MIT Idol by Ben Jones
A selection committee fantasy.
In a few minutes I’ll head over to the committee room to begin Day 7 of selection. Things are going well; for some reason I’m enjoying committee this year even more than I have in past years. Maybe that’s just what happens as you become a seasoned admissions officer, or maybe you guys are just awesome and inspiring. Probably a combo of the two.
In any case, selection committee is a pretty intense exercise as far as the brain is concerned, so when you get home at night, you’re not exactly looking to dive into a theoretical physics book. Truth be told, you’re looking to do something as mindless as possible. And this is where my American Idol addiction comes in handy (did the women pwn last night or what?).
I’ve heard that the producers put through the best ~10% and the worst ~10% to Simon, Paula, and Randy – the former because they actually have a shot at winning, and the latter for pure entertainment value. Fortunately, our applicant pool is very self-selective so even the bottom 10% is very impressive. But I have to admit – sometimes I wish we’d get applications from people who have no business applying to MIT to liven up selection committee. (As a guy who is not wired to do science and math, I’d be a prime candidate.)
While I’m rolling with this fantasy, I’d also add Simon, Paula, and Randy to our selection committee, and I’d also have each applicant apply in person. Because then we could have scenes like this:
Randy: Dog, it was just okay for me. You want me to keep it real, right? Alright, it just didn’t work. The curriculum was just too big for you. You should have picked classes that you could have actually passed.
Paula: You know what? You’re a star. Your handwriting is beautiful, you look great, and I really like you. I’m not sure MIT is the place for you, but you’re really going to go far in life and have gorgeous kids and save the world.
Simon: When you do math in public, how do people generally react? Is this an application to MIT or to pre-school? You are absolutely forgettable. I could go into any middle school and find 6th graders I’d rather admit.
Paula: Oh stop, it really wasn’t that bad. You shine, you know fractions really well. You’re beautiful.
Ryan: Would you like to respond to Simon?
Applicant: Um, uh, I thought it was okay…
Simon: You haven’t taken any math since ninth grade, you failed bio, chem, and physics, and you have a 220 on your math SAT. You know when you’re at a wedding and someone has a little too much wine and gets up on stage and tries to integrate? That was you tonight.
Crowd: Booooooooo.
Simon: It’s true.
Ryan: If you’d like to vote for this applicant, call 888-MIT-IDOL or text MIT on your Cingular phone which is now AT&T which was formerly AT&T which was formerly Cingular which might be Cingular again in a few months.
Randy: DOG POUND!
Dog Pound: Woot!
[commercial]
And on that note, my friends, selection committee beckons.
You know this is posted twice, right? I guess this is the one with the improved title
And of course, it’s gone by the time my comment posts, making me sound like a hallucinator…I
‘ll go read the entry now.
Yeah!! Selection committee is on….
The two Kari(e)ns see the double post…
Maybe just Karins hallucinate =P
Just curious…How many applicants do you get through in a day?
when r results going to be out
I am so tense now. Ben how many applicants have you selected now? I am dying to know. Are there any Solomons? When will the admissions decisions be released? Oh God.
hey solomon
its same with me
Ben,
I completely understand your fantasy, as an employer who reads numerous resume’s, it is a comic break to find a gem that you can run around the office and say…Hey Look at this! They actually made little hearts above all their i’s, and a smiley face beside the signature. Or my personal favorite, making the leap from car wash attendant to senior-level management.
Happy reading!!!!
Perhaps, when you come to read my resume in the commitee (if it is not already in the bin), you will have some fun.
Good luck everybody
and if this is the double post, who cares? I don’t. Don’t we all repeat ourselves in some part of our lives? Repetition is part of the nature.
OH NOOOOO……….selection has begun :(
I’m SOOOO nervous…….
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE select me!
Fingers crossed……….
Does anybody know when te results will be
published?
I am so nervous!!! Adam S no helpful info this time.
Hahaha…love the “drunk integration at a wedding” bit!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA.:-D :-D :-D
BUT, for the record, Nance + Ben + Matt + Millene >> Paula + Simon + Randy. ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.
Though I can’t understand your blog entirely as a Chinese, I think you have a dull but interesting job in some degree.
Ben U really Rock! in abt a few words….You have explained the whole selection fuss.
And the MIT idol for the year 2007 is…………………guess who?
……Anonymous, yeah!!!
Hay ben,
Paris and Britney applying to MIT would be a good idea!!
yeah Ben, I know, You would love to read their academic and extra-circullar distinctions!!!lolzzz..
ohk.so finally we have been put up on trial… lets see who is enprisoned in the world’s favorite prison (would luv to be one)…and who gets the bail out!!!
Gosh wish I am found accused of stealing the committee’s heart and therefore am sentenced to stay in MIT for the coming 4..5…6 years
Wow, that’s got to be the best blog entry ever! (especially since I actually got to see last night’s Idol)
Thanks for helping to make waiting a little less stressful. Now that I think about it, March 17th doesn’t seem like too far away any more.
HAHAHAHA. How accurate.
Jordin Sparks FTW! I also love Melinda Doolittle.
Hey, selection comittee. You guys are doing a great job lol
Charles
Is it 17th for sure? Are you certain. Whats your source?
URGENT: I just found [well, a week ago] an elegant [ie reader-friendly, public-friendly and short] proof to something [a property of a very large class of common and important functions] that seems intuitively obvious but kept me up just thinking aboutthe swiftest workable apporach. Do you want to see it [at the admissions office]? I want you to see it! Will it bolster my application? To whom should I send it? …
Would you prefer it written as a song? …
! !
O
We could all [the MyMIT audience] write you songs! That would definitely satisfy the title of this bloggy.
So that’s why you’ve all been MIA this week.
So is it too late to add anything else to your application now?
VERY ENTERTAINING!!!!
This is utterly hilarious and I am sending the link out to lots of email lists of parents.
is it really too late to send anything in now????????
Hey just cut the crap!!!!
It’s not a time to joke, my life is on stake,it can just take an officers stamp to make my life and his one flick can ruin the same.
OH! PLEASE PICK ME UP,I HAVE GOT A LOT TO DO.
Seriously waiting for the big packet in my mail box.
Wow…we actually had someone say something almost exactly like this yesterday when we talked about “Admission Idol”. Good to see the loopiness isn’t limited to our office right now.
Hahaha. Funny post! I def did see Idol last night too and those impressions of the judges are right on.
but yes, so do decisions come out the 17th like what is being said above? is it too late to add anything? (just got academic all-american for swimming!)
and of course…I AM SOOO NERVOUS ABOUT DECISIONS!!! ahhhhh! cross my fingers!!!!
“Your handwriting is beautiful”…. I laughed A LOT when I read this!! She makes such inane-yet-encouraging comments! But, I mean, I get her. I wouldn’t like to be mean to someone on TV.
Great post!
And good luck to all applicants :D
pwn? The first time I read it, it reminded me the pawn in chess. It somehow relates to that too! Pawn can be a very important piece in winning. Thanks for the link.
Although I can’t watch American Idol from where I am from, there definitely are shows like that here too. Interesting… I guess humiliating people on TV is now in many countries. Sad. I don’t like this. I don’t see why it would be funny either. There are other ways of having fun.
Can’t wait to hear the decisions.
You’re MY idol.
(I’m on a ROLL!)
in “Randy: Dog, it was just okay for me. You want me to keep it real, right?”
is it really supposed to be ‘Dog’instead of ‘Dawg’?
(I’m slightly oblivious to some things…so it’s not all obvious to me. don’t laugh.)
Also, as some others have asked before me,
since selection has already started, if we send in updates/supplemental material at this time, will it be considered?
Meaning, would any of the committees re-discuss the applicant, if a decision has already been made?
This is hilarious! And even MORE fun to read because my kid isn’t waiting on an MIT decision. However, I certainly hope the admissions committee over at Cornell has NO FUN WHATSOEVER until they admit him!
Tense, much, people?
Quick answers…
The goal is to release decisions online at noon on Saturday March 17th and via postal mail around the same time. I won’t be able to confirm this 100% until we are farther along in the process.
You can always send supplemental stuff in, but at this point it is very unlikely to be seen by the committee.
-B
As an MIT alum/parent (’07, hooray), I would like to say: thank you, I needed that.
But I’m a little worried about you, are you okay? You sound a little punchdrunk.
SCORE! I had a bet with someone that decisions would be released on the 17th, so I hope that day stays put (but I wouldn’t mind if it was earlier…) =P
Lmao, this post is hilarious! Love it!
And good luck with the selections!
Thanks Snively
indeed, Mr. Snively.
Yeah, I wondered, because first i used to think it was ‘dog’, then i started seeing ‘dawg.’
But then, maybe Ben just really meant ‘dog’ after all?
The dates are out….. What more can I say?
And yeah! Sorry Ben, that double post was due to a “mis-click” (new word!).
Waiting for 17th, yeaaaahhhhhh!!!
Oh, March 17th? Very near than I had imagined. When I started applying to MIT I thought March and April were too far away & I would sometimes slacken in the process. Now it seems I am going to pay the price in a few weeks time. I am tensed….worried……..nervous…….Why does time fly so fast?!
Hi Ben,
My name is Mayuresh Deshpande.Indian by heart and fath.I have spend more than 2 hrs. to find proper link to post you my Question.
At last I decided to use this one.Then I spend half an hour more in thinking to whether start with “Respected Sir” or the other way You have already seen at top.
OK I just wanna introduse myself as totally confused guy.I tried to persue help from some of Indians at MIT(I got there email ID from MIT website. but none of them reply. You are my last hope . plz just reply me on my email id so that I can fill free to ask you something about admissions.I just want to know if I am not unneceressely putting you in trouble.
yours hopeless friend
Maddy
Reply soon Ben.can you plz mention how to mail you Questions
[email protected]
again your hopless friend
Maddy
:( :( :( :( :( :( :( I don’t know what are those new three musketeers thinking about me. booooooo
I actually know someone like this (gets C’s in math, but A’s and B’s in English, which is pretty good considering he hands in essays a month late) Of course he was joking because he hates anything to do with numbers, but was kind of interesting to see a post that was about someone like one of my friends
lol… yea… that thing was true… word to word…!!! thats just how all three of them usually react… n maybe wen ryan would have tried to save the applicant from some real embarrasment, thn simon would have chipped in with “Ryan, are you trying to date this applicant”???
awesome post… n a great sense of humor…
Thuita Maina
time fly so fast?!
r u joking i m having
ve……………………ry much hard time here
Hi Ben , Hello Everybody
Though I have no way to predict the result of my application……I don’t why I am so excited….ain’t I supposed to be nervous?
I know this sounds really crazy…but please help….I am not feeling scared even a bit!….again I know this is crazy…but please could someone tell how to do something that will make me nervous about the…because I want to be nervous!!
Please Help! :?()
PS: I don’t think I am some super strong applicant. Which makes the whole issue about not-being-nervous very strange to me.
GOD PLEASE GIVE ME STRENGTH TO BE NERVOUS
AND MORE STRENGTH TO ACCEPT THE DECISION [WHATEVER THAT IS!]
I love these posts. The blogs had been rather slow this week (after the initial surge of “selection has begun”) and suddenly yesterday and today they exploded! Sadly I have had no time to really read these posts because I’ve been working and getting community service this week. I need sleep! But alas, I just put the kid to bed (babysitting) and I have about an hour of free time so here I am.
Josh etc.: I feel your pain. (And congrats Josh) I think Charles is probably assuming the 17th since it’s the Saturday closest to pi day. That’s the day I’ve been assuming but I still can’t tell when it really is since it’s not announced yet.
ahahah this was an amazing post!!
“You know when you’re at a wedding and someone has a little too much wine and gets up on stage and tries to integrate?” THAT IS JUST LIKE SIMON!
and paula’s handwriting comment! it’s perfect!
sorry, should’ve said entry not post. don’t shoot me.
Oh, AM TENSED TOO. Please Ben keep on posting more blogs on admission process. I guess its one and a half months to go, isn’t Ben?
Holy Mary Mercy Me!
Can’t Believe the Things I See!
– Michael Jackson
The Oath
Once the “applying for application which are for colleges” season will be over; I shall have a month to satisfy my primal need: Sleeping ZzZZZzZZZ
Man Proposes; God Disposes
We are trying to release all admission decision NO later than March 17th.
The Default Reaction
Oh No!! Puhhhleeezzee…
leezz…
zz.zzz.zzzz…z.
zzz
Hahaha omg that sounds exactly like the judges. But what about Randy’s remarkable tendency to call everyone, including males, “baby”?
“You know when you’re at a wedding and someone has a little too much wine and gets up on stage and tries to integrate? That was you tonight.”
And that was just beautiful haha
if other things are at par will SAT or TOEFL be deal breaker
The characters are for real!?
Anyway… thanks Paula…LOL
Oh no! You found my application!
…it’s ok, I was voted Time’s Person of the Year (2006).
That was AMAZING. I was cracking up =)
Though I now refuse to watch American Idol. It forced House and Bones to be POSTPONED. I want my shows back! (And Ugly Betty isn’t on tonight!) Gah, bad TV week =)
Selection committee. I remember those two words sent shivers up my spine last.. November? Wow, that was a while ago. EA = Awesomeness
Good luck to the RA applicants!
Good luck to everyone.
“You know when you’re at a wedding and someone has a little too much wine and gets up on stage and tries to integrate?” *snerk* Classic!
Decisions coming out on the 17th, huh? Do you think it’s lucky if I’m Irish? ‘Cause I so am. (Bummer about missing the pi day thing, but at least I will have pi(e) to console myself.)
Have fun selecting!
pwn? The first time I read it, it reminded me the pawn in chess. It somehow relates to that too! Pawn can be a very important piece in winning. Thanks for the link.
Here, have a small dosage of internet culture. The origin of “pwn” has its roots in the online game Warcraft III. At the end of a particularly popular level, it’s supposed to say “You were owned” if you lost, but the person typing was in a hurry and since the “p” and “o” keys are together they pushed “p” by accident. Therefore, “pwned!” became an internet phenomenon.
is it really supposed to be ‘Dog’instead of ‘Dawg’? (I’m slightly oblivious to some things…so it’s not all obvious to me. don’t laugh.)
More culture. It’s “Dawg”. Not sure why.
There is the final ^z for the madman……. Goodbye friends, I feel like they have thrown me in the wpb.
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooo
So here is my fantasy Ben,
A week before the decisions are posted, I will start wearing my MIT t-shirt that I got last year. However, I will also wear something on top of it so that it cannot be recognized. Then the day I learn the decisions and if I am accepted, I will take off the other shirt and walk around with my MIT t-shirt that day, that week, that month, until next academic year until I get more MIT t-shirts. Even if I would stink of wearing the same t-shirt every day, I would still be wicked happy.
And if that day I learn that I am not accepted, the t-shirt will stay underneath my other shirt. Then I will keep my MIT t-shirt in my closet until the rest of my life and never wear it. After I die and my children and grand-children, clean my closet, they will find that t-shirt and learn about my dream of MIT. This will tell them more about me.
why does MIT think it’s tea….it’s so much obsessed with this question…that it literally asks this question….even while stating it’s name- SEE FOR YOURSELF
MIT=”am I Tea?”
No. you’re a university. not Tea!
To
Anonymous on February 24, 2007 12:29 AM
Are you from Bangladesh????????????
Hey everyone!
I have a question: when are the admissions decisions posted on the internet?
Thanks in advance…
No
I am not from Bangladesh. I am from India.
The Evolution
Almighty!! Ah Mighty!! MIT!!
Thanks Anonymous on February 24, 2007 12:29 AM for the tip, anyway I had thought it a long ago.
to turnef
May I get selected. Best of luck to you. Just in case you don’t get selected, why do you plan to never wear the t-shirt? This is a wrong attitude!
Haven’t you heard of something known as “Transfer”?
OR won’t you do your masters…..at the time MIT will still exists!
By the way an important note on children and grand-children…….don’t expect much from them…like taking care of your closet or something…..Why?
The second law of thermodynamics states that in a closed system [like our universe] the entropy [which indicates chaos, disorder, and its cousins like indiscipline, and the like] increase with the passage of time….which you don’t care really that much for your parents…as much as your parents did for your grand parents…now that is because with the passage of time chaos, disorder, indiscipline [and all their evil cousins] have increased in intensity..which means your children and grand children will care less for your belongings..which means they might never get to know about your dream
MORALS OF THE STORY:
1. Tell your children and grand children about your dreams…just in case MAN PROPOSES GOD DISPOSES theorem works in your case
2. Don’t you think it’s toooooooo eeeaaarrrlllyyy to think about “children” and even “grandchildren”!!!! I think your life will be comfortable if you could limit it to just academics, friends, career, MIT and at the most girlfriend[s]
Hey Thuita Maina, from which poition you play football (soccer), I have been the usual mid-fielder. You know, I am also crazy about football. Hoping that you are a Striker. And guessing your idol Thierry Henry. Say, what about that? Mine is … nobody other than the Merciless Zizou. Ha Ha. Zinedine Zidane. How cool he looks man!! Aggggrah!!
Merci Zizou!
And don’t forget to tell me, that if I was correct?
to turnef (part-2)
just in case you’re wondering what chaos, disorder and their evil cousins have to do with the respect a person shows towards his/her parents….read on……….the natural tendency/ the way things must be ideally is that one must love one’s parents a lot and take care of’em and their belongings…but because of chaos, disorder and their evil cousins like indiscipline, hatred [which catalyzes the occurrence of disorder in good and naturally-organized relationship] the naturally-organized-bonds between kids and their parents weaken…..leading all the blah…blah…which i have earlier mentioned!
BEST of luck to everyone!
to turnef (part 3)
I don’t live in US….and know a little about americans and american culture…. so I was just wondering whether turnef is the name of a boy or a girl???
Let me guess…..ummm….ummmmmm…..ummmmm….
is it the name of a boy?
Turnef,
Please don’t get offended if I guessed wrongly! After all it’s a mere guess!
to turnef(part 4)
can’t help!my mind seems to be generating messages for your in installments … anyways read on……
I just figured out that you must be surely a boy!
LOGIC USED: Girls are sweet and they don’t make “stinky” plans like ruining the noses of others by continually wearing the same t-shirt for a YEAR!!!!!!
Question: Which Deo do you plan to use????
PS: even I am boy…but with “much cleaner” plans
Ben, i this the best entry i’ve ever read in MIT’s blog.Not buttering u up.
‘Mr. MIT=am I Tea?’, that was awesome.
Anonymous i gift all my nervousness to you, i don’t even want a part of it although its volume in me is unfathomable.
First, I apologize from everybody for causing a tread that is not really related to the entry.
To anonymous of February 24th,
I am neither an American nor a boy. Turnef is not my name but one of my nicknames that has no meaning unlike my name. I am sure it does have a meaning in some other language.
If I don’t get accepted, I will stay in my home country and study in a totally different system. Therefore, transfer doesn’t really work for me. I will take a “very” different path here. Why would I never wear that t-shirt again? Because wearing that would make me sad. In addition, wearing it (to me) symbolizes holding onto a dream that has not been realized. I know that would weaken me. (This is not the same for other kinds of dreams.) I would rather keep it as a “memory”. That is just my take on this.
)) In that short time, we got to think of other generations and what we leave to them, including our dreams. My goal is to leave something that will go beyond two generations like an invention(s) and not just a t-shirt with which I have emotional bonds.
Fantasies are not predictions, so I may have romanticized my fantasy to strengthen its emotional appeal. The result is that it sounds fictional.
After I die, somebody needs to clean my house to reuse it, especially if I will live alone. (Nobody is going to ignore it, I hope.) That somebody would probably be my family(I hope) because heritage, material and historical, is important in my culture. I am repeating “I hope” because I don’t know either what is going to happen after decades to culture which is dynamic.
Is it too early for thinking of children and even grand-children? I believe nothing is early to be thought of. Human life is short, really short. Compare it to the life of universe. (If you compare it to annual plants, it may be long
Which Deo? I like adidas.
MIT Idol?
Oh, snap. I’d pay to watch that show even it if came out in the wee hours of the morning. Of course, throw in a bit of melodrama and a few hacks in the process and it’ll turn out JUST FINE.
“MIT = am I tea?” Wow, I never really thought about that – Anonymous, good on you for finding out that punny phrase. =P
But everyone – relax! It’s all up to the Selection Committee right now. Best of luck to everyone!
I have a question, that I’d appreciate an honest answer to…
if our application is still incomplete (ex. Midyear grade report has not been received) even though we know a document should have been received several days ago, does that mean that a decision has already been made (a decision to reject) on our file, and new information will not be considered?
haha at AJ: me too!!!!
Ben,
when can we expect to hear the decision for Regular Action candidates ?
I think there is no point comparing ourselves over here, because comparison won’t change the decisions of the admissions committee, and also that it might just cause unnecessary nervousness.
I suggest we should do this thing…. someone please create a group on “orkut”….named as MIT Aspirants’11. and all the applicants should get registered over there. After that irrespective of the decisions of the committee we’ll be able to stay in touch for the rest of our lives, and may help each other.
Since we are those who have applied to MIT, and since Ben has specifically pointed out that even the bottom 10% applicants are very impressive,
it means we all are, at least, very impressive as per someone from MIT.
What’s the harm in “very impressive” minds joining hands on the net? No harm!
Let’s do it!
Hey Mrinal. I really appreciate your idea. But, tell me how to do this. We,even if we do not get into MIT, shall be atleast web friends for the rest of our lives and help each other. So, bye and do post a mail on this blog or email me at [email protected].
Bye all of you and I wish best wishes to all the MIT aspirants.
URGENT. PLEASE HELP.
Does anyone know whether there are any extra forms (Financial Statement for Students from Foreign Countries, for instance) that international students have to fill out and send? If there are such forms, what are they and when is the deadline for each form?
Also, are there anyone who had Collegeboard send in their January SAT score report to MIT but still can’t see it on MyMIT tracking page, or am I the only one?
I know I’ve asked a lot of questions that do not seem relevant to this blog entry, but I am getting a bit worried on these two points I’ve mentioned. So PLEASE HELP if possible. Thanks.
Gr8 idea mrinal. Plz tell me how to register 4 the orkut thing as i dunno much abt it.
Yeah, I have to agree with all the other posts that this is one of the more entertaining blog entries. It combines useful information with a bit of absolutely terrific humour. Well done Ben!
100th Post!
Hey ppl
How abt we compare our credentials so that we get an idea of how tough the competition reely is??
K??
Go on! Start it.
Yeah I agree with ‘Madman’ start it and we will follow suit. We don’t really appreciate the anonymous kind of thing if we are to compare credentials.
sat 1- 2000
sat 2- math, physics, chem- 750
Hi everyone! I’m a moroccan applicant to MIT and I have a really disturbing problem. I took the toefl in december, 15th and entered MIT as a score recipient, but they haven’t received it yet!!! and the selection process has already begun. In addition to this, the test center where I took my Toefl had forgotten to take my photograph. (my score is 95 out of 120). Another question: do you think I still have a chance to be admitted as I had a 660 in SAT Math test level 2 and a 560 in SAT Physics test. Thank you for answering.
Hey !!
Any one frm india/ any indians applying 2 MIT??
I am an Indian studying in U.A.E(cbse) and have applied for class of 2011. Do e mail me at [email protected]
whoa! your definitely my admission idol! i hope u get to read my application in a couple years…ur blog is wicked awesome