me that I would be admitted into MIT back in September even before I submitted my EA application, and therefore ever since I had experienced unspeakable rest and sweet peace in my heart. This experience of peace will become future strength and faith for me to cope with many waitings for result yet to come.
My parents told me that the MIT application, for me, had started way back when I was just a two-year-old and started scribbling simple addition and subtraction problems on our driveway with the bigo sidewalk chalk. (What they said is so true!) I, growing up, have indeed unceasingly enjoyed absorbing anything that comes across my path. My parents and I no doubt had prepared myself for this MIT application for a long long time. Nothing like “luck” exists for my case regarding this application. The journey from my birth to MIT admission has been full of adventures and excitement, hardship and perseverence, expections and surprise, and reaping the first fruits.
On that historical Saturday when the decision was posted, I slept sweetly over the “D-time” until my dad peacefully woke me up and very casually told me, “You are in.” (NOT even an exclamation mark) I then smiled and winked at him with much mutual understanding — “See, as we have always known it, you are born and raised to go to MIT.”
I have a deep sensation of fulfilling inside, and that tastes truly as good as my favorite candy – 75% dark chocolate!
Mine’s a bit stupid…
The week before I received my decision, word got out that I was applying early to MIT, so a lot of girls that don’t like me were really anxious to know if I got in so they could make fun of me when I was rejected. I told my best friend to check the online decision for me, because I didn’t have the guts to read the rejection letter. That morning, my father, who had been so condident through the past days, told my brother that he thought I wouldn’t get in. When my friend got home and logged into my account, she read the letter and IMed me telling me I got in, which I thought was the meanest prank ever…. And then she made me log in, and I read the first line of the letter and screamed reeeeeeeeeeally loud (I used to be a cheerleader, so you can imagine how loud that was) and I started crying and running around the house. And basically I was excited all day!!! And I still am :D
Friday night was one of the most restless nights. I woke up at 1:45,3:20,6:06, and 9:10. The remainder of the day were waves of anxiety. While on the subway I kept thinking, “what if I dont get in??” For the next thirty minutes I would try to forget about the decision as I blasted “Can’t Stop,” and watched the street numbers go down. Even so, every so often the thought would creep into my head. Finally, I reached 72st Street. Too scared to actually check my decision, I decided to get brunch. It was almost one, and I finally got the courage to check. For those first 30 seconds it was as if I had forgotten to read. Other than “On behalf of,” everything seemed a blur. I skimmed trying to look for an answer, and finally I read you have until May to accept our offer. I jumped off my seat, did the infamous “Jenny dance,” and then told everyone I had gotten in. Then I got scared again, WHAT IF I HAD READ THAT WRONG!?!?! So I then reread it, and felt immediate relief. I was in!!
On Monday when I got my tube in the mail I was once more overwhelmed with happiness, as stars and confetti flew out of my tube.
Yup, and thats it. Now I’m just wallowing in it all..
darn. In the other admit thread, I was the only Jenny. Now I have to actually use my whole name to distinguish
it’s fun reading all these stories about everyone! :D
And that story my friends is a little disconcerting.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
I didn’t find out until Monday afternoon when I checked the mail. I hadn’t heard about decisions being posted online, and I was expecting a letter to come after the 15th. When I saw the acceptance slip, I yelled then checked to make sure all the other letters had my name on them – still kind of worried they had offered admission on accident.
Still pretty excited – at the end of last few days I’ve just been trying to soak it all in – can’t believe it coming from a class size of 84.
Don’t worry. I know for a fact that this Jill person wasn’t actually accepted.
Did that Adam kid who always posts on here get in?
WOW! Such great feelings. I guess I have to wait for my feelings, and share with you guys. By the way congratulations to everyone who got admitted to class of 2011. Best of Luck
I will have to wait till March (Regular Applicant)
JKIM! When I got in, I told you(remember?) and we ran up and down the halls of Next House and laughed and jumped because I GOT INTO MIT YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
:D
And then you told me you got in too! (Double celebration) and then so did Vijay and Colin! Dude, whoa!!!
Anonymous, HAHAHA,
Unless you have been accepted out of luck, your deep inside should have agreed with me that all the accepted, especially very strong accepted applicants should have had that kind of confidence of being accepted all the way.
I was accepted because I had worked hard, pleasantly, and very effectively. I had refused to let “getting into MIT” become a burden to my life, but ,instead, I had worked smartly in a way that MIT had become a “sure thing” without doubt. I have enjoyed such similar confidence and peace in attaining quite a few goals in my life so far besides “getting into MIT”.
You will see me at CPW if you come, or you will even see me earlier at the IAP’s mystery hunt next month. Come say “hi” and I have more to share with you.
IAP’s mystery hunt
The above post is from Jill.
When I first got in I started dancing with my family in the computer room. There was a lot of hugging and yelling too.
However, my mom had not found out. So we decided to trick her.
When my mom came home I told her that I hadn’t gotten in and that I had been deffered. I offered to show her the letter and led her to the computer. I brought up the window with the acceptence letter and waited.
What followed was the most ear piercing scream I have ever heard. She was standing right next to me and I could not hear anything but a high pitched ring in my ear for the next couple of minutes. She proceeded to dance in a circle with her hands to the sky and her tongue flailing in the air. Then all my family members near Boston were called and they had a toast to me.
Overall, Saturday was just amazing. I only wished I had video taped the whole experience.
I didn’t even know you could find out online, and just happened to see the link when skimming the blogs at 1:30 a.m. once I reached the login page, I started trembling, and felt literally sick with nerves. Finally, I logged in, and read the first line of the letter. I read it 17 times before I realized what it meant, and I screamed with joy and relief so loud my mom almost called an ambulance. the next day, I called my high school counselor and told her, and she got all kinds of looks because she was crying ecstatically in the middle of walmart. I flew up on a cloud of happiness, and I haven’t come down since.
Yea I was tutoring at the library and I kept twitching (they asked me for help from 11-1230) and I was like um the mit decisions are up. Needless to say I couldn’t actually read it past the words “On behalf” but it somehow dawned on me that I got in.
The craziest part was that the letters that mailed were dated Dec 8-my mom’s birthday.
I had the countdown from whitehatdesign on my desktop (that active desktop thingy) for at least a week before Dec. 9. That morning, I was by myself and woke up at 7:30, but decided not to get up until 10:30 (it would be released at 11 AM here). So I watched whole episodes of “That’s so Raven” and “Hanna Montana” for the first time. At 10:40ish I decided it was time to get up. I went downstairs to wash my teeth, then back upstairs. I turned the computer on and tried to make it as normal as possible. First, I opened gmail, then MSN Messenger, where my MITES friend, Jasmine, was waiting for me. She told me “Have you checked yours?” and I said “NO!!!!” She said “It’s already online!!!”
I forgot about my e-mail and went straight to the MIT decisions site (I had it as a favorite), logged in and read the first line. I didn’t get it. It was so confusing. “It is my pleasure…” “What? Did I get in or not? Wait… I think I did, right? This is so confusing” At this point I was shaking so much that I couldn’t read the rest. I supposed I had got in and told my friend about it. After cyber-celebrating for 5 minutes, I was finally able to read the whole thing and e-mail my teachers and counselors.
Then I saw that my dad was online. He said “Hello, what are you doing.” I answered “Nothing, I’m just celebrating because I got accepted.” You can imagine what happened next.
The shaking took 30 minutes to go away. I really don’t know how I managed to type in that state.
jill,
i didn’t think mit looked kindly upon such arrogance or such narrow mindedness (or upon such robotic discourse). either i misunderstand your conviction that you were *meant* for the institute, or i feel very surprised and sorry for you.
i hope you get to experience anxiety, independence, shock, excitement, confusion, and desolation — they are often more valuable than contentment and inner peace and so forth. keep in mind that mit is not the culmination of your life.
personally, the entire college admissions process was so meaningful to me because it was solely my own responsibility. my parents were very supportive, but from a distance — they did not do any of my research, see any of my applications, read any of my essays, or check any of my decisions. and this has had a greater impact than any potential admission or rejection.
Ana – Wholeheartedly agree with you.
Jill – If you honestly felt that confident about getting in (assuming that you did, in fact, get in), then it is a perfect example of how the college admissions process is regrettably imperfect. True, confidence can be a desirable characteristic, but then again, it can also be a monumental weakness. M.I.T. receives applications from some of the best students in the world, and to unequivocally assume that you will gain admission over the vast majority of them is a pretty strong indicator of arrogance and conceit. I just hope that by next fall, some of your confidence will have dissipated because otherwise, needless to say, you may be in for the shock of your life.
I think Jill’s post was a joke. I mean, come on… “slept sweetly”?
DavidChen I could have sworn I celebrated with you =(.
—
I remember I was at school working on Robotics and I was kinda busy because I was trying to put the electronics together on the chassis we were building. My counselor called me up and asked me if she could see me in the office. Clearly I was too busy so I asked her if she could wait and I’d stop by later. My counselor then quickly said that it was about a scholarship that was due today. I was thinking, So what’s her rush? In any case, I proceeded down to the office and I saw my mom in the office.
The last time my mom was in the office, in that same position, i was in HUGE trouble.
So obviously the color drained from my face. I figured I was in a shitload of trouble because her arms were crossed and her face was serious.
So I walk in, shaking, and colorless (which is a big difference for a brown girl) and she shows me the tube.
I was so relieved that I WASN’T in trouble that I did not do a dance or anything close. Then I smiled and was like “yay” but in my head I was just trying to get the color back in my face.
Then of course when I came home, I celebrated.
i’m so glad decisions weren’t posted online last year (although if you asked me last year i would have said otherwise) because I definitely wouldn’t be able to read anything being that nervous.
Wow, where do I start?!?!?! Well, we were in Academic Decathlon preparing for the speech competition, but I hadn’t printed my speech. Good thing it was the essay I sent to MIT during the admissions process. Well, I went on, logged in and BAM! “Welcome to the class of 2011!” My heart stopped, my leg started shaking and I turned to my team mates who were all talking about their own things. I turned and said, “guys, I think I’m going to faint, I think I got into MIT”…I ran around the whole school that afternoon telling every teacher, counselor, administrator I could find….no feeling compares!!!!! I’m so EXCITED though! I called my mom and she just started crying and still crys when she calls me on the phone telling me how proud she is of me. I get so many congratulations from friends and family everyday. It’s truly a dream come true!
I’m the kind of person that can’t tell if 12:00PM meant midnight or noon. So I checked both times. Consecutively in my mind. Checked, went to bed, woke up, checked again.
Called my parents and then went to take my economics final. (Yes, it was on Saturday). I forgot to turn off my phone during the exam. Anyways, by the time I got out of the exam, 10 Missed Calls.
It seemed like my entire extended family knew. Lol
Hope I can join you guys and share my feelings with you in March.
I think people are being too judgmental about Jill.
It may be very self-confident for anyone to assume he’ll be accepted, and we generally consider parents’ opinions to be less objective than those of the admissions officers, but look at it from the other side. Parents know their child better than an admissions committee will, and they know a fair amount about MIT from its website, publications, etc. Admissions officers know MIT better than anyone’s parents do, and they know a fair amount about the applicants from their essays, recommendations, etc. The admissions process, as we are constantly reminded, is not one-sided – colleges and students choose each other, and it’s all about “the match” between them. Both the applicants and the admissions committee work toward determining whether there is a match, and neither side’s assertion that it knows the answer while the other doesn’t is more arrogant than the other’s such assertion. In her letter to admitted students, Marilee Jones claimed that “we don’t make mistakes – ever”; this statement is quite as arrogant as any applicant’s saying he was certain to be admitted. I think when someone says he knows he will be accepted, it’s because he knows there is a perfect match, just between him and the school, and this really has nothing to do with other applicants, so it’s not as though he’s saying he’s better than everyone else.
I’m not suggesting that anyone should assume without a doubt that he knows what will be the outcome of someone else’s decision. However, I don’t think there is anything bad about being reasonably sure of what will happen, especially if it is comforting, as long as you won’t be upset if you were wrong.
Well, needless to say, I slept 2 hours the night before, which really didn’t help seeing as I hadn’t slept for 2 days. (I’ve been working on a new case design) So I woke up at 7 o’clock (grr) and watched The Sixth Sense for the very first time (how interesting) Finally, my brother and I got on the co mputer and I got on AIM to talk with my 2 friends who also applied but got deferred. So at about 10:53 my friend messages me saying “I got deferred.” Panic-stricken and holding on to the last 1% of my sanity, I logged in. It was so surreal. I sat there paralyzed before I started jumping around, screaming and crying tears of joy.
ME! ME!
I burst into tears, screamed at the top of my lungs, flew down the steps, tackled my mother, flew out the door, JUMPED onto my brother and his friend (who were working on their cars outside), ran in frantic circles around the driveway, jumped in my car, drove to dad’s office, tackled dad, drove to Colin’s house, tackled Colin, drove with Colin to workplace of best friend, best friend fell over onto the ground and stayed there for a good two minutes, drove to other best friend’s house, rinse and repeat. I honestly didn’t stop smiling for weeks.
The way Colin tells the story, “Christina and I were talking online before she found out and then suddenly got offline. I was going crazy and then about 30 minutes later I looked out my window and saw the top of her head and was like, “OHHHHH JESUS.”
Hahahahahahaha.
well, i got deferred by MIT, but i did get my caltech acceptance letter today :D I came home all exhausted because i just took my last final exam. So there i was, sleeping peacefully, and suddenly my mom started to knock on my door. I mumbled to myself, what does she want now? And i thought she was mad at me b/c she was banging loudly on the door. So I opened it up, and she started to laugh and hug me. It took a while for it go sink in though, and i thought the envelope was way too thin(it contains only a folder with about 7 sheets of paper). So now i’m really tired, but i’m scared of going back to sleep and then wake up to find out that it’s all been a dream.
seriously, college application is only for the mentally strong.
To the most recent previous “Anonymous” – I think “that Adam kid” got deferred. It’s the first comment in <a>this entry</a>.
… and that was supposed to link here:
http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/learning/undergraduate_research_opportunities/al_kwon_08_researching_drug_de_1.shtml
Jill,
You are sad.
Jill,
No doubt you have done what is necessary to convince admissions you will succeed here. You were accepted. Congratulations. However, your arrogance and narcissism already put you far below the other members of the class of 2011 in a variety of ways. It makes me sad that you did not feel the need to celebrate your admission to MIT like the rest of us did with anymore than a smug wink to your father. It is one thing to be confident in yourself and of course, to have your parents’ confidence in you as well. But please do not disrespect rejected and deferred applicants in inferring that good matches for MIT are always, without a doubt, accepted.
MIT does not accept pompous, unappreciative students, but you seem to have fallen through the cracks. And in that respect, you most certainly did get lucky.
I very highly recommend dropping your sense of entitlement before the fall.
Hey, but if you don’t, at least you’ll always have your favorite candy — 75% dark chocolate!!111111ONEONE
My story isn’t as interesting as some, but I still like it =) I guess I was lucky because I was super busy the Friday before and all Saturday morning before the decisions came out. That morning I had a violin lesson, but obviously I couldn’t pay any attention and was really twitchy, turning around to check the clock every two minutes.
I got home at 11, but I didn’t get on the computer until 12:05. I was really nervous, so I kept stalling and stalling until my mom pretty much forced me to check. When I first read the letter, I was looking for a “Congratulations!” or “Welcome” or even just an exclamation point! At first I thought I was deferred, but then I saw “admission to the class of 2011”. I went back and read it again, and realized that I had actually gotten in! I shrieked really loudly and was completely giddy for the rest of the day.
I was so nervous about whether/not I’d get in that I decided to stay in bed until 12:00PM, (I live on the East Coast) trying to force myself back to sleep so I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about it. At 12:00, I slowly crept downstairs, turned on the computer, said a short prayer, hoped for the best, and logged in to the Admission Notification link.
At 12:09, I read:
“Dear William…
On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2011…
blah blah blah
…Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions”
“NO. FREAKING. WAY!!!!” I said, and then the rest of the day was just a blur after that…I was so thankful/ relieved/ honored. What a great feeling. THANKS MIT ADMISSIONS!
I was so nervous about whether/not I’d get in that I decided to stay in bed until 12:00PM, (I live on the East Coast) trying to force myself back to sleep so I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about it. At 12:00, I slowly crept downstairs, turned on the computer, said a short prayer, hoped for the best, and logged in to the Admission Notification link.
At 12:09, I read:
“Dear William…
On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2011…
blah blah blah
…Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions”
“NO. FREAKING. WAY!!!!” I said, and then the rest of the day was just a blur after that…I was so thankful/ relieved/ honored. What a great feeling. THANKS MIT ADMISSIONS!
I was so nervous about whether/not I’d get in that I decided to stay in bed until 12:00PM, (I live on the East Coast) trying to force myself back to sleep so I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about it. At 12:00, I slowly crept downstairs, turned on the computer, said a short prayer, hoped for the best, and logged in to the Admission Notification link.
At 12:09, I read:
“Dear William…
On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2011…
blah blah blah
…Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions”
“NO. FREAKING. WAY!!!!” I said, and then the rest of the day was just a blur after that…I was so thankful/ relieved/ honored. What a great feeling. THANKS MIT ADMISSIONS!
I was so nervous about whether/not I’d get in that I decided to stay in bed until 12:00PM, (I live on the East Coast) trying to force myself back to sleep so I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about it. At 12:00, I slowly crept downstairs, turned on the computer, said a short prayer, hoped for the best, and logged in to the Admission Notification link.
At 12:09, I read:
“Dear William…
On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2011…
blah blah blah
…Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions”
“NO. FREAKING. WAY!!!!” I said, and then the rest of the day was just a blur after that…I was so thankful/ relieved/ honored. What a great feeling. THANKS MIT ADMISSIONS!
Oops…
I checked on some New England Conservatory computers. Then I ate lunch. I had chicken drunken noodles or something. It was spicy. Interesting story.
You guys are funny. I didn’t even know that the decision came up on the 9th until the 11th. I logged onto my account to see welcome blah blah blah, and I called my daddy to tell him.
You guys are funny. I didn’t even know that the decision came up on the 9th until the 11th. I logged onto my account to see welcome blah blah blah, and I called my daddy to tell him. Then I told my concussed friend, and she started screaming in the bathroom.
I definitely didn’t know the results would be posted online or when the stuff would come in the mail, so it had been pretty easy for me to kind of put MIT out of my mind and not worry too much about it. The day I got the tube I was just hanging out at home and my mom came in with the mail and said “Oh, Amelia…” and handed me a tube. I didn’t realize the acceptance was coming in a tube (apparently I’m the only one lol) and I was so distracted I didn’t even look at the outside of it. I thought it was my band pictures coming in. So I open it up and confetti falls out and I’m thinking “What the heck?” Then I pulled out the poster and that was when I really started to realize what it was. I didn’t scream because I was in so much shock… in fact I didn’t really have any emotion until the next day when I got to go to school and blab about it to all my friends and teachers. I’m so proud, and hopefully tonight I’ll find out if my friend John got into Stanford and Abby got into Harvard; we’re going to a Math-tastic Christmas Party tonight!
weeeelllllll
the night before, i didnt go to sleep until 3/4ish. i was “working” on some IB stuff lol, trying to push the thought of what i KNEW was gonna be deferral to the back of my mind.
sooo i woke up around 10:30, at peace with the fact that i was gonna be deferred, but i’d still have to put a nice face on for the scholarship/mentor meeting i was going to after decisions were released. I really dont remember wat i did between 10:30 and 11:45, but around 11:45, i checked the admissions site and saw that decisions were up. sooo i called one of my MITES friends, macdaleine…cus it was her bday and to tell her decisions were up. then i checked mine and started screaming lol.
i went to tell my mommy and she was….pretty happy to say the least. then i told my father when he came home from home depot..and he was pretty happy too lol. HUGE understatement but u get the idea lol.
Congratulations everyone who was accepted! I love all your stories. I can’t wait until it’s my turn.
When I found out I told my dad first, and then my mom, but they did not understand what was to be in, so they just took it as an ok. They even ask me that if I was going to go there, and that it might be better to stay here in Texas. However, my girlfriend understood and was really happy, which that made my day.
So, I should be studying for my last final now.
The night before decisions came out last year, I had a dream that I got accepted. In many ways, this was a lot worse that dreaming that I had been rejected — the disappointment of waking up and realising that I had another 10 hours to wait (it’s Ireland, remember) to check my fate was not a whole lot of fun.
That day, I went down to study at the local college with a friend (we had exams looming). The place was deserted, since it was a Saturday. We worked for a few hours, and, as 5pm rolled by, I went upstairs to check the decision (the wireless network didn’t cover the room in which we were working). I don’t remember much of what happened as I received the decision. I definitely wish they just wrote ACCEPTED in large flashing red characters on a bright green background. It took me a while to realise what the letter was telling me. After a little while, it did dawn on me that I’d got in.
I went back downstairs, and told my friend. He said, “oh, cool”, and turned back to his work. Five minutes later, he turned to me again, and said “OH. You got into MIT?” Turns out he thought I meant I had got into the wireless network — we’d had a lot of trouble in the past getting ‘net access down there.
So, after a little delay, the celebrations began.
The night before i was freaking out and decided to stay up late so i would not wake up before noon and have to wait until the decisions were posted. Unfortunately my mom woke me up at 11 so i had to wait an hour. The weird part was i was really peaceful; like it didnt even cross my mind one bit. I was thinking about everything but MIT. Then at noon i sat down and logged on. I read the first sentence and broke down in tears of joy. I couldn’t believe it. In the past two years, I’ve had so many bad things happen to my family and finally we got amazing news. I started walking down stairs to my mom, while i was still crying and she told me later that when she heard me crying she thought i didnt get in. When I told her, we just kept crying for 20 minutes and then like everyone else called everyone we could think of. My acceptance gave me new found hope.
HAAHAHAHAHA. PATRICK. That is really funny. You probably said, “I got on!” instead of “I got in.” I KNOW YOU, PATRICK. I KNOW THAT IS WHAT YOU SAID.