2021 Fall MIT EECS PhD Applicants

[hunter123]

They explicitly mentioned that they are still considering applications in the reply email. I think we should all wait before making any further assumptions. I'm sure the admission officers are significantly affected by COVID. Tbh, I'm not too sure about the waitlist ideas. I think sure some of us are waitlisted, but not all; I think some of us will be accepted, some will be rejected, and some will be waitlisted. In previous years, I don't see this much people waitlisted on GradCafe.

 

Well GradCafe is a small sample, but distribution should somewhat reflect the population distribution.

[Calzone864]

I have seen a few posts on the main results page where people had posted that they had been rejected, so if some of us were rejected by the admissions committee, they would have let us know. Since we are all still waiting for a response (and this is my optimistic side speaking) there is a good chance we are all on a waitlist in our respective areas of focus. I am just hoping that the majority of us waiting get an affirmative response soon.

Also, to some of the posters who sent out emails to the university earlier, could you share (in brief) what questions did you ask and who exactly did you email? I too am thinking of reaching out, but unsure of how to do it and how exactly to word my email. Cold emailing people out of the blue has never been my strong suit lol. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could help me out on that.

[lifeisbrutal]

@Calzone864 Hi, I'm in the same boat... I'm tired of waiting and I'm 100% sure that I've been rejected but they just didn't bother to notify me / to update my application portal. So I simply e-mailed the admissions office and asked them plainly if I'd been rejected. If I get a reply, I'll share it with you (but maybe your case is different so no guarantee).

 

[si7aa]

23 hours ago, lifeisbrutal said:

@Calzone864 Hi, I'm in the same boat... I'm tired of waiting and I'm 100% sure that I've been rejected but they just didn't bother to notify me / to update my application portal. So I simply e-mailed the admissions office and asked them plainly if I'd been rejected. If I get a reply, I'll share it with you (but maybe your case is different so no guarantee).

 

Hey did you get any response? I emailed them yesterday but still no reply..

[hunter123]

I emailed them again last Friday and haven't got anything since. I imagine they got like hundreds or thousands emails asking the same question. They should have just sent us a notification to inform the current admission review status. ? 

Edited March 11, 2021 by hunter123

[lifeisbrutal]

Hi @si7aa, nope, they haven't replied, which isn't surprising. But still, for 75 bucks, I'd expect at least one word on the application portal (!). Given that the graduate days (or whatever they're called) are over (4th March), I find it really hard to believe that I might still get an offer. I wasn't waitlisted (or, if I was, I'm not aware of it) so logically it means rejection (to me, at least). But I still find it weird that they haven't updated my status. Seems pointless and cruel to me to let people hang in limbo for so long (if they're already rejected anyway...).

@hunter123 Exactly, even one word would suffice!

[si7aa]

5 minutes ago, lifeisbrutal said:

Hi @si7aa, nope, they haven't replied, which isn't surprising. But still, for 75 bucks, I'd expect at least one word on the application portal (!). Given that the graduate days (or whatever they're called) are over (4th March), I find it really hard to believe that I might still get an offer. I wasn't waitlisted (or, if I was, I'm not aware of it) so logically it means rejection (to me, at least). But I still find it weird that they haven't updated my status. Seems pointless and cruel to me to let people hang in limbo for so long (if they're already rejected anyway...).

@hunter123 Exactly, even one word would suffice!

yeah I agree.. I guess we need to call the department but I am an international so.. let's hope they update the portal soon

[hunter123]

Yo, this might not be super related, but this is the timeline for civil engineering PhD application at MIT. I reckon there is still hope for us  . Assuming there is delay due to COVID, the process may takes longer.

Q. When will I find out if I’ve been admitted?
A. Not all admissions decisions are made the same time. We make most decisions regarding admissions and funding mid-February to March 1. Applicants are notified of their status between March 1 and 15. Admitted students must accept or decline our offer of admission by April 15. This is the deadline for students to accept admission to most U.S. colleges and universities. (See the Council of Graduate Schools resolution for more information.)

Edited March 11, 2021 by hunter123

[lifeisbrutal]

@hunter123Thanks for the information! Well, at any rate, I think it'll be over soon ?.

[Calzone864]

@hunter123, seems like the Civil engineering dept is running on schedule, as a bunch of decisions were made in the past few days. No idea why the EECS department is being so late. Last year (and the year before that), all the admits and rejections were sent out by the end of the 3rd week of Feb. We are nearly 3 weeks beyond that. Sure, delays due to Covid are to be expected, but it seems like Covid related delays have hit the EECS department admissions committee disproportionately. Again, I am going to hold out hoping for an admit until I get formally get rejected, but the deadlines for accepting other offers are coming closer and I don't want to stretch anything close to the deadlines. I really hope MIT sends out its decisions by the end of this week or early next week. Even a simple update to the portal or email would suffice as communication at this point.

[angrydragon]

Got the official waitlist notification, saying they hope to determine the final outcome of all individuals whose name is on the wait list in the month of March, so i think all final results will be out by end of Mar.

[lifeisbrutal]

Congrats @angrydragon! And thanks for letting us know.

[hunter123]

So was wondering if all of us is waitlisted then?

[lifeisbrutal]

@hunter123Difficult to say but it's not impossible, I guess. I know it sounds cliche but we just have to wait and see... ?

[chaseklvk]

23 minutes ago, angrydragon said:

Got the official waitlist notification, saying they hope to determine the final outcome of all individuals whose name is on the wait list in the month of March, so i think all final results will be out by end of Mar.

Congrats! How did you get this notification? Portal, email?

[angrydragon]

1 hour ago, chaseklvk said:

Congrats! How did you get this notification? Portal, email?

Official email sent by the dept.

[oa97]

I did not receive the waitlist email as well. With April 15 deadline closing, its getting a bit annoying to receive no communication. If its a reject, give me closure, and I can move on with CMU or some other university. Has anybody tried calling the admissions EECS office ?

Quoting from their Help/Overview page:
If these resources don't answer your questions, you can address questions about EECS and the application process to grad-ap@eecs.mit.edu, or call +1 617 253 4603. Please send technical questions about this web site to gradapply-email@mit.edu.

[H-pristol]

11 hours ago, lifeisbrutal said:

Hi @si7aa, nope, they haven't replied, which isn't surprising. But still, for 75 bucks, I'd expect at least one word on the application portal (!). Given that the graduate days (or whatever they're called) are over (4th March), I find it really hard to believe that I might still get an offer. I wasn't waitlisted (or, if I was, I'm not aware of it) so logically it means rejection (to me, at least). But I still find it weird that they haven't updated my status. Seems pointless and cruel to me to let people hang in limbo for so long (if they're already rejected anyway...).

@hunter123 Exactly, even one word would suffice!

Yeah I totally agree with you, looking at the trend of last year, all the decisions were rejections on the last day (20th of Feb 2020), so it does seem pointless and cruel to give applicants that small hope. One guy on the main results page even mentioned that he contacted his POI and they told him that the admissions this year were closed (not sure if it's true or not). I tried to send an email like 6 days ago, but I got no reply. 

[oa97]

51 minutes ago, H-pristol said:

Yeah I totally agree with you, looking at the trend of last year, all the decisions were rejections on the last day (20th of Feb 2020), so it does seem pointless and cruel to give applicants that small hope. One guy on the main results page even mentioned that he contacted his POI and they told him that the admissions this year were closed (not sure if it's true or not). I tried to send an email like 6 days ago, but I got no reply. 

Same. Tried emailing twice and got no reply.

[si7aa]

27 minutes ago, oa97 said:

Same. Tried emailing twice and got no reply.

we  need someone in the states to call the department and ask generally about the timeline.

Edited March 12, 2021 by si7aa

[45ter]

My theory is that as the visit days have passed and comparing with the previous years, all decisions are out.

The answer received from the department that they are still considering applications means that they will only decide who will be waitlisted (and the waitlist ranking) and who will be rejected.

No decisions for acceptance (only from the waitlist).

If I am correct, it means that yesterday the waitlist decisions were out and today or Monday we will receive all the rejections.

This is my theory, I would prefer that they would have mentioned something like that if it is true.

I hope that I am wrong though...

[lifeisbrutal]

(Unfortunately..) I totally agree with this reasoning, @45ter. It makes perfect sense (again, I wish it didn't). ?

[skippy]

3 hours ago, lifeisbrutal said:

(Unfortunately..) I totally agree with this reasoning, @45ter. It makes perfect sense (again, I wish it didn't). ?

Same. I wish it wasn't the case. But I can't find myself arguing. 

[lifeisbrutal]

To change the topic slightly while we're still lingering in limbo: given that there have already been 2-3 waves of rejections (at least those that were reported on GradCafe), do you think that being in the last rejection wave (but not on the waitlist) could be a good indicator for future applications?

It seems to me to be somewhat like heats in track events - if rejected now, I (and other people) would be the equivalent of athletes not quite making it to the final but getting to semi-finals and placing in the middle of the pack etc. Does this theory apply in this case? If there is only one wave of rejections, it obviously falls short. Maybe I'm overthinking things but I'm already mentally preparing for the 21/22 application and I'm trying to see the positive side of things ? .

[abhilashgujar]

On 3/11/2021 at 11:53 PM, si7aa said:

yeah I agree.. I guess we need to call the department but I am an international so.. let's hope they update the portal soon

I am international candidate too. I think our applications are considered a bit after the domestic ones