MIT Civil Engineering 2013 Applicants

[mysinia]

Received my rejection via email this morning (PhD, environmental microbiology focus). Blah. Crossing my fingers that some of you guys will hear better news tomorrow, though! 

[TOApplicant]

Just got rejected, how nice and they made me wait for a week to say so.

[eigenvector11]

Rejected. Nobody is going to be accepted today. I don't know why exactly we have to pay them $100 for application fee and this is the sort of nonsense treatment we get. March 1st is in fact a reject day.

 

I don't think these people don't even read SOP or CV. I think the initial filter is just GPA. I had a significant amount of research experience and still got rejected.

Edited March 1, 2013 by eigenvector11

[eigenvector11]

@IMissCollege - I will be applying to this program next year again. Is there something about your stats that you felt was the key for you to get in? A research internship? LOR? Work? I am trying to figure out what went wrong and fix that. I think my GPA is good enough for the program (3.78).

 

 

 

 

I heard back from the MST program (accepted) on Feb 20th....

 

Stats:

Undergrad gpa- 3.7

GRE- V:166, Q: 161, W: 5.0

 

No research experience, but 3 strong LoRs and SOP

 

I'm on a waitlist for an Research Assistant position. Hopefully will hear back about that before the deadline, as Maryland Civil Engineering has offered a full package....

[CE2013]

Received my rejection last night. I'm curious when the last acceptance was sent out. It's so strange that the wait until the last notification day to send out mass rejections. Oh well. Good luck everybody! 

[fg9011]

Got my acceptance today. Looks like it wasn't rejection day after all. Now have to decide between MIT and Stanford. Any ideas?

[wabisabi]

Man, this thread got depressing with that string of rejections.

 

But congrats, fg9011. What's your focus? MS or PhD?

Edited March 2, 2013 by wabisabi

[fg9011]

MSc at Stanford and Meng at MIT. So I suppose my chances were better than for a phd applicant.

[2013applicantTOC]

Is there anyone like me who hasn't received any kind of notification yet? (MST)

[wabisabi]

MSc at Stanford and Meng at MIT. So I suppose my chances were better than for a phd applicant.

 

I don't know, I certainly saw a lot of Masters-level rejections posted! If you don't mind my asking, is the funding situation different between the two schools?

 

I don't know how applicable this is to your situation, but the NRC S-rank of MIT's CEE (acronym-a-licious!) program is actually surprisingly low. Maybe more relevant, if you're not going into academia, US News ranks Stanford above MIT (#3 vs #6). 

 

I didn't end up applying to Stanford because there's nobody there doing the (quite specific) type of research I want to do, which was disappointing because it's such a great campus and, of course, has a great reputation. I actually considered trying to go outside of my field just to get to go to Stanford! While I had my heart set on MIT out of the places I applied to, I always had misgivings about living in Boston, which is expensive and annoying and full of jerks. Of course, I may be bitter and down on MIT because they didn't want me, so take my advice with a grain of salt.  

[fg9011]

Thanks for the advice. 

 

No funding from either school. 

 

I am pretty set on Stanford to be honest, as the program suits me slightly more, but I do want to consider MIT in enough detail as I don't believe I should say no lightly to a school like MIT. Stanford also have a PhD I would potentially interested in doing. Do you have any idea how likely it is they would let someone doing an MSc stay on to do a PhD??

[wabisabi]

I don't know what it's like at Stanford, but my impression from my school (and another university where I know people) is that getting an MS is a good way to get onto the PhD track because you have a chance to impress your advisor, and they've kind of invested in you and would want to keep you on. Whereas bringing in a new PhD student means they have to guess at how that person would fit in with the group, and then they'd have to get them up to speed on everything. I would think this would be much more likely to happen at Stanford, assuming that their MSc is research-based, whereas the MEng at MIT would be more of a professional degree. (I think this is how the two degrees work at most schools, anyway.)

 

Since you say you're inclined towards Stanford, I'm not seeing a lot of arguments in favor of MIT here! 

[eigenvector11]

everybody over their MIT Rejection? I feel terrible! I really thought I would get in.

[fg9011]

everybody over their MIT Rejection? I feel terrible! I really thought I would get in.

Did you apply for a Masters or Phd?

[TSeng3]

Thanks for the advice. 

 

No funding from either school. 

 

I am pretty set on Stanford to be honest, as the program suits me slightly more, but I do want to consider MIT in enough detail as I don't believe I should say no lightly to a school like MIT. Stanford also have a PhD I would potentially interested in doing. Do you have any idea how likely it is they would let someone doing an MSc stay on to do a PhD??

 

Did Stanford say they are giving you no funding or to wait for a decision by April 7th?

[fg9011]

Did Stanford say they are giving you no funding or to wait for a decision by April 7th?

No funding

[wabisabi]

everybody over their MIT Rejection? I feel terrible! I really thought I would get in.

 

I'm still pretty bummed, and I didn't even think that I had high expectations of getting in. I think part of it was the rejection letter, it seemed really harsh!