Check out your MyMIT Portal: Over at MyMIT, you'll find a bunch of stuff only available to admitted students, including:

• Campus Preview Weekend Registration: Please register for CPW by March 25 or when your travel plans are solidified, whichever is sooner. Also, when you fill out your CPW registration form, give us as much specific information as you can; this will help us make your CPW experience as good as possible. Finally, please complete the Medical Release Form.

  Notes to the wise: if you're flying in, book your plane tickets early. If your parents are joining you, have them book their hotel early. I highly recommend hotels that are within walking distance of MIT -- driving and parking in Boston is not a good experience.

• Local Admitted Students Meetings: During MIT Spring Break next week, MIT alumni across the globe will be hosting gathering for the Class of 2014, as nearby campus as Providence, Rhode Island, and as far away as Singapore. There will be meetings in dozens of locales, including New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington (both the state -- in Seattle -- as well as the District of Columbia), Miami, Chicago, and many more. RSVP information is included.

• Class of 2014 Guestbook: Hundreds of your classmates have checked in to introduce themselves. Since only admitted students can enter themselves on the guestbook, it's a good way to share your contact information securely with your future classmates, and to get emails and screennames to be in touch with fellow MIT 2014s!

• The MIT Reply Form: As soon as you've made up your mind for sure about whether or not to attend MIT -- after you've received your financial aid package, come for CPW, or anything else that you need to make your decision -- please let us know your decision through the online reply form. You have three choices: tell us you're enrolling this fall (Yay! Welcome officially to the MIT Class of 2014!), that you're declining our offer of admission (it's okay, we know you're making the best choice for yourself), or to request a deferral/gap year(s) before enrolling at MIT (for a gap year, military service, or other reason). Take as much time as you need to make your decision (and if we can help, please let us know), but be sure to let us know by May 1.

• Overnight Program Registration: If you can't make it for CPW, don't despair, you can still come visit through our Overnight Program. Please register at least two weeks in advance, and we'll do our best to show you MIT.

Join the Facebook Group: Facebook is a great place to meet your future classmates and get questions answered by current students. Here it is: MIT Class of 2014.

Join in a Live Chat!: This Tuesday evening, and again the following Tuesday, we'll have some very cool video chats, with special guests! Watch your email and MyMIT for more information...

Await Financial Aid Info: I know many of you are eagarly awaiting finanial aid information... don't despair! Financiad Aid packages for Early Action students were mailed last week, and packages for Regular Action students were mailed yesterday.

Finally, Class of 2014, what would you like to see us do blog entries on over the coming month or so? How can we be best helpful for you as you make your college decision?

How does the waitlist work?

We are aiming for a class of about 1,075 students this year. Based on our estimates of the percentage of admitted students who will attend (known as the "yield"), we admitted 1611 students. However, it isn't possible to exactly predict how many student will attend this year. To help with the uncertainties, we also keep a waitlist of students.

Is the waitlist ranked?

No.

How many people are on the waitlist?

We offered 722 applicants -- approximately 4.3% of applicants -- a spot on the waitlist. Not all of those students will choose to remain on the waitlist.

Can you tell me where I am on the waitlist?

As I've said, the waitlist is not ranked. We will reconsider all of the waitlisted students again in May, when we know how many students remain on the waitlist, and how many we wish to take from the waitlist.

How many people will you admit from the waitlist this year?

It is impossible to know. We will have no idea how many people, if any, we will take from the waitlist until after the reply date of May 1.

What has the waitlist looked like, historically?

Last year we admitted 78 students from the waitlist. The year before that, we admitted 35 students from the waitlist, and the year before that we admitted 20 students. However, the four years before that, we didn't take anyone from the waitlist. But there was another year in this past decade where we admitted more than 100 students from the waitlist. So, it's hard to know how this year will look. Over the past few years, the "waitlist admit rate" has ranged from 0% to 18%.

What are the realities here?

I know that while we plan for the worst, usually things don't go quite so badly. Thus, it's likely that most people on the waitlist will not be admitted. I hope that you will have another great choice to fall in love with, so that no matter what happens with the MIT waitlist, everything will still turn out well for you in the end.

Who do you admit from the waitlist? For example, if someone from state X or major Y declines, are you likely to look for another student like them?

If we go to the waitlist, we will consider what our class looks like as one factor in choosing students. But we're not strict about it. So, if an oboe player decides to go somewhere else, we may, or may not, try to take another oboe player.

Are domestic students given priority over international students on the waitlist?

No, but we do consider whether admitting international students from the waitlist would put us over our 8% international quota.

I'm still very interested in attending MIT. What should I do if I hope to be admitted from the waitlist?

Certainly, you should return the postcard coming in the postal mail with your waitlist notification (decision letter). This letter was mailed yesterday. Additionally, I would recommend sending us a letter in mid-late April with an update on what you've been up to since our last contact. You can also feel free to provide any other information you think would be helpful.

What should I not do?

Here are some things you should not do: Fly to campus to make the case in person. Send us ridiculous items or bribes. Submit a whole new application. Bombard our office with way too much stuff. Be pushy. Be sketchy. Let your grades drop. Not choose another college to attend by May 1.

What should I do about the May 1 reply date for other colleges?

You should accept the offer of admission from another college before May 1, even if it means making a deposit. After May 1, when all students have sent their replies, colleges will determine if they need to go to their waitlist or not, and if so, how many students they need to admit. At this point, colleges will begin admitting students from the waitlist. Students who accept this offer will "unenroll" at the first college and enroll at the second. This shifting can lead to a second round of waitlist admissions. All of this is a standard part of the admissions process. We colleges recognize and accept this.

If I'm admitted off of the waitlist, do I have to go to MIT? What about financial aid?

You're not required to enroll. We'll give you a financial aid package and you'll have time to consider your decision before letting us know one way or the other. It is in your best interest to complete your financial aid application now, so that if you are admitted from the waitlist, we'll have a financial aid package ready to go. Our waitlist process, like our entire admissions process, is need blind, and we will meet full need for all admitted students.

Okay, what should I do now?

If you are still interested in MIT, you should stay in contact with us. A letter, a phone call, notes from people who know you well... these are good things to provide. Please always be very nice in all of your interactions with us! Keep us up to date all the way through May 1 and beyond if you remain interested.

And in the meantime... be patient. There won't be any waitlist news until after May 1.

Receiving your decision online is as easy as pi. When decisions are released, simply visit decisions.mit.edu and log in using the same username and password that you use to log into your MyMIT account. There are no interim screens, so you should be sure you are ready to receive your decision online before logging in to decisions.mit.edu.

To ensure that you will receive a decision online, please visit decisions.mit.edu and enter your username and password. Decisions.mit.edu will be available through the decision date for applicants to confirm their login ability and decision eligibility.

If you've forgotten your MyMIT password, you may use our automated system to reset it. Simply visit my.mit.edu and click on the lost password link. There is a similar link for forgotten usernames. If you're having trouble using our automated username/password recovery process, please email mymitpassword@mit.edu with your full name and mailing address.

Admissions decisions will be available exclusively online. Decisions will not be released via email, snail mail, carrier pigeon, or Nekobasu special delivery (still working on that). Following the release of admissions decisions, however, we will be mailing necessary materials to admitted students.

I wish you all the best!

will.i.am
by Professor Patrick Henry Winston ’65, SM ’67, PhD ’70

Will likes to see stuff at MIT whenever he is in town. This time I took him to see robots in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, wearable computing in the Media Lab, and miscellaneous cool stuff in the Precision Engineering Research Group. It wasn’t hard to find people to help out.

We walked around for three hours. Then, he was off to do soundchecks. A few hours after he learned about energy-storing inverse lakes, he and his Black Eyed Peas played to a sold-out crowd at the TD Banknorth Garden.

I always like amazing people, like Will, who is highly creative, does interesting things, and is interested in the future. MIT attracts amazing, highly creative, interesting, interested people like honey attracts bears.

And on top of all that, Will is a fan of my field, Artificial Intelligence. Be sure to play the video on the Peas homepage.

Anyway, when Will and his entourage were about to leave, and all the obligatory pictures were taken, he asked, as he generally does, if I could use a few tickets for the show. “Hey, that would be great,” I said. I like the Peas, and besides, I hadn’t been to a good concert since the Rolling Stones were in town in ‘06.

Alas, my daughter seized the tickets. “You’re nowhere near cool enough to go,” she said, “and I have some friends.” Maybe I should find a new place to buy clothes.

Here's the video Prof. Winston was referencing (will.i.am getting excited about AI):

According to MIT CSAIL, will.i.am is "an amateur robotics enthusiast." They note, "During his tour of CSAIL, the artist had a look at projects from Daniela Rus' Distributed Robotics Lab, Russ Tedrake's Robot Locomotion Group, and Nicholas Roy's Robust Robotics Group."

Prof. Winston posted a whole bunch of will.i.am/MIT photos on his site -- check it out!

RA applicants: I know you're all anxious for Regular Action decisions, but I'm sorry to say that I don't have any announcements about a decision date yet. As always, I promise to let you know as soon as I can -- hopefully soon! In the mean time, the Admissions committee continues to work towards Regular Action decisions.

All applicants/admits: If you haven't yet, you should submit your financial aid application as soon as possible.

Math ninjas: [via AoPS/rrusczyk] You'd probably enjoy Street-Fighting Mathematics on OpenCourseWare.

iPhone owners: MIT released its iPhone app. It's most useful for current students, but has some goodies for everyone.
learn more | download

Sports fans: The MIT Men's Varsity Basketball team once again made the NCAA (Division III) tournament! You can follow all of the news on the official and unofficial pages.

Debate fans: The MIT Debate Team of Adam Goldstein ’10 and Bill Magnuson ’09 won the North American Debating Championships -- "regarded as the most prestigious debate tournament in North America" -- by defeating McGill University in the finals. MIT also won the Championship in 2003; MIT, Yale, and Toronto are the only three schools to have won multiple titles in the past decade.

J-pop fans: I've been reading MIT applications long enough to know that some of you will be super-excited to learn that Hikaru Utada was hanging around MIT, getting ice cream with Prof. Ian Condry. (If you are among those who are excited, you wil probably enjoy Prof. Condry's course Japanese Popular Culture, being taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays this term)

To announce this, Dean of Admissions Stu Schmill has just sent out this email:

The MIT Midyear Report is now available on your MyMIT Tracking page, http://my.mit.edu.

Complete your MIT Midyear Report now.

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. Please submit this form as soon as your midyear grades are available or by February 15th, whichever is earlier.

A few notes: You should complete the Report as soon as possible after completion of the fall semester or second quarter (if your school uses a trimester schedule, please use your first trimester grades).   You do not need to have a hardcopy of your updated transcript sent by your school, and even if your school has sent a hardcopy transcript, you are still required to submit the MIT Midyear Report.  There is also an option in the Report for students whose schools do not provide any midyear grades, homeschooled students, and students already out of school.

Finally, my colleagues in the Financial Aid Office are happy to announce that the Financial Aid Tracking System is also now available on MyMIT.  On the Financial Aid Tracking System, you can view which documents have been received by the MIT Financial Aid Office.  You can learn more about applying for financial aid on the Student Financial Services website.  The deadline for applying for financial aid is also February 15th.

Best wishes,
Stuart Schmill
MIT Dean of Admissions

Hopefully, the form is pretty self-explanatory, but here are a few notes:

• The Midyear Report is an online form that is to be completed by every student being considered for Regular Action admission (thus, RA applicants -- including international students -- and EA deferreds).

• The Midyear Report is to be completed by you, the applicant.

• The MIT Midyear Report is different than the Common Application Midyear Report. The Common App MYR which is filled out by your counselor and sent to Common Application schools. The MIT Midyear Report is to be filled out by you, the applicant, online via your MyMIT Tracking.

• The MIT Midyear Report serves two purposes:
  1. to get your updated grades since you have applied ("Midyear Grades").
     
  2. to get any other updates since you submitted your application ("Midyear Updates").

• The Midyear Grades form has fields for your to report your coursework and grades. This is similar to the Self-Reported Coursework Form from the Part 2 of the application, except that we're only looking for current year courses and grades. And we're only looking for this from students with something to report -- so if you're in a school that doesn't have midyear grades, or you've already graduated, don't worry, you're all set -- you will be able to skip this section.

• The Midyear Updates form will be a simple text box, similar to one of the essays from the Part 2. The Midyear Update has a maximum of 250 words.

• We are happy to accept a midyear/updated transcript from your school/counselor, or the Common App Midyear Report form. However, even if your school/counselor submits a transcript, you still are required to complete the online MIT Midyear Report.

• The MIT Midyear Report is due by February 15.

We've been getting a number of questions about the Midyear Grades section of the form. Here are some quick tips:

• For most of you, this will be pretty strightforward. You'll take your transcript, then write the course name in one box, and your semester/trimester grade in the corresponding box. For example:

• While we ask for you to keep the grades column as pristine as possible, feel free to add some extra info in the "Subjects taken" box. For example:

  
  
  
  
  

  Biology		A+
  AP Calculus		A-
  English		A+
  History		B+
  Spanish 4		B

  ...or...

  
  
  
  
  
  

  BC Calculus		89
  IB Chemistry HL		97
  British Literature		95
  Japanese		100
  Economics (EPGY)		A-
  Health		Pass

• In the "Grades" box, please list only grades and not narrative text if you can help it. For example, it is sufficient to write "B+" rather than "B+ (Final grade)" or "B+ (online course)." Also, you don't need to write "Currently enrolled," "Just started," or "Spring semester;" it will be, in many cases, better to leave it blank.

• While we ask for you to keep the grades column as pristine as possible, feel free to add some extra info in the "Subjects taken" box. For example:

  Organic Chemistry (via dual enrollment at BHCC)

  A-

  ...or...

  AP Chemistry (self study / MIT OCW)

  ...or...

  Chemistry (auditing; not taking for a grade)

  ...or...

  Chemistry Honors (Spring Semester)

• If your transcript provides quarter grades but not a semester grade, you should list both quarter grades. For example:

  Biology

  A, A-

  ...or...

  AP Economics

  96 / 92

• If your transcript provides quarter grades and a midterm exam grade but no semester grade, you should list the quarter grades and the midterm exam grade.

  For example:

  AP Chemistry

  A / A- / A

  ...or...

  Theory of Knowledge

  6+, 7, 7

• If your school uses a trimester schedule, please use your first trimester grades. We know that in most cases, your second trimester grades will not be available for a while.

• Some schools -- including many international schools -- have no concept of "midyear grades." This is okay. You can ignore the text boxes and simply choose the option, "I attend a school that does not provide midyear grades."

• Some schools will not release midyear grades until after the Midyear Report deadline of February 15th. This is okay. You should choose the option "Semester grades will be available on ______________________ and I will mail or fax them to you at that time."

• Some of you have graduated already and have no new grades to report. You should choose the option, "I’m not currently attending school; MIT has all of my grades."
  

I'll also try to field any other questions you may have in the comments. Happy Groundhog Day!

Applications: It has been reported that applications to MIT for this year have increased about 6%.

Midyear Report: The Midyear Report is on schedule to be released next week. The Midyear Report is to be filled out by all MIT applicants under consideration during Regular Action. You can read more at this blog entry.

Application tracking: This is the big update for today.

The Records Office has processed all application components received for Regular Action applicants; the current status of your application is now shown on your MyMIT application tracking.

MyMIT Application Tracking

This is a good time for you to check up on the status of your application components. The Application Tracking will show what materials we have processed for you. We should have the following: Application Part 1, Application Part 2, Secondary School Report and Transcript, Evaluation A (math or science teacher), Evaluation B (humanities teacher), Testing Requirements (except January scores, which will take a few more weeks to arrive), and, if applicable, Interview Report.

What happens if the tracking system is missing something?

First, do not worry. We do not assign blame on why we don't have it, we just know that we have not processed it. We will not look at your application unfavorably because it is missing an application component at this time. 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.

If the tracking system on MyMIT indicates that we are still missing parts of your application, fax your materials to 617-258-8304 as soon as possible. Please allow 48 hours to process your documents. Thank you for your patience.

If faxing a document, please keep retrying your fax until it goes through (we do not have unlimited fax capacity, so you may need to try multiple times before it goes through).

We are asking you to NOT send any missing documents through postal (snail) mail unless absolutely necessary. Please fax missing documents unless this is not possible.

If we are missing an evaluation, the teacher may fax a copy to us. If they need another copy of the evaluation form, you can get a PDF from the tracking system.

If you had an interview more than two weeks ago and we haven't yet processed it, you should fill out the Conducted Interview form on the MyMIT Application Tracking Detail page. We will follow up with your Educational Counselor.

If we have not processed standardized test scores that that you had the testing agency send us, then you may fax us a copy of an official score report. We will follow up with the testing agency. If we are missing your TOEFL scores, make sure the name on your application is exactly the same as it is on your TOEFL registration. If it is not, please send us an email with your TOEFL registration name.

Bottom line: do not stress if we are missing pieces. It happens every year for reasons usually beyond your control. No worries.

Rankings: Not an admissions update, but I thought you might be interested in the following current national rankings of MIT teams:

• #5 Debate (American Parliamentary Debate Association)
  
• #6 Women's Swimming & Diving (NCAA Division III)
  
• #5 Solar Car (2009 World Solar Challenge)
  
• #5 Men's Swimming & Diving (NCAA Division III)
  
• #8 Men's Basketball (NCAA Division III)
  
• #8 Women's Indoor Track & Field (NCAA Division III)
  
• #14 Men's Volleyball (NCAA Division III)
  
• #19 Men's Indoor Track & Field (NCAA Division III)

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.

On mitadmissions.org, it says the following about the Midyear Report:

This online form is required for all applicants, including Early Action deferred applicants and Regular Action applicants. The Midyear Report will be available on your MyMIT account in February and should be completed as soon as possible after completion of the fall semester (or after completion of the second quarter, if your school uses a quarter-based system). If your school uses a trimester schedule, please use your first trimester grades.

Please be sure to get your official midyear grades from your Guidance Office in order to complete the Midyear Report accurately. Your Guidance Office does not need to mail your midyear grades to us directly - we will verify the accuracy of the information you submit as needed.

The Midyear Report also includes an opportunity for you to update us on anything important that has occurred since you submitted your application. Using the Midyear Report for such updates is preferred over mailed updates.

And on your MyMIT Tracking detail page, it says:

This online form is required of all applicants and will be available on this page in February.

Even with this information, questions about the Midyear Report (a.k.a. "MYR") are currently the most popular question being called in to our offices. So, here's a blog entry that will hopefully help answer many of your questions.

• The Midyear Report is an online form that is to be completed by every student being considered for Regular Action admission (thus, RA applicants -- including international students -- and EA deferreds).

• The Midyear Report is to be completed by you, the applicant.

• The MIT Midyear Report is different than the Common Application Midyear Report. The Common App MYR which is filled out by your counselor and sent to Common Application schools. The MIT Midyear Report is to be filled out by you, the applicant, online via your MyMIT Tracking.

• The MIT Midyear Report serves two purposes:
  
  1. to get your updated grades since you have applied ("Midyear Grades").
     
  2. to get any other updates since you submitted your application ("Midyear Updates").

• The Midyear Grades form has fields for your to report your coursework and grades. This is similar to the Self-Reported Coursework Form from the Part 2 of the application, except that we're only looking for current year courses and grades. And we're only looking for this from students with something to report -- so if you're in a school that doesn't have midyear grades, or you've already graduated, don't worry, you're all set -- you will be able to skip this section.

• The Midyear Updates form will be a simple text box, similar to one of the essays from the Part 2. The Midyear Update has a maximum of 250 words.

• We are happy to accept a midyear/updated transcript from your school/counselor, or the Common App Midyear Report form. However, your school/counselor's submission of this still means that you must also complete our online MIT Midyear Report.

• The MIT Midyear Report will be online in February and will be available for several weeks.

I hope this is helpful!

Is it all over for me? Should I still be hanging around reading the blogs?

At MIT, a deferral isn't just a "polite rejection." Your application will once again be considered by the committee during regular action. You are at no advantage or disadvantage versus the regular action applications. We will admit the best applications we can during regular action, regardless of when the application was submitted. (A little historical data: over the past six years, the average number of deferred students later admitted has been a bit under 300 -- but who knows what it will be this year)

What should I do now? Should I send in extra materials?

The only thing we ask that you do is complete the Midyear Report, which will be available on MyMIT in February. On the Midyear Report, you will provide us with your updated grades (your semester grades are very important, so keep working hard!) as well as a text box for any other updates you'd like to provide (new awards, changes to your activities, etc.). We will accept updates in other formats, including mail and email, but the Admissions Committee will primarily look to the Midyear Report for your updates.

Should I send in a whole new version of my application, or all new essays?

No. You do not need to "improve" your application, or redo/edit/modify part or all of your application. You were deferred because your application was already strong enough to make you a contender in the Regular Action round. Let your application stand.

What about extra essays, recommendations, etc?

You may send along anything that you feel would be helpful to the committee. We do not expect or require any of these things. Simply sending in additional materials does not by itself increase your chances of admission.

If you do decide that sending in materials beyond the Midyear Report is appropriate for you -- all materials sent in before decisions are released will be seen in some fashion by admissions officers. However, those received before mid-February are most likely to be seen in Admissions Committee.

What about new test scores?

If you are taking additional tests in December or January, you can include MIT as a score recipient and we will consider any new scores.

Can I call admissions to find out The Reason why I was deferred?

If you call in, we will not be able to tell you "the reason" why you were deferred, or "what needs to be improved," simply because things are much more complex than just one reason why you were deferred. Usually, when I take a call from a deferred applicant, there's nothing that I see to be lacking or needing improvement -- most of our deferred students submitted very strong applications, the kinds of applications any school (including MIT) would love to have in their student body. Honestly.

I hope this is helpful! Best wishes to everyone.

The Office of Admissions is currently closed for the holidays, and is not accepting emails or answering phone calls (and I am on vacation!). The office will reopen on Monday, January 4th.

However, with the RA deadline fast approaching, I'd like to use this entry to answer some of the common deadline-time questions. There are many answers already here on the site -- for example, about standardized test requirements or statistics. And below, I've provided answers to some additional FAQs:

• The deadline is January 1, meaning you can click "submit" on your application any time on January 1 or before. (I strongly discourage waiting until the last minute, though)
  
• It is perfectly fine if, through no fault of your own, your school forms (teacher recommendations, secondary school report, transcript) come in after the January 1 deadline. We are much more understanding of and flexible with late documents from schools than with late documents from the applicant.
  
• The MyMIT Tracking is up-to-date (while the Admissions Office is closed, the Records Office is working hard), but please recognize that processing can take 2 weeks. You do not need to worry at this time about documents that are not showing on MyMIT; we currently have a backlog of materials in our processing center, and expect to have that backlog into January. Do not send a second copy of any document at this time. Also, you do not need to call MIT Admissions at this time to check on any such documents (there is a time for this later). Do not worry about materials that have not yet shown up on MyMIT Tracking.
  
• Please note that you do not need to express mail or overnight any part of your application.
  
• The teacher evaluations, secondary school report and transcripts must be sent through the mail (though we can accept electronic documents through Naviance/eDocs for schools that use this system only). Make sure everything has your name and an identifying piece of information such as your date of birth.
  
• For teacher recommendations and secondary school reports, we prefer our form, but will accept your school's forms, the NACAC forms, or the Common App forms.
  
• Any application materials being mailed, including recommendation letters, should be sent to: MIT Office of Admissions; 77 Massachusetts Avenue; Room 3-108; Cambridge, MA 02139; USA. It need not have any special code on the envelope. All application materials, though, should have your full name and other identifying information, such as date of birth.
  
• If you are having credit card problems, please email applicationpart1 at mit dot edu. If problems delay your application past January 1, we will extend the deadline for you due to any problems on our end.
  
• We are happy to accept fee waivers for any student (foreign or domestic) who needs one. Using a fee waiver will not negatively impact your admission. You may use the SAT Fee Waiver, the NACAC Fee Waiver, or a letter from a school official detailing your situation. We will accept other fee waiver forms as well. Generally speaking, if you are in tough financial shape and make a good faith effort to inform us of your circumstances, we will waive your fee.
  
• Listing awards that you have received is sufficient. You do not need to mail us certificates. Do not lie or be deceitful, though.
  
• We are aware that our application strips some formatting. We apologize, but everyone is on the same footing.
  
• We believe the word limits as stated for the essay questions in the application should be sufficient to answer the questions. You may have noted, though, that the application will not automatically cut off your answer at the word limit. You may choose to send in the essay at a length that exceeds our stated limit; it is your choice. We do not auto-reject candidates because of word length, but we believe the word limit specified usually should be sufficient. If your essay is greater than the word limit, I would recommend considering cutting down your essay; it's your call whether to submit it as it currently is, though. If your answer is so long that the preview-function view of the answer shrinks the font, then I definitely recommend shortening your response.
  
• There are often many questions about the self-reported grades form. We ask that applicants in US school systems do their best to accurately and completely fill this out. Be sure to include your current year courses. Be sure that your self-reported grades match what is on your transcript. If you have taken college, online, or summer courses, you should include these classes and grades as well. If you do not attend an American-style school, you do not need to fill out the self-reported grades form.
  
• If you need to update your application after you submit it, the best -- and recommended -- mechanism is the Midyear Report, an online form which will be available in about a month. On this form, you will also provide updated/semester/midyear grades and any changes in your coursework. You will also be able to provide information about any new awards or anything else you want us to know about.
  
• January is the last testing date that can be seen by the Admissions Committee (February will not be seen). If you will be taking the January test, you obviously don't have the scores yet to write down in your application. This is okay. Just be sure that when you take the test, you designate MIT to receive the scores; other than this, you do not need to do anything special. Please do not rush report your scores. We require either SAT Reasoning Test OR ACT Plus Writing (or TOEFL) AND 2 SAT Subject Tests (one in math, one in science). At this time we are not considering the SAT (or ACT) Writing test. For the tests we do consider, we we only use the scores that make you look best, and we do abide by Score Choice.
  
• The deadline to request an interview was December 10th, and has now passed. While highly recommended, the interview is not a required part of the application. You are welcome to request an interview from your Educational Counselor (EC) after the deadline, but do not expect that your request will be granted. If you have already interviewed with your EC, or have scheduled your interview for the near future, you are all set. Do not worry if your interview report has not yet appeared on your MyMIT Tracking; the deadline for ECs to submit their reports has not yet arrived. If you wish, you may now fill out the conducted interview form and we will be sure to get the interview report.
  
• Regular action results will be released in mid-March.

I hope this is helpful. Best wishes as you finish and submit the application!