That was very heartfelt Ben. Thanks for sharing with us the human side of admissions. 13%? That's brutal. I hope I'm one of them. Good luck all!

this is simply a beautiful piece of writing. A clear admit to humanity,..

Thank you for this post. It brought tears to my eyes. It helped me to understand why my son was one of the lucky ones to be admitted early. There are so many talented kids out there, hoping and dreaming. I’Äôm looking forward to meeting you & all the admissions staff to thank you all for your hard work, understanding and commitment to the students, both those who receive the fat envelope and those that don’Äôt.

:-)

Ben, I am proud to know you and proud that you, and people like you, have our children in your hands througout the admissions process. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you do, and for the very human person you are.

This post really warmed me inside out. =]

You may not know, but knowing that someone like you spends much time reading and glimpsing the sparkes of our lives actually comforts me a lot.

Time flies.

:)

Thanks a lot for this entry.

I didn't apply to MIT (I'm more into theatre than math, imagine that) but one of my close friends is, and suggested that I read the post. I only hope (yes, sometimes even pray a bit) that the admissions officers at my schools put in the sort of emotional commitment that you do. Thank you. Jake

Thanks you for all the effort on the entire admission process.I was touched beyond words, for every post of yours gave me a new inspiration and thought of life, which I couldn't gain simply from going to school every day! No matter what kind of decision will come up to me tomorrow, this journey has been wonderful and priceless.^_^

I didn't apply to MIT, but thank you Ben, for your clever, humane, and heartwarming posts. They reflect well on college admissions officers everywhere, and are very encouraging to students like me! Institutions seem cruel, heartless, and decisive, but they are run by human beings, and thank you for bringing that across.

=) Thanks for being thoughtful to the end.

Thank you very much :")

There's that familiar combination of fear and hope... part of you wants to get your hopes up because that's what hopes are for, right? And yet another part tells you the higher you raise them the harder they'll crash if they fall. It's the part of me that says "the glass is half full," right before the other part chimes in with, "but it's a shotglass, and there are eight of you, and you're in the desert." While I await your decision, I'm struggling with my own. The war I fight now is with myself, with all of thirteen hours until we know whether I made the right decision. My hopes are up, and that's dangerous, but it empowers me. I'm sure others have taken a different road, and I hope that works well for them regardless of their decision. I know I've prepared myself whatever comes, but I just can't help that tiny bit of myself that escapes the cage of hopeful realism I've built.

I would venture to say that most everyone who applies has the same dream. Through your occupation, it becomes your dream. What becomes of our dreams? I don't know. Some fade when you wake.

But some... some you sieze, and make real.

Here's to our dreams... some shattered, some fulfilled... let's not forget we have more than one, and if this one crumbles, others will come to pass.

It's been a pleasure dreaming with you, Ben, Nancester, Marilee, regardless of how my dream ends.

Ben, you are the best admissions officer I ever meet before. I will not regret tomorrow if MIT rejects me. Your entry tells everything.

Thank you.

"My hopes are up, and that's dangerous, but it empowers me."

Well put, Timur. :] it does feel like we're ending part of a journey and starting another...

Heartfelt post.God Bless You.

Arr ye be makin' landlubbers proud Ben. Ye'll a'ways be a saltydog in meh book. :)

Sounds very fair and sad, however it is false. You knew before the entire process started that some limited % would be accepted. It could have been as little as 10% or as high as 17% - but based on past years and the volume of applications, you knew when you assembled your folders that over 80% were going to be rejected.

It is a part of the reality of your job, saying how sad you are and how unfair it is that only 13% were admitted and how it pained you when it was always going to be that way and you knew that and know that.

Frankly, if you want sympathy or a friend, do what Harry Truman said if you want a friend in Washington "get a dog".

Seeking sympathy because you are part of a process that mandates that over 80% of the 'qualified' applicants will be disappointed is bogus and you should look in the mirror and recognize that those few that you say "really got to you" - well they did not get in because you and the committee rated others ahead of them.

You placed them below 13% of your stack, you let them become 'rejected'. Saying you felt their pain while you were judging them to be less than the 13% that were admitted is just so much hogwash and weepy-willy BS.

Look in the mirror and admit it to yourself, your job requires you to reject many 'qualified' persons. You did this year, past years and you will do it next year if you stay in this job.

I do not have any children or friends in this applicant pool that MIT is/has reviewed. I just have little patience or sympathy for your false agony and self pity.

Joe, look at it this way. Applicants pay the $65 and apply to MIT knowing full well the odds.

your words make me feel unworthy yet graceful...

Joe, did you even read the entry?

Sure I know the odds at the beginning of each year. How does that change anything? Am I supposed to just decide not to care because I know most of my favorite kids aren't going to make it past committee?

And where do I ask for sympathy?

I think I just talk about my experience in doing my job. You, however, don't talk about much of anything beyond your own unfounded bile. Say something constructive or be gone, troll.

So if the last post...of you and Nance smiling with envelopes in your teeth...made me cry...you can only imagine the tears right now!

Thank you so much for your intense dedication.

Nowhere does Ben ask for or seek "sympathy or a friend" in his post. He is describing his feelings, and how his own humanity entwines with the job he knows he has to do, and does with compassion. Sometimes writing about a process that affects us personally, in an honest and self-examining way, is a means to living an even better life. Ben, most of your readers here understand that, and thank you for your comments.

Your criticism is far off the mark and isn't likely to win any friends or influence any people here, joe. I hope your life is filled with happiness, and not the bitterness you seem to show here.

Quite interesting, because I read that post on CC right after it was posted.

I kinda glossed over it, thinking *well, someone's not in the mood today*

Thank you for your heartfelt reply and for clarifying your job.

Dear Joe,

It might be important to consider this:

Ben has a soul! You don't!

Thank you

ehhh be easy on joe, he's probably just insanely stressed or something of the sort.

Mr. Ben

- I really cried after I read that.

Anon king is right. I'm sorry, Joe. Stress does weird things to people.

Goodnight and good luck, everyone.

Joe: I'm going to ignore your bitterness for a minute here and just say this: your comments don't make any sense!

Of course MIT will need to reject a large number of the applicants. That is a sad fact. Do you suggest that they accept them all? How is that remotely feasible? You criticize Ben for "judging" people, but the class won't select itself. Again, if you know of a way to let every single student in the world attend the college of his/her dreams, please share it!

You criticze "the system," you criticize admissions officers for selecting a class, you come within half a breath of criticizing them for ADMITTING students!

What exactly would you like them to do?! I have a solution- we should just admit no one at all. That would be fair. We'll just get rid of college altogether. That would solve this whole problem rather nicely, don't you think?

I'd be happy to listen to any alternate solutions you might have.

Thank you for that entry. No matter what the outcome tomorrow, I will be pleased that my application even got attention from someone like you.

You've really helped relieve the stress in this process.

Olga

Way to go Olga.. that's the attitude we need to keep, I know how it feels to get rejected from colleges, and I know it really sucks.. but honestly, you gotta keep the faith no matter what.. :)

Thank you a lot for all those feelings and those tears that you give to us, so wonder ful. Thank you.

Yep. You can tell that all that came straight from the heart.

To put it nicely... Shut up Joe! You weren't making any sense at all.

"Say something constructive or be gone, troll.". Nice retort, Ben!

Good luck to all again. This post really made me feel that rejection is completely ok, and not shameful at all. Thanks, Ben.

Sid.

Wow... thank you for sharing this with us. The guy in that entry you mentioned does sort of have a point that after a while of hearing it, it just starts to lose its sense, you feel like admissions officers don't really mean what they're saying.

Then I read your entry... and the whole applying to the MIT thing (even taking the odds into acount) made sense, because you guys really try to match the passion that all (or at least, I'd hope, most) of us put into our applications.

Once again, wow, and thank you for treating us all the same way without looking at the odds and knowing that most of us won't be admitted anyway. That sort of attitude would actually make the process unfair.

Thank you for your passion and for taking this as more as a mere job.

Ben, with practically everyone asking about college news and the pressure of people knowing this coming decision, I truly appreciate your honesty and kind-heartedness. Thank you for everything.

Hi Ben,

I must thank you for writing this blog, as it clearly shows the consideration, seriousness and the level of personal feelings that are inserted.

However, my question to you is: Sir, why do you need to justify or defend anything? I thing the job you have is perhaps one of the most difficult jobs that anyone can have in the world. If others can't understand the level of difficulty, responsibility it contains, those individuals are better off to go away as they don't deserve to be part of this whole process.

I really admire your comments and how personal you make them. Hats of to you sir. Regardless of my admittance, I will always have a memory of applying to MIT. :) (GOODLUCK TO ALL APPLICANTS :) )

@ Joe: I'm very frustrated by your inflammatory comments. Sure, Ben and other admission officers at MIT have a 'mandate', if you will, to reject 87% of qualified applicants every year, for so many apply for a limited number of places; and yes, it's harsh for us applicants, and it's also harsh for them. But your qualifying their jobs with a cynical attitude and their feelings as hypocritical really makes me hope that you should never be(come) an admission officer. I imagine you'd treat our applications, to which we put much thoughts and energy, as another stack of paper which you have to mechanically sift through.

Finally, I'm curious why you're reading this blog after all, if your children are not going through MIT's application process. However, if they do apply to college, you should sincerely hope that there will be admission officers at those schools who are willing to devote as much feelings and empathy to individual applications as MIT's.

13%? Oh snap.

Arguments over an admissions officer's blog. Serious business.

Well said, Minh. Think you echoed my sentiments.

You're right... what's Joe doing in this blog anyway.

Joe's under a lot of fire now, isn't he? He deserves to be, with no disrespect intended.

Sid.

7 hrs 15 min...

Ben, I've never said "thank you". And... your post sounded as a farewell and... I just wanted to say thank you for being with during the past months. I wanted to say "thank you" for answering our questions, for making us not so worried and trynig to find out something interesting and new, so that we stop just for a while thinking about the addmission. Just..Thank you

It's so moving.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ben.

Just try to cheer up and the new students are coming. You're proud of them, aren't you?

I have never commented on Ben's blog, but I have been religiously reading up on these to ease my stress.

I just came across a piece of news that broke my heart.

Right now, a child is dying

A taxi ran over a 13 year old girl and her 7 year old sister. The sister died on the spot. The 13 year old is currently in surgery for the upteenth time, trying her damnest to survive.

Surgery after surgery later, she wakes up...only to find that her already impoverished parents sold everything worth anything to cover the medical fee. The surgery has already cost them 170 K Yuan and will probably cost another 200 K.

She knows it is better to die, thus leaving a will. Let me translate it.

Dearest Mommy and Daddy, I woke up today to your crumbled and defeated faces, despairing over the lost of our dear sister. I can barely swallow my tears, wondering when I will ever have the chance to make you smile again.

My biggest wish is to bring my sister to the bookstore everyday, but she went before me. I am not faring much better; I have long lost hope.

Dear mom, dear dad, we have no more money. Please don't worry about me anymore. Let me go! Please don't cry, sister went alone, and I am sure she will be terribly bored up in Heaven. I promise to take care of her.

After I died, please grant me two wishes. I would like to be buried next to my sister and would like to die in that lovely dress Mommy and I saw the other day...you know, the yellow one with the beautiful feathers.....

Your daugther, 2006 March 5th

So...

You may wonder why the son of a gun (cabbie)didn't pay. Oh he did. A merger 60 K yuan before he disappeared amongst the chaos.

Here I am fretting over a piece of decision, knowing full well that if i didn't get in, I'll still survive, while on the other side of the world, we'll never know when the child will perish.

I've never been so ashamed of myself.

So when I am rejected, I'll have my miserable moment, but I assure you that I will be back on track within 30 mins, tackling that Calc problem.

And whatever happens, I'll thank god that I am at least luckier than that poor little girl...

God Bless you Ben! You probably won't have enough room for all the blessings and thanks coming your way. Thanks for this post at the beginning of the end-or the end of the beginning...whichever way it comes out to be. You made me feel like a million dollars...I can keep my head high...whatever the decision. So can all of us. Thank You!

Ben, I can only say thank you for all you've done. It has truly been a great year for me applying to MIT, and I can't thank you enough for these heartlfelt comments!

Good Luck to all applicants!!

6 Hours, 12 Minutes!!

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

Ben, I believe you meant what you said. And the overwhelming positive responses support that.

Don't let what a few frustrated souls say deter you from continuing your good deed.

What you did is being compassionate and is certainly commendable.

IvyHopefulDad

Its been an experience applying, Ben, and whether I get in or not, I shall always remember MIT as the only university that has such a personalised, caring and thorough evaluation process.

COmpetitive and difficult to get in as it may be (especially for int'ls) I rest assured in the knowlegde that there are people on the other side of the process who take the utmost care in their jobs in order to choose the best applicants there are.

Sure, I'll be upset if I don't get in, but hey, thats life and I know that I need to work with whatever I've still got in life in order to succeed.

Good luck to all.

6 hours 1 minute

Thank you, Ben, for everything!

Good luck to all applicants!

Thank you Ben for doing such a wonderful job for us! :)

Hi Ben,

I want to say thank you from the core of my heart.

What you wrote was really comforting during these anxious moments.

You have said that you make our dreams, yours.

What more can be expected from an admission officer ?

There are very few people in this world who strive to make others dreams come true. I think I am lucky that I applied to MIT, whether I am accepted or not. Otherwise I won't have got a chance to know that there are such people at MIT.

I would surely love to meet you all.

Applying to MIT has really been an adventure to me and I have learnt some lessons too.

Now I know that its worth pouring out my mind in my application. Because you understand.

No matter whether I am accepted or not, I would always love and respect MIT.

Thank you so much.

To Joanna Lin:

There are many sad and unfair things in this world. There are hundreds of children starving and dying. There are hundreds of young people, just at our age, who can't even stand on their feet because they are too exausted from the diseases and the starvation. There are many others which are now gone and deserve to live. But all I believe in is that God does his work well. And as it is said in my country : "God takes his angels first". And sometimes I am ashamed of being so selfish. And whenever I am sad or worried, I try to find something little and beautiful to smile on. There was a book : "Polyanna". And I'm not going to tell you what it is about because it is too good to be retold in few words. Just read it and I'm sure you'll find something very special in it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. You guys are amazing and I feel extremely lucky and grateful that you put your hearts into the process and that you truly care about your applicants. Whatever the decision is for me, I'll remember you and your support and dedication. Thank you for everything!

The sympathy overflowing this blog is just overwhelming, and I would like to add to it. Sympathy for those who will not admitted (which will, most probably, include me). Sympathy for those at the brunt end of the admissions system. Sympathy for the sympathetic.

Thank you, Ben, for being there when we needed you the most. You remind me of the Rembrandts song:

"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall.

I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.

I'll be there for you, because you're there for me too. Ooo."

GOD BLESS.

Thank you very much for your comforting words!

I only hope that all university admissions tutors are as devoted and motivated as you.

Just under 6 hours left! Getting accepted by MIT will definitely mean a lot to me. Otherwise I will take the whole application process (spending some time reflecting back to these past years, traveling to Madrid for the interview, conveying my enthusiasms and dreams on paper, etc.) as a positive experience, because there was nothing to loose by having a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But still, fingers crossed!

The sentiment is best described in tears. I can't believe I'm crying even before the decision's out. ;__;

4 hours left !!!!

Do you remember mine ever being in that group that got debated?

cuz i know that I won't get in, but I wonder if I got dropped in the first cut >_>

Doesn't the first cut remove those who have bad grades, transcripts, scores, etc? The second cuts are where actual readers read the whole application, and take their best 100 or so, and then its the 13% thing with the debate?

Hopefully I made it through all of these, but I doubt I even made it through the first stage with my SAT I score though my grades in the UK are top.

3 hours and 36 minutes until D-time.

You, sir, are a good man. Thank you for all the effort you've put in during the past months in hopes of admitting the best class to date.

Although there are less than 4 hours left until decisions arrive online, I think I've finally come to terms with any of the possibile things which might happen (admit, deny, waitlist). Regardless, please know that the rest of us who didn't write posts like the one on CC, although the thoughts cross our mind, can't help but think highly of you after a blog entry like this.

Thank you, Mr. Jones.

thaks for everything...

Ben, Thank you so much for everything you have done so far for us. I really apreciate it!

Wow, that was a really good post, thanks

Thank you Ben for this entry. This is exactly the reason MIT is for me. Everyone is extremely passionate about their work. The compassion you showed through this entry is amazing. I've meet many college reps some who just rattle off statistics and tell you what your chances are of getting into a certain school. They don't tell you the work they put into making these crucial decision and how it impacts the admission them.Just to see that you actually care about every applicant dedication is tremendously satisfying.

I really feel sympathy to you. Even if I'm not admitted, I will still feel good as my application have been treated so thoroughly

Okay everyone, I know it's cliched but "THIS IS IT"...The past admissions year I've spent with everyone on these blogs...all the fellow applicants has truly been AMAZING for me!!! I mean it!! All of you are such inspiring people, have such inspiring personalities and are overall a motivation for me to excel in life!

To the admissions staff, I would really like to give you a heartfelt thank you...Nobody has made me LOVE MIT other than you guys. Really, truly, the finest admissions team in the entire world. The admissions process can now be remembered by MIT applicants as not just some wall you talk to without getting replies. The admissions officers are friendly people who are the best of the best at what they do. Matt, Ben, Nance, everyone else...Thank you...really thank you!!!!

To all the fellow applicants...also a BIG thank you...for making this year special to us all :) Whether we are accepted or not, I know that we will all go on with our lives (eventually :/ )...Please remember what an amazing group of applicants you were competing against when you get your decisions. 13% Admissions rate for domestic students...4% for internationals...Ridiculously low...so please don't think you are useless or stupid or anything like that...You were JUST as good as those who got in...but their was a certain little thing that gave them that extra push, and at another university they might look at it the other way and you'd get the "push"...

We are all lucky to even have the grades and academic capability to allow us to apply to MIT...It's been an experience I will cherish and never forget...

Now I was the one who started the first countdown to admissions decisions...so I will stay here until it is 1 Minute to 8 pm (12 EST)...Then I will go pray for the best and I might or might not return to these blogs...but thank you everyone for everything you've done...It's been great!!!! Really!!!

And with only 1 Hour 16 Minutes to go I think I'm a nervous wreck!!!

Yours truly from Kuwait,

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

PS: Sorry for the long post :/

Since a long time i have fanatically read multiple entries by admission officers and wondered what their job is..... how they do stuff and what they do.. having read many entries before , i was yet to find one as touching as this.. I havent applied to MIT.. but that's for some other weird reasons.. I would always not look on to MIT stuff until i found it really interesting coz i felt after all it wont do me any gud.. among the few i read was this entry .. and i couldn't help being awed by the sheer honesty and heartfelt words that went deep to it..

I know plenty are rejected and this rejected list wont be consoled by any simple article or letter.. but i know that well maybe there were some 13% of them who were equally gud and maybe provided greater match for MIT...Its a part of the big game of life to always have majority rejected and minority accepted or to generalize. fail at majority to succeed once.. knowing this fully well i never expect the process to change at MIT too...

Well more than the sheer no. of apps rejected i see those 13% accepted and cant help wonder how gud they are.. well the one thing i have always loved about MIT admissions is they just dont care about big numbers on any single test ( this has been proved time and again).. I really laugh off at some colleges when they say admissions are not all numbers and then during decisions go on to follow the contrary...

Well I loved this article for this provided to us THE TRUTH.. however harsh or bad it maybe ...

Thank You Ben . .. i never applied to MIT but applied to many others .. but would have loved to get my application reviewed by the committee ( i know no other coll that has 11 reading for 1 applicant) .. coz i feel subjectivity gets long way beyond stats..

ANkur

Ben,

I have so enjoyed reading this blog from time to time as my son went through this whole 'admissions process' Your most recent post reminded me of Marilee's post after the EA mailing snafu while she was recovering from bronchitis. I got weepy over that one too! It's obvious you are all caring and dedicated people. If you weren't, this blog would probably not exist. I'm glad it does though, because it gives MIT a human face. Honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted my son to attend MIT. I thought is was a huge, cold 'institute',where he would possibly feel lost. But that's not MIT at all. I think it would be wonderful if he was chosen (and if he chooses MIT!!)

I've also gotten to 'know' some of the bloggers. Like April (deferred) and Christina, Mahul and leftcoastmom!! April...I REALLY hope you get admitted!! I've been rooting for you since EA!

Anyways...this whole process will be over soon, and I probably won't be visiting this site anymore (compulsively!) My wish for all of you is to find your place in this world and fill it with happiness.(You can do that anywhere fate may land you.) Thanks for making me laugh and cry.

Mike's Mom

Hey! There are exactly 16 minutes and 2 hours left until my best friend finds out if she got into MIT or not- and so she showed me this, while we're passing time till 10 o clock. She's eating popcorn and sulking.. But I just wanted to say that you're really really sweet :) Anna keeps saying "Maannn I'm not going to get in" and I kept saying "Who cares about MIT - they're so stupid anyway" but this post really changed my mind. It's nice to see that you feel even a little bit of what we do (But imagine poor Anna!) The fact that you added a humanizing touch to the brutal process-- well, that's just amazing.

*2 Hours not 1

Ben, You have been more than fair in responding twice to joe's insensitive blog entries. His ramblings are nothing more than an attempt to gage the feelings of everyone on this subject. The more comments he gets about his posting, the more he will gloat over it. So let this be the last posting that addresses the insesitive remarks from joe. Ben, you have clearly done your job in the best and most fair way possible. period. end of discussion.

13%? hey that's better than then 12% for Early Action! whohooooo!

"Obsession with video games"? That must be me! Oh shi-!

Thank you so much Ben!

It was really nice of you to tell us about your experience..Thanks for all the support and the hard work...

Well, I guess I will have to wait another couple of hrs for my decision..

Thanks!

Is anyone bothered that an admission to MIT depends, in part, on how well one can write essays that tug at the heartstrings of administrators?

LooL Frank, it is sometimes that way...but at MIT you have around 12 people looking at your application at different times...so it's very difficult to write something that "tugs" at ALL of their hearts...I don't really think any of my essays tugged anything =D I just wrote what I thought suitable as a reply, and there are infinitely many interpretations :) As long as you did your best, Frank, you can leave saying you did so, which at least gives you the pride of knowing you did your best and there was nothing more you could do...the competition is what it is and we have to deal with it some way of the other :) Hope that cleared up a few things :)

1 Hours 46 Minutes...

Good Luck...No, really, GOOD LUCK!!

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

Hey guys... I was doing some calculating to pass the time. (Nerd alert)

So I came up with this:

8346 domestic applicants for consideration

841 spots (assuming international gets 10% and early applicants got 30%)

which leaves 7505 in the "screwed" category. and now I realize that if I'm rejected, I'm probably in good company.

Thanks for allowing us to see part of your life through what has got to be the most well-written MIT blog entry of the year. I had to take a deep breath as I read it. In my heart I sensed that in no way could my app have risen to the top of your admiration. I am left with the hope that I was at least among those apps that you were forced to reluctantly put back in the non-admit pile.

Good luck Masha, Nina, Chris, chris and every one else. This is Chris H signing off.

LooL...actually just a little less in the "screwed" category, because internationals will never get 10%...they only accept around 100-110 of us out of the 2500 internationals that apply...that's a 4% acceptance rate for just internationals...while u lucky domestics get 13% =) Figuratively speaking, though, because you have to compete with much more people than we do :D

So yeah...in 1 hour and 26 Minutes I'm probably gonna be "screwed" :)

Good Luck...we need it!

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

I think your comments were a bit out of line, just because someone HAS to do something doesn't mean they enjoy it. Ben is just trying to share with us how hard it is rejecting people like us hahahahha ... and I doubt its for sympathy, its probably to make the applicants feel better! why would an adcom want sympathy from a bunch of high-schoolers?

and i love this usage of adcomms on every place which shows the typical CC lingo.. not at all officially recognised..

ar... in 55 min

Have any int'ls heard anything from DHL?

I expect there are a lot of other kids who will want something to do with their nervous energy for the next 45 minutes. I suggest people meet up in an AIM chat room. Join "Crunch Time", or paste the following into your browser:

aim:GoChat?roomname=Crunch+Time

Good luck all, and terrific post.

Hey Mahul Patel...Nope nothing from DHL here...but I wasn't even expecting anything..it'll take at LEAST 3 days to get to Kuwait (Middle East region) and sometimes up to 5..and the problem is sometimes the DHL sorting center isn't efficient...so better to check online and hope for the best....

Oh well, there's only 41 Minutes Left =/

Good Luck to all!!

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

Thanks Abdulaziz. I'm in the UK, and guess what, I'm not expecting anything either. But you're right, lets just hope for the best. Its 16.21 here in the UK. at 17.00 GMT, decisions are out...my fingers are crossed.

35min

Beautifully written. *applause*

About 30 mins left........

Good luck and have the power to accept the truth!!!!!!!!

That was absolutley amazing. You make this process worthwhile.

Okay so what I'm going to do is count off every 10 Minutes...and then when it gets to 10 I'll count off every minute...!!

28 Minutes left...that's LESS than half an hour!! :/

Good Luck to all!!!

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

XD

20 minutes left...i wonder if i'll be able to type in my password at the time:)

lol...same here Mushal. I'm trembling all over. Part of me wants to do it, the other doesn't.

Good luck everyone.

Ben

The post is awesome, we know what kind of agony you go through and we also appreciate the hard work you guys put in . keep up the good work.

So many people are waiting!

posted, check!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH 15 MINUTES~!~!

Mahul Patel and Mushal...same here :) I'm kind of wondering how I'll be able to type the password !! ;P

Good Luck to all!!

Abdulaziz (Aziz) Albahar

DECISIONS ARE UP

12 minutes!!!!

Good luck everyone.

Thanks, Ben.

Decisions are online !!!

awww....didn't get in:(

Thank you very much BEN. You brourght me some courage... Right now, I will look to my decisions.God bless us!

decisions are here..rejected

I was rejected.

I was rejected, now I get to wait a few more weeks for Columbia.

rejected,,,sigh

rejected...ahh well i did the best i could..

I didn't get in. I was hoping I would. But it really doesn't feel all that bad.

Even though you know it isn't that bad, and even after hearing ben's great comforting message,...I still feel pretty bad. Just hoping, now, that i'll get in somewhere....huff

its a no for me.

i got in! im so thankful...

Ben, im sending u an email! :]

Phil, are you a domestic or an international applicant?

Congrats Phil!

What about Albahar?

^me:)

I got in! Now it's going to be a tough choice - I am early admit to Harvard ;) Considering I am an international applicant, I feel really lucky! Ben, I have to say that you make the MIT application process truly transparent and exciting at the same time! Your blob rocks and I will miss it’Ķ Good luck to all those who applied. Guys, I know you’Äôve heard this before, but you all will end up doing something extremely cool.

blob=blog (I'm just way to excited ;)

to=too :)

Anyone got waitlisted?

freakin flat-out rejected. thanks for caring, ben, but you can't make me feel any better. bye.

I got waitlisted. Hoo. I'm really twisted up inside right now. :( I really just wanna know ... and I know the waitlist is an unlikely string of hope to hang on to ... considering the amount of waitlisted students that end up at enrollment.

Rejected. :(

Thanks for all the time and effort you put in to the admission process guys...

Bye.

Wow, Ben. My son didn't apply to MIT, but my gut is telling me that he's going to get a thin envelope from his dream school. I only hope someone on their admissions team appreciated him for the wonderful person he is.

So, after essentially 6 months of waiting, I got rejected.

Thanks again for that entry, Ben. It really helps with swallowing the bitter pill of rejection.

How is the waitlist decided?

Can we review our teacher evaluations? I really want to know what they wrote about me... (i checked on my application that i wanted to read them - when can i do that?)

Congrats to everyone who got in...and good luck for every one like me who didn't. We'll all find our destinies...outside MIT:). Best of luck to all of you!

Didn't get accepted either (that sounds much better than the word 'rejected').

Funnily enough, there doesn't seem to be any hurt. Ben's message softened the blow, I guess. I know I did my best. I know I shined somewhere in the admissions committee's hearts. I know that there must've been something lacking.

In the words of my dad, 'at least I tried'.

In my own words, 'I'm in good company'.

Best of Luck, guys and gals (who were denied), and Congratulations, guys and gals (who were not).

I'm sure, through the posts I've read here, we'll ALL do well. Time heals all wounds...

GOD BLESS.

(Listening to Josh Groban comforting me by raising me up).

Call the "waitlist" something else. Call it for what it is. It really does not define a realistic group from which MIT will pull to fill its classes. The list is way too large for that purpose (the waitlist was even cancelled last year). MIT's waitlist is merely a way for it to recognize candidates who passed the initial smell tests - - which is good. This is not news, I suppose. However, the use of the term "waitlist" deviates from the straight-forward approach that your MIT candidates truly deserve. Cogitate and come up with a more honest term.

I am crushed: I am valedictorian, a part-time teacher, passionate(and recognized) dancer, figure skater, artist, and musician; I am a personality! I want to shout, "Sir, I exist!" to no one in particular, but to everyone.

Rejection was a blow to the stomach that I was still lacking something that wouldn't put me in the top ~27% of female acceptances, though it makes me wonder how competitive those admitted must be.

= = = =

A Dream Deferred

-Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

= = = =

’ÄúA man said to the universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.’Äù --Stephen Crane

I... I'm in.

I wish I had something more significant to say. The shock is still wearing off.

I'll be back in a bit with some words of wisdom. :)

My.mit.edu:

Online decisions are now available at decisions.mit.edu. The MyMIT site (my.mit.edu) will not be accepting logins during peak decision notification times. You'll be able to log into your MyMIT account after 2:00PM (Eastern Standard Time).

Is it not already 2:00 PM? :-P

I'm out...i promised myself i wouldn't cry..and then i read this post...ben, you guys are amazing..thanks for everything

Dear Ben,

I really hope you read all these comments. After you rest, I mean. Hope you're getting some well-deserved sleep. :)

I was rejected, but for some [fortunate] reason, it doesn't hurt at all. Not even a little bit! I mean, obviously it would have been nice to get in, but it doesn't hurt the depths of my soul to be rejected or anything.

A lot of it has to do with genuinely not thinking I would get in anyway. Not the self-pitying-not-wanting-to-get-my-hopes-up kind of feeling, but honestly, I know there are applicants who really deserved to go to MIT over me. And I have no doubt in my mind that the freshman class you all picked is outstanding.

Thanks for starting the blog thing. It's really beneficial for the applicant, as you can probably tell. It's a huge relief to know that the people reviewing our applications aren't mindless drones and will be evaluating them from a holistic perspective.

MIT is an amazing school, and it will always have a fond place in my heart. I hope this comment serves to show you that although you will hear many statements like "My heart/dreams/hopes is/are broken/shattered/etc." on Collegeconfidential or here, most applicants who were rejected are not utterly lost and melodramatic. You have made a positive impression on many people's outlooks on the college application process. I still have to wait on ten more schools, but rest assured, I know I will be happy at any of them.

So far, the best prospect looks like UCLA. Go Bruins!

Sincerely,

Priyanka, the dancer from the OC

Thank you for reading about my dreams, goals and aspirations. I believed we all appreciate the dedication of you and other admission staffs.

Thank you, Ben and thank you MIT.

As the poster of that statement, I give you thanks for replying. I understand that selecting the class is a very difficult task at a school as prestigious as MIT. I just saw inherent insincerity in sending the same rejection letter to the 87% of people who didn't get in. I do hope you mean what you say.

I was just bitter when I said that.

I am surprised I got rejected.

I got rejected... I wish I had never applied

Dear Ben,

Even though I am a humanities/social sciences girl and did not apply to MIT, I have to take a moment to thank you for your very human, sincere messages on this blog. I can only hope that admissions officers at other schools (especially the one up Mass Ave) are as human and caring as those at MIT. Even if I get rejected from my dream schools, I'll remember YOUR words and have faith that I was as appreciated by the schools I applied to as you appreciated MIT applicants. Thanks for the comforting words! Now go and take that well-deserved rest!

rejected -- but I wanted to say thank you for keeping up with the blogs. I'm not saying I'm not upset, but I know this would hurt a lot more if I wasn't aware of the sincerity you guys (ben, etc.) put into the admissions process.

Great entry, Ben!

I read it before seeing my decision and was really moved by it. It really feels very good to know that you care so much about us.

Wow. I can't believe I read that. Another person in the world actually cared about all of the tragedies in my life (abusive family, having to homeschool myself, being homeless), all of the academic accomplishments I made (state winner on the AMC12 twice, top score on the GED, etc.), and yet, they found another way to tell me how worthless I truly am by rejecting me. Thanks. Your post really makes me reconsider my position of giving higher education to the birds when many of the people I associate with that have gotten accepted to MIT have much lower scores, much less "life tragedy", and in general, were just applying for the prestige of an MIT education. Thanks a lot. I am not pursuing higher education anymore as a result of all of this agony. I have decided that getting a real job or just living up to the fact that the world laughs in my face is much better than being lied to.

Thanks for your brilliant letter of concern.

"sending the same rejection letter to the 87% of people who didn't get in"

i feel the same way. to send the same exact letter to thousands of rejects (or admits!) kinda makes it less personal, even if it is more logical to do it that way.

but i'm being biased because i'm bitter too. i'm a girl from a small town, and everyone here was counting on me getting in. i really don't want to tell everyone (or anyone) that mit doesn't want me...

Arejectedloser-

april, that is not a nice thing to say to someone who deeply cares so much about the admissions process and about each one of us individually!!

I just got in. Thanks Ben and all of you MIT admission officers and well wishers!

BEN, I thinkthere can be no one better than u at this job. I feel how kind and open you are and your message has moved me. You are simply amazing! (Personally I feel if I was an admissions officer I would even cross all limits to admit someone like you to MIT) MIT has the honoour of having someone like you. Even if I had not gotten selected, this would still enlighten my mind and rejuvinate my soul.

THREE CHEERS 4 BEN!!! hip hip....

huray!

huray!

hurray!

My acceptance had already made me energetic and i have lost my sleep (Its 3:40 in the morning here). BEN, your emotions have made me more philosophical and I don't think I will sleep today, I feel like writting down all I feel now, write a book 100-200 pages, watch the star studded sky, feel the wind, u know Wordsworth like stuff. I have never felt this good my whole life! aas every moment pases i discover more of my self. This is, I belive a landmark in all speres of my life. Thank you BEN. Congrats to all selected!

i feel like the lowest scum on earth :(

I have just come back to my senses and realized that i had other people from my country also applying.

BEN, can we get to know who all have been accepted locally, or is it against policies. Actually I would like to interact with them, get to em and know em better. Thanks in anticipation.

Hey, I got rejected too, as I mentioned above. It seems sad that the journey has come to an end for about 87% of us. I wasn't that sad when my rejection came through...well I was a bit but I knew that the stakes were extremely low and therefore I was sort of prepared for it.

Ben and the admissions team, I think you have all done an excellent job this year. I appreciate how much you open up the admissions process to your applicants, and that, in itself, is great (unlike other tech schools...)

Despite the fact that I was rejected, I have no real hard feelings against any of you. You have to be selective and have to select the best people of the lot, so I'm not surprised I was knocked out

To that note, "Arejectedloser" doesn't echo the sentiments of us rejectees - sure, we're all disappointed we didnt get in but, hey, we realise that life goes on and we need to work hard to make that life a success. You win some and you lose some...you just have to make well do with what you won, and what you already have.

Goodbye everyone,

Mahul

that seriously was really well put.

i would love to have that kind of job.

amen, mahul.

Thanks Ben. The post made me feel better. I know you guys have an impossible job since all the applicants have great grades and test scores. Even though I'm in the 87% who didn't get in, life moves on and I'll do well wherever I go. Thanks for making the process really smooth, and congrats to everyone who got in.

Unfortunately for Ben and the other good people at MIT, there's also a

stream of e-mail from applicants with concerns about the decisions.

Here are a few examples of what they really don't need to receive:

"The Over-Analyzer," "The Angry Dude," and "The Sour Grapes."

1. The Over-Analyzer

To: admissions@mit.edu

Subject: the frog lab, right?

Was kinda surprised at the decision. My grades were right up there,

especially this year. I'm thinking it was my Bio 251. And specifically

frog anatomy. Davidson took off 20 points on the writeup when I didn't

bother with those graphs. (For that matter, I didn't do the tables

either. Heh!) That knocked me right down to a B-, and then I messed up

the last drawing, and took home a C+. I bet that's it.

Can you just own up to it? That the frog graphs did it?

2. The Angry Dude

To: admissions@mit.edu

Subject: E. Jones Squared this is not the end!

You have rejected me and you think that is that. It is not.

Yes, MIT is very powerful. You have the science. You have the

engineering. You have the hegemony. And then you say, "well, we do

not like this kid."

A day will come. You may not expect it, but did the Romans expect

August 24, 410? Yes, I am a Visigoth. You are thinking the Visigoths

are not out there. But we are out there. Indeed, we are out there.

One day we will sack MIT and E. Jones Squared will be called to

account for many crimes at the International Court of Justice. This is

my promise to you.

Mr. Squared, I shall see you in The Hague.

3. The Sour Grapes

To: admissions@mit.edu

Subject: cancel

I hereby cancel my application to MIT effective 11:59 AM March 18. My

friend told me you have a nuclear reactor and I cannot in good

conscience support that. I say that we should leave the atom alone,

for the memory of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and (last but not least) Bikini

Atoll. What the strong force holds together, let no man pull apart.

My friend also said the reactor is in the middle of the city right

across the street from a dorm.

R U RETARDED??????????????????????????????

Sorry, I'm going to a school that doesn't have a dorm next to a

nuclear reactor. Even if it's a dorm for graduate students. Because

they are people, too.

Hello Ben,

Thank you for this heart-felt post. This kind of service makes me place MIT on top of my college list. Yup, you guys make everything more teenage-friendly and more humane. I mean, I don't know of any other colleges that offer blogs that through which students can read and find out more about the school. The blogs are real because the bloggers are real, the experiences are real. There's no empty slogans that advertise the school.

Also, when opening the blogs to public, I am pretty sure that you take the dissenters into considerations. I mean, when you type up this entry, you must know that there are people who disagree with you entirely, no matter what you say. Yet you still posted this entry. I applaud you for doing this, because it shows me that the admission officers are not just another type of beaurocrats who do things automatically without feelings.

Again, thank you for this entry. It helps with the confidence yet at the same time makes me feel humble and unworthy.

A friend got rejected but died before getting the decision!

I was rejected, but that doesn't change what I think about the admissions team. That would be selfish. You're still the best damn ones out there, and I respect that.

Also note that the people saying "I feel terrible" or "my friend died" are just trying to guilt trip you. They are assholes.

ARejectedLoser: You think that by rejecting your application, MIT is trying to tell you that you're "worthless" and "the world laughs in [your] face?" Maybe you need to read Ben's entry one more time because you clearly didn't understand it. I hope you are not serious when you state that you've decided against attending any college solely because of this rejection.

Thank you, Ben.

Still... :\

I can't pretend I wasn't incredibly disappointed when I got my decision (which you can probably guess from the tone of this sentence). I am, in fact, still kind of disappointed, because I had really hoped to get in. It's an awesome school. My friend goes there (freshman now). And I really enjoyed when I visited.

With my love for MIT professed, I was thinking about my application, and while I'm pretty sure I had the "numbers," I became convinced that it was everything else that weren't enough to get me in. Maybe I wasn't really a fit? Maybe my extracurricular activities didn't really cut it? Maybe I said something wrong in my interview?

However, now that it's pretty much over for me at MIT (unless I'm somehow lucky enough to get in for grad school), all I hope for is this: I hope that an admissions officer read my application and enjoyed whatever he or she read. I hope that he or she appreciated what was there, and that he or she thought that I wasn't just another applicant with great numbers, but that I had real interests and ideas, all of which I was prepared to contribute at campus if I was ever admitted.

And with that said, I sincerely appreciate you gusy reviewing my application and giving it all due consideration. And whether or not you rooted for me in committee or thought that I probably shouldn't get in ;) I'm grateful anyway.

My last thoughts: I hope - or rather, know - that the admitted class of 2010 will go on to do great things at MIT... and I hope that this decision isn't a complete indication of my fate at other schools. :)

Dear Ben,

I really appreciate all of the work you guys put into this. Putting myself in your shoes, I know how difficult it must have been for you. Nevertheless, it doesn't make the pain subside. I am afterall just a foolish 18 yr old (it didn't help the timing of this decision was two days after my b-day) who wears her heart on her sleeve and hopes that the universe is looking out for her. I think the thing that makes it the hardest is that I really really thought I deserved it, late night study groups and fretting about standardized testing seems all in vain. If anything, I've learned to resist my urge to be a workaholic and enjoy the journey more. So many things in life, I will get through this too.

It was fun hoping and dreaming about going to MIT, but now it is all over, and I just have to accept the fact that the contributions I will make to the world will be at some other lucky university. This has been a reflective day for me. Crying in my mom's lap brought me back to the feelings of disappointment I often had as a young child, talking to this guy I fell for who I met at MIT's website... the irony (he got in and I didn't) brought me back to the hopeless crushes I've had throughout junior high and high school, and finally tonight I've went for a walk to clear my head; while looking up at the sky I realized the multitudes of opportunties there are for me and how relaxing it can be just indulging in something you love. For me it is the stars. Yes, I will always have the stars. Hopefully my application was considered competitive if anything, and I hope that you at least got the opportunity to read my essays. The last line of one of them is fitting for this occasion, and I believe this optimistic philosphy on life will carry me through the next even more difficult weeks to come of receiving admissions decisions from other universities. "It not the never falling that allows me to succeed, it's that every time I do fall, I hang on for life." Pain, rejection, the story of my life, but God knows best, presumeably. The admissions process shall simply be chronicled in the top-ten list of emotionally difficult things I've had to overcome.

I don't mean to complain, I'm just speaking my heart, and it does help.

I bid you farewell,

good luck to all

To Joanna Lin,

I hope that you are admitted. Your story of the two sisters is very poignant. Anyone with your depth of character and insight will be a terrific student and will add much to the student body.

Ben,

Your comments were both heartfelt and beautifully written. They went as far as any such comments can in mitigating the pain of rejection inherent to the condition of college applications. I've seen the process of applying to MIT from many angles; my application many decades ago, those of all my siblings and then of my children. But the part of me that resonates most powerfully now is that of my present role as educational counselor (EC). Though I only tangentially participate in the present MIT admissions process, your comments have made me very proud of being involved in the process. On behalf of your colleagues, on behalf of the applicants (certainly including those not offered admission), and on behalf of the parents who often feel the pain of rejection most acutely, Thank You.

--Alfredo

Yesterday I learned my son was rejected at MIT. His basic stats were SAT I M=800, V=790, SAT II M2=800, USHIST = 780, CHEM =740, score of 5 on all 7 AP tests (2 taken in his sophomore year), unweighted GPA = 4.0 (class valedictorian), took toughest academic program available (including 2 college-level math classes past AP Calc BC), top chess player with national recognition, excellent violinist with state-level recognition, etc. Ben, did the 13% of the applicant pool which was admitted truly dominate this record? Really? Try answering this with no spin, Ben; try really hard to be honest (without Bill Clinton-like "I feel your pain" rhetoric). What could possibly be the academic basis for this decision? Please avoid the "there are many factors we look at" bs line; please focus on the basics & fundamentals. With all due respect to the goals, concerns, & biases of the MIT Admissions Office, this decision made me emotionally vomit. He's already been accepted to a university that's higher ranked (in US News & World Report rankings), and most important, he's incredibly bright, hard-working, & creative, & expected to thrive wherever he ends up, and I'm delighted that he's dealt with this inifintely more calmly than I have. Ben, do you know what a Type I error is? I believe you & your colleagues commit this type of mistake with far higher frequency than you delude yourselves into thinking. That said, I wish everyone who applied to MIT, the admitted, waitlisted, and "rejected," the best of luck in the future.

Dear Ben

Sharing the sentiments of the majority of MIT applicants, whether accepted, waitlisted, or rejected, I would like to thank you as well as the entire admission committee for not only your time and energy in deciding the class of 2010, but also for your heartwarming empathy and honesty shown throughout the process.

However, before we part ways, I am asking for a favor. I am asking for one or two sentences explaining my rejection. For much of my life, I could not see myself, could not imagine myself at anywhere but MIT. Seeing my brother off to MIT two years ago only strengthened my resolve to be the best I can be, to not only get in to MIT by the slimmest margin, but to wow and awe the admission officers with my dedication. Needless to say, I was speechless when I found out about my decision this morning. I saw my dream shattered before my very eyes.

I am not asking for my decision to be reversed. I am merely asking for the reasons in which the MIT admission committee deemed me not compatible enough to be selected. To have the dream that has been guiding me throughout my academic life disappears without the knowledge of what I could have done better only sharpens the stinging pain of the rejection. I sincerely thank you for your consideration of this matter and I do hope for a positive response. If my request is not possible due to university policy, I hope that a new policy can be instituted for future years as I do believe that this sentiment is shared by many waitlisted and rejected applicants now as well as in the future

rejected dude. not even waitlisted! i wasn't that sad about my rejection until i thought about hours, weeks, and months i spent on my application to mit. i guess i'm destined to surf the shores of california and kick it at caltech.

I serve as an EC and teach high school seniors. Although I am biased towards MIT, one of the things I've learned following the careers of my former students is that the United States has many, many incredible colleges and universities. Each school does have its unique characteristics and idiosyncracies, but generally speaking, each of you who were competitive applicants for MIT will end up going to a school that can fully foster your growth as a college student. Wherever you end up going for college, never forget to actively seek out new opportunities and experiences.

On a side note, I've only had one of about 20 of my former high schools students who have applied ever get in, and none of the students I interviewed last year did. I too have felt the same type of emotions that Ben so eloquently described; both for my own high school students and the students I have interviewed. (I really did cry after conducting one of my interviews this year.) I have also seen those students go to many different schools and flourish, just as I know all of you will.

Great piece of writing Ben. Extremely heartfelt, the world needs a lot more people like you

So, here i am reading a MIT blog at 2:22AM in the morning. I read my rejection letter online more than 12 hours ago. As MIT is one of the hardest schools to get into in the US, it was not all that surprising for me to be rejected. I guess I was hoping to be accepted, but life never goes the way one wants to. What's important now I believe is to keep moving on, and to keep trying my best, and at the same time enjoy what's out there. With that said, congratulations to all who were accepted, and to all the rejectees, let's keep our heads high and go on with our lives.

Ben,

Thank you for your eloquent words. I read them prior to DD learning of her decision. More to calm down my jittery nerves as well! :-) My daughter has faced many hardships and rejections in the past but with each one no matter the size she learned from the experience and moved on.

I tried to remind her that Admissions Officers are human and they have feelings just like you. I believe that your post clearly reflected that sentiment.

It will be a great pleasure to meet you and the rest of the Admissions Office at CPW.

Ben, I would also like to know why I was rejected. Just a few sentences before I leave this process behind me and get on with my life.

mahul.patel8@gmail.com please

So, humour me, Ben. Let's hear about those crazy promises? Did you offer foot massages in exchange for an applicant's admit?

Clearly MIT has not grown it's undergraduate capacity to keep up with the number of deserving candidates. Fourty years ago there were twice as many undergrads as graduate students. Today's Enrollment is 4,112 undergraduate, 6,228 graduate.

I was rejected. I wish I hadn't read that "consolation" letter on the online decisions site. It was pure rubbish. I would have preferred a huge graphic of a red "REJECTED" stamp across the page, with "Ha ha." as page title. Really, this "we are sorry to disappoint you, etc." stuff no one cares about: REJECTED means: you took all that time to prepare essays, work hard to be valedictorian, lead your classes, pay for, and ace these ripoff "SAT tests" (which, MIT should know by now, tell you NOTHING about the applicant, because practically everyone, even the greatest dumbass, can score 750+ on them maybe with some preparation, more on this later), you wrote all these essays and guess what? MIT thinks you are not even worth the trouble of letting you try to put up with their standards. Rejected means we don't want to hear from you: but then, what kind of students do you need. I know for a fact not all admitted have perfect records (far from it), yet tons of people with FLAWLESS records are rejected. Is it maybe that MIT doesn't let in the very best, only those who are sufficiently good to put up with their extremely high standards (and, in a world of billions, that's still a shitload of people)?

I feel very stupid for writing this, partly because I know that, despite all talk, the admitted and the faculty are laughing their ass off reading these whiny comments (I can hear them: "Aah... the indigent whining of the impotent. Hehehe"). No matter how good I cut off in college (and if all goes according to plans, that should be "hellagood", judging from some offers I got - BTW, how do you explain some top-level students get accepted at some top US univs, and not at others, in a seemingly random way), no matter how good, every time I meet an MIT alumnus, I'll tell myself: this guy did it, and I did not. All talk around it is useless: so all masks off please. Congrats to those accepted, and to those rejected: you are not in, that's it.

Now on SATs: why are they still used by MIT for admissions. Many imperfect test takers are accepted, while some straight 800 are rejected. By now, the admissions office should know that with appropriate preparation, anyone can get good scores, and likewise, on a bad day, a genius can get a poor score (2-3 mistakes is enough to get you down to 720 or 740 in reasoning).

I can remember how it felt 7 years ago to get my own decision. I had to wait for it in the post because we didn't have the internet then (can it really be true??)

I had less emotionally invested in going to MIT than most people do now simply because I knew less about it. There was no internet and I had to decide based on paper brochures.

I did get in, and I had a great time but I also know that if I hadn't, and I'd gone somewhere else, I would have had an equally great time but in a different way. I would have learnt as much, just different things.

I'm now an Educational Counsellor and I get really emotionally invested in wanting the students I meet to get in. I've done this for four years and every year I am sad when the ones I meet whom I KNOW would have fit right in, don't get in.

It IS unfair that only 13% get in. But there isn't any better way to do it. I've been rejected for jobs / auditions before, and it always hurt less to know that my application had been considered carefully. But that's just my opinion.

Hey Rejected Father: My DAUGHTER had better stats than your son- all three satIIs(chem,ushist,math2) were 800s, is first in class of 229,etc etc,.. dances semi-professionally(modern)and acts, plays 3 instruments, sings, golfs, has extensive community involvements,her essays were complex and delightful, she is delightful, fundamentally creative and sweet and was rejected. Took it with a smile. not so me,..there couldn't be a significant number of females who surpassed her in stats or really anything else given the particulars of her humble school offerings. No one ever applied to MIT from there and I suppose no one need ever apply in the future.

just a bit of healing fodder to soothe your perceived injustice,..

Father of Rejected Student: Of course you are dissapointed, and of course your son is dissapointed, but must you add to his dissapointment by wearing yours so prominently. My son also dealt with a few rejections last year and I tried my very hardest to not let him see MY dissapointment. Tell him you are sorry, then let it go. For him. It IS about him you know.

I don't understand what you "fathers of rejected" are complaining about. I think it's been made pretty clear that myriads of top level students were rejected: there are only so many who are admitted (and these are certainly top level too, whether they are all better than any of those rejected is humanly impossible to tell, but certainly the very best are among them). Rejected means your children are not worth the trouble for a high level institution like MIT: they need to be content with what they have . In this case it means dealing with the harsh realization that no, after all, they are not really that good.

Tom,

Thanks for the armchair-psychologist advice, and in this whole process I have never once forgotten that this process is about my son; and wrt to his rejection from MIT, it's also fortunate that it actually was far from his #1 choice (w/o encouragement from my wife & me, he probably would not have applied). That said, the main substantive point is that Type I error rates are far higher than the offical MIT apologetics imply. It seems to me that to suggest otherwise is, at best, delusional & bordering on dishonesty.

As an Educational Councilor (or is it Counsellor), I have a part to play in this process too. ECs come in at an earlier stage because many kids we see come from schools with really awful guidance departments, and the kids do not have a clue about what they want from a college, or where they should apply. So sometimes, I encourage interviewees to look at more suitable schools.

On the other hand, I talk to truly outstanding students and get involved in their hopes, dreams, and activities in the same way that Ben does. I always recommend that students visit MIT and attend classes. MIT is a great place, but it is not the right place for everyone. The only way to tell is to take up the offer of the Admissions Office and go see for yourself. If you have been admitted to MIT and other good schools, go to classes at each one before you make up your mind.

So congratulations to those who got into MIT. I won't know the results for my interviewees until next weekend (after the mail notices have arrived). Like you, I can't wait.

I would like to second Oliver's comment. He expressed my sentiments perfectly. I think it is fair of us rejected students to ask for one or two sentences of explanation for the rejection. We may be upset with what we hear (in fact, we may not even be granted the explanation in the first place due to MIT policy), but we have every right to ask and to hope for a positive response. That being said, I would really appreciate it if we could call in on Monday.

has anyone not checked online yet and instead been waiting for the traditional snail-mail letter? I want to know if im the only one who can't bear to look at a computer to tell me my decision. i guess I just always expected to open a mailbox and not to click a mouse...

Mhm...I think it's counsellor. Councilor is more like...Jedi. Or local government.

So how do the admissions officers make their decisions, and what does it mean? I like what Dani and Einstein had to say about this in the "not admitted blogs"

No, it is not essays, and evidently not test scores from what I have seen, but downright fate. We were noT meant to go here-- think about it this way, maybe there is a person you are supposed to meet, or research you are supposed to do, or a cure to a disease you are supposed to discover that you just wouldn't if you went to MIT b/c the life events that would play out if you got in and didn't go somewhere else. I'm not completely comfortable with the idea that I'm not in control of my life, but this way of thinking has gotten me through poverty, deaths... about eveything you can imagine. Hold your head up high, you are great all great ppl. I'm glad I can be more positive in this post after a good night's sleep (my last one I was on the verge of tears).

Einstein once said, "God does not throw dice." and I tend to agree.

Note: Sorry for the cross posting but I've meant to post here.

My wife whispered into my ear five something this morning that our S has been rejected by MIT. While it had come as no surprise, I was still worried about his state of mind, this being his first rejection in his 17 years of existence, more than half of which in academic pursuit.

Somehow I already had a premonition of this would be the case as precipitated by a prior event. A couple of days ago my S checked on the status of his application and noted that his financial statement (my tax return, W2 form, etc) and application for financial aid was still listed as not received. I checked my record that I always keep and noted that the documents have been sent via certified mail in Feb. So somehow they fell through the crack.

Of course I'm being irrational as this non-receipt has nothing to do with the considerations that culminated in my S's rejection. But still I guess it's human nature to rationalize one's behavoir.

Anyway my purpose of the posting is not to bore you with details of the aftermath of the rejection, but rather to thank you and Nance for your pieces that help put this whole episode into perspective, as a kind of closure.

Deep in our hearts we know that you and your colleagues have done your best to pick the best match for MIT. And therein lies the operative word, best match, which in no way imputes on the academic capability, or the lack thereof, much less the future performance, of those in the rejection pool. And that's all anyone can ask for under the circumstances. And that's what I'm going to tell my S that he has tried his best.

And then we can all move on.

Tyler, I waited =) And got mine Saturday, so that turned out fine. Keep waiting.

zoogies - thanks for the affirmation; where do you live to have gotten it so quickly?

In response to "Father of Rejected Student":

You claim MIT was far from your son's top choice college and also that he has already been admitted to a school ranked higher than MIT. I am able to glean, then, that your brilliant son will end up at NOT ONLY his #1 choice but also the "best" school in the country. Yet, you are on an MIT admissions blog, surrounded by heartbroken young adults who have just been rejected from their top choice school, complaining because your child or (more likely) you won't have the satisfaction of saying he was admitted to MIT.

It is clear you need to get your priorities in order.

MIT has made no "type 1 error" in failing to accept an apathetic-about-MIT student who would not attend their school.

I want my international applications scatter/chaaaaaaart... ;P).

I applied to MIT Early Action way back in November 1995 for a spot in the Class of 2000. MIT was certainly my first choice. I was, academically, 9th in a class of 170 students, SAT Math 750, Verbal 640, AP classes up the wazoo, etc, etc, yada, yada, yada. I'm pretty sure I was among the scores of highly qualified candidates that the Admissions Committee reviews each year.

I was deferred to regular decision, and then rejected. I'm fairly certain it was because of my interviewer; she was pretty mean. She flat out said, "it's clear you're not MIT material, and I don't think (list of all the other schools I had applied to) will accept you either." Personally, I think that's conduct unbecoming of an MIT alumnus, but at the time, I was so upset leaving that interview, that I worried I'd never get into college anywhere.

That was my first college interview. I left the interview sobbing and drenched in tears.

A friend of mine who was ranked 4th in the same class and had 1580 SATs (including an 800 on math) had reported a similar experience with the interviewer. His deferral and ultimate rejection took away the sting a little bit, as he was better than me