Important EA Processing Update! by Chris Peterson SM '13
read this if your application is incomplete
A few hours ago we finished processing the final segment of tens of thousands of documents which came to us by mail and fax. We digitized them and entered them into our system. At this point, if we have your documents, they should show up in MyMIT. A few moments ago, we emailed everyone who applied Early Action and who was missing an evaluation or transcript in our database.
If you did not receive an email: your application is almost certainly complete. I say “almost certainly” because there are still some students whose November SAT scores have not yet arrived, because the College Board has not yet released them. If you ordered a score report from the College Board to go directly to MIT, we will receive them in time for consideration.
If you did receive an email: it contained information on what we required from you.
The most important rule of having a application missing component is this: don’t panic! We do not consider applications until and unless we have sufficient information upon which to render a decision. Calmly walk into school tomorrow and ask your teacher or guidance counselor to fax the document to us. The fax number you should use is included in the email. We will receive it and process it postehaste.
Our documents team has worked incredibly hard this year to process a record number of documents in record time. As a result, we are already having a great reading season. I myself have thus far read well over 100 applications, and they have all been astonishingly excellent. I know it will be an especially difficult committee this year, which is always a mixed bag: it makes our decisions especially tough, because it means that our applicants are especially awesome.
Thank you for being awesome. Full speed ahead!
edit: some of you appear to have had multiple copies of the email sent from McGreggor. It appears some of the MIT mail servers love you so much they couldn’t bear to send you a single email. Apologies for the duplication!
Hi Eugene –
If you have already enrolled in private university, you may not apply as a freshman. However, if you have not yet completed at least one year elsewhere, you may not apply as a transfer. Based on the facts you provide above, it sounds like you will have to wait until next year to apply to MIT.
One of my evaluations was sent via mail and the other via fax; however, the second was sent in on Oct. 30. Would that have any effect on whether or not it was received?
My box for test scores remains unchecked, however, I have not received an email about it. I am absolutely positive they were sent. Do you guys only get SAT scores in batches?
Thanks for working so hard for us (:
so there is not way to make sure that any supplements were recieved?
@Justice: Hi! We have only the letter from Ms. V, your math teacher, which was sent via mail. Your B eval is not in, and we’ve processed all faxes sent to us as of today. No problem, though: just have the B re-faxed to 1-617-687-9184.
@Susan: We get our SAT scores in batches. The November test will likely be reported to us by the third to fourth week of November, in plenty of time for consideration. I did not email missing test score kids because of this.
@chris,eugene
what if i have enrolled myself in some university but have not attended a single class?(deferred admission). can i still apply to MIT as freshman?
thanks
Just wondering, if you sent more than 2 SAT II scores, will you look at all of them or will you pick 2?
Oh and also, is it possible to check if our supplementary recs have been received?
I took the SAT Math II in May, and again in October. I sent all my scores to MIT (including the October test) in one batch, and listed the higher October score on my application. However, on MyMIT tracking, only the lower May test appears. Is this a problem?
Additionally, you admission bloggers are awesome. Gentlemen and scholars, etc.
Hi there! I applied EA, and both of my teachers told me they submitted my recommendations. Only Evaluation A shows that it has been processed, however. I didn’t receive an email, so I assume that means that it has been processed, but does not show up on my my.mit page yet. Is that correct, or should I have her submit another copy?
Thanks so much! We appreciate all that you guys are doing for us!
I have a question regarding AP scores and EPGY transcripts. I sent all of my AP scores about more than 2 weeks ago but they don’t show up on Mymit. Should I have them resent post-haste? Will my admittance be jeopardized because of unconfirmed AP scores? Another question is with regards to my EPGY transcripts which I also sent more than 2 weeks ago. I don’t have anyway of confirming their successful arrival. What should I do? Thanks:)
I have a question about my EA application. On the Additional Information section I mentioned that I wrote an article for a scholarly publication, but at the time it had not been published yet. It has since been published, and I have received a few copies of the publication. I was wondering if I should send one or scan and fax the pages of my article as a supplement. My SAT scores will be sent with the Nov. test so you haven’t already read my application without it. Should I send it to you, or is just the mention in the Additional Info section enough?
Thank you!
Hi!! I have some questions I’m hoping you could help me with.
If my teachers don’t speak English, should I send my recommendation letters in the original format and traduced, or just the traduced one?
If I am from Mexico I don’t have to fill in the part of Application 2 where I am supossed to put my grades and classes in high school right?
Thank you very much
Vero Muñoz
@Anon –
We will look at your best SAT IIs.
It is unfortunately not possible to look for your supplementary recs. Because they are supplementary, we can’t tell you if they are missing or not, because we don’t know if they should be there or not.
@Grant –
It should be in our system by now. I would email [email protected] and ask them how it should be best be handled, because they will be able to see what is up with your specific situation.
@Ashlee –
If you didn’t receive an email, there is a strong likelihood that it is being processed tonight or tomorrow. There is a small possibility that it could have gone to spam – check your spam folder. If it doesn’t show up in a day or so on MyMIT, have them fax another copy.
@Erin –
You can fax it if you like. But to be honest we do not spend a lot of time going over publications in committee. We rely on your LORs and external recognition (like the fact that you have been published) to establish validity and credibility of quality.
@Vero –
We prefer both original and translated. And you are correct about self-reported grades.
My music teacher sent a supplemental rec in the mail at the end of October, but since the MyMIT application tracker doesn’t have a way to track supplemental material, it there a way to know whether or not this letter’s been processed?
Thanks!
Oh, I guess you just answered my question. Thanks Chris
Hi,
Just to check– MIT EA applicants do NOT need to mail in first quarter grades, correct?
Thanks.
Hello sir! How could i ask the questions regarding admissions to you as i am an International student!(Nepal)!!
Will be hoping reply from you soon!!
Chris,
Just out of curiosity, if not all documents are received will our application be deferred to regular action or will it just be dropped all together. I’ve spoken to both my counselor and registrar, but I’m currently out of school working so I don’t have the opportunity to speak with them face to face, I have confidence that they will ensure my transcript gets faxed, I was just looking at all possible outcomes.
Chris, I have a question about testing requirements. In addition to submitting my SAT scores, I’ve also submitted my TOEFL scores. However, I still do not see that the TOEFL score has been received/processed by the office. ETS states that my order was processed on October 18th, meaning that it was probably sent out around the 20th. By what date does this have to be received by MIT to be considered? Can I assume it got lost since it’s already been over 3 weeks since they got sent?
Thanks
hey Matias –
I would email the admissions office to ask directly and clear it up.
@Chris:
Has MIT considered sending out an email to its applicants to confirm that all the materials have been received by MIT and thus the student’s application file is up for consideration? Even an automated email would relieve a lot of tension on the applicants’ end, confirming that the student’s name is in the database for consideration in the early application period.
Chris, one more question. I now remember that in the heat of the moment, letting my teacher know that his evaluation was not received by the office, I forgot to sign my name waving my rights to access the evaluation. Let it be known that I have not viewed his evaluation, and that in the original copy he mailed in, I did waive my rights. Since I also have to an fax an additional paper to the office, can I specify this misunderstanding and have the office recognize that I have waived my rights?
Christ, should one applies as a Freshman or Transfer when has just enrolled to a local private university(4 weeks ago), and definitely will not be able to earn enough credits nor will complete one full academic year to enter MIT Fall as a Transfer?
Thank you.
Eugene
I just had the missing part of my application emailed to MIT -being overseas, we’ve had some complications faxing- and have been told that they’ll forward it to the right office. In the email, my school official spelled my first name wrong, but since it’s on the actual forms correctly, that shouldn’t be a problem, right? Do I need to have my school reply to them with the correct spelling, or will they check the forms first before trying to match it with my records?
Thanks a lot!
Realms –
If it’s on the forms correctly it should be fine.
Hi, folks. I sent out the email regarding the missing documents, and MIT’s outgoing mail server sent duplicates (and octuplicates!) to some applicants. Sorry for the spam!
Thanks,
-McGreggor (MIT Admissions)
I feel like I hear admissions officers (for all sorts of things, not just college) always say that the current year is “especially difficult.” So, I was just wondering, in your experience has there ever been a year that wasn’t especially difficult?
I’m just curious. It seems really funny to me to imagine an admissions officer thinking, “This year looks like it’s going to be a standard admissions year. Still tough to narrow it down, but lighter than last year. And thank goodness we don’t have to go through 2005 again! That year was a doozy!”
From my outsider, totally non-expert perspective it seems like it would always feel to someone in the middle of reading applications that this year is the hardest year ever, and that feeling gets communicated to comfort applicants who aren’t admitted. But isn’t it likely that there’s some sort of present-bias involved when we’re assessing how difficult a year is?
Fair question!
For us, each of the last several years really have been more difficult than the last. Part of that has been numbers. Even though we don’t try to recruit more applicants (we’ve actually significantly cut this down), our application numbers have gone up consistently. That means more work each year, which is tougher.
This year, I’d say part of it has been composition. As you may know, some other schools went to Single-Choice Early Action this year, meaning that if you applied to them you were not allowed to apply elsewhere. So while our early application numbers didn’t go up as much as they had in past years, the proportion of students who were good matches for MIT seems to have increased, because students who weren’t good matches may have applied SCEA elsewhere.
You’re totally right that there is always the potential for presentism in these sorts of questions. And sometimes things are better (for example, this year, as I said, our documents team really did an amazing job, which got us more cases more quickly).
But overall, I think that increasing workload + increasing quality of applicants over the past few years (certainly since I’ve been an admissions officer) has been a pretty wide experience, and not just “in the moment.”
Good catch though!
Thanks! I always wondered about that.
About the SCEA change: if there are more good matches this year, does that mean a higher percentage of students will be admitted EA vs. RA? Or will the surplus of good matches just be deferred?
The November 18 deadline for an evaluation to be resent means that it has to be sent before 12:00 A.M. Saturday, correct? I ask this because my Calculus teacher (who wrote my Evaluation A) was gone today and will not return to school until Friday.
Yes Mason.
Hi Chris,
I contacted my interviewer in early October, but wasn’t given a date until early November. I’ve had my interview but my tracking shows the report has not been received (hasn’t been two weeks yet). Will this hold up the reading of my file (everything else is in)? Anything I should do?
Hi all –
If any of you still have missing EC reports don’t sweat it. We’ll be pulling these in as we go along. Don’t worry! We’ll get them!
Thanks Chris!!
My November SAT scores may possibly be compromised by ninja smudges that I had only discovered at the end of the examination, and a score verification from CollegeBoard may take several weeks. What should I do?
Jack –
Did you order a score report from the CollegeBoard direct to MIT? That’s the only way to get your official November scores to us on time for EA.
Yes, I ordered a score report to be sent to MIT. I’m not sure whether the gray smudges I discovered scattered across the page would affect my score.
I just wanted to say thanks to Paul – he emailed me and everything has been worked out. Thanks again!
I didn’t receive an email, but tracking shows that I’m still missing evaluation B. Should I have my teacher fax it in again?
Yes please Lauren!
Hi, Mr. Peterson, I was also wondering about interviews and whether or not those reports have been turned in by the ECs. Thank you and take care.
Hey Chris,
I posted this in your “Deep Breath” blog but I understand that the burden of admissions probably prevented you from replying to EVERY comment, so I ask again:
For British high schools, do O-Level grades count as your “school grades” or do the grades given by the school itself hold precedence over the O’s?
Thanks,
Muhammad Sabir
hey Chris,
is a transcript with 7 Bs and 2 Cs capable of getting an international student admitted to MIT if other parts of his application are good.
Thanks
Hi, I was wondering if there was any way to check up on receipt of financial documents. I am applying through QuestBridge so LI believe getting those documents were in important but I’d just like to make sure to have another way to verify if they have been sent/processed. Thanks and take care!
@ Chris
I’m having trouble with sitting and waiting to find out if my counselor/registrar faxed my transcript even though they told me they have sent it because it is my fourth time trying to get my high school transcript to the admissions office. Since I have only dealt with them via phone and email due to my job schedule interfering with my ability to speak to them in person and verify that they have indeed sent it. I have been checking myMIT but it hasn’t shown up yet and having instruction not to call the admissions office I was wondering if there was any other way to find out if it has been received.
Hello Chris,
Is scoring a 30 on the ACT competitive enough for MIT? Will 800’s on SAT II subject tests compensate?
Thanks.
The SAT November 5 test date was moved to November 19th for the countries in the Middle East. Will the test scores still arrive in time for EA consideration?
We received the email that the application was incomplete, but we had until November 18th (today) to get the documents faxed. In our case, it was one of the teacher’s evaluations. However, I did fax it in on October 28th. (I printed out a fax log.) I re-faxed it last night. The email also said not to call until November 22nd to check on the documents. What if the 2nd fax wasn’t received as well? Can I email a pdf of the document?
I have sent all my testing requirements and did not recieve an email to notify me that anything was missing. However, the testing requirements box on my application is marked incomplete, and no, I did not take the November SAT. Any ideas of what’s going on?
I’ve asked my teacher to fax in his recommendation throughout this week, and since I left school early today (I wasn’t feeling well), I couldn’t confirm if he sent it or not. My MIT tracker still hasn’t received his recommendation.
How long can it take for a document to appear in the MIT tracker? I think it’s at least 24 hours, but my parents are freaking out and I’d like to have some concrete evidence to calm them down.
I was very glad to see that my Calculus Teacher’s evaluation went through yesterday.
Happy reading Chris! I hope you enjoy my application!
@Dimitri
Thanks for that comment. Now I can mitigate the ‘rents…
@sabina
Don’t know how helpful this is, but it was about 48 hours for me to see my faxed transcript up on myMIT.
No, it does not.
Hello Chris,
This is off-topic, but I hope you can help me out anyway. I actually have a very big problem with teacher recommendations. I come from a middle class family and studied in a very small school in a village in Asia. My school did not have a counselor. On top of that, I took a gap year after my finals, and during that time I moved to a different city. Now, there is no way to contact my teachers as they don’t have things like email addresses, and even if I could call them they are not at all familiar with this college process. It has been a year since I saw any of them. I achieved good marks in my finals and since then I have come very far, participating in many national competitions and even getting medals in international olympiads. Is it possible that my application be considered without the recommendations? And if so, how should I inform the college about my situation? (e.g. should I write this in the additional information section?) Will I be at any disadvantage because of my background and failure to produce these documents?
Thanks for your time.
Short question – Does the printer that receives your faxes print in color?
Just wondering. Thanks!
Hi Chris,
I just realized that I have not sent in my AP scores yet. Is there still time to do so?
Thanks!
Maya
Hello Chris,
My Humanities Teacher Evaluation was supposedly sent in once, may have been lost, and was sent in again when i received the email from admissions. The email said send it by Friday and it should be processed by Monday. If it does not show up in MyMIT today as being received, what should I do and what will happen to my application?
Thank you,
Duncan
Hi Duncan –
If it doesn’t show up today I’d refax it Wednesday. But it should show up today or tomorrow. Again, we’ll hold off consideration on your application until we have sufficient information upon which to render a decision.
@Maya – They don’t require you to send your official AP scores for the application. They just go off your self-reported scores that you put in Part 2.
I received an e-mail telling me what my application was missing on the 15th. My humanities teacher has faxed and mailed Evaluation B multiple times, with the last time being Friday morning. However, it still has not been checked in the Application Tracking box. My guidance counselor has done the same with my transcript, and I remember specifically being with her when she sent in my transcript. These are the two items the e-mail told me I was missing, but they have both been sent in. What do I do? The e-mail said that it should take until after the 22nd to process everything, but it is the 23rd now, and the boxes remain unchecked. I applied Early Action. Will I be deferred to Regular Action now?
My son had his evaluation B faxed and emailed, but still he was told by MIT that it was not received. He is going to see his teacher today re-fax it. If his application is in-complete for some reason will he be considered for RA?
Sri
Hello Chris!
I don’t know what to do because my EC told me to send my Secondary School Report along with my Teacher Evaluations via mail but I see that you recommended some applicants to send it via Fax.
What’s better?
Thank you very much, Vero
Hello,
I understand that EA decisions are made by “mid December”, but as an anxious applicant, is there a more specific date where I will know by?
Also, will I receive an email or will I have to check my MyMIT account daily to see if a decision has been made?
I took the SAT II Biology exam for the second time in November but the test does not appear on my MIT application tracking. I have all the required tests because it was my second time taking the exam, but my second score was higher and I want it to be included in my application.
Should I fax the unofficial score report while the official score report is being processed?
i have a query , i have entered my wrong date of birth in application form and have submitted the application part 1.
When i changed it from biological information , its not changing in pdf file of part 1
please help me , MIT is my dream and i do not want to let it go like this :(
THANKYOU