Regular Action Update by Matt McGann '00
State of the mail, application numbers, and more
Here are some updates from the Admissions Office…
Applications: We have received 18,064 total applications, a 1% increase over last year.
Your updates: We've been getting email updates from some of you about new awards, achievements, etc. However, we would prefer if you would instead include these updates in your Midyear Report.
The MIT Midyear Report is an online form that is required of all students, and is to be completed by you, the applicant. The Report serves two purposes: to provide your updated grades since you have applied, and to mention other updates since you submitted your application. You should submit this form as soon as your midyear grades are available or by February 15th, whichever is earlier.
Application tracking: The Records Office is still processing application components, especially documents that were mailed (as opposed to faxed or sent via Docufide/Naviance), and especially mailed Secondary School Reports and Transcripts.
Please be patient. If the tracking system isn't showing a document yet, relax and wait just a little while longer — if we don't have it at that point, you'll get an email, and I'll post another entry so you can have any missing materials sent to us. But at this point, we're only reading complete applications, and we won't start admitting anyone until all of the applications have been read. So don't worry.
At this time, do not send a second copy of something that you have already sent. Odds are, we have your original and have not processed it yet. Sending additional copies will only slow down processing. If we need another copy of a missing document, we will let you know, and you will not be penalized in any way.
At this time, please do not call or email to inquire about missing documents. The MyMIT tracking is up-to-date with what has been processed. If you were to call, basically all we could do is tell you that MyMIT is up-to-date and to be patient as we process thousands of documents. By not calling or emailing about this at this time, we are better able to serve the problems that we can do something about.
We expect to be fully caught up with the mail by next week. Once we are fully caught up, those students who are still missing application pieces will get an email and an opportunity to send in the missing pieces. These applicants will be at no disadvantage; we do not assign blame on why we don't have it. We will wait a while longer before having it evaluated to give you time to send along another copy. Your complete application will be considered for Regular Action.
Decisions: We have not yet determined on what date we will release Regular Action decisions. It will likely be sometime in mid-March, but you should wait for an official announcement from our office. We have not yet determined when the announcement will be made; it usually is about a week before decisions are released.
Thanks for all the posts Matt. My docs aren’t showing up even yet after 20 days of mailing them but I ain’t worried a bit because of all these posts from you. Please keep us updated like this in future as well and posts more and more blogs because I like your blogs more than anyone else’s….
P.S. no matter what my decision is gonna be (which I am quite certain about due to lack of certain international achievements especially being international) I will really meet you someday, have a chat and spend quality time with you … I promise !!
cant wait to get the results……. btw….. My A level grades would be out on 23rd Jan….. but i didnt have any mid term exam at school….. since i sat for the boards in November….. do i include my GCE A Level grades as Midterm grades??????????
Dear McGann,
My name is Jimmy A Rojas (MIT applicant from Costa Rica). I have a big problem and perhaps you could help me – please!! I have been trying to submit the Midyear Report but I repeatedly keep getting the error message: ”Well that wasn’t supposed to happen”. Can you please give me some guidance as to how to submit the report?
I did a ‘.pdf ‘ document with my Midyear Report… Can I submit the Midyear Report in this way?
Thank you so much!!
I’ve been given admission in my home country by a college in which I’ll be enrolled this march but will not be able to send any transcript. Can I include this in my midyear report & hope it’ll not negatively affect my decision because I still want to come to MIT (the course I intend studying in MIT is not offered in any university in my country).
I thought there would be around 25000 applicants…. But they are just one percent more relative to last year…
@matt-sir do you reveal other demographic things of Applications before the decisions are made or not..?
Thank you.
hey,i am from tunisia and i want to apply in order to get accepted in the M.I.T, i have some really good marks,and i am first in my school ……it’s my senior year and do really want without qualm nor quandary to study at your institute so could you please guide in order to fulfil my dream……????????plus my studies are specialised in technolgy….
Long live the Admissions Office! The hard work you put into reading thousands of applications is incredible!! B-)
Thanks for the update, Matt. It’s nice to know that I won’t have to bug my old bio teacher for another copy of her letter just yet. XD
So the US population grew 1.08% from 1992 to 1993, but the MIT applicant pool grew only 0.87% this year? Well, as long as we have the Cornucopia, the remaining 0.27% can still satisfy their taste for MIT! Looking forward to hearing back from the world leader in innovation.
* NOT AN ADMISSIONS OFFICER *
@Jimmy That is a server error.As you have notified the office now it would be rectified asap.You should be able to submit it by this week.Relax.
@carfreak No.More information is released only after the decisions are made.
@baha Please begin your freshman application in the fall of your senior year.You can find more information about applying here https://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/dates .Also you will have to create a MyMIT account also at https://www.my.mit.edu
@Anonymous Yes you can do it.
Is it okay to include a link to a google doc which includes an additional essay (which doesn’t fit in the 250 word space offered) in the MYR?
Matt, I’ve applied to MIT regular decision. In checking on my application status, I was surprised to see that MIT has my SAT scores from 7th & 8th grades when I took the SATs for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program. I thought the scores had been expunged from my SAT record (the College Board assured me that they were removed). But what I now realize is that I had those scores sent to MIT back in 7th & 8th grade because even way back then I knew that I wanted to go to MIT. Even though the scores were very good for a 7th & 8th grader (good enough to earn CT State Awards for High Scores) they don’t look very good compared to my scores today. My concern is that an Admissions reader who reads so MANY applications in a day may glance quickly at these scores, and think that I took the SAT three times in order to get to my current scores, and may quickly dismiss me as a viable candidate or somehow downgrade my application. Is there any way to remove these early scores or to at least highlight that they were from 7th and 8th grade?
@Aman: I’m glad that you aren’t worried — because, as you can see, your documents were processed earlier today. Patience pays off.
@Dibya: If you have new or updated A Level grades, then yes, please include them on your MYR. If you don’t have anything new, then you can select that option instead.
@Jimmy: I don’t know why that’s happening. (I also don’t know what you mean about the PDF – you should be able to include a link, if that what you’re trying to do, but you can’t attach a document to this report.) Next time you try it, if it doesn’t work, can you take a screenshot of what you’re trying to submit? I can then try some troubleshooting with folks here. Thanks.
@Om: This doesn’t sound like anything to be concerned about. Of course, if you are admitted and choose to come to MIT, you’ll have to withdraw from your current college, but that’s something we’ve worked with before.
@carfreak: For now, we’re just announcing the total number of applicants.
@Baha: Start here: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/dates
@Lukshya: Thanks.
@Anonymous: Yes. We cannot guarantee we will be able to consider anything beyond the MYR itself, but if you include the link the committee may consider it.
@Raffaele: Hopefully it will be processed soon, otherwise we’ll email you so you can bug your bio teacher.
@Muhammad: The Cornucopia? Like in The Hunger Games?
@William: Don’t worry about it at all. It is much more common than you think, and we’ve admitted many students with this kind of testing profile in the past. Staff here are well aware of the CTY (and CTD, TIP, etc.) testing and it is very clear in our system that that’s what your early scores are from.
Matt,
I will take a screenshot and will send it to [email protected]
Thank you so much for your help!
Thank you all at MIT for keeping us up to date and all the support! And thank you Matt for this great post.
Heyy yeah .. hahhaahah LOL that was a real quick response hahahahah ..!! Well I hope everything reached in a good condition … If anything (by chance ) is damaged , will the admission office inform me ?
P.S. how did you know it was me ? I mean how did you remember ?
Matt,
The Edexcel Exam Board will be releasing result on 8/3/2012. Is it ok to fax the result on march? Will it be too late?
Sorry if I ask you something you have nothing to do with, but I have a question about financial aid.
In Germany the tax year ends with the normal year, but the tax returns aren’t usually finished till summer. I understand that I should estimate then based on 2010, is that right?
My November and December ACT scores are not showing up on my tracking page even though I sent them as soon as possible, should I be worried about this or am I just worrying about this too much?
Thanks!!
You mentioned that students can email the officers about their newest achievements, what is the email address then?
@Jayne You can send the email at [email protected]
@Jonas Wait till this week to be completed.It would be a much more clear picture of the submitted documents.
@Julia Yes for now you can send the 2010 forms.Send them to the financial aid office.But for the complete calculation of your financial aid you will have to send the 2011 forms as soon as they are available.For more information contact [email protected]
@Aman: What do you mean how did I know it was you? You signed your comment above with your name.
@MH: It will probably be too late, but you’re welcome to fax it along in case.
@Julia: I think that’s right, but I’m not a financial aid officer. Hopefully, we’ll have a financial aid blogger here soon…
@Jonas: We had them, but in a different record. I’ll get them merged ASAP.
@Jayne: Please use the Midyear Report rather than emailing us updates. Thanks.
@JB: Thanks!
hahaha .. LOL .. I meant ( because I assumed ) that there could have been more than one Aman who must have applied so the question. (My assumption was based on the fact that my batch mate with same name was applying too but I came to know yesterday that he didn’t. SORRY
). And thank you for all the efforts, now, as everybody has told me, I should sit back and wait for my (most probably rejection) letter.
Having said that I’m an international applicant, I’ve already graduated from high school in my country (school year ends in December). So my question is: what do I do with my midyear report? I’m guessing that it’s fine to leave it blank, but it just makes me feel uneasy to see an unticked box on the tracking list
@Aman there is no rejection letter sent.Letters of acceptance and other documents such as reply form,etc are sent only to accepted students.You will have to check your decisions online when released.If accepted you will receive the admission packet otherwise nothing.
@JB In the mid-year report there would be space like I am no longer in school and MIT has all my grades.
Matt:
For the past couple of weeks I have been under the impression that my teacher evaluation A had been sent (he agreed to send it himself). I have been checking my MIT account and it has not popped up as processed. However, I found out today that my teacher still has not sent it. Should I still have him send it in? Or is it useless by this point?
Matt,
I sent an email to [email protected] regarding my big problem with the midyear report (Subject: Screenshots – Matt McGann – My problem with the MDY.)
I have been trying to submit this report since January the 5th but MyMIT account does not work! So, please help me…
Thank you wholeheartedly!
I’m an international student, and I’ve got to say this. MIT has got the BEST alumni interviewers of all schools I’ve applied to. I appreciate the organizing group of MIT alums for having such respectful and humorous interviewers. :D
Hi,
I submitted my Midyear Report a few weeks ago, but I have a few updates from this past weekend that I want to submit. Would it be acceptable to e-mail these updates?
Thanks!
@Bhaskar …well I was referring to the online statement only, which will be telling me about my rejection cuz I have been told by many that no Indian without an International Achievement is accepted, so the claim.
My counselor has told me that she submitted both of my evaluation forms on Dec. 16th via fax. But my tracking page said that MIT has only received evaluation A and still hasn’t received my evaluation B form. Should I be worried?
@Aman That is not at all the case that an Indian without an internal achievement is not accepted.The decisions are not solely made on a single factor but a complete overview is made out of the information by the student and the most important aspect is that how have you utilized the resources available to you.
Hey Matt, thank you for finding my ACT scores
how long is it gonna take for them to show up on my tracking? Thank you so much, again! 
@Bhaskar … heyy Thanks mate … you really set my hopes high saying that … Ummm, much of interest and I’ll be glad if you don’t take it personally, you described yourself somewhere above that you are not an admissions officer, so can I have your introduction ?
Good day, Matt!
I had sent both my lecturer’s evaluation letters and the SSR by airmail on the 30th of Dec. It seems that the 3 boxes the the app tracker have yet to be ticked. Does this mean that the mails have yet to be received, or does it mean that the mails have been received but not yet processed?
What do I do then if the mail has been lost in its process of getting to MIT?
Had to say sorry, cause I reread the post and it practically answered all of my questions.
Matt,
I’m not sure if this has already been clarified, but for the midyear report would you prefer to see midterm exam grades (covers entire semester) or the second marking period grades?
@Bhaskar .. kk .. say what do you think was the factor that made you missed acceptance ??
Respected sir,
I am a student from India, I study in a college that is not very old, basically it started two years ago I joined it because it had a integrated program to train for IIT JEE as well as college in one place but we have the best and most experienced teachers (really the best). My question is will the fact that my college is not very old make a difference in selection process.
P.S
My college website http://www.iitianspace.com/
Also I was unable to to give any international Olympiad due certain unfortunate circumstances of my house.
@Aman Yes you are correct, I a not an admissions officer but I know most of the things about the admissions process and MIT.I was a freshman applicant last year for the class of 2015.Since then I love this school and feel good when I help prospective applicants here.
@Aman Sorry I missed to write it- I am not above the admissions officers.Matt,Chris,Mike all of them are doing a very good job and constitute the best admissions committee out of any other university in the world.The process they use for evaluating the students is one of the best in class and is very unique.Sorry but I can not provide any more details about it,it’s classified. You guys are in very good hands.Good luck!
My school gives marks instead of grades. But according to school’s policy mark are converted to grades as follows:
75 and above =A+
60 to 75 = A
So I have converted my marks to grades accordingly and wrote in Midyear Report.
Is it acceptable ?
Just submitted my Mid Year Report last night. Then today I received a letter informing me that I had received a significant academic honor. I’d like to include that on my MYR… how can I update the MYR I already submitted?
Hi,
I am a student from India. I had a query regarding the required tests to be taken to apply. My native language is not English, but I am studying in an English medium school for nearly more than 10 years. Is it necessary for me to give the SAT reasoning since I have been studying the language for quite some years,or would the school accept if I opt to give TOEFL and the two subject tests?
I am an international student. I appeared for SAT, ACT as well as TOEFL . Although this was by mistake as i did not know exactly which exams to appear in. I am worried why my ACT(december 10) scores are still not received.
Sir
The Financial Aid Tracker is not showing up on my MyMIT page and I need to check the status of the concerned documents. Please help.