Good luck reading the applications, Mr. McGann!

It's great

Over 11,000?

Okay. Wow.

I can't be the only one who looked at that number and thought, "Whoa, that's really high..."

Hey!

Its fun to know that MIT recieved a record high 11,000 applications.

Guess what, the Indian institute of Technology, recieves a total of 125million domestic application....big number right finally they take in 5000. Ha ha...I know that is terrific. But yay! I got in...

*singing* eleven thousand, two hundred, thirty-one applications...how do you measure, the strength of the can-di-dates?

Okay, doesn't sound quite as right as 525,600 minutes, but it'll do for now.

Kudos to all of you for all the hard work.

Holy, Arka, that's such a high number! Gee, it really must be much, much more competitive than I know. I have some friends in India, and they keep telling me about their friends' experiences applying to IIT. It sounded horrible to me - now I know the percentage is even smaller! (0.004% approx, if I got my decimal places right. =D)

That IIT number can't be right-- that'd be 1/10 of Indians! Are you sure you didn't mean thousand?

the number for IIT applicants is 175,000-200,000 and not 125 million.

the total number of applicants selected are 4000.For getting a good stream/branch you should have a rank in the top 1500, which is less than 99th percentile

*more than 99th percentile

yep last year the JEE clocked an applicant pool of 2,25000. And the people who were accepted into the seven IIT's were 3492. And yeah if u want Aero/Astro/ Electrical/Computers/Mechanical your rank should be in 1000. So that's like top 0.004%.

Well but we are talking about MIT here.And this pool is really very intense.

Btw Arka how'd you get into IIT the exam is in April 2006 or did u qualify IIT 2005

"But it also means that the MIT Class of 2010 will be among the best ever."

Since I will be in it. :D

joking although I seriously hope to get through.

Guys! Calm down!!!!

Thats what the following website says!!!!

http://www.kamalsinha.com/iit/acceptance-rate.html

Dont blame me.....:-)

And ya! I got in the IIT 2005. But decided to get in MIT. And continue with Shikhar ""But it also means that the MIT Class of 2010 will be among the best ever.". Since all of us will be in....jk.

Have fun!

oy! somebody got into IIT? that's sweet. my dad wouldn't let me apply, he wanted me to school here in america :( but i was looking at some of their old entry exams online, i thought i could handle most of it...

btw, lots of indians on these message boards?

and just a note, there is an iit in america, it's called the Illinois Institute of Technology.. my cousin brother in Chicago fooled me once b/c he said he got into IIT. i was amazed and then he was like nah, it's illinois.

wow, thats a bunch of applications! Btw, how many people are actually involved in selecting the class of 2010??

How important are the SAT I and II scores of international students for the admissions officers? When I took the SAT I math section and the SAT II Math Level I, the format of the problems and the time limit were completely new to me, and I got only 710 on the SAT I Math and 700 on the SAT II Math Level I. I know many international students score high on the SAT math tests, but I have participated in international leadership programs and have won several national competitions. Can that, along with the fact that I am extremely motivated and hard-working and have shown that in my application, compensate for my bad test scores? My TOEFL scores are better than the SAT I, but I have listed both results in my application part II. Will the admissions office regard my TOEFL results instead of the SAT I?

Something I read on an internet site really shocked me. The article said that an admissions officer will stop reading the essay and deny admission to the student just because of a typing mistake. Is that really true? Isn't it unfair to international students, who might make a grammar or awkward word usage mistake because they are not native speakers?

moonghostv: a score of 700 or better is already regarded as great afaik. (at least that's what I've been reading here for a while already)

and regarding your question about typing mistakes: I can't really believe that and it would very much surprise me if there was such a policy in place.

I am taking my JEE this year. Its challenging but I want to enjoy it. JEE had been changed this year I am sure that the competitors will be more than 3,00,000. But I want to be in the top of the race.

Niti sharma(MIT class of 2005)had achieved rank around 900 in JEE.

The number of applications to MIT is lower than IIT JEE because IIT JEE is an entrance examination. If MIT would held its own test then this number would exceed the present IIT JEE applicants.

As best I can figure out, MIT offers admission to 1500 students, minus the 377 already admitted EA.

That leaves 1123 seats open to be given among 11,231 candidates. That's about 10.00% admission rate - lower than Princeton, Harvard, and about the same as Yale.

Of course, this number will probably increase after incomplete applications are removed and EA students decline their seats.

If the information on Ben's blog is correct (and it probably is):

Domestic: 1033 seats among nearly 9000 applicants (11.5%)

International: 90 seats among over 2500 applicants (3.6%)

the chance of my getting into MIT is that slim...no comments...in a state of shock and despair...

Hello gu... people (ehh... political correctness) :)

Does anyone of you use any IMs? It would be nice to meet some of the prospective students, exchange opinions, experiences etc :) You can contact me via yahoo messenger (carpediem867) or MSN (maciej.paculagmail.com). I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Have a nice day! :)

Maciek, Poland

MSN ID should be 'maciej.pacula[at]gmail.com', it didn't display correctly for some reason

"Between the early and regular action applicants I've already seen, I am disappointed to know that we won't be able to find room for all of the many, many terrific applicants."

Does this mean the waiting list will have a record size?

"That leaves 1123 seats open" That is a true number, but as to the number of applications the 377 admitted EA seem to be included in the 11,231 applications, so it would be 10854 applicants for remaining seats of 1123, with 10.3%. Not that big of a difference but i'm sure the people in that .3% will be much happier, haha.

Only on an MIT forum would the attention to numbers and odds be so high

Hi,

I have a question. Seeing as the number of applicants that have applied this year are up 7.5% from last year does this mean that you might be planning to increase the number of those admitted (Hopefully)? I was just wondering.

For those nervous Regular Action applicants out there~ don't worry!

I applied Early Action and was also bogged down by the numbers and really nervous when I read that MIT has the lowest Early Action acceptance rate at 12%, whereas early at Harvard, Yale, Princeton are all closer to 20%.

However, don't let the numbers get to you! I got in early action...so just wait and see! You too could be part of the 10, 11, or 12% that get in regular action!!!

Good luck everyone and relax...there's nothing you can do about the application right now. Just wait, hope, and you'll see!

You forgot to include the rejected students(216), so remaining pool should be about 10,640. With 1120 seats it's up to 10.5%. Good luck to all the applicants!

There are only 90 seats for international students? I thought there were 100....

Ok, now it is very clear for me that international application to MIT is very very very very very very very very competitive, only 3.6%!!!!!!!!!. I am so anxious and nervous, I guess most of you are having the same feelings. We have to wait until mid-march to know the decision. Good luck to everyone!

Juan Jhong C

There are only 90 seats for international students? I thought there were 100....

Ok, now it is very clear for me that international application to MIT is very very very very very very very very competitive, only 3.6%!!!!!!!!!. I am so nervous, I guess most of you are having the same feeling. We have to wait until mid-march to know the decision. By that time, anxiety might have already kill me.

Good luck to everyone!

Juan Jhong Chung

Oops I didn't mean to post twice.

CPW is coming up.

I am so excited already.

I'll see you soon =D

Arka:

From ur link, "IIT JEE is taken mostly by middle class applicants from urban areas with total population about 125 million"

im guessing this to mean that the URBAN AREAS have total pop of ~125mil, not that the actual number of applicants is 125 million.

just a thought. enjoy!

Compilation error

Or might be "reading data eroor"

But finally it was an "execution error"

I need to reinstall 'my' Operating System.

I mean "MY" and not my computers.

Before getting into MIT ~_^

Guys lets forget about IIT and think about MIT.

Waiting to get the....

System.out.println("You are accepted to MIT");

ha ha ,

Fun

* A bit of java fun

For those of who know MATLAB programming try this out...

run /Users/johnderrico/Documents/Files/work in progress/fminsearchbnd2.m

run /Users/johnderrico/Documents/Files/work in progress/fminsearchbndx.m

run /Users/johnderrico/Desktop/My_FEX/fminsearchbnd.m

run /Users/johnderrico/Desktop/My_FEX/opt_reg_tips/fminsearchbnd.m

run /Applications/MATLAB701/toolbox/matlab/funfun/fminsearch.m

You will find links in your command window, allowing you to run or edit any of

the functions it finds with no more than a mouse click. Try whichx. I predict you

will find it useful

They are really very useful.

* do u like my special name::: John Derrico

Ha ha ...I feel like a detective

The class admitted for fall 2005:

10,443 students applied

1,495 admitted

2794 students applied early action

384 students admitted early

2240 students deferred to regular action

267 deferred applicants admitted during regular action

2210 international students applied

112 admitted

From what I can gather, if 8% of the admits can be Intl then they could have accepted 119 students but they accepted 112 meaning that only 7.55% of the admits were Intl. This made the acceptance rate of Intl students 5.06%.

For EA students, if you count those that were actually admitted EA and those that were admitted RA the actual acceptance rate for those who applied EA was 23.3%. This means that 43.54% of the total admits were EA applicants.

48.9% of the admits were composed of RA students meaning that there is actually an acceptance rate of 13.46% if you apply RA.

On a last note, 25.68% of the admits were admitted during EA.

let us bring out the prayer mats

Okay, there's been a lot opf rubbish being posted about IIT here. Let me clear some facts::

1. IITJEE is given by approx. 250,000 students. The top 2500-3000 get into IIT's while the rest get into ISM Dhanbad and BHU-IT. To get a seat in Electrical, Software, Mechanical, Communications and Electronics or other so-called "In-Demand" Courses, you have to get a top 1000 rank.

2.The entrance exam is undoubtedly the toughest in the world, but if you're concepts are clear, it's not so much of a problem.

3. Arka, you claim in your web-page to be in 11th standard. Unless that's 3 years old, you could not have possibly cleared JEE 2005.

4. And don't think we're idiots, if u got through IIT, you cannot be so crazy as to give up that seat to take a year off and apply to MIT.

5. And finally, India is a very vastly populated country, but even we do not have an urban population of 125 million! Allow me to qoute Max Mueller, "India's heart lives and grows in it's villages".

6. And now, back to MIT!

If the selection rate is 3.6%, those students getting in must be extraordinary geniuses. To qoute another great modern philosopher, Homer Simpson, "But I'm not a genius....or are I?"

Harish!

Guess what.....how many years old do you think my website to be....any guesses....

And I have been to MIT on visits and thats why I am crazy to get in MIT.....I have my brother in IIT. So why not me be in somewhere in the MIT. Afterall I love that institute.....It depends on taste you know.....if u understand.

Harish!

Guess what.....how many years old do you think my website to be....any guesses....And how can you even think of me applying to MIT when I am in the 11th grade. Comon Harish....we need some sense here.

And I have been to MIT on a small visits and thats why I am crazy to get in MIT.....I have my brother in IIT. So why not me be in somewhere in the MIT. Afterall I love that institute.....It depends on taste you know.....if u understand.

*winces*

Harish,

Arka, I think, did not fool any one b'cause even when a student is selected to IIT he may give up his/her seat when one think that he/she might want a better seat and will reappear for the test for second time. It's the case with my cousin at first attempt he recieved around 1700 so he took a chance and reappeared attaining a rank around 400. Then it is obvious with any one who know MIT and its greatness would take a chance of letting the IIT seat away.

Well Ramya ,

I accept it many of the students have the courage to do it but most take admission and reappear

I hope either one who is sure of getting into MIT or someone like me who could not take admission despite ranking 14 due to surgery only will leave

well may be ARKA is a lot of genious and may get but Iam not sure for MIT

Arka , I went through the article at http://www.kamalsinha.com/iit/acceptance-rate.html

i hope the author have wrongly use 125 million in place of thousand.

As far as i know 125000 to 150000 students apply aproximately and moreover I dont agree about the quality of education imparted by IIT (as mentioned in the article)

They are somewhere near the top .

Hi anonymous I am sorry for it (about your assumption of the ranking of IITs).But actually IIT's are placed nearly at 450-500 in the world rankings. Although there may be great faculty in IIT's who are extraordinary in field of research. But there is no great funding for the Research in IIT's. hence, a student although may be the cleverest cannot be enlightened to this world. By some survey it is found that the total amount spend by IIT's over the research for last 10 years is equal to the amount spend by MIT in 3 months for research.

http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm

In the above link one can find the rankings of all the top 500 universities in the world

sorry but,

......please answer the questions of prospectives, Please.......

sorry but,

......please answer the questions of prospectives, Please.......

Hey why do people keep posting everything twice lately?

I guess they calculate the number of international admissions from the amount of total admissions. Not only from the regular ones. At least, that's how I interpret the text in mymit.

total admissions (approx): 1500 => 120 internationals

early admission: 377

regular admission: 1123 admissions | 9000 applicants => 12,4%

international students: 120 admissions | 2500 applicants => 4,8%

I didn't mean to be the wise guy, but the geek wanted out. :]

as an international student...i'm not afraid of anything...i'm only afraid of the quota...

Ramya, it may not seem very logical to you, but your source of judgement of IITs is not very reliable.

The system of rankings like the one provided Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University may not necessarily be correct.

As far as your point about research is concerned, in India there are quite a few problems assosiated with funding thus the research funds are quite low.Even with these low funds the students manage to carry out valuable research, which is quite creditable. Also IIT has been producing excellent engineers which do very well in the industry.You cannot judge a university only on the basis of the amount of research it has conducted.If there is a single reason why IIT doesn't invest much money into research, its because it doesnt have much.

What determined the quota? [ie 6-8% int studenties]

ummm... to break the long debate on percentages, do you know what the name of Nance's baby is? We're very curious =D

good luck to each and every applicant, especially the international students

chandresh: If I remember this correctly, then the quote for international applicants is determined by the amount MIT is able to give in financial aid, seeing as international students wouldn't be supported by the US government but only by MIT. So the choice was to either give up the need-blind system for international applications, or introduce this quota. Even though I'm fairly certain, that I won't be admitted to MIT (especially because of the quota - 3,8% vs. 10-15% is a lot.. ), I feel that this was the better solution.

Best of luck to you! :)

Holy... What a ferocious discussion panel. Gee. Chill guys, Any university within the top hundreds of sorts is probably good already. Then again, aren't we supposed to be looking at whether or not you're a match for the university or not?? If you can withstand the environment and thrive, you'll be successful wherever you go. :D

i second eric's opinion

Its nice to hear IIT being mentioned in an MIT blog. Both in my opinion are world class universities. Both are unique in their own reprospective(sorry if the spelling is wrong!). Thus, its really hard to compare both of them.

I have heard various comments on the quota of int'l students taken by MIT. In the other blog, a percentage of 8% was given, which comes around to be roughly 115 students. Does anyone have any idea how many exactly will be taken?any quotas for individual countries?

What? The appliacntts will loose hope.

What? The applicants will loose hope.

I recieved "Facts about MIT for international applicants" from MIT.

Below Facts are from it.

1)International admission to MIT is very competitive. In 2005,112 international students were admitted from a pool of 2,210 applcants.

2)Almost all international applicants who are admitted to MIT have earned some form of regional,national or international distinctions in areas as diverse as leadership, music, art, scientific research, acdemic competition or athletics.

P.S: An apple tree in MIT's alumni garden is a direct descendent of the one Sir Isaac Newton was reportedly sitting when he conceived the theory of gravity.

jep, pretty scary points (1 and 2) but I like the P.S. :) ... 2 more month until decision comes!

Amazing stats! Well that's why MIT is MIT:)

Dear Matt,

I am an international applicant and I have mediocre CR and Wr scores on the SAT 1. I have attented a Greek public (government) school in Cyprus teaching us English only 1 1/2 hours a week. Will this be taken into account when reviewing my app? When scores are sent from the college board to MIT are the percentiles and actual raw marks shown?

Thanks!

ps. Sorry I've also posted this one on the wrong forum (The Coin is Found) by mistake

53 days until admission decisions are mailed, so be ready for the truth:

"We are sorry to inform you..." OR "Congratulation! You have been...."

A curious question: what other universities have you applied?

Again GOOD LUCK TO EVERY BODY!

i'm scared...very very scared...

good luck pples!

Chill out everyone. What will happen will happen. You can't do anything about your application now. It's really pointless worrying!

Good luck Mr. McGann.

Chill out everyone. What will happen will happen. You can't do anything about your application now. It's really pointless worrying!

Good luck Mr. McGann.

MIT fellows, are you all stuck with the theory of everything? Thena admit me in, may be i can give some fresh perspectives!

ok, kidding, but who knows? ;-p

I am a prospective international student to the class of 2010. I certainly understand the the challenge all my fellow prospective applicants are facing especially those like myself from Africa regarding the figures of us the applicants but i would like to first pray for each one of you to succeed,though only a limited number will do, then to remind you again to take heart and understand our desire to be engineers is pivoted around the great vision to undertake challenge, self satisfaction through work etc to overcome our inherent limitations.

So please, let us try to overcome this initial challenge of our inherited fear to fail and accept / believe what the admissions office has received.

Good luck to every body and best regards from Uganda, East Africa where we seem to have only a single MIT alumni and non in Uganda.

"could the first be this author?"

Alex Myne Kirungi

Juan Jhong Chung: I'm an international student from Switzerland and applied only to MIT and Caltech... where else did you apply?

Hi Rafeel and Juan Jhong Chung:

I am an international applicant

I applied only to MIT, PRINCETON AND HARVARD.

Juan Jhong Chung: where else did you apply?

does anyone know the reasonable scores for SAT1 and SAT2and also the G.P.A.

3.6% int'l students??? God!! anyway, just bringing back the IIT topic, IIT is ranked 50th in the world according to the top 200 University rankings of the world (MIT's second) published by http://www.thes.co.uk/ also, those appearing for the IIT JEE usually prepare for 2 whole years so I guess the competition is completely different from getting in MIT.

eeeek!....(gag)...thud.

Hey,

I just had a quick question. Is it true that having references from well known people or MIT Alumnis act as an advantage to your admissions?

I had a same Q :)

1 Massachusetts Institute Technol US

2 University of California, Berkeley US

3 Indian Institutes of Technology India

4 Stanford University US

5 Imperial College London UK

6 Cambridge University UK

7 California Institute of Technology US

8 Tokyo University Japan

9 National University of Singapore Singapore

10 Beijing University China

11 Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan

12 ETH Zurich Switzerland

13 Oxford University UK

14 Carnegie Mellon University US

15 Delft University of Technology Netherlands

16 New South Wales University Australia

17 Tsing Hua University China

18 Melbourne University Australia

19 Kyoto University Japan

20 Georgia Institute of Technology US

21 Harvard University US

22 Ecole Polytechnique France

23 Hong Kong University Sci & Technol HongKong

24 Monash University Australia

25 Technion Israel Inst of Technol Israel

26 Nanyang Technological University Singapore

27 Illinois University US

28 Aachen RWTH Germany

29 Australian National University Australia

30 University of Texas at Austin US

31 University of Toronto Canada

32 Vienna University of Technology Austria

33 Technical University Munich Germany

34 Cornell University US

35 Purdue University US

36 University of California, Los Angeles US

36 Ecole Poly Fˆ©dˆ©rale de LausanneSwitzerland

38 Princeton University US

39 Catholic University Leuven (French) Belgium

40 Queensland University Australia

41 Manchester University & Umist UK

42 Korea Adv Inst of Sci & Technol SouthKorea

42 McGill University Canada

44 Massachusetts University US

44 Lomonosov Moscow State University Russia

44 Technical University of Berlin Germany

47 University of British Columbia Canada

48 Sydney University Australia

49 Auckland University New Zealand

50 China University of Sci & Technol China

51 Waterloo University Canada

52 Helsinki University of Technology Finland

53 Osaka University Japan

54 Karlsruhe University Germany

55 University of Michigan US

56 Politecnico di Milano Technical Univ Italy

57 National Taiwan University Taiwan

58 Royal Institute of Technology Sweden

59 Chalmers University of Technology Sweden

60 Technical University, Denmark Denmark

these are top 60 technical universities in the world

Ooooh haha. I thought you were applying to all of them! That would be quite nuts :p

Thank got for this blog. As bad as it sounds, I'm almost glad to see that I am not alone and there are other people out there panicking about getting in.

If you need something to take your mind off the stress of waiting for the admission decision, check out Sky Monsters, on the National Geographic channel tonight at 9. It’Äôs the documentary of the project I worked on the past two summers.

Hi Rafael and Mohan, I am from Peru and I have applied to MIT, CALTECH, UPENN and Boston University. I didn't have much time, since the scholar year in Peru is from March to December; and most of the deadlines for US Universities are on December. Imagine that I took the SATs in the same week of my final exams!

This is my own ranking:

MIT

Caltech

Harvard

Princeton

Stanford

Yale

Good luck!

wow..1033 from 9000 applicants?

That has got me worried a little bit.

But oh well, I guess I will just have to wait and see..

and yes, there are a lot of Indians on this blog!

There are only 52 days until admission decisions for regular action are mailed. At this time, I am taking yoga classes to take my mind off the application process and to avoid having nightmares about being rejected.

I encourage you to have fun! There is no point at this time to think about the application. All parts, recommendations and transcripts have already been sent. I know that waiting is very painful to all of us but we can make it a little more relaxing.

This is the time of the year that we should be spending with our little brothers or sisters, with our parents and with our friends. Believe it or not, you are going to miss them more than you think. For most of us, these are going to be the last months in our homes. Soon there won't be anymore mom's charms or dad's advice and even though cell phones and internet make distance shorter, feelings and emotions cannot be translated to data language to send them in an email or through a phone call.

The adventure of going to college is the most exciting in our life. It is a new beginning with new friends and new challenges. It is the beginning of our dream, of what we want to do in our future. In this difficult path we are going to learn not only math but also how the real life is. Be ready!

I am so happy to share my experiences and worries with many prospective students around the world. Since I met you, I am not afraid any more about the future of the world society because I know that with people like you the world's destiny is going to change. We are the best example that no matter where we are from or what language do we speak, our minds think in the same way. All of us want the best for the world.

I am sure you are the best students in the world, and that is why you are applying to the best college. Everyone is so special and we should not doubt it. We should never be afraid to show our knowledge. Have faith on ourselves and I am sure we will success wherever we go.

Good luck to everybody’Ķ.. and remember the best time of our lives is about to start!

Hey,

I just had a quick question. Is it true that having references from well known people or MIT Alumnis act as an advantage to your admissions?

Posted by: Anonymous on January 22, 2006 10:46 AM

No, according to numerous admissions officers.

It has to be a good reference, never mind from where. Although I don't recommend convicted serial killers.

these are top 60 technical universities in the world

Where'd you get that? Stanford ranked higher than Caltech?

And finally,

eeeek!....(gag)...thud. I agree totally.

There are a lot of great schools out there. If you're good enough, you WILL get into one of your top choices even if you don't get accepted at MIT.

You guys put to omuch stock in which school you go to. How do you think MIT, Caltech, Stanfrd, ect. became great schools. They didn't start out tat the top. The people that went there made the schools great. Just as each and everyone of us can did regardless of which school we eventually decide to attend.

I would be both honored and amazed if I acually make MIT, but at the same time I know I will what I do regardless.

Remember, it's the people that make the school not vice versa.

Good luck to everyone in the RA pool. I hope everyone who deserves to get in makes it.

lol I really should start proof reading my posts...

That is an insane number of applicants! I wish the best for the poor souls who will be reading through them all. And I wish a great good luck to all who applied!

Sure MIT is a great school and so are the other ones that are imposible to get in, but really the student makes their education and ultimately their happiness. It's not all about where you go to college and maybe it would be wise to chill out and just go with the wind, there is only so much you can do and then it is up to chance.

IIT, IIT

IIT has given by 'anonymous' stands 3rd in the world. Hence, It is obvious for any Indian student to have ambition to get in to IIT. But in present days this criteria of students has became as a source for earning from book sellers to the lecturers. I am really speaking that there are nearly "hundred" coaching centers for IIT-JEE in our area in 5 km radius. To get in to these coaching centres you should take a entrance test which will be challenging than IIT for the students at that level of 10th standard. Do you know! for taking these entrance tests there will be again coaching centers (which will start from 6th grade). For getting in some of these coaching centers you should take the entrance test.

In this way a student's major(because engineering and science are the only majors at IIT's)is been deciding in that small age of 5th class.

With all these effort there is no guarantee that a student will enter in to IIT (because there are only 2500-3000)and our nation is loosing the brilliant students who would have glow bright if they taken ARTS or the subject which they like. (You know! a student in india who taken his major as arts is considered mere fool( as there are very less payments for the jobs which can be earned by these majors) or not an intelligent.)In the mindset of a parent they always think that their child should become a doctor or a engineer.

Now UREN how many years a student is preparing for IIT! (nearly 7 years)

Luckily I am not an victim

Edit: I am not a victim

I second "Anonymous"....

But my cousin who studied "Masters of Museology"(predominantly an arts subject), with historical anthropology as major...got a job in the "Central Government" with a starting income of Rs.35000.....~_^...So what do you say about that. All of us dont consider "Arts students as fools in India". Nevertheless in the place I am from...Guwahati.(Assam)Most of them become leaders in their fields in India and abroad with majoring in the Arts stream.

And regarding the IIT thing...I strpngly aggree that the entrance coaching is nowadays becoming a kind of business, and I guess IITs step in changing the pattern must have had an declining affect.

Cheers!

Most of our Ambassadors and high commisoners who are posted abroad as a part of their work in the Indian missions have either majored in Commerce or Arts. And guess what...our Prime-minister majored in the Commerce stream... So i guess it depends more on your taste and your background as what you want to study and not what people say about you. But really atleast I dont consider people studying Arts as fools....

Cheers!

I agree with you I am considering about a common parent of a student. My parents are not in such a manner they given freedom for my views. I never considered any one as fool. Every person on this wonderful earth as their own talents.

You are from far eastern part of the country. But you should consider the northen part(delhi) or southern part. Do you knoe in kota( rajasthan) there are 13th class, 14 class, 15 class. beyond the 12 class. for those who are repeating for IIT. now what they are considering the fields such as arts!!!. Actually the said change in pattern is effective from this year but eligiblity is not taken in to consideration from this year because there is strong opposition of these students(who are concerned to poltics) who are repeating. But I hope this situation will be improoved from next year

A simple MIT wallpaper for those who're interested. Maybe I'll make more...

in.rediff.com/money/2005/oct/10iit.htm

and ramya posted http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm

, both seemingly quite different.

Rating a university is of no use, its ultimately which one uits you. Not all great mans have been a MIT or IIT alum. Most of them belonged to schools no body ever knew(i hope i stole this sentence from somewhere)

so let us put an end to this discussion

good luck to all with all your applications

http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/oct/10iit.htm

This link does not works above

Just for change

Quetion from permutations and combinations.

How many ways can the faces of cube can be coloured with 6 different colours??

Just for change

Quetion from permutations and combinations.

How many ways can the faces of cube can be coloured with 6 different colours?

i agree with you Anonymous, parents usually have in mind of making their children doctors or engineers. Anyway, i guess Matt's gonna go nuts reading 100 repliies to his post ;)

6!

720 ways of colouring the cube?

I just noticed that my post containing the link to the wallpaper is the 100th reply. :o

Will this influence my admission somehow? :D

let us no the sides of cube(in mind)1 opposite to 6

2 opposite to 5

3 to 4

considering 1 and 6 as top bottom (or bottom top)

they can be painted in 6*5 ways

For the four sides no. of arrangements possible for four colurs= (4-1)!=6

so total no of aarrangement = 30*6=180

AM I CORRECT??

was it a similar problem or same whose answer was one

am confused??

One more day to try

I don't think you're on the right track there...but here's what I did.

We have six colours, and six faces. I can put the first colour in any one of six positions, after which there will be five positions left. Now I have five places in which to put the second colour, and so, so far, there are a total of 6x5 ways of placing two colours onto a cube. Proceeding in this manner, the total number of possible combinations should be

6x5x4x3x2x1 = 6! = 720

Hmm, Vivek, you may be closer to the right answer, but what about when the sides 1 and 6 have their colours inverted? Shouldn't that also be considered? That would reduce your solution set to half it's current size, I think. 90 ways?

Tricky question yarrr

Arka U R thread (about IIT) is moving with super speed

OK we will try it later lets try this!!

Hoping every one had taken high school maths and a problem for maths L II C and know all the terms on the common scientific calculator.

If the function f(X)= X^3-9X^2+24X+c has three real and distinct roots a,b,c then the value of

[a]+[b]+[c],where [.]denotes the greatest integer function, is

A) 8,when c belongs to (-18,-16)

B) 8,when c belongs to (-16,-14)

c) 8,when c belongs to (-20,-18)

d) none of these

***this problem can be solved in 2-3 minutes***

Sorry, there is some ambiguity find c of

f(X)= X^3-9X^2+24X+c

People this is MIT blog. You dont want matt to kick us all out.

Btw Matt hows the application reading going.. I am waiting for your omnibus patiently.

Let us put numbers instead of colours then

Always put Number 1 towards the table that we can not see it then

There arises two cases

a) Now first we should consider that 3 on the top (up ward) that we can see. Always one can see a face towards him. Number it as 2. Then there remains three faces which can be numbered in 3.2.1 = 6 ways.

b) In next case if number 3 is not on the top then it can be seen on the sides (as 1 is fixed)

Now we can number remaining four faces in 4.3.2.1 = 24 ways.

Total 24+6 = 30 ways

I am able to see your invisible statistic counter M.R. Matt there may be some problem!!!!

Haha.....so now we have four answers. I realize how horribly wrong my first answer is, now. I'm badly out of touch with p&c and especially circular permutations. :(

Anybody here who's a graphic designer, by any chance? Does anyone know if there's a graphic designing club at MIT?

Guys!

This thread has now 104 posts the "THIRD" highest among all blogs. Yay!!!

Come on we need to make it the highest of all.....

Go......

I had a electricity related question.....

We know two equipotential surfaces can never have a single common area. We know one reason...we will have two Electric field vector at the same point, in the IPhO prelims we were asked to put out another reason...any answers.

Have fun!

Wouldn't they also have two different values of potential?

I'm talking about the points along the line of intersection, by the way. They would have two different values of potential, which isn't possible.

Vivek's answer to the cube problem includes duplicates. I am pretty sure that the answer is 30 ... 5 possibilities for the color of the side opposite to the initial side times 6 possibilities for the middle faces (I believe this elimintates all of the duplicates when rotating)

My own ranking for which I applied

MIT

PRINCETON

HARVARD

IIT (Indian institute of technology)India

I am with 'M' and 'Benjamin Prosnitz' answer is 30

a quick question...will sending more references be a benefit to the admission process...?

Thank you Matt My scores are processed.

The cube problem is quite unclear. Can we reapeat colors in any face? If this is possible, you have to consider that 1 face can have the 6 colors, of course each color a time, the second face can have again the 6 colors, and so on. So every face can have any color at any given moment. 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 = 46656

Hi

Mat i have a question; if your an American who lives outside the US and you school does not follow the US school system do you need to hand in a Mid-Year Report or some sort of supplement for it?

the questions says w/ 6 different colors

i think it'd be 6!=720

i think it'd be 6!=720

oops..that's gotta be the first time i posted 2 times...sry

If the position of each color is significant then the answer would be 6^6 = 46656

Each color can be used more than once, remember that =)

123456=different colors

1,1,1,1,1,1

1,1,1,1,1,2

1,1,1,1,1,3

1,1,1,1,1,4

1,1,1,1,1,5

1,1,1,1,1,6

1,1,1,1,2,1

etc

However, some cubes will look identical, even though the colors aren't on the same exact sides. (for example, 1,1,2,1,1,1 looks identical to 2,1,1,1,1,1)

I just realized Juan Jhong Chung said the same thing >.<

Come on people, you're MIT applicants! Can't you see that if you go with 6!=720 then many of the possibilities would be rotationally equivalent? The method suggested by Benjamin Prosnitz works, unless we all misinterpreted the question. But even then, it's not 6! and it's not 6^6 either. If rotational equivalence was not important, then the problem would have asked for ways of painting squares in a line and not faces of a cube, n'est-ce pas?

And since we are on the topic of cubes, here's a question for you. A cube is hanging from one of its vertices. A plane parallel to the ground divides the cube in two congruent polyhedra. What type of polyhedra are these? (Be specific.)

Hmm interesting, is 128 the max number of responses saved?

Well, this excercise is very interesting and I hope that all prospective students in the blog participate and help us.....

I have been analizyng Benjamin Prosnitz's answer: "Vivek's answer to the cube problem includes duplicates. I am pretty sure that the answer is 30 ... 5 possibilities for the color of the side opposite to the initial side times 6 possibilities for the middle faces (I believe this elimintates all of the duplicates when rotating)"

If he takes out one color for the opposite faces to avoid duplicates, he is missing the posibilities when all faces have the same color. When all faces have the same color, each face has 6 posibilities. His solution does not work for all cases.

The solution presented by Adam and I is the maximun number of ways of painting a cube. Now think again that a number represents a color, so:

the cube 1,1,1,1,1,2 is identical to 1,1,1,1,2,1 ; 1,1,1,2,1,1 ; 1,1,2,1,1,1 ; 1,2,1,1,1,1 ; 2,1,1,1,1,1. So every 6 ways are the same.... the answer is 6^5= 7776

Yeah! I guess we can go with the "Potential"...but I am not much sure about its validity....still searching...

Anyways!!!

We have been posting the most and its now the highest of all blogs! Yes!!!!

Cheers

Yeah! It is the highest of all blogs, but I don't know if Matt is going to be happy, we change the main subject from statistics of the applicants, admited students, etc to math questions.

I suppose the question should be clarified further.

Let us put numbers instead of colours then

Always put Number 1 towards the table that we can not see it then

There arises two cases

a) Now first we should consider that 3 on the top (up ward) that we can see. Always one can see a face towards him. Number it as 2. Then there remains three faces which can be numbered in 3.2.1 = 6 ways.

b) In next case if number 3 is not on the top then it can be seen on the sides (as 1 is fixed)

Now we can number remaining four faces in 4.3.2.1 = 24 ways.

24+6=30

It may be true

I want to clear the question

How many ways can the faces of cube can be coloured with 6 different colours and one colour to each Face? Now it is clear from ambiguty!!!

Lets try this!!

Take a circle, divide into eighths. You may use 4 colors to color the segments. Colors may be repeated as long as you use all 4 colors at least once. What are the total combinations possible?

Oh dear lord. Guys- come on now. If you want to do ITT problems go on to an ITT website... I'm sure that Matt's eyebrows are twitching and everyone of us is going to lose brownie points when it comes to application decisions.

I for one need all the brownie points I can get lol.

BTW, I heard that there is one fraternity at MIT that has ridiculously hot guys. Forgive me for being a girl, but I would like to know which one that is ;)

Oh gee. So just when I thought an admissions discussion would ramble into a statistical debate and then evolve into a math forum, somebody comes up with sexuality?!?! How about I change the topic yet again?!

Conservatives in Canada just won a minority government. Usher in the end of liberalism and the start of conservatism.

----------------

Okay, enough detracting from me. Haha... Let's focus on our feelings here. Who's really *that* nervous about the admission decisions?

About the hanging cube...would those polyhedra be square pyramids?

And, if anyone here is getting bored of all the nerd stuff, visit my website. :D

http://www.the-paragon.net

A go at the latest permutation!!

We have to take at least 4 different colours. So first fill any 4 of the 8 sectors in 8P4(=1680) ways. This will have to be multiplied in all the cases.

Now, the different cases that arise will be:

Case I):

The remaining 4 sectors are filled by the same colour(i.e., take any one of the four groups from red,red,red,red or green,green,green,green or etc...)

No. of ways of doing this = 4C1*(4!/4!)= 4C1 =4

Case II):

remaining four sectors are filled by 3id.(4 groups) and 1 difft.(3 groups) colours.

No. of ways = 4C1*3C1*(4!/3!)= 4*3*4 = 48

Case III):

2id. and 2id. colours (4 goups)

No. of ways = 4C2*(4!/2!2!) = 5*6 = 30

Case IV):

2id.(4 groups) and 2 difft.(3 groups) colours

No. of ways = 4C1*3C2*(4!/2!) = 4*3*6 = 48

Case V):

All 4 difft colours

No. of ways = 4! = 24

Therefore, total no. of ways = 1680*(24+48+30+48+4) = 1680*154 = 258720

That's quite huge!

Hey, if anyone can spot a glitch in the mess I just created please tell me.

PS: Is there a shorter way of doing this?

A go at the latest permutation!!

We have to take at least 4 different colours. So first fill any 4 of the 8 sectors in 8P4(=1680) ways. This will have to be multiplied in all the cases.

Now, the different cases that arise will be:

Case I):

The remaining 4 sectors are filled by the same colour(i.e., take any one of the four groups from red,red,red,red or green,green,green,green or etc...)

No. of ways of doing this = 4C1*(4!/4!)= 4C1 =4

Case II):

remaining four sectors are filled by 3id.(4 groups) and 1 difft.(3 groups) colours.

No. of ways = 4C1*3C1*(4!/3!)= 4*3*4 = 48

Case III):

2id. and 2id. colours (4 goups)

No. of ways = 4C2*(4!/2!2!) = 5*6 = 30

Case IV):

2id.(4 groups) and 2 difft.(3 groups) colours

No. of ways = 4C1*3C2*(4!/2!) = 4*3*6 = 48

Case V):

All 4 difft colours

No. of ways = 4! = 24

Therefore, total no. of ways = 1680*(24+48+30+48+4) = 1680*154 = 258720

That's quite huge!

Hey, if anyone can spot a glitch in the mess I just created please tell me.

PS: Is there a shorter way of doing this?

Sorry for having posted twice!! I just noticed that I haven't taken into consideration circular permutation. I guess I'll just have to rack my brains a bit more!!!!!!!!!!

AARGH... I just keep forgetting adding my name.

Whoa sid/anonymous

Did you TYPE all that? :o

I don't think the solution's that complex or huge. :p That's a lot of ASCII wasted D:

I think I've got it now.

First you select all the colours you need , and THEN arrange it in accordance with circular permutation. So:

Case I):

4 difft (which will be present in every case) and 4 id

No. of ways of selecting = 4C4*4C1

Now arrange it in 4C4*4C1*(8-1)!/4!

All cases will change likewise and the sum of all the cases will give the final answer.

If anyone can come up with a shorter answer, PLEASE post it.

"I want to clear the question

How many ways can the faces of cube can be coloured with 6 different colours and one colour to each Face? Now it is clear from ambiguty!!!"

Well, if that is the real question the answer is 1. We have 6 colors for each face, that means 6 possiblities. However it is enough if we put a different color to each face because when we rotate it, in all the ways a cube can be rotated, all faces would have had all colors.

I don't think so. Suppose two of the colors are red and orange. Surely any coloring of the cube having red and orange opposite each other cannot be transformed into one having red and orange adjacent by any rotation!

Also, only one person has tried to answer my question, so I'm going to repost it here:

A cube is hanging from one of its vertices. A plane parallel to the ground divides the cube in two congruent polyhedra. What type of polyhedra are these? (Be specific.)

this thread just made me reconsider even wanting to go to MIT...

this thread just made me reconsider even wanting to go to MIT...

why do u say that, i think its kind of funny to see ppl talk about this stuff

Ok , I wont' give up! ;-)

Since many people are not so happy that we start a "math forum", here is my e-mail: gnohjnauj@hotmail.com . Anyone can add me to his or her contact list to have a nice chat about any topic!

Will this be a bad thing for me if I'm half Indian and from the United States?

Rose, why would being half Indian be a bad thing?

Hey disgusted we and you are not yet MIT community.

well this seems like a good representation of the kind of freaks that will be found at MIT....

And you don't want to be one of them? I for one am looking forward to meeting other freaks like me :)

What !! I am unable to understand you? some one had posted a Q which is of curiosity and critical thinking. Hence the guys are trying it!!!

What the wrong in it!!

You can post U R Question to Matt

What !! I am unable to understand you? some one had posted a Q which is of curiosity and critical thinking. Hence the guys are trying it!!!

What the wrong in it!!

You can post U R Question to Matt

I agree with M, Moran, and whoever else said 30 on the colored cube. Here's my reasoning (the must use 6 colors version)...

Call 1 the top face and 6 the bottom face. Also, call 2 the back face. This fixes the cube to prevent repeats from rotation. There are 3x2x1 = 6 ways to arrange the remaining 3, 4, and 5.

So for the case where 1 and 6 are on opposite faces, there are 6 unique arrangements of the four remaining colors.

Now for the case where 1 and 6 are on adjacent faces, just swap 6 in for 2, 3, 4, or 5 in every possibility. That's 6 possibilities and 4 numbers to swap with in each possibility, for a total of 6x4 = 24 unique arrangements.

That gives a total of 30 unique arrangements. All other arrangements would be some other rotation of those.

Note that swapping the 1 and 6 does nothing, because they're still opposite each other after the swap.

Here's another way to think about it... start with 1 and 6 opposite for 6 possibilities. Now take 1 and 2 opposite, 1 and 3 opposite, etc. There are 5 numbers that can be opposite 1, 6 possibilites each. 5x6 = 30.

Well, it's getting late (but not 3AM, it's not THAT late where I am), so I might've missed something, but those're my thoughts.

On the hanging cube, would it be a 7-faced polyhedron? (Septahedron?) Drawing a cube from the top, I get a regular hexagonal base connected to three small isoceles triangles and three large isoceles pentagons.

Now for something completely different. To disguste... Considering MIT's size, I'm sure you'll find all sorts of people, not just math freaks like us. =P I have some friends applying to MIT for its business program, believe it or not. If MIT's not for you, then it's not.

And like Juan Chong Chung said, don't sweat it! This probably sounds super-cliched, but where you go doesn't matter as much as what you do there. Judging by what Matt and Ben have been saying, every one of us can probably be successful wherever we go. So here's to a wonderful finish to our senior years!

Hi

Hi

Hello,

A lot of flooding and trolling here... Between those trying to resolve math problems and those trying to beat a new record for the more messages in a single thread, the situation is quite disturbing.

Joy posted this:

_______________

What !! I am unable to understand you? some one had posted a Q which is of curiosity and critical thinking. Hence the guys are trying it!!!

What the wrong in it!

_______________

It's common sense. The aim of the comments of this article was to discuss about the topic Matt talked about. And that is definitely all. Discussing math problems on an MIT website is something understandable (and arguably). After all, this subject will be a part of students' life for all the admitted ones next year. However, this is just not the point. I wouldn’Äôt like to sound like someone who is trying to give a lesson, but among those numerous and noble messages explaining how you would have answered to the problems, thinking about the rare questions scattered throughout this article (related to the topic) which are utterly sinking into this ocean of messages really disturbs me.

Nonetheless, we may regret the absence of an official forum, although this absence could also be understandable in regard to all the hoaxes that are easily widespread on the Internet...

I cannot of course blame anyone for doing what is being done with this thread, and I will never do. There are no written rules anywhere on this website, but I thought these went without saying.

I came up with 30 different combinations for the colored/numbered cube problem. I drew a diagram of a "flattened" cube (a hopscotch-like arrangement of squares) and filled in each face/square with a number. (I suggest you draw it yourself). From there, it is pretty obvious that the total number of combinations is 2*(6c2) = 30 Does anyone see any problem with this reasoning?

____

| |

| 2 | The side faces: (6c2)/2 combo's.

____|____|____ The middle column: 4 combo's

| | | | Therefore: 2*(6c2) = 30

| 1 | 3 | 6 |

|____|____|____|

| |

| 4 |

|____|

| |

| 5 |

|____|

Wow, that came ou completely messed up. That was completely idiotic of me. It was supposed to come out as a sort of cross-shaped object with the 1 and 6 on the "hanging" squares, and the other numbers in the middle column.

Anonymous asked: "Rose, why would being half Indian be a bad thing?"

Answer: because it means ur not ALL indian!

juuuuuust kidding ;)

and a/b u cube-problem guys, by now u couldve just bought a bunch of cubes and a couple of water colors and figured it out empirically :D

one calculus test question last year wanted to find the sides of a box to maximize volume. for some reason it was really hard for me and apparently everyone else in the class. it had some twist to it, but i forget what it was. the whole test was calculator off, so i picked pretty round numbers and ended up w/ the right answer :D i pulled 3 numbers out of the air and they were all the right answers. what was the probability of that? why, 1/(infinity)^3, of course. now how's THAT for a probability problem! just felt like bragging, and u guys WERE talking a/b cubes... ;D

and btw, Minh Ngoc Nguyen, the frat ur looking for is whichever one i join at mit... b/c u KNOW im getting in :P

(we really need a thumbs-up symbol)

peace in the middle east (keep dreaming, buddy!),

Siddharth Shah

sorry if any of that sounded arrogant, im not really like that :D its these dern internet words, they dont always come across right.. :(

b/c u cant put emphasis and inflection in them, i meant to add.

sorry for triple-post :(

I was reading the cube question and it appeared interesting to me. I came out with the following solution:

I analized the possibilities by opposite pairs of faces. For the first pair, it really does not matter the order because I can rotate the cube and I will have the same (opposite sides painted as red and blue is the same as blue and red), so I have 6C2 possibilities for the first opposite pair, wich is 15.

Now for the second pair I have left 4 colors, and it also does not matter the order beause I can rotate the cube again to obtain the same. So for the second pair I have 4C2 possibilities for the second opposite pair, wich is 6.

The last pair of faces took me much more time, becuase in the last pair I believe that the position of the opposite colors does make different cubes, since I have the other for sides already painted. So for the last opposite pair I have two possibilities (2P2).

Finally, 15(the first pair)*6(the second pair)*2(the last pair)= 180 possibilities.

Maybe I am wrong and I just can´t see the mistake. If anyone could help or correct me, I will be very grateful. And good luck with the applications.

While it is commendable that we are so avidly discussing math (and seeing as how we're prospective MIT students, it's totally not surprising that we're doing so), I'm not sure that Matt will appreciate the fact that we're using his blog for this purpose. Therefore I suggest that someone start a forum for such discussions. I know I would join, and others would probably join too. Or at least let's find some way of marking messages that are unrelated to MIT admissions, so that Matt doesn't spend time reading them if he'd rather not. For example (TeX-ers might like this):

\begin{unrelatedstuff}

1 + x + x^2 + ... + x^n = (1 - x^(n+1))/(1 - x)

\end{unrelatedstuff}

sorry, but wasnt that sequence simplification pretty obvious? or was that just a random example?

i say we stick w/ html if we're going for this tagging deal... as in unrelated stuff goes here

or, b/c this forum allows for the 128-bit deal (or is it 64? i cant remember which one it is right now... prolly 64), we can use special characters like ˆƒ which are easy delimiters. That ˆƒ is a personal fave, i use it in my programming all the time when i have to do string manipulation b/c nobody types in latin so nobody's gonna put that in. the symbol has an advantage over the html tag b/c its easier to enter and easier to parse, in case matt or anybody happens to be parsing this forum.

btw, a while back i clicked on some of the students' blogs (that show up when u log into myMIT), and at least one of them was getting spammed pretty hard. any plans for implementing a captcha-phrase to block this? just curious. its the only way i can think of right now that would block los spammers.

can someone tell me how to check the status for fin aid?