15,600 O_O
ok I guess I'm glad that at least I'm not younger

FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHOOHOOOOOOO

^^^Maybe not!!

*makes a funny sad face*

Thanks for the update! it's incredible and scary to think that 15600 applicants will be decided in about three weeks

Thanks for the update! it's incredible and scary to think that 15600 applicants will be decided in about three weeks :O

Matt,

If MIT is targeting a class of about 1000 students, does that mean the acceptance rate is going to be around 6% :-S!? This is going to be a very competitive year. Or is MIT planning to increase the Freshman class size?

Good Luck,
A-K

Oppps. . . the class is going to be about 1500(according to last years statistics) which means just under 10 percent acceptance! Still freaky!

Awwwwwwww. My chances just became lower. Pesky AP Statistics, all those means an normal curves cause so much pain and anxiety. Ignorance is bliss.

Hey Matt,
will this increase somehow affect the Transfer admissions? Is it possible to get in as a Transfer international after not having been accepted last year?

Agh! I promised myself to adopt a much cooler attitude that doesn't get nervous. This post just made me scrap those plans :P

Seriously though: best of luck to all! :)

Matt,

If it is too late for the supplement to be considered by the selection committee, what does the admissions officer do with the supplement? I have been dealing with a severe back problem and was about to fax my supplement about my circumstances tomorrow. Is it really too late? Also My counselor was supposed to fax you a letter about my medical condition with the Mid-Year Report. The online tracker does not show that the Mid-Year Report was received. Does this mean that the admissions committee wont have knowledge of my condition while they make their selection? I am very worried.

Any response will be appreciated

HOME STRETCH!!!!!!!! The waiting is almost over, hope I don't lose it before decisions come out. XP

Just wanted to remind people that today is a holiday called Mardi Gras!

yes. I am posting this three times.

is the 15600 just for regular decision?
and do you know how many international applications there are?

Do you have approximate number of international applicants?

well, ~10% is still a fair game.

what about internationals?
how many applied? is acceptance rate going to be ~2% ...?

Matt,

If it is too late for the supplement to be considered by the selection committee, what does the admissions officer do with the supplement? I have been dealing with a severe back problem and was about to fax my supplement about my circumstances tomorrow. Is it really too late? Also My counselor was supposed to fax you a letter about my medical condition with the Mid-Year Report. The online tracker does not show that the Mid-Year Report was received. Does this mean that the admissions committee wont have knowledge of my condition while they make their selection? I am very worried.

Any response will be appreciated

What, no mail this year? At all?

Lame!

"exclusively online"

Sounds like a special offer on the shopping channel. ;)

Good luck, everybody!

@Matt McGann: May I suggest March 14th? It's pi day, Einstein's Birthday, and a Saturday. I don't think that there is a more appropriate day than the 14th in mid-March.

I've been thinking the same thing.

π day, PLEASE!

Incredible.... 15600 people to compete with!
Sooner the results, better it is!

@Matt McGann: Can you inform us about how many international applications have been received?

Lets all hope for the best :D

Congrats to us all for even taking on the challenge of applying to join the elite at MIT :)

@ Gerardo: hey, where are you from?

woohoo! only ~half a month to go!
-Jamo

wow... I shudder at the thought of how competitive next year will be. Better talk to Satan now before the soul market gets flooded.

wow... I shudder at the thought of how competitive next year will be. Better talk to Satan now before the soul market gets flooded.

Pi day is good. But talking of numbers how about the class of 13 getting it on March the 13th. Oh but that's Friday the 13th...but this month also had a Friday the 13th. 2 unluckies make a lucky?

15600 applications? All the best to the Selection Committee and applicants (including myself).

Gulp. 15600. Gulp.

Thanks for the information - it certainly puts everything into perspective! I'm having a really hard time trying to ignore my dreams of selection committee meetings where my application is crossed with a big red pen and tossed into the rejected pile.

Anyway, good luck with the selection committee meetings and let us know the release date as soon as you can.

More like nightmares, not 'dreams' in the other sense.

Well... My nightmare comprises of my application sitting on a conference table and encircled by the Selection Committee, who point their fingers at it and laugh like The Joker.

Breathes in, breathes out.
15.6 k??!!!
Aborting...
Runs to stand under the shower.

correct me if I'm wrong, but actually (to answer my own previous question) I think it's 15600 total: RA and EA. since EA was 5000+ people, RA is actually ~10000, which is not much more than last year, even taking into consideration all the deferred EA people.

hope the international pool hasn't gotten much bigger either xD

Well, good luck Matt. It's going to be a whole lot of work. And like the other internationals, the number of international apps would be appreciated although it's not to important now haha. All there is left to do is wait. Enjoy the nice february-march, you must be used to it by now.

The evening of 3.13 would be fitting of MIT culture. Friday the 13th, because MIT is agnostic when it comes to superstition, March the 13th, because MIT will welcome the class of '13, and the evening because perhaps MIT prefers the lunar calendar, and by this, days technically begin at sunset, and so our beloved Pi day will have already commenced. That said, 15,600 applications is quite a workload. Thanks for the time you're all putting in for us!

My Fellow Applicants,

YES WE CAN!

@ '13(?)

Umm Los Angeles, Ca..
why?

international student...

mid-year grades just came out recently.. and i'm trying to get in contact with guidance to fax these updated grade 12 marks.. hopefully, theyll come soon!

otherwise, everything else i assume for me is fine. cause i got everything else in :] way way way way before... =)

We shouldn't really mind about the release date, it's not a race. The more time they take looking at our applications the better,since they'll get a more thorough feeling of the way we are. As long as they don't take too long of course.

15.6k!! That's the thrill of this whole application process. I bet the admissions committee had a great time reading all those applications!

o_o
>.
T_T
....now thats competition.

@ Colton
Awesome idea

@Susana
Making a great point

I would agree with either one, but with Susana just a wee bit more 'cuz it's a weekday and we can possibly call admissions *yelling for joy* if we get in...or vice versa.
Hopefully we won't have to resort to vice versa. XD

Good luck to us all !!!

O.O

15.6k

That's... a lot of reading.

*waves her chances goodbye*

yaay some news--15,600-cool--awaiting the result more than the looming boards

WOW!

That's a heck of a lot of competition.

GL everyone.

Oh my god!!!
Well, we can only hope for the best....so
Best of Luck everyone

Wow. It just goes to show how amazing this school really is and what people truly think of it. Almost 16,000 newcomer applicants. Truly amazing to say the least.
*good luck to all that apply-I will next year.

I really really really really want to live, learn AND HACK amongst the wonderful people of M.I.T...
Awaiting for decisions has made my love for M.I.T even more strong because I realized that the admission committe is putting time to consider my application and bringing me one step closer to my dream of living and learning admist the wonderful people of M.I.T. :)

From 5,019 early action applicants, there were approximately 540 admitted.
If we consider that MIT is committed to admitting no more than 30% of its class during early action, there will be at least 540/30% = 1800 admitted students. This represents an increase of more than 200 admitted (compared to last year's 1,589).
So the percentage admitted will probably continue to be about 11%.

Hey Matt,
I was wondering if there was any way to apply for international financial aid online.

sir,
when can i know the number of intertional applicants anumber that will be admitted???

Chances 4 acceptance this year are 6.63*10^-34!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to all those wondering when the decision date is, it is always before MIT's spring break, which starts march 20. 3/20 should be the latest date to hear back from admissions. it could still be before that though.

Hello Matt,

Thank you for the update. I have one question in mind: do the crisis and the increase in applicants number affect the students who apply for full scholarship?

Thanks!!

6.63*10^-34?? keke funny.. :)

Good luck for everyone~!!

When I clicked the submit button, I made up a 50%in/50%rejection mind...i think this is important because, like most of us, the decision is quite significant, but we need to be bold and face IT in the EYE! Don't panic now, keep it for the 'DAY' lol...(some movie has prolly influenced a lot!) i really wish good luck to all the applicants out there :)!

Oh and yeah, Friday the 13th sounds awesome :D

At least I know I won't be getting a small envelope...

(I'm not a pessimist, I swear. I'm a realist).

15,600
Neat.

15,6O_O is more like it =)

How many international applicants are there?

Its not statistically impossible, in a matter of speaking...

For me, 13th seems too early. I think 16th through 20th would be more feasible.

wow im freaking out lol

That's so exciting! So many people are hyped about MIT! Regardless of the many who applied for a spot in the freshman class, Class of 13 will without a doubt be an excellent class.

@Ashwin

Where are you from?

@Matt

Any info on the number of international applicants?

Good luck guys! I hope to see some of you next year :)

Whoa!!! 15,600? For everyone who gets in this year, count your blessings. And if I get in (this is almost funny), I'll be right there with you, thanking the admissions committee and doing victory dances around campus come fall.

@ Michelle from Israel : Just in case you havent noticed, I'm next to you waving my chances goodbye, as well ;)

My chances are also very slim, although I hope I successfully conveyed my love for MIT in the application... lets hope for the best.. and GOOD LUCK to everyone!! =D

oops!

anyway i hope the alMITy committee gives me a fair chance to graduate from this great institute.

How many international applicants?

156000 applicants!
even if the admission's rate is 10%, this is a nightmare!
so from each 10 they will choose 1!!! what would make this one unique from the other 9! nevertheless mentioning that almost all applicants are special!
no offence but
after this i guess its a matter of luck!

O mit applicant, beware the ides of march

<nerves>

Well, I guess that's what I get for wanting better knowledge of the odds against me.

But is it true what I've heard that our class, in terms of pool of applicants, will be the largest for several years?

@nikko
why "will" be the largest?

Hi Matt,

I have received a few more awards since I sent in my application. Is there any way to update the admissions committee? Thank you!

I like the Planck's constant reference...though I really hope the odds are better than that. Speaking of quantum mechanics, can we think of ourselves as both accepted and unaccepted? We won't know until we open the envelope! Ah, uncertainty... :(

@Sharath:
I'm Indian =) NRI though.

I guess I mean "clicking the button" instead of "opening the envelope"....

Ψ(accepted) ≈ 0.2676
Ψ(waitlisted) ≈ 0.2429
Ψ(rejected) ≈ 0.9324

:(

But from what I heard (and this was a while ago; it might be entirely wrong) the nationwide graduating class this year would be a peak not again reached until something like 2015.

^ hm... maybe I should have been younger afterall

Come on guys! let's be positive! We still have lives to live and there's no sense of letting apprehension take away from them. After all, what is done is done and worrying won't make it any better ya? I've done my best, no regrets. All there is left to do is smile and wait!
-Jamo :)

(someone has to be the deviant? lol)

@Ashwin
So you are an international applicant?

@Matt
Any update on the geographical distribution of the applicants?

Thanks Matt! This update helps clarify many things for me.

@Sharath: Yeap, I am =)

Ψ(accepted|SATMath

Ψ(accepted|SATmath

OK it didn't recognize my html tags

Ψ(accepted|SATmath below 550) = i

I have this area51-type idea, that the adcom actually look at what we write on the blogs. . . lol!

@Abdel-karim

Due to the fact that one can change one's name to anything on this blog, such a event would be the probability equivalent of actually discovering aliens at Area 51.

I hope that all our applications did a magnificent job of conveying our characters to the admissions committee. The rest is truly out of our grasp.

Ya but you also enter your email address. Its a joke, lol.

So anxious!

Good luck to everyone!

WOAH!!! 14 Days that if its on Pi Day

3 more years if it's on February 29...

@ Everybody asking for # of international applicants.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the 15,600+ applicants encompasses international applicants, of which I can only estimate to be similar to last year’s numbers: anywhere from 3000-4000 perhaps?

But at this point in the game, numbers are meaningless. This is MIT: enough said. Have some confidence in your abilities, hope for the best, and stockpile on confetti. If you get in, you can have a party; if you don’t, you’ll have lots and lots of confetti!

Waiting for the gift from my creator...

Waiting for the greatest gift from my Creator.

@Kevin: dammit! I had the idea of making a website *just* like yours.. then I gave up thinking it'd be too "far fetched". :P

Needless to say, good job! And great video :D

oooooooh i am soooooo worried after so much time screaming that there are'nt any SATs in iran, i got an e-mail asking me about my SAT....i feel bad....

Hi Matt,

We live in Massachusetts; is that considered a disadvantage in the Admissions process? Our son qualifies to go anywhere just as many of your applicants do. As his mother is from the Middle East, is that enough to offset the perceived disadvantage of being a MASS resident? We do not want him ruling out MIT just for this one reason.

Thanks

Holy jesus,
im scared now. MY birthday is on the 19 th pleasepleaseplease dont make it the 19 th. What a crappy way to turn 18!

@Paul: All US citizens are compared equally, no matter where there from.

please please please not the ides of march.

@'13? (the last one)

Your data is off, as MIT has no evidence of late to admitting 30% or less of their class early, as the very data linked to in Matt's original post shows.

Last year, 522 were admitted early. So, 522/.3=1740 total admitted students for the year, theoretically. But only 1032 (including deferred, of course) were admitted in regular decision. That's 1554 total admitted students throughout the year.

I've never heard of MIT "admitting" more than 1600 students in a year, ignoring those admitted from the waitlist (which at least last year left the total still under 1600). So sorry, but don't count on "30% in EA."

I have a question. . . to get accepted as an international applicant, do you have to have national or international recognition?????

@ Paul
I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life. My mother is also from the Middle East. I got in, and I'm not entirely sure why, but I am sure neither of those things had much to do with it, either negatively or positively ;) If I were you I wouldn't worry about it, because living in Mass and being half Middle Eastern (not, in fact, a minority status) are teeny details and hopefully not the defining points of your son's app. Good luck!

I want to be the next MIT student 2013! HAHAH

Waiting for the admission decisions is equivalent to the suspense in a thriller novel. I'm just hoping for the suspense to be worth while!!

Hope that I can get in ^^

Wow this years gonna be SO competitive! Best of luck to all applicants! :)

I found a cool site for all of us brainiacs applying to MIT, check it out! www.MindCipher.com

@me "Beware the ides of March!"
lol, it is one the 15th isnt it? haha

man oh man... so many people. I hope the international pool isn't *too* competitive. 15600 applications is a lot... and they're gonna process them in 3 weeks?!

Hi to everybody,

this is my first post here and I just wanted to say that I was also nervous at the beggining, but now I have had a second thought and I believe that there is no need to worry about it and to be nervous, since every single one of us did what was possible and if you did not, because everyone thinks that he has not done enough, there is also no need to worry about it, because there is no way you can change things now!

Just live a happy life and if you get accepted, it will get much happier!

(I am still a little bit nervous, but I getting over it slowly but steadily:D:P)

@ Anthony

wow.. your post must have been the clearest and truest thing I've read... This calmed me a bit :)
Gracias

@Anthony

I guess the only issue is that every time we calm down, we are reminded of just how close we are to discovering if we will join the MIT class of '13 or not--and how our upcoming 4 years of school will look like.

Haha, if the results are released during the weekend of the 20th, I will likely be viewing them during my airfoil presentations in DC for the PTC Real World Design Challenge.

I cannot decide whether I should do this or not since any admissions result could impact my ability to present.

BTW today is square root day! 03-03-09

have they decided on a time/day yet for sure????

have they decided on a time/day yet for sure????

@ Gerardo

Thanks a lot Gerardo, I am pleased that you feel a little more calm now:)

@'13 Hopeful

Then you should probably not see the admission decision before or during that weekend, even though it might be positive! Your presentation is also an important thing!

We're waiting to see how much longer we have to wait. Am I the only one who finds this ironic?

Just calm down and wait. I'm as eager as everyone else (since I'm hoping to be a member of MIT '13) but instead of freaking out over one school, use your time to create options for yourself providing for the reality that 90% of us won't get into MIT. I find it helpful to remind myself and others who know me that it isn't likely that I will get in. I may have a great academic and extracurricular record and done a great job in my interview but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to be in the group of top 1% percent of graduating American seniors who MIT also decides deserve acceptance. I can't wait but I don't stake my identity to getting into MIT (to do so would be foolish).

Hi Matt,

There's been a rumor at my school that MIT is releasing decisions on pi day. Is it true?

Thanks!

Caltech mailed out their decisions. Admitted 669 out of 4400 applications.

When I called MIT Financial Aid office a few days ago, I asked if they happen to know the release date for decisions. I was told it was 3/14.

^Thanks for that information, Anonymous! Although it's nice to know that the decisions are coming out soon, it doesn't make it any better to know that it's a week away from today..

Good luck to everyone that applied!

OMG 3/14?!?! THATS IN ONE WEEK!!! AHHH!! :O:O:O
Plus I have Science Olympiad on that day...I think I'm going to check after the competition haha

Matt, if there is one thing I wanna ask
PLEASE notify the results fast as possible
This is getting to anxious for me

I can finally count down the days until the decision! Good Luck everyone

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Anonymous you rock!

its good to know that we have only one week of nightmares!

hahahaaha

hahaha
3/14 !! Happy pi day~!!!

well well.. waiting is almost over! lol

You've got to be tea to get into mit?

so drink a lot of tea before the pi day so that you at least smell like tea.

ask yourself

am i tea?

OMG are you guys serious? Decisions out in 6 days? Wow. Really?

I am so nervous.

Hi,

I'm homeschooled and intend to apply to MIT this autumn, so I'm currently obtaining my teacher references.

I was wondering - what exactly constitutes a "humanities" teacher? Does this include someone who's taught creative writing or art?

Also, does the teacher have to have taught the student in a formal setting (e.g. as a private tutor)? Can they be, say, a member of faculty at a local university who's helped a student with a college-level project that the latter was undertaking?

Thanks.

In addition to my above questions:

When you're assessing the breadth of what a homeschooler's studied, how much value do you place on things like AP or SAT exams, GCSEs, and so forth?) What's the typical level someone would have to reach in "general knowledge" subjects before MIT would consider them? If someone didn't have any test results in subjects like Biology, Chemistry, and History, would it be certain rejection? Or would they just have to be extremely good at other stuff?

Also, how does MIT assess and value things like extremely specialized research that's done before college, but is college-level? What's the best way for a student to describe things like this in their application - especially if the meaning of the project in question is hard to explain to anyone who hasn't actually studied that field? Which is more important: something like the above kind of project, or the aforementioned test results in subjects like Biology or Chemistry?

Thank you, again.

Yes, creative writing and art DEFINITELY count as humanities. And I don't remember ever hearing that a humanities teacher was limited to high school teachers ^.^ I believe you can give your recommendation forms to anyone you think will give you a fulfilling recommendation.

As for the 2nd post, I'm sorry to say that I doubt someone will come back to answer you properly, but it feels like the right answer is something like "Try your hardest at everything and do what you can, and the MIT admissions department should be able to tell if you are the best match for MIT".

And believe me, SOMEONE reviewing your application has studied the field your research was done in XP My "completely optional" essay was filled with jargon without me even remembering that including so much technical language in a college essay was sometimes a bad idea, but I still got accepted! So just describe your research in the terms YOU think of it in, and it should work out fine; this will actually better show the admissions department that you understand the content of the research you claim to be doing ^.^

I dont know what we should do now my friends,but i guess it's time to hear from Matt himself.

Matt where on earth are you?!!!!

I suggest starting a project that keeps you so busy you won't even realize that pi day is upon you. It worked for me for the last week as I built a bridge for Science Olympiad and won first. Just all that time spent on building bridges an fine tuning the catipult payed off with two first places and time that went by really fast. I recommend working on something to keep your mind off of admissions.

(Somewhere around the barren wasteland inside my head: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Pi day is only in 5 days)

So, in conclusion, go make a catapult, or design a bridge, or even sedate yourself for a weak, and then you can avoid the butterflies in your stomach.

whooo......please......

Anonymous: Are you sure that the decision date is 3/14???

https://decisions.mit.edu/verify.php

It's official.

"Admissions decisions will be released on Saturday, March 14 at 2:00PM* Eastern Time."