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How many people apply early action to MIT? And of those, how many get accepted? rejected? deferred? And of those deferred, how many end up getting accepted?

I know this information is different every year, but if anybody can tell me the information for one example year that would be great. Of course, just knowing this information will not help out my chances or anything, but I'd like to know just out of curiosity. Thanks!

--Mister

By Mister on Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 03:36 am: Edit

No one needs to answer this question actually! Even though I still don't know the answer, I JUST GOT IN!!!!!! I'm very excited and am so happy that things are working out for me. :-)

--Mister

By Roger (Roger) on Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 09:54 am: Edit

Welcome to College Confidential and congratulations on your MIT admission, Mister! Good luck with the financial aid process, if applicable, and good luck in the fall!

By George Meany on Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 11:40 am: Edit

Way to go! Should we call you "Mister MIT" from now on? What do your stats look like? Just curious--is there a single aspect of your profile that you think made the difference? Essays? Recs? Unusual ECs?

By smith on Saturday, January 05, 2002 - 04:11 pm: Edit

My son got deferred EA at MIT. He called to ask what he could do to improve his application. The very nice admissions person told him his application would be reviewed, and someone would call within two days. The next day, an admissions officer called. He said the scores were ballpark, the recs great. Sending updates on new accomplishments seemed to be what he was looking for. We've asked the school counselor to send a letter with his midyear grades to "back up" the additional items he sends. We would highly recommend calling if you have been deferred. Any suggestions for additional things to send?

By Mister on Friday, March 08, 2002 - 10:02 pm: Edit

To answer your question, George, here is my application REALLY simplified ;) :

SAT I: Math 800; Verbal 630.
SAT II: Math IIC 800; Writing 720; Biology 620.
AP tests (so far): Calculus BC 5; Language/Composition 4; Physics B 3.
AP tests for this year: Literature, and Computer Science
GPA: around 4.5

School activities: marching/concert band, robotics (we build a robot and enter into a national competition), pres. of math league (again, competitions), pres. of chess club, treasurer of Amnesty International, National Honor Society, breaststroker/freestyler on swim team

EC/honors and awards: 3 year-round youth orchestras, chess classes/tournaments, i've won a lot of music competitions (played solo concertos with each of the 3 youth orchestras i'm in, played on national radio, played with LA Phil, went to Tanglewood summer music festival in Boston, went to a couple other regional summer music camps, etc.), went to Boys' State, did summer research @ Harvard med. school, was accepted to go to USC a year early with a scholarship (although I decided not to go), and can't remember anything else in this category at the moment. I'm also strongly interested in art as well.

I'm pretty sure (although I wasn't allowed to read them) that my reccomendations were really great. I spent a lot of time on my essay to make sure that I thought (and others who proofread it over and over again) that my voice could come through, so I think it was a solid essay. And I had a 3 hour interview with an alumnus who was really interested in anything I wanted to bring up (so I basically talked about everything...I wanted him to understand me as best as possible).

My two main interests (although I have many) are math and music, and I am seriously considering double majoring in these areas (with music, I would do flute performance). I think that music is really impressive to MIT and to a lot of schools, so that probably was a big plus for me (and luckily they have a really strong music department!). Music, as my strongest extra-curricular and my passion, together with my other activities and my interest in technology, is what I think they liked about me. And keep in mind that none of the above activities are superficial--I did nothing simply "to make my college applications look really good". Throughout my life I have explored so much that I've found dozens of things that I love to do. I have come to let go of a few of these things, but I try to keep up as much as possible, simply because I couldn't imagine dropping them from my life. I truly love doing everything that I've involved myself in, and that way, I believe, MIT as well as other schools are able to really see ME--my true interests and passions.

By Dave Berry on Saturday, March 09, 2002 - 01:32 pm: Edit

Thank you for one of the best summaries I've seen on how to present yourself to an admissions committee, Mister. You revealed yourself to MIT on many levels through your passion for not only music but also for life. That comes through clearly, even here in your brief recap. Congratulations on your completely successful admissions process. MIT will be blessed by having you on campus. Best wishes for your college experience and life's success. Don't let go of your passion!

By Dana on Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 05:28 pm: Edit

Did anyone get accepted to MIT for regular admission? I haven't heard from MIT yet...but some students in my school got rejected on Monday.

By Dadster on Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 06:13 pm: Edit

Maybe bad news travels faster, Dana... Your fat envelope was so bulky the mailman decided to leave it at the post office! Hope that's the case, good luck!!

By Dana on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 04:33 am: Edit

Do colleges send out rejection letter and acceptance letter on the same day?

By Dave Berry on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 08:34 am: Edit

>>Do colleges send out rejection letter and acceptance letter on the same day?<<

It varies from college to college. I recall seeing a photo of the Princeton admissions staff lugging big tubs of mail from their office in West College out to the curb where a mail truck was waiting. In this particular case, the caption noted that it was Dean Hargadon's "Yes!" letters going out.

My personal (unsubstantiated) opinion is that, if they had to choose between mailing one before the other, colleges would mail acceptances before rejections. In many cases, though, especially with smaller colleges, I'm sure that both acceptances and rejections go out on the same day.

By yeah on Saturday, December 07, 2002 - 10:40 am: Edit

Help me, what are my chances?
I have a 800M, 700V, 750 avg on my II's, tons of volunteer/work experience at companies, etc. However, my school is one of the most competitive public system in the NE and i'm top 15%...i'm screwed right? I don't think Mit takes anyone below top 10%!!!!! please tell me what my chances are!

By question on Sunday, December 08, 2002 - 08:58 pm: Edit

Hi. Does anyone know if the MIT early action letters are sent out on Dec. 15 or are they supposed to reach you on Dec. 15. Has anyone got into MIT this year?

By Nervous on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 06:29 pm: Edit

From what I've heard, MIT will mail the letters out on the 13th (Friday) and we should probably receive them on the 16th or 17th. (The 15th is a Sunday, no mail)

By Nervous on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 06:34 pm: Edit

Oh, I forgot to mention that MIT is taking more people early this year (30% of the incoming class instead of 15%). I found out this morning from one of my school's college counselors who supposedly has the statistics already. Hope this eases some tension.

By Arizona Kid on Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 02:40 pm: Edit

Hey nervous, do you mean 30% of the early action applicants will get in?

By DB on Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 03:24 pm: Edit

no, 30% of the class will get in(through early action)...thats good actually...here are the approx stats for EA from last year(found it on some website a few days ago):

3600applied
700admitted
~150 of admitted were minorities
Also, very few ppl get rejected(the ones whos grades/scores defiantely wont get them in), the rest are deferred and MIT is known to be one of the schools were deferred=rejected(unlike Upenn etc).

By DB on Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 03:24 pm: Edit

Hope that helps...

By Dan on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 12:36 am: Edit

I applying EA to MIT, haven't heard from them yet. I called the office earlier this week and they said they weren't even sure when they would be sending out the letters. Im the only one applying Early to MIt and probably at all from my school. Is that a good thing? Best of luck to everyone

By Arizona Kid on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 11:00 am: Edit

Dan, you have to realize that you're not competing with only the kids in your school, but with kids around the nation. To answer you question bluntly, no, it doesn't help you if you're the only person applying from your school. I guess you could take an optimistic view in thinking that the less people that apply (at your school for instance) the less competition you'll have. But then again, lots of people that apply early to MIT are extremely well qualified, so you may have a tough time getting acceptance. However, I wish everyone the best of luck.

By j on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 06:06 pm: Edit

Actually, according to one of the admissions officers at an MIT information night, they only take one person EA from each school and then everyone else applying EA from that school is deferred or rejected. But other than that, it doesn't help when you take other factors into account.

By Nervous on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 08:06 pm: Edit

That's absolutely untrue. Last year, MIT took 5 or 6 people from my school EA. They don't limit it to one.

By Arizona Kid on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 01:19 am: Edit

Is anyone as anxious as I am to find out the results of MIT's EA?

By damn on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 09:29 am: Edit

definately. You'll get in. You're from arizona!!!

By Arizona Kid on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 03:07 pm: Edit

haha actually I don't think thats true. Last year, MIT didn't accept too many people from Arizona. I dunno, I sure hope I get in though. That will save me having to work on a bunch of other college apps during the winter break.

By damn on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 05:06 pm: Edit

i just got deferred. Damn.

By DB on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 06:19 pm: Edit

..deferred too..life goes on

By verynervous on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 08:06 pm: Edit

Where do you live DB and damn? I have not found out if I'm deferred or not, yet.

By dogg on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 08:09 pm: Edit

Is the deferred envelope really small?

By Arizona Kid on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 10:52 pm: Edit

For those of you that have already recieved the results from MIT EA, where do you live? I'm curious to see if those applicants that live near MA get it sooner than us applicants in Arizona, for instance.

By damn on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 12:12 am: Edit

yeah, i live in MA. Deferred is the worst thing possible. DB do you know what %age of deffered applicants get in regular to MIT? Thanks.

By bump on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 03:04 pm: Edit

bump

By bump on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 08:36 pm: Edit

bump

By Nervous on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:12 pm: Edit

Envelope descriptions for deferred/accepted? thick/thin...??

By . on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:28 pm: Edit

Just open it and find out dude.

By . on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:28 pm: Edit

And then tell me. ;)

By bump on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 11:29 pm: Edit

bump

By nervous on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 11:33 pm: Edit

What does the envelope look like for the deferred people?

By Nervous on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 12:08 am: Edit

Get you own name, 'nervous'

By Nervous on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 03:59 pm: Edit

Accepted!!! I still don't know what the envelope looks like. I had to call.

By bub on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 04:01 pm: Edit

thin as hell. one sheet of paper.

By cfett on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 05:03 pm: Edit

deferred! the deferred envelope is a little window envolpe and it comes with one nice "you suck" letter

By DB on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 05:39 pm: Edit

WHAT THE F*CK IS UP WITH MIT THIS YEAR??? EVERYONE IN OUR SCHOOL INCLUDING ME GOT DEFERRED!!! we're one of the top 3 public schools in Massachusetts, three of the people were top 3%ile or above, won national honors ranging from physics to math..and all of us got deferred...shiat, something is defianetely up w/the mit admissions officethis year ...sigh

i'm sry, i haven't found out what percentage of defferals get into MIT. The deferral letter says several hundred, but seeing that they're high on crack this year, god knows what can happen. Wish you all my best, and i'll see you all again here next april.

By damn on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 07:29 pm: Edit

wait, what school are u from DB...top three in MA? either you're from Wayland (1), Sudbury, Wellesley, or Lexington. I got deferred too. Damn

By GQ miT on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 12:28 am: Edit

hey... i got deferred too... its crazy... listen.. i got all 7z sat2z ... 14z SAT... captain of soccer team... mvp at 3 state invitatiionals... international publication of research in HIV... VP of spanish honor society... sec of student coucil... liason to student coucil for mathletes... placed in the national latin exam 3 tiems... won the state latin competition... placed 4th in the state math tourny... hoping to get semifinalist in INTEL... 1000 community service hours.. essay amazing..... got legacy... 98 unweighted gpa... and much more.. wtf is up with them ... jeeeeez... does any1 know the deferral acceptance?????? do u guyz think i have another shot?

By pissedoff on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 04:42 pm: Edit

i got deferred too. I can't understand what the hell MIT wants. I can't believe that GQ miT did not get in. Your stats are amazing. I had
760 SAT II Writing
770 SAT II Biology
800 SAT II MathIIC
and a 1470 on the SAT I... I had all sorts of extracurriculars and a solid essay. My school is pretty small, but I had the number 1 rank. I just can't understand what you need to get in.

By Extremely Frustrated on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 07:55 pm: Edit

Yeah what the hell is going on?. I got deferred too-

800 Math 800 Verbal
800 Physics 800 Math IIC 780 Writing

Lots of AP's, college courses, etc.

Forensics captain, mock trial captain, cross country, track, Jazz Band (guitar, lots of awards), Combo that plays tons of local gigs, Rock/Blues Band w/ weekly gigs, Student Rep for CU Boulder (I take concurrent courses there), fluid dynamics research under a prof at CUB.

College courses - General physics I,II,III, Analytical Mechanics, Calc III, Linear Alg, Diff Eq., Dynamics and Chaos, etc. etc.

Yeah what I think got me was being Asian. I could have left box blank but it it's obvious from my name. I'd harp on affirmative action but I realize there are many benefits of aff action too. I just think it's unfair to group all asians together - I haven't exactly been "privileged" or even "supported" at times in my life... sorry long post.

By Extremely Frustrated on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 08:02 pm: Edit

BTW, 3/385, gpa 3.97 unweight, 4.4 weight. All AP's at my school except for Bio and Micro/Macro economics. Dammit I had volunteering (400 hours), and 3 long duration jobs during the school year too... sorry I'm just really bitter... I'll shut up now...

By cfett on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 09:57 pm: Edit

ha ha I thought I had a chance with a 1390 on the SAT (770m/620v) and a few A-s and B+s along the high school journey!

By I love gold on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 10:26 pm: Edit

So all you deferees - if you could do it again, what would you do with your $65 application fee?

By madeit on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 11:08 pm: Edit

I just got in. If you're curious, here are my stats:

SAT I: 800 Math, 720 Verbal
SAT II: Physics 800, Math IIC 800, Writing 730

Rank: 11/6??
GPA: 4.7

Taking Calc II first semester at local Community College; Calc III at Lehigh University second semester

Extracurriculars:
Chorus President; Chorale; Trojan Voices; All-State and All-East Chorus; Men's ensemble director
Band and Orchestra (have self-taught Timpani, Mallets, Drumset, Guitar, and Piano); have played with Allentown Symphony Orchestra on Timpani; won second place in talent show with my band (we played Metallica's "Enter Sandman" it was absolutely hilarious); in musician's union and have played weddings and shows at local theaters and churches
Math League appointed "President"; webpage (http://pac.trifecta.com/mathleague)
Performing Arts Club; International Thespian Society; have been leads, house manager, musical director; webmaster (http://pac.trifecta.com).
National Honors Society
Took 3rd place at Regional Science Fair in 9th grade with math project

Work:
I have an internship creating E-Business webpages at a local firm; worked with Pfizer Pharmeceuticals, Penn State etc.; Sun Java 2 certified programmer; also IBM certified specialist

Volunteer:
I sing at local nursing homes with the chorale; I went to a work trip and built houses a few summers ago; I volunteered at Vacation Bible School as a teacher this summer; Christian Service Camp this summer

Rec's:
My teachers (I don't think at least) really ever came under the impression that I was that smart. They always just kinda thought I was a goof and I think that's what they wrote about in my essays--that I was personable and that they enjoyed having me in class. I also got my chorus director to write a rec, and I've done a lot for the chorus so I think he wrote a pretty stellar report on me.

Essays:
My essays were pretty goofy ... I wrote about Weezer and how Rivers was so close to being so original but then he sold out in the end, and I wrote this really cooky essay about all the random things I do like dancing around my room and listening to Madonna and I don't know ... more about my personality.

When I got my welcome package, they said that there were five very specific levels to application review at MIT. If an application fell short at any of the levels, it would be rejected or deferred. That's why it's really hard there--you can't be really really good at one thing, and fail at another. You need to be good in all the areas they want.

By dave on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 09:54 am: Edit

Just out of curiosity, what are these levels?

By rejected on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 12:13 pm: Edit

I don't get what MIT freaking wants ... a person i know who is the valedictorian of our school and really really smart, good sats, good extras got deferred, and then some ping pong playing freak got deferred too with horrid grades, how is this fair?????

By GQ miT on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 03:15 pm: Edit

madeit... what are those levels? im very curious to know...

By madeit on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 04:28 pm: Edit

It didn't say. I would guess academics, extracurriculars, essays, rec's and interview, and ... volunteer/work? Not sure. I'm the first kid from my school (avg 700 kids per graduating class) to make it into MIT in as far back as my physics teacher can remember (he's been here more than a decade). We've had two valedictorians rejected from there in the past three years and a couple other random kids. They could all run circles around me in physics, but they really were pretty bad excuses for people--they were brilliant, yes, but their extracurriculars were like "and i'm brilliant on the side, too!" Very one-dimensional. I'm sorry to hear that so many great people got deferred and I hope that you guys have better luck in April ... I'm sure that most of you will with those statistics. Good luck guys.

By madeit on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 06:05 pm: Edit

Actually, just went to the Princeton Review website, and MIT reported that the most important factors were:

Class rank
Recommendations
Standardized test scores
Character/personal qualities
Extracurricular activities
Talent/ability

That's six, but I would assume that they could combine class rank and test scores to make 5. That's probably them.

By dave on Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 03:35 pm: Edit

Deferred. Not surprised, about what I expected.

770 Math I, 730 Verbal
780 Physics, 780 Writing, 770 Chem, 770 Math IIC
ranked 9th of 170, weighted GPA 4.33
only taken 4 AP classes but our school offers few, all are in progress this year. AP Comp. Sci., AP European History, AP Physics, AP Calc.

ECs: Amnesty International, Model UN, Academic tournament (Quiz bowl), Mock Trial, Youth and Government, School musical (freshman year only), student council rep, Babe Ruth League Baseball

Awards: Nat'l Merit Scholarship commended student, Faye Stoddard award for team leadership in baseball, 8th place out of best science students in state on Merck State Science day exam (New Jersey), YMCA Character Development Award.

What do you think my chances are in March? I understand that it is VERY difficult to get in EA, but I don't know how much easier it is in march.

By question on Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 05:19 pm: Edit

Dave

where else are you applying with those credentials, since they closely match my own stats and activities?

By dave on Thursday, December 19, 2002 - 07:35 pm: Edit

I'm only applying to Rutgers and TCNJ, but I'm getting full scholarships to those places and I am interested in engineering. I also don't want to be that far from home, so Stanford, Cal Berkley, etc. are out. I don't want to give up my full scholarship for a school that's not arguably the absolute best in engineering, especially since I would be in the honors program at TCNJ or Rutgers. However, if not for the scholarships and honors program, I would probably apply to Brown, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins, and maybe Maryland or Virginia.

By PHS on Saturday, December 21, 2002 - 04:22 pm: Edit

madeit = Brian?
congrats btw

By madeit on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 07:23 pm: Edit

Actually, yeah, who's PHS?

By PHS on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 09:46 pm: Edit

hint: i did barely worse than u in mathcounts 4 years ago (we won 2nd place team)

By madeit on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 09:50 am: Edit

A) We won first place team. Trust me; I was the captain ;)
B) I still have absolutely no idea. Warshaver? Anujit? Young? Krisch? I don't remember who was on that team.

By GQ mit on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 01:19 pm: Edit

I just spoke with the associate director of admissions! "You have a very strong application"
good sign..

By mit2006 on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 01:46 pm: Edit

Hi all of you that were deferred. I would like to argue the comment by DB that deferred=rejected at MIT. I am a freshman at MIT and I have lots of friends that were deferred early and then got in. MIT is more selective with it's early applicants and when you are deferred, you are just put in to the regular pool. I can't even tell you how many people I've talked to that were accepted in March after being deferred early. Also, I don't know what MIT wants, but it's not just scores. Lots of people with lower scores and better EC's got in last year vs those with high scores only. Not that any of you posting only have high scores, you all seem to be very well rounded. Good luck to you all!

By PHS on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 01:54 pm: Edit

really? i think i remember now we did win 1st place team. i lost my triangular plaque so i cant really check
and yeah this is anujit

By bump on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 02:47 pm: Edit

bump

By bumpness on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 11:59 am: Edit

bumpity bump

By DOMI on Thursday, January 09, 2003 - 08:44 pm: Edit

I GOT INTO MIT!!!!! JAJAJA I AM THE BEST.. MY MOST SINCERE CONDOLENCES FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DID NOT GET IN!!! JAJAJA I AM SO EXITED

By bump on Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 06:58 pm: Edit

bump

By PT on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 10:25 pm: Edit

Do you guys think winning intel science and talent search semi finalist might help me get into MIT regular decision?

By llib on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 01:31 am: Edit

I was wondering if I should apply to MIT. I mean I got into Harvard EA, but last week I went there to visit and I wasn't satisfied with the school's environment. I did like MIT more. Help me.

Out of curiousity: my grades aren't THAT good.

Sat v: 800 Sat m: 800

Math IIC, Physics, Writing, World History, and Chemistry all 800, 790 Biology(Freshman year). Don't ask why I took 6 SATII. I guess to impress those people. Smart all around.

EXtraCUrri - Not enough space, another words too much stuff.

Awards - well, intel-semifinalist(found out not too long ago)
Many many more, but aren't are notable as intel.

Grade: 98.1/100
rank: 3/800

ADVISE!

By howdy on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 09:59 am: Edit

Isn't it a little late to apply to MIT?

By i on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 04:44 pm: Edit

too late!!

By pt on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 08:11 pm: Edit

haha u cant apply ne more...but u can transfer in