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MIT staff blogger Matt McGann '00

First Day of Classes! by Matt McGann '00

Today, the MIT Class of 2014 begins.

Today is the first day of the Fall Semester at MIT, and thus is the first day of classes ever for the MIT Class of 2014.

The past couple of weeks at MIT have been Orientation for the incoming students — they have met each other, chosen dorms, picked classes, joined student clubs, tried out for a cappella groups, played sports, and more.

The formal welcome to the class is the Freshman Convocation, where the freshman class is addressed by the faculty and MIT President Susan Hockfield. Would you like to see the Convocation? Check it out:

MIT Tech TV


We have published the incoming freshman class profile. Here it is:

Incoming Freshman Class Profile
For the MIT class of 2014

Gender

Male 55%
Female 45%

Ethnicity & Citizenship

US Citizens & Permanent Residents: 92%

  • African American 9%
  • Asian American 26%
  • Caucasian 39%
  • Hispanic 13%
    • Mexican American 6%
    • Puerto Rican 3%
    • Other Hispanic groups 4%
  • Native American 1%
  • Other/No Response 3%

International citizens 8.7%

Geography

New England 13%
Mid-Atlantic 19%
Southeast & PR 16%
Midwest & Plains States 13%
South/Southwest 8%
West Coast 18%
Abroad 13%

States represented 48
Countries represented 54

Schooling

Public school 67%
Private school 17%
Religious school 8%
Foreign school 7%
Home schooled 1%

High Schools represented 796

Just for fun

Most popular boy name: David
Most popular girl name: Elizabeth

Longest distance traveled: Brisbane, Australia
Least distance traveled: Cambridge, MA

The only two US states not represented: Montana and New Mexico
The most represented US state: California

16 responses to “First Day of Classes!”

  1. Nasser '17? says:

    Thanks for the stats.

  2. Emad '14 says:

    I’m probably only going to feel smart today, and today only. In my first 5.111 p-set, I get to start off with sig figs and stoichiometry! Yay p-set number one!

  3. Curious says:

    What percentage of your freshmen come from single parent families?

  4. Anonymous says:

    Hey Matt:

    I’m a homeschooled applicant who will be applying for the fall of 2011, and because of my particular situation, I am perplexed about what I am supposed to do about the Teacher Evaluation forms (Evaluation A & B). Also, should I send my Secondary School report to my umbrella school?

    Another question: I have written a book about my own personal chemtrail research (available on Amazon.com), have many award-winning pieces of art, and have two patents pending (as well as numerous concepts.) Should I bring these items into my interview, submit them with my application, or both? Thank you so much for your reply and your statistic reporting (1% homeschool? Scary:o)

  5. Ruslan, while don’t give up is good advice, everyone should also make it clear to themselves that it’s highly unlikely that they’ll get admitted. 90% of all applicants don’t, and now consider that MIT applicant are basically all already more abitious than the general public. So while it is true that there’s a slight chance for everyone, it definitely won’t hurt to mentally prepare yourself for a rejection letter, just so that the dissappointment won’t be as great in case it comes. Plus, if you’re expecting that you’ll get rejected but don’t, you have much more to be happy about!

  6. @Anonymous : wow… do you even need MIT/to go to college to be successful in life? (jk) you sound like you have it made already, even without any recommendation letters. People so outstanding like you make me feel insignificant about my application… *sigh* :/

    Thanks for the stats, Matt!

  7. Anonymous says:

    Going to MIT is not an obligation for me, but more like a dream. I’ve wanted to go there since even before I came to the U.S. The fact that I haven’t had the same opportunities as those who have been studying in the US since they were little makes me wonder if I even have a small chance of getting accepted. I also take college classes full time, meaning that I do not study what’s given in the ACT/SAT and forgot a lot of it. I’m relearning by myself to try and get better scores since I’m not taking classes that will prepare me for the tests. Will the admission board take that into consideration?

  8. genius ('18) says:

    AWESOME!
    Oh, Ironies of ironies:
    “The most represented US state: California”
    WHAT HAPPENED TO CALTECH?????? wink
    I guess MIT just pwns that much…

  9. Ruslan'15 says:

    @MIT Applicant (’15?)
    I feel the same…: *sigh*
    but don’t give up…!!!

  10. Anonymous says:

    / ||
    ||
    ||
    Hey Matt, it’s me again. I have another question: I possess a letter that commends me for my winning of a state-level competition and a number of others that commend me for my many community service projects. Could I submit these with my application in addition to other letters of recommendation from my extracurricular event coordinators?

  11. Anonymous above me. I am also applying. I suggest you do some research on the website and you can find out a lot of your questions.

    Or email [email protected]. They have answered every question I have had promptly and satisfactorily.

  12. Ruslan'15 says:

    I believe that everyone who applies to MIT already knows what they are going to face, that is, they know what they are up to 90% will be rejected. But they apply… I am an international applicant, so it’s less than 10% to be admitted, But I do apply…
    Blessed is he who believes…
    @genius(’18)
    Yeah what happened to Berkeley as well…))

  13. Anonymous says:

    Hi Matt,
    I was wondering if documents of those who applied for 09/10 and are re-applying can be transfered to current applications. For instance, can’t my interview reports for my 09/10 applications be retrieved and re-used for the 2011 application because I might not be able to attend the interview this time around? Also, instead of incurring expenses in resending test scores to MIT, isn’t it possible for my test scores to be transferred from my 2010 application(already with MIT) to my 2011 application?

  14. Anon says:

    @ genius(’18)

    I believe California is the most represented state at quite a few top private schools simply because it has the largest population of any state…

  15. for those of you hopeful ’15s, I felt the same way about not having anything amazing enough on my application. I assure you that MIT isn’t looking for the person with the most awards or best test scores. MIT is looking for ambitious, interesting, well-rounded, smart people. you don’t have to have patents pending or have books published to get in (not to snub those accomplishments–they’re amazing). just let your true self come out on the application. if MIT doesn’t see it, maybe you’ll fit in better somewhere else.

  16. “Another question: I have written a book about my own personal chemtrail research (available on Amazon.com), have many award-winning pieces of art, and have two patents pending (as well as numerous concepts.) Should I bring these items into my interview, submit them with my application, or both? Thank you so much for your reply and your statistic reporting (1% homeschool? Scary:o)”

    >> Definitely bring them to your inteview.