MIT Decision

[nbl]

It seems every year MIT notifies the students through email who are accepted and tell others to visit their online account for the decision. Also who are rejected get their decisions after a long time compared to who are accepted. Am I correct? Last few years statistics has made me feel like that. This year I have applied to MIT and have not received any email yet. Is that mean I am rejected and will be notified later on? Very much depressed

[khaled]

It seems every year MIT notifies the students through email who are accepted and tell others to visit their online account for the decision. Also who are rejected get their decisions after a long time compared to who are accepted. Am I correct? Last few years statistics has made me feel like that. This year I have applied to MIT and have not received any email yet. Is that mean I am rejected and will be notified later on? Very much depressed

 

Did you apply to other schools?

 

Here's my humble opinion, not getting into MIT isn't the end of your development and growth. You can be strong in your field without studying in MIT. Lots of their professors graduated from other schools. 

Edited February 13, 2013 by khaled

[uromastyx]

Is that mean I am rejected and will be notified later on?

Yes. Sorry

[nbl]

Did you apply to other schools?

 

Here's my humble opinion, not getting into MIT isn't the end of your development and growth. You can be strong in your field without studying in MIT. Lots of their professors graduated from other schools. 

But I have only applied to MIT

[Usmivka]

This year I have applied to MIT and have not received any email yet. Is that mean I am rejected and will be notified later on?

The easiest way to determine this would be ot contact the department and ask if all admissions have been sent. The folks who post on the results forum are only a small subsection of the total accepted class. I don't have specific experience with CS at MIT, but I can tell you that other departments do not follow the pattern you've described (although of course any department can run things differently). What I've seen in other engineering and science programs at MIT is that they send our their top picks early, then their definite rejections, and then spend a long time hashing over the folks in the middle, deciding who gets an offer or doesn't based on a lot of internal horse-trading between profs. Separating the almost from just-made it applicants is tough and time consuming. And if you are on a waitlist, you won't necessarily be informed quickly, and it can take  even longer to resolve.

[nbl]

Yes. Sorry

Are you sure?

[Usmivka]

Are you sure?

I'd suggest that uromastyx doesn't know any more than you. He's been going out of his way to put down and downvote folks asking about admissions to "brand name" schools, which I suspect is the reason for that response. I'm sure he'll downvote me for saying so, but that is my honest assement. See for example this

Edited February 13, 2013 by Usmivka

[uromastyx]

Are you sure?

 

There is always a chance, but I'm trying to be honest. IF you've seen acceptances posted on the results board (which I'm assuming here), then it's almost certainly a rejection.

[uromastyx]

I'd suggest that uromastyx doesn't know any more than you. He's been going out of his way to put down and downvote folks asking about admissions to "brand name" schools, which I suspect is the reason for that response. I'm sure he'll downvote me for saying so, but that is my honest assement.

Come on, people are asking about the probability of acceptance/rejection. And everyone here wants to sugarcoat it. I believe people deserve better than that. If people have been accepted and I haven't received word, then I need to be realistic and accept the fact that I most likely (almost certainly) haven't been accepted.

I am new to Gradcafe this year and have tried to help people in an honest way, because last year I was rejected from every school that I applied to. I sat around saying, "I see people have been accepted, but I haven't heard anything. There is still hope." I would have appreciated some real honesty.

 

Regarding brand name schools, here's the problem:

People that have been accepted to the top two programs in their field don't need our help to make this decision. Nor can we help them with that decision. I find these posts insulting to everyone, especially the people who had hopes of such acceptances.

[Usmivka]

Come on, people are asking about the probability of acceptance/rejection. And everyone here wants to sugarcoat it....

People that have been accepted to the top two programs in their field don't need our help to make this decision. Nor can we help them with that decision. I find these posts insulting to everyone, especially the people who had hopes of such acceptances.

But this isn't how it comes across. And people who ask for opinions on whatever subject deserve an honest answer, not just those you personally deem acceptable. Nuance doesn't come across well on forums like this, so unless you take the time to describe your positions and opinions in more than one to two words (as you did here but have not previously), it comes across as dismissive.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Usmivka

[nbl]

Please do not misunderstand each other. I believe you both are honest. I must wait for their decision. Should I send an email to my professor?

[uromastyx]

And people who ask for opinions on whatever subject deserve an honest answer

The irony here is killing me.

[warbrain]

Come on, people are asking about the probability of acceptance/rejection. And everyone here wants to sugarcoat it. I believe people deserve better than that. If people have been accepted and I haven't received word, then I need to be realistic and accept the fact that I most likely (almost certainly) haven't been accepted.

 

The reality is that the top graduate programs are really competitive, and that the vast majority of people that apply to programs like MIT CS are going to be rejected.  This is true regardless of whether acceptances have been sent out or not.  I don't think it's helpful to just go around telling everyone they're probably going to be rejected, even though that's true.  You can't base this off grad cafe posts because first of all, some of them are fake, and second of all it is absolutely true that some schools accept people in multiple rounds.  Unless you have specific information about MIT CS, or even MIT as a whole, you saying that people are probably rejected isn't helpful even though it's true.

[fuzzylogician]

Regarding brand name schools, here's the problem:

People that have been accepted to the top two programs in their field don't need our help to make this decision. Nor can we help them with that decision. I find these posts insulting to everyone, especially the people who had hopes of such acceptances.

How is a post asking about choosing between two very good options insulting? It's no different from asking about choosing between any other two schools, and I don't buy that we can't help with that choice. Some posters on this board may attend these top schools and know about then or else we can always help with the general questions that go into making a decision. You realize that asking for help choosing between two good options is not meant to sting those who didn't make it but to help the person with these great options to choose the best one?

You are discouraging people and posting definitive answers that are no more than unfounded opinions. Unless you know something about MIT CS admissions *specifically* then you can't help here. Even Usmivka, *who currently attends grad school at MIT*, is telling you she can't necessarily interpret the way CS releases their admissions information. As a fellow MIT grad (at another department), I don't know either, and I would never presume to interpret another field's results unless I had clear relevant information.

[uromastyx]

How is a post asking about choosing between two very good options insulting? It's no different from asking about choosing between any other two schools, and I don't buy that we can't help with that choice. Some posters on this board may attend these top schools and know about then or else we can always help with the general questions that go into making a decision. You realize that asking for help choosing between two good options is not meant to sting those who didn't make it but to help the person with these great options to choose the best one?

You are discouraging people and posting definitive answers that are no more than unfounded opinions. Unless you know something about MIT CS admissions *specifically* then you can't help here. Even Usmivka, *who currently attends grad school at MIT*, is telling you she can't necessarily interpret the way CS releases their admissions information. As a fellow MIT grad (at another department), I don't know either, and I would never presume to interpret another field's results unless I had clear relevant information.

 

The reality is that the top graduate programs are really competitive, and that the vast majority of people that apply to programs like MIT CS are going to be rejected.  This is true regardless of whether acceptances have been sent out or not.  I don't think it's helpful to just go around telling everyone they're probably going to be rejected, even though that's true.  You can't base this off grad cafe posts because first of all, some of them are fake, and second of all it is absolutely true that some schools accept people in multiple rounds.  Unless you have specific information about MIT CS, or even MIT as a whole, you saying that people are probably rejected isn't helpful even though it's true.

 

I am here to offer my honest opinion. I mean absolutely no offense. I'm helping my fellow swimmers in the shark tank. I say swim. You say tread water. To each their own.

Edited February 13, 2013 by uromastyx

[warbrain]

That analogy makes no sense.  If applying to graduate school is like swimming in a shark tank to you, you shouldn't be applying to graduate school in the first place,

[bamafan]

I am here to offer my honest opinion. I mean absolutely no offense. I'm helping my fellow swimmers in the shark tank. I say swim. You say tread water. To each their own.

 

Neutral party here, so here is my interpretation of things. It's fine to offer your opinion, but it is really is just that. The problem people have with your posts is that you aren't acting like it's an opinion, but rather fact. While in reality, your opinions are on equal footing with everyone else's, your attitude and behavior, perhaps due to the inability to convey inflection online, imply that what you say is fact and that which others say is fiction, when in reality, both you and everyone else's responses are equally fictitious. 

[Usmivka]

Please do not misunderstand each other. I believe you both are honest. I must wait for their decision. Should I send an email to my professor?

nbl, I think you should contact the departmental admissions office and ask if all acceptances are out--if they are, you have your answer. The prof may know as well, particularly if they were angling to get you as their student. But if you weren't their top choice they may not have any insight as to what happened to your application, and they may have higher priorities than getting back to you about it.

 

If you are set on a graduate degree, don't get into MIT, and want to apply again next year, you should consider what you need to do to strengthen your application. It also seems like applying to multiple schools you would be happy with would be a good step--even when you are absolutely confident in the outcome things can go wrong. There are some spring admits in certain programs if you aren't willing to wait a full year.

[nbl]

I have contacted the department. On 5 January, they asked for reference letters which were not submitted on time. Was that a positive response? Do they contact everyone who has missing documentation?

[DropTheBase]

But I have only applied to MIT

 

 

Did nobody else catch this??? How can you apply ONLY to MIT?  Either you're not telling us something, or you must be delusional to think you can't study computer science anywhere besides MIT (so much that you didn't apply anywhere else).

 

Even the best of the best candidates get rejected from MIT simply because there isn't enough space!

[pietiek]

Did nobody else catch this??? How can you apply ONLY to MIT?  

 

There are some easy answers for that as well. For instance, previous year I only applied for MIT because I was very busy and missed pretty much all deadlines. MIT is the most deadline-friendly university. It is enough to fill in and submit the online application by the deadline. You are allowed to send all the supporting documents afterwards (as long as you're sure they will reach MIT by the beginning of January when they actually start processing apps).

[epsilon]

Did nobody else catch this??? How can you apply ONLY to MIT?  Either you're not telling us something, or you must be delusional to think you can't study computer science anywhere besides MIT (so much that you didn't apply anywhere else).

 

Even the best of the best candidates get rejected from MIT simply because there isn't enough space!

lol.