Please Read This by Ben Jones
Regarding the mail screw up.
I know that you all hate us right now and I don’t blame you. I would too. In fact I do. I know this doesn’t make it any better, but we really didn’t know. I don’t hide things from you; I never have and I never will. The first thing my colleague did when Mail Services called him was to say “post it in Ben’s blog so they know.” As soon as he told me I moved it to the front page so more people would see it. None of this makes it better – you SHOULD be angry with us. At the same time, if I could ask certain folks to stop with the cheap shots, I would really appreciate it. I want to spend a lot of time on the boards and the blogs, but a guy can only take so much hatred being thrown at him.
We are working on organizing the staff to be able to take calls tomorrow (12/15). I will keep you posted, but I’d say count on it.
Ben
ben we don’t hate you, we’re just a little upset. thank you for everything you’ve done, and good luck to all the applicants. and thanks so much for trying to allow us to call tomorrow.
I really do believe you, Ben. From everything the MIT admissions people have said, it’s easy to see that there’s some genuine care in there.
I think that, ego-wise, this is probably a good thing for me, because I was slowly starting to talk myself into believing that not getting anything yet meant that I was more likely to get a tube, and I think that if I hadn’t read this, I would be that much more depressed if I get a letter tomorrow.
I know that all sounds kind of weird, but I think that in waiting for word from MIT I’ve gone through most the emotional stress, and it can only get better from here.
Thank you for trying to get the call center ready for tomorrow. I know that you guys must hate to have to do that – rejecting/deferring people over the phone must be terrible.
No hate from here. Thank you for the effort. Have peace in dealing the calls tomorrow.
Ben – now that we know what we know, virtually all the letters should arrive tomorrow. You won’t need to man the phones. The anger is a function of the lack of control; if admissions would have given us answers when we called the last two days, there would be much less anger.
Thanks for taking calls tomorrow guys, when will we be able to start working on our apps again for regular decision? I’m still waiting for anything in the mail…
As a former admissions officer at a small LAC, I know how thrilled and relieved you all must have felt last Friday when those carts rolled out of your office door and headed toward the mailroom. You had accomplished an extraordinarily difficult task in sorting through and poring over those thousands of applications from brilliant and deserving students, and made oft-times wrenching decisions about offering them places either in the class of 2010 or in the RD pool.
Despite the weather, you never could have anticipated this nightmare. I know that it’s a nightmare for you as well as for all those applicants who have not yet heard an official reply and are left imagining the worst.
Keep your chin up, and trust that nearly every one of the deferred candidates will forgive this fiasco if/when they receive their acceptance letters in the spring.
I’m a bit frustrated, but that’s natural. I have no hard feelings toward you guys, and I’m glad you have worked to keep us informed. A big plus to you for working to get the phone notification up tomorrow, also.
We’re not upset at you, but at the postal service for delaying the results. With all our nerves being strung out, some of are likely to snap. Still watching for the tube!
Hey ben,
I’m not mad. I still haven’t recieved anything yet, but I know you guys are trying your best. Best of luck with sorting everything out. Check my email btw. thanks
i’m not mad at you! i’m kind of mad at those anon guys..
you guys are great and it certainly isn’t your fault and no one in there right mind would blame you..
Hey, Ben. I daresay most of us still love you and are not freaking out about this entire thing (although I can’t speak for everyone else, of course). I’m going to repeat a consistent question on the earlier blog, as I don’t think most of them know this one exists yet — does your earlier statement that not everyone has his or her acceptance still hold? Is there even a way you can possibly know that (previous years’ models, etc)? If there’s not, no big deal.
Thanks for everything you’ve done so far!
It’s certainly a relief that you’ll be giving decisions over the phone a day early. Probably not what you were expecting there in admissions, but circumstances change. I’m making the call during school so at least if I break down there will be plenty of people to put together the pieces when I’m done.
Other than that, thanks for all the good times. If I get deferred until March, I’m hoping that I’ll get in then. I’ve wanted to go to MIT since I was in fifth grade (thanks to my uncle for that… he’s an alumnus, ’77 I believe.) Plus now I’ve got a girlfriend who goes there and I’m up in Cambridge every weekend.
Now that I think about it… not getting in is going to kill me. So much to leave behind.
I know I still love you (and everyone else in admissions)! I can imagine much more heineous mistakes that could have occurred, and probably have occurred at other colleges, that didn’t because of the thoroughness and care of MIT admissions. Snafus happen in any endeaver, and this one sounds like it had nothing to do with your office anyway. Give yourselves another round of back-pats for an admissions cycle well done, and don’t even consider beating yourself up over the mail delay.
Y’know, it’s a good thing I ate and had a cup of tea before responding to this post. If I hadn’t, this comment wouldn’t be so nice and would use a lot of words that I would have to self censor. Also, it wouldn’t have been what I truly feel, rather what my headache from lack of sleep and loss of apetite caused from getting anxious for my letter.
As is, I truly believe you. It’s just that I spent every day this week anxiously waiting for what was to come at my mailbox. Everytime, I was let down.
That made no sense but I leave it to stand as a testament of how this has left me a shattered, hull of a person.
Regardless, expect a call from me tommorrow. I want to at least regain the dignity of finding out on my terms.
No harm done, Ben. I’m still one of those still-in-limbo-though-probably-deferred people. But I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Not the best way to find out decision, but then again, seeing a small envelope isn’t great either.
Thanks for trying to arrange phone calling (I’m sure the rest of the staff is agog at the moment too). In the end, I don’t really think it is really a big deal. The tubes, judging from what I heard, make up for it.
I have a question though. Did you ever say stats on how many out of the 3100 were deferred? I know you’ve said in the past the vast majority are deferred but I was curious if you had numbers for this go through that I missed.
377 were Admitted.
2,371 were deferred
216 were denied.
53% male, 47% female.
27% URM.
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N61/earlyaction.html
According to the article http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N61/earlyaction.html
“Of the 3,098 applicants, 2,371 were deferred and 216 denied admission, along with 131 who were deferred because they did not complete the application.”
Robert – the “most” you could get done was a working Gentoo installation?
I’d call that quite an accomplishment.
Did you even bootstrap yourself and everything, because that would be borderline miraculous?
Oh yeah. “…along with 131 who were deferred because they did not complete the application.” If a part of my application (ie. teacher evaluations) wasn’t processed until last week-ish (for one rec) or even today (for the other rec), does that put me in this category? =-S
Stage 1 Gentoo installation is not miraculous…
I do however remember the first time I accomplished this feat, I think it took somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 hours
.
As an EA applicant who rushed home today to find nothing in the mail, I must tell you my first reaction: “I HATE THE US POSTAL SERVICE!!!!” And, upon reading the news that the letters had not been sent until Monday, I must say my reaction was very similar: “I *$#*@&%$*#@!! HATE THE US POSTAL SERVICE!!!!” Except the cursing was, like, muiltiplied by 10000 (thank goodness I have my own room or my mom would have freaked). Thanks, to all the admissions people at MIT, for being so inclusive…I applied EA to Caltech and had almost no idea what was going on until I got my deferral letter in the mail last week (coincidentally, the day after the letter was dated…I live right nearby). Being able to see what was going on all the time really helped….my blood pressure has probably fluctuated between 90/70 and about 10000/9000 this week, but it was worth it. (except when I decided this morning that MIT purposely delayed my letter so that I would have a nervous breakdown and end up in a mental institution so it wouldn’t matter if they accepted me…I have since dropped that theory.) Anyway, thanks a bunch!
~Katie
dyzzy: if you applied early and if both of your teacher recs weren’t processed until just the past week, then that’s definitely a possibility.
Hooray for a Knoppix live CD for whenever I need Linux.
And I would just like to reiterate what Robert said, it’s just wrong to do what some of the people have done on here. Take a chill pill and if you know you aren’t in a state to post something not raving mad, don’t.
And to not being able to do work, at least you have regular work to do. This week we’ve just been reviewing for exams (the administration screwed up the schedule this year) so nothing was done in class, there was no homework, and studying can only be marginally effective when your mind is wrapped around a dilemma of this magnitude.
At least I get to go and read to my preschoolers tommorrow. I love going in and hearing “Mr. Clark, we misssssed you!”. And I get to give them books of their own today. Big smiles there :-D
Ben, in a totally un-admissions-related side note,
How did Summer get a 2300? I must say that totally blindsided me…
And what’s up with Seth just saying, “Oh yeah, I’m going to Brown”? Does he even know that you have to apply and get in first? I wish I lived in OC world…it would be so much easier. Well, except with all the drugs/parties/shootings/getting run over/everything else that happens. I know everything’s unrealistic, but I blew the whistle when Seth made that outrageous comment. It almost made me stop loving him.
~Katie
Thanks Ben for this blog post. I live in CT and I still have not received any mail but I know it is not the fault of the admissions. Mail is unpredictable and how could the admissions have known this was going to happen? There was a huge storm here when the mails were sent out and that could have caused a delay as well. Although waiting hurts, I am eagerly looking forward to each new day opening my mailbox =) Anyways I am very grateful for the admissions team and your honesty. Thank you for the great application experience! Thanks again.
Anonymous,
wow, you type in all-caps. it belies your exposition. its like yelling at people to make peace. “PERHAPS YOU SHOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT COMING TO MIT.” excellent, we have a first class debator here.
I can
Ben-
I don’t think any of the people posting really hate you or the admissions staff. That’s just frustration and youth speaking…and you are a convenient punching bag for annonymous posters.
It goes with the big bucks, right?
Thank you for your sensitivity to the angst expressed on these boards and for taking action to alleviate it to some extent with early phone access.
Well. After I’ve chilled out with good old Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby, it’s safe to say that I am glad you’re moving the phone service up early — though heaven knows the logistics are hellish. And to thank you all for being so sincere and open and honest all the way through the process. It’s truly remarkable how much energy you guys spend.
Ditto on the reaction to nothing from MIT in the mail. SNAIL MAIL!!!! they call it that for a reason. We’re not mad at ya’ll, we are infuriated with the government owned postal service. Oh boy a mix of southern talk and liberal ideas…who’d thunk it? Like Nance said, Life is not like a box of chocolates. Live it, learn from it, and prosper from it. You can’t change the past, much like after you submit a post you can’t take it back.
Ben, you shouldn’t be hating yourself, haha. Those people that aren’t taking cheap shots really aren’t that upset and still think you guys are cool. I haven’t got any mail yet and I’m fine. And thanks for making efforts for us to know by tomorrow.
love coming from china via the www. at least this can’t screw up in it’s delivery.
calling service? of what kind?
4 hrs!
has anyone called in yet?
Thanks Ben for handling this sressful situation so well.
I live in Los Angeles and I haven’t received any word yet, but I haven’t lost all hope.
That would be amazing if I could call tommorrow!
I wouldn’t say that people are upset at the fact that the mail was delayed per se, but more at the fact that only the deferals/rejections were delayed. Therefore, everyone who hasn’t recieved a letter by now has to assume the worst.
Ben, I hope you take these comments seriously:
You guys are a great admissions team, but you are plagued with problems unique to our generation. The world is flat (metaphorically speaking). People are able to compare their receipt of an acceptance tube with others around the nation, are able to trace the spread of decisions almost instantaneously. People map receipt of decisions on http://www.frappr.com and spread it on forums such as CollegeConfidential. If this “fiasco” happened 5 or 10 years ago, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
Ben, it really isn’t fair for others to blame you for problems the postal service had. You are doing exactly what you should: as communications manager / admissions officer you have done a fantastic job. You have made the entire application process (and pretty much the decision process) transparent. I respect that, a lot. myMit is a grand accomplisment. I respect that very much.
Congratulations on all you have done at MIT, and especially dealing with all the snafu’s of the admissions process (upside down letters, leaked applicant names, and now: the mail problem).
If I were to make a suggestion- it would be to keep doing what you’re doing. Ben (Nance, and Matt), you’re all doing great jobs. Keep it up, and please do not let the letter problem influence the future of the blogs.
Hi Ben,
Just in *case* I don’t get a decision in the mail by Friday, and can’t get through by phone, will the Admissions Office be open on Monday for me to call? As in, it won’t be closed for the holidays?
Thanks.
Ben, you’re not actually going to “take calls” yourself tomorrow, are you?
you know, reading some of the comments on this post and the previous post, I’m really shocked at how many people were furious at this new revelation. things like this happen, just take it in stride. if everything had been mailed at the same time, you still would have found out the *same* thing, that you were either deferred or rejected.
as high school seniors, I’m sure all of you have had to deal with some trip up in logitistics. the best thing to do is take a deep breath, smile, and move on.
For the past five days, my wait has been filled with stress, hope, disappointment, and sleepless nights. As the wait prolonged, I was puzzled why I still hadn’t received any notification and every part of me wanted to know why.
Yet, I now realize that maybe knowing the reality of the situation would have been a lot worse. The wait was stressful, of course, but it was also filled with the exciting possibility of acceptance into my top college. Now, I am only faced with the depressing likelihood of finding my deferral letter in the mail tomorrow.
From this, I undoubtedly understand my fellow applicants’ anger. It is only natural to vent this anger towards the nearest targets, the admissions committee. As tempting as it is to direct our anger towards someone, it definately should not be directed towards the unsuspecting admissions committee.
Ultimately, we were all dying to know why all the tubes seemed to be the only decisions being received and now we now. Life goes on and we can only remain optimistic that we’ll get in during regular decision or maybe that everything that happened is for the better. Of course, as this has taught us all maybe “ignorance is bliss.”
Thank you, MIT Admissions!
(And a plague on the postal service!)
Well, I am very frustrated, I thought it may have gone to the creepy lady the next street over (we have the same street and house number, only my address is street and hers is place) who keeps our mail or throws it away if there is a mistake.
Knowing how inefficient most mass government programs are, I am not entirely surprised.
I have had so much to ache over this week, so I was looking forward to some good news for once this week, but I guess good things come to those who wait. Hopefully my little circle of friends will all get in.
as some of u know..i when this whole waiting thing started i was one of the biggest advocates for email…but now i think i’d rather snail mail…specially if i got a tube
ben,
what’s the number to call?
It appears that the US Postal Service is being wrongly maligned here. The error lies with the internal MIT mail service who unintentionally included the letters (deferrals/rejections) with regular mail. Instead of the letters being delivered directly to the US postal service as priority mail, this mail was sent to a third party for processing, who combined this mail with mail from other customers over the weekend before forwarding to the US postal service on Monday afternoon. Some of the letters went out Monday and some on Tuesday. This information is gleaned from the original post on the problem on this blog.
It is a pity this has happened after all the hard work done by the admissions staff which I am sure is much appreciated by all concerned. Nevertheless it remains a blot on MIT and not the postal service.
Before crying for electronic notification, be aware that the Cornell system was hacked this week.
i love the post office..my mail lady always smiles at me…lol…and getting mail makes me happy…^_^
i seriously think we have to lay off the whole blaiming thing..it wasn’t intentional..it was nobody’s fault…and if anything it’s our fault for acting like spoiled brats
(If so, *hugs*!)
CALLS TOMORROW???? WhOOOOOOOOPeeee. now i can at least function normally. I blanked in all my classes yesterday. The pressure is … awful. Everybody around me is getting in. And I’m happy them. well, most of them heh
I have no clue how the calling system is going to work, but I’d have the 9-digit application number with me just in case.
Dear Ben and Everyone in the Admissions Office,
Please don’t hate yourselves!
We are feeling emotional and some of us are cracking under the stress/tension, but we’ll all be okay, and I think that most people will still be thanking you for everything you’ve done and for how amazing you’ve been when this is all over.
And there is, perhaps, a bright side. After this process of deduction that has led many people to believe they are for sure deferred or denied, think of those people who will be joyously wrong tomorrow! Expecting the worst, there’s nothing like getting the best in the end. Most of us will be met with a silver lining of deferral, yes some will be denied and they’ll move on, but think of the lucky ones whose wishes will poke out from behind a big shiny mail truck and shout “Peek-a-boo!”
That’s a golden lining.
And so is this board: seeing inside the process, getting a glance behind the veil of mystery to see the people back there who really care about us working so hard to make our dreams come true.
Thank you for everything, whatever the outcome.
Best Wishes,
Katie
Ha… man… come on people… I haven’t gotten anything yet. Most people think I am a fairly accomplished person, and I am about the only person that doubted an Early Action admittance among my teachers and administration. Will a Tube change what I have done over the past four years? Most certainly not. If you guys that are still waiting have an ounce of respect for what you have done in high school (and I’m sure you all do, applying to MIT), then you will realize that a defferal isn’t all that bad… theres still 70% of the student population at MIT to fill. Granted there will be more applicants, but hey, we tried right?
Will the response that I am awaiting change what I enjoy in my life? Will it change what I have accomplished? Will it have any further bearing besides where I go to school? No. If you people have yourselves together enough to consider seriously applying to MIT, then don’t worry, you will probably be fine on most walks of life.
Consider… 3100 high school seniors in the US and around the globe thought that they had a shot at getting in to MIT through early action. of al the people that gave their college selection a serious thought, this is a number to be proud of. Only 3100 people, quite frankly, had the balls to apply and most probably expected defferals anyway.
On with my life!
pressure? i get ya…pressure is horrible…friends…family…church..”so did u here yet?” “you’ll get in” “you should go to princeton” (i live in NJ like 30 mins away from princeton)
oh yeah..and then there’s the fam comparing my cousins too me..i HATE that
haha, maybe now since most of the world is going wireless/cellular, MIT could start pioneering the idea of texting students their admissions decisions. I can just see it, noon strikes and hundreds of thousands of students flip open their cell phones to check for new SMSes.
I think that it is fairly safe to say that the people making the rude comments are those who would have done so anyway upon being deferred or rejected. With the whole mail fiaso, they just have something to use as a reason to blame the admissions officers even more. I expect that the majority of us, although maybe upset and disappointed, are not placing the admissions officers at fault. Personally, I feel bad for Ben because it seems as though he is voluntarily taking more blame than he deserves. It was a silly mistake that may have caused use more distress and sleepless nights, but even if we were notified immediately via e-mail or were not told until January, the decision would still be the same.
I have not recieved anything yet, but I think it is safe to say that I need to start working on supplemental materials. I suggest that we all do that and stop making Ben and the other officers feel we hate them and blame them for this accident. I am already trying to come up with ideas and things to send in. If I may make a suggestion, I think we should organize some sort of forum or group so that we can all work together on this.
Thats my 2 cents.
I guess at this rate it’s a deferral, but I honestly just want to know for sure, so I’ll be calling if the mail isn’t there when I get home.
Pointing fingers doesn’t get you into the school. I’m glad it doesn’t, or school spirit would be low indeed.
Thanks to everyone for your comments – really, thank you. I’ve answered many of your questions in a new front-page-post.
3 hrs
*correction i meant to say happy FOR them.
April, you are certainly not alone. I’m a complete loser now haha. To MIT: IF i get in, and IF my midyear report comes with slightly lower grades, can you attribute it to this week of horrors?
I’m joking of course, i think… should I get a psychiatrist?
Hey,
how many of the class of MITES ’05 got in??
i don’t know about you…but i’m too far along for a psychiatrist to do any good
jk
“the sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, their’ll be sun”
Oh no, my A+ might shrink to an A from the stress!!
2.5 hrs
yes..i am obsessed
oh dear me! i’m gonna lose that hundred! (that i wish i had ^^)
is it ethical to sue MIT for emotional damage??
lol
jk
there are probably pple out there who would..that’s SAD
Haha its almost 12. April we should try calling or something. even though i know its all over.
so true..but i think i might wait for the mail tomorrow….
and i’m HUNGRY
in 10 minutes it will be Dec. 15…and i have a scholarship essay that has to be postmarked on the 15th…*groan*
stanford’s due on the 15. we’re pratically chatting haha. we need a better form of communication. i think we’re spamming the boards. haha
hmmm…is that allowed? guess so! lol..it’s all good…
i have all the rest of my apps in..thank god…all i can do is wait now…
y does it seem as if a TON of pple on these blogs applied to stanford??
i am going to bed now that it is dec. 15
good luck!
haha i wish i didn’t have too. i’m not sure i belong outside a tech institute. but i’m probably gonna have to rethink my philosophy
rose-hulman was my back up…not that great of a school..but it’s pretty good..sides..i was able to get in..:/
2 hrs
1.75 hrs
i got it!
it’s a deferral
admit some more of us if you’re truly sorry
i’m just kidding…
YOU STUDENTS OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. MIT ADMISSIONS OFFICERS HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE HUMANE, KINDEST, UNDERSTANDING GROUP OF OFFICERS THAT I’VE EVER SEEN. THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO KEEP A BLOG. THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO TELL YOU EVERY SINGLE THING THAT THEY’RE DOING. FUCK, THEY DEFINITELY DIDN’T HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE WHOLE “TUBE FIRST, LETTER SECOND” ORDEAL. BUT THEY DID. WHY??? BECAUSE THEY VALUE HONESTY AND INTEGRITY AND THEY TRULY CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FEELINGS. THEY HAVE CONTINUOUSLY PUT YOU AS THEIR TOP PRIORITY AND SOMETIMES I THINK EVEN TO THE EXTENT OF UNDERMINING THEIR OWN AUTHORITY. HOW MANY ADMISSIONS OFFICERS FROM OTHER UNIVERSITIES DO YOU KNOW ARE WILLING TO DO ALL THAT?
SO BACK OFF, GUYS. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE KINDNESS OF THESE FOLKS. THEY OWE YOU NOTHING AND THEY HAVE NOTHING TO BE SORRY ABOUT. SO STOP IT WITH POINTING THE FIGURE AT THE ADMISSIONS PEOPLE. IT JUST SHOWS HOW IMMATURE, UNRESILIENT, AND FRAGILE YOU ARE. THOSE QUALITIES WILL DEFINITELY NOT GET YOU INTO MIT OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN LIFE.
SO IF YOU CAN’T EVEN HANDLE THIS LITTLE DEVIATION FROM THE NORM, THIS LITTLE BUMP ALONG THE ROAD, THEN PERHAPS YOU SHOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT COMING TO MIT.
still waiting :S in Puerto Rico
are you going to call?
lol april! you remind me of the way i am. sorry to hear about you being deferred. I was too. good luck to you
Bryan
Meh, I was going to get deferred anyway. As someone else said on CC, it’s not like the decisions changed.
We need to get Jack Nicholson in here for some “Anger Management”
“I feel pretty… oh so pretty… I feel pretty, and witty and gay!”
After reading that article from the Tech I went back to my application and re-evaluated myself.
I wish I could redo it, there’s so much I could have put in that I haven’t, which really is probably going to hold me back.
Example: I’m the president of Science Olympiad at my school… and it seems like the ability to lead is something they’re looking for. Why didn’t I put it in? Mainly because I act as part of the group and never really separate my duties from everyone else’s. Do I wish I had put it in now? Hell yeah…
But it’s too late for all that.
I’m obviously looking for an acceptance tube right now, but it looks like a deferral.
Oh well.
“I truly believe that the Postal Service consists of some Lovecraftian reality that would certainly render any normal person mad instantly upon first glance. Thus, the whereabouts of my letter can only be described of as in some d
Black is white…
if you stare at it long enough.
Opponent-processing…heheh…
Well, I guess I’ll find out…when I find out…
I’m not mad or anything, and honestly, the admissions process at MIT is better than that of any other school.
My first choice!
Oh…now for the cold, hard, wait :3
I’m being desensitized…
I can’t blame you guys because it was basically the postal service’s fault on this one. Just for the sake of next year, go electronic.
After all, you’re MIT, baby.
I’ve been a silent observer up until now, albeit an obsessed one who checked on the blogs every few minutes, lol. I must admit, I was a little bit disappointed when I found an empty mailbox greeting me every day this week, but I’ve since come to terms with my current status: honestly speaking, I’ve been building myself up to receive an acceptance, and that was a little too egotistical of me.
If an early acceptance wasn’t meant to be, it only means that I need to work harder in order to shine through come regular decision.
Thanks Ben and all the other admissions officers for all your hard work. I can honestly tell that you guys care about our feelings, so don’t let what some say get to you- so many more of us support you guys. I know it hasn’t been easy looking over 3000+ applications, and you got back to us a lot earlier than many of the other colleges.
And regarding the phones-I’ll be ready for the decisions whenever you guys are ready. Don’t stress about it though.
So, can we have a phone number to call tomorrow?
Ben, you and the rest of the admissions staff are still fabulous. We can’t blame you for anything given the facts and I’m glad that you understand that we are frustrated (at USPS). Hope to hear from you soon.
I don’t blame you guys at all. After all, Boston is a hotspot for colleges and it is holiday season so if anything, Blame Canada (or USPS). After reading over a few of my friends’ college essays, I realize what you guys did hours upon hours everyday for over a month and I respect you for that. Thanks for being so faithful with these blogs, and hopefully things will be better the next time around (Reg Decision, that is).
Ben, since you have not confirmed about the calls handling tomorrow and the expected calls could be much more than usual (comparing to previous years), will you allow parents to call on behalf of the student who is at school? This helps the student from distraction of making phone call from school (and may be on-hold for a long time…
It may also help to ease the phone call load distribution. I ask because the original message on mit web is for *applicants only*: “Beginning Friday, December 16, we will give admission decisions over the telephone to applicants only; call 617-258-5515 on weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.”
My fellow EA applicants,
Honestly, I’m surprised in how some of you have acted. Yeah, this right now is really stressful and most of us are scare to even the ninth sphere of Dante’s hells of what is going to happen and whether we shall receive a tube or a letter. But honestly, we just have to try and think for a moment and try to realize a few things.
1) These blogs are giving us a great service. I know of no other school out there that is maintaining something of this nature. It is rare to see such a humanization of an admissions process. Furthermore, please realize, that these people are wiling to admit that something has gone wrong and are at least giving us information so that they can fix it. These people are updating us as they are updated, and that is a pretty impressive thing. Just think about what they are feeling right now. It isn’t like they are popping open a bottle of champagne and enjoying it right now, on the contrary, they are probably feeling really bad. Think back to the most recent post from the Dean, and those of Matt and Tim. It isn’t as if they are celebrating that this has gone wrong.
2) For those of you who claim that the on-line methods are secure to the point that they can do it without a qualm and be about as accurate as the paper method, I hate to say that you are wrong. Granted, MIT is the head of a rather excellent computer science department, but there is only so much you can do. With a bit of time anyone especially those with experience with GNU/Linux or BSD especially, can set up a server and start sending mail. One of them said that they would do it when the technology was ready, and it isn’t ready. MIT would know if it was ready. Just think, wouldn’t you be crushed if someone sent you a false admissions letter on-line?
I understand none of you can work. I got deferred from Caltech, and yesterday the most amount of work I did was finally get a working installation of Gentoo going. But, that doesn’t mean that we should take it out on the admissions guys. They are working tirelessly for us. And I’m sure they feel bad about it enough without several hundred of us screaming down their throats. Furthermore, don’t do stupid things on these blogs, it just makes you look bad. I saw someone pretending to be an admissions consular from another school I know of no admissions consular who would do that or type in all capitals anyways. In addition, I would note that if you do end up going to MIT, remember it is a massive ego assault those first weeks. Certainly this admissions process is not planned to do this to you, but perhaps we should take this as an opportunity to try and clear that first ego-hurdle.
I’m sure many of you disagree with these notions and I give you full realm to disagree, but I ask one thing. Take it off here. Feel free to e-mail me, it’s [email protected] and give me the same level of anger and frustration that you are giving these poor admissions members. They are the last one’s that deserve it. On the other hand, a raid on the post-office might be in order soon.
Honestly, Ben, Matt, and the rest of the admissions officers, keep up your spirits somehow. Besides, you guys were doing us a service getting it out before December 15th, which was the original date. Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde.
I’m not mad for everything that’s going on… at least at MIT.
I’ve already had a run-in once this month with the post office and money having been removed from an envelope. I’m not exactly happy with them as it is… this only makes it worse.
Hi, I live in suburban Boston, approximately 30 miles away from Cambridge, if I haven’t received the ‘tube’, is it safe to assume I have been deferred/rejected?
And in the case that I have been deferred, what is the deadline for sending in supplementary material?
I can’t speak for the anons, but I’m not angry at you. You’re doing your best. What more could I ask? Thank you for trying to get the phones up tomorrow- I’m trying to keep a cool head, but feel like I’m going to implode from the anxiety. It isn’t making school work any easier.
If some acceptances might not have been delivered could you let us know? I know I’m probably deferred, but it would be nice to have a ray of hope. Waiting wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t just to know whether it is deferal or denial.
phone # to call tomorrow? and time?
man, 101/377 are minorities… that’s a lot!!!!
i’ve had a mental count down going EVERY day this past week
For all of you who haven’t gotten word yet, here’s some comfort:
I haven’t gotten anything yet either, but I just got an email from my EC congratulating me on my admission. So I’ve been accepted, but I haven’t gotten my tube. That means there’s probably more tubes out there that haven’t arrived.
*sprinkles happy holiday cheer on everyone involved*
I’m in a pretty good mood– I’ve been christmas caroling all month. If anyone’s in the baltimore washington area, listen to WBAL 1090 on the 19th at 8:20 or 8:40 am to hear me an my friends sing!
Shameless plug? yes. key functioning word: SHAMELESS
I didn’t get a chance to call… I guess I’ll have to wait till morning.
Good luck running the phones, admissions officers… I hope we wont all bombard you at the same time with our requests.