Senior students come here and discuss
- Bắt đầu tuanvinhtran
- Ngày bắt đầu
Nguyễn Thu Trang
(musketeerlady)
Thành viên danh dự
Ê các bác Amsers vui vẻ quá, cho tớ ké chân vào với. Nghe mọi người khí thé mãnh liệt qúa làm tớ hơi bị choáng. Này Hương ơi lâu lắm rồi không thèm thư từ gì nhé, có nhớ cái Trang A ở 9A Nguyễn Trường Tộ hay không? chị Kiều Trang cũng thế, mới sang Mĩ đã quên bạn bè rồi. Thỉnh thoảng nói chuyện với bác Minh toàn bị bác ấy đem Ivy ra dọa làm em sợ tím mặt.
Thế bà con apply đến đâu rồi? Cư nói với tớ không sợ vì tớ thành dân transfer rồi, có apply cũng không đụng đầu đâu. Có bác nào ở Amherst, Bates, Georgetown với Bowdoin không? Tớ đang định transfer chỗ ấy đây... Lên MA cho vui ở đây buồn lắm.
À cho làm quen với các bạn Ams nhé. Tại tớ lọc cọc ba lô theo mẹ đi từ hồi cuối cấp 2 nên không co dịp gặp mặt các bác, nhưng thế nào sau nhày chẳng đụng nhau
Thế bà con apply đến đâu rồi? Cư nói với tớ không sợ vì tớ thành dân transfer rồi, có apply cũng không đụng đầu đâu. Có bác nào ở Amherst, Bates, Georgetown với Bowdoin không? Tớ đang định transfer chỗ ấy đây... Lên MA cho vui ở đây buồn lắm.
À cho làm quen với các bạn Ams nhé. Tại tớ lọc cọc ba lô theo mẹ đi từ hồi cuối cấp 2 nên không co dịp gặp mặt các bác, nhưng thế nào sau nhày chẳng đụng nhau
Nguyễn Diệu Hương
(dieuhautotbung)
Thành viên danh dự
hêlô, Bowdoin có tớ nè! lý do duy nhất: đồ ăn ở đó ngon nhất trong các trường ở Mỹ
"3.4 với 3.5 nhưng trường em xịn thế, chấp 4.0 high school thường ý chứ " --> nhưng mà đau khổ là năm ngoái chị My cho quả 3.95 GPA( choáng nặng. Họ lại tưởng học sinh Việt Nam ngày càng xuống dốc thì chết! hix.
"3.4 với 3.5 nhưng trường em xịn thế, chấp 4.0 high school thường ý chứ " --> nhưng mà đau khổ là năm ngoái chị My cho quả 3.95 GPA
( choáng nặng. Họ lại tưởng học sinh Việt Nam ngày càng xuống dốc thì chết! hix.
Hoàng Long
(Death_Creator)
Thành viên danh dự
xác định là apply vào LAC theo đuờng transfer thì chọi bở hơi tai nhéTrang Nguyen đã viết:Ê các bác Amsers vui vẻ quá, cho tớ ké chân vào với. Nghe mọi người khí thé mãnh liệt qúa làm tớ hơi bị choáng. Này Hương ơi lâu lắm rồi không thèm thư từ gì nhé, có nhớ cái Trang A ở 9A Nguyễn Trường Tộ hay không? chị Kiều Trang cũng thế, mới sang Mĩ đã quên bạn bè rồi. Thỉnh thoảng nói chuyện với bác Minh toàn bị bác ấy đem Ivy ra dọa làm em sợ tím mặt.
Thế bà con apply đến đâu rồi? Cư nói với tớ không sợ vì tớ thành dân transfer rồi, có apply cũng không đụng đầu đâu. Có bác nào ở Amherst, Bates, Georgetown với Bowdoin không? Tớ đang định transfer chỗ ấy đây... Lên MA cho vui ở đây buồn lắm.
À cho làm quen với các bạn Ams nhé. Tại tớ lọc cọc ba lô theo mẹ đi từ hồi cuối cấp 2 nên không co dịp gặp mặt các bác, nhưng thế nào sau nhày chẳng đụng nhau
Amherst năm ngoái lấy khoảng 4% (8/200) Bates thì không biết nhưng chắc khoảng thế. Gtown có thể dễ hơn chút nhưng mà chắc cũng chả hơn 10% đâu mà chỉ có Amherst là ở MA. thôi. nếu vào được cả 3 thì nên vào Gtown, chỗ ở tốt, không lạnh lắm, trường đẹp, thể thao hay.
Nguyễn Thu Trang
(musketeerlady)
Thành viên danh dự
Thể à? Anh Long lên Georgetown rồi à? Em khoái DC lắm, thành phố gì đâu mà đẹp thế, ngày nào đi học về cũng dược lang thang bảo tàng thì sướng lắm
Em biết mấy cái LACs transfer khoai lắm nhưng chắc là đành liều thôi. Tại năm ngoái không liều mấy nên tiếc, chán nhỉ, bao nhiêu trường hay nhưng lại không cho aid transfer. Các abjn đang apply nhắm cẩn thận nhé, vào đại học rồi lại chuyển đi lung tung mệt lắm. Tưởng xong rồi hóa ra vẫn chưa thoát nạn application.
Mà nghe các trường khó quá... chắc em lại thi không ăn ớt thế mà cay thôi! Các anh chị nào transfer rồi cho em kinh nghiệm được không?
Em biết mấy cái LACs transfer khoai lắm
nhưng chắc là đành liều thôi. Tại năm ngoái không liều mấy nên tiếc, chán nhỉ, bao nhiêu trường hay nhưng lại không cho aid transfer. Các abjn đang apply nhắm cẩn thận nhé, vào đại học rồi lại chuyển đi lung tung mệt lắm. Tưởng xong rồi hóa ra vẫn chưa thoát nạn application.Mà nghe các trường khó quá... chắc em lại thi không ăn ớt thế mà cay thôi! Các anh chị nào transfer rồi cho em kinh nghiệm được không?
Uông Phương Thảo
(thaouong)
New Member
Mình cần lời khuyên quá............MÌnh thi s.a.t vào tháng 12 do đăng kí muộn nên phải thi ở xa nhà khoảng 30 phút = ô tô.........gia đình chủ nói là bận không đưa đi đuợc.....mình nghĩ đến xe buyt......có tuyến nhưng chậm giwof thi..........mọi người cho mih lời khuyên được không?
Có ai thử standby bao giờ chưa.nếu không được chắc mình đành liều.........
Cám ơn
Có ai thử standby bao giờ chưa.nếu không được chắc mình đành liều.........
Cám ơn
Nguyễn Diệu Hương
(dieuhautotbung)
Thành viên danh dự
stand by cũng ổn. Bọn Mỹ thi stand by nhiều lắm.
chậm giờ nếu khoảng < 20-30 phút thì không thành vấn đề lắm. thế ở trường ấy có ai thi không hay là đi ké?
tớ cũng sắp thi lại mà chưa học hành gì, hic.. lo quá.
Thảo ơi, hôm trước vừa gọi cho Trang A xong.. buôn đúng 1 tiếng đang kêu là chả thấy ấy liên lạc gì cả, tình hình thế nào rồi? cho số đt đi, có gì tớ gọi cho.. (hic.. dạo này mình buôn nhiều quá)
chậm giờ nếu khoảng < 20-30 phút thì không thành vấn đề lắm. thế ở trường ấy có ai thi không hay là đi ké?
tớ cũng sắp thi lại mà chưa học hành gì, hic.. lo quá.
Thảo ơi, hôm trước vừa gọi cho Trang A xong.. buôn đúng 1 tiếng
đang kêu là chả thấy ấy liên lạc gì cả, tình hình thế nào rồi? cho số đt đi, có gì tớ gọi cho.. (hic.. dạo này mình buôn nhiều quá)các anh chị nói chuyện vui quá, một năm nữa, em mới bắt đầu vác vũ khí đi chiên đấu nhưng cho em hỏi vài điều với ạ:
1/ Mình có nên đi theo kiểu một năm rồi cố câu tiếp college hay univ bên đó ko ạ, như thế liệu có là liều ko?
2/Nếu đi từ VN thì khó khăn hơn phải không ạ, ở đây , em biết chị Lan đi từ vn nên chị Lan cho em vài bước chuần bị với, chứ mọi người có vẻ đều "hiện đang ở US" cả rồi thì phải???????
1/ Mình có nên đi theo kiểu một năm rồi cố câu tiếp college hay univ bên đó ko ạ, như thế liệu có là liều ko?
2/Nếu đi từ VN thì khó khăn hơn phải không ạ, ở đây , em biết chị Lan đi từ vn nên chị Lan cho em vài bước chuần bị với, chứ mọi người có vẻ đều "hiện đang ở US" cả rồi thì phải???????
Nguyễn Diệu Hương
(dieuhautotbung)
Thành viên danh dự
đi từ VN có vẻ an toàn hơn.. sang đây 1 năm nguy ngập lắm em gì ơi! chị đang sợ năm sau vác ba lô về học lại lớp 12 đây. chết mất thui!
chị đang sợ năm sau vác ba lô về học lại lớp 12 đây. chết mất thui!thang 5 nam sau , thi toefl bat dau co noi roi, dinh thi thảng-4 nay ma em hoc hanh chang ra gi ca, chu yeu de thoat cai khoan noi y ma(ma noi thang ra thi thi noi lai them vai chục nua, tien dau ra co chu)
the ma em con dinh thi 2 lan, chet mat
the ma em con dinh thi 2 lan, chet mat
Nguyễn Thu Trang
(musketeerlady)
Thành viên danh dự
Khổ quá... sao ới mãi chảng ai thèm giúp gì cả. Mà mọi người có biết transfer có nên thi lại SAT không? Chắc em phải thi lại thôi... điểm thấp quá, nhưng nghĩ đến tụng SAT lại ớn
Tran Tuan Vinh
(tuanvinhtran)
New Member
Dành cho những ai đang nhắm MIT năm nay và top ivies nhé (special for my friend Minh ) )
Who Gets In?
A community effort ensures that the very best students come to MIT each year.
By Sally Atwood
November 2003
It’s 1:45 on a Tuesday afternoon in late July, and Sarah Wang* and her parents have settled into the theater-style seats in 6-120, waiting for the 2:00 admissions office information session to begin. Sarah fills out an information card that will become the basis of her electronic file in the admissions database, while her mother slowly goes through the materials they picked up at the door. Sarah’s father studies the campus map, preparing for the walking tour that will follow.
At 1:50 Bette Johnson, associate director of admissions, arrives. As she introduces herself, she circulates stacks of pale orange paper around the room. The stacks contain sheets titled “Your First MIT Quiz.” She then gives the group about five minutes to answer a set of multiple-choice questions, which include, What is MIT’s graduation rate? What percentage of undergraduate students are women? What is a competitive SAT I math score for MIT? How many students receive financial assistance?
At precisely 2:00, with 51 people present, she begins. “This is not a school for the faint of heart,” she says. “If we admit you, we know you can do the work.” Johnson then gives the visitors an overview of the Institute, using the quiz questions as a starting point: approximately 92 percent of undergraduates graduate; about 42 percent of the students are women; a 700 SAT I math score is competitive; somewhere between 55 and 65 percent of the students receive financial aid (it costs about $41,000 a year to attend MIT).
It’s important information, but when Johnson describes how MIT rates applicants, Sarah pays even closer attention. Johnson tells the group that MIT uses a ranking system that assigns students scores for academic style, personal style, and personal accomplishments. Academic style is more than just grade point average, test scores, rank in class, and other numbers, she says. MIT also looks for academic initiative. Personal style has to do with making good judgments, having a sense of humor, and motivating others to effect change. And personal accomplishments include those that demonstrate a student’s leadership skills: participating in extracurricular activities, receiving recognition at the regional, national, or international level, holding down a job, or perhaps even establishing a new group to address a problem in the community. Sarah wonders, as she looks around the room, how she will stack up against other applicants.
Every year more than 10,000 high-school seniors like Sarah apply to MIT. Almost all of them are academically qualified to meet the challenges of the Institute, but only about 1,700 of them are offered admission. Plucking the very best students from the mass of applicants is a daunting task that has become a community effort. Each year a team of 30 to 50 admissions professionals, faculty members, current students, and administrators who know the qualities required in an MIT student select the incoming class. True to the democratic character of the Institute, the opinion and perspective of every member of that team are as valued as the next one’s. And without fail, year after year the decades-old process brings to campus the very best mix of students who will fuel the innovative, creative engine that is MIT.
MIT culls those students—whose application materials fill 85 filing-cabinet drawers—through a selection process that has been in place since the 1950s. Faculty and members of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid can become involved, reading applications and registering opinions on summary cards that accompany applicants’ files, or by joining the selection teams that admit students. Marilee Jones, dean of admissions, is flexible about the time faculty members devote to selection, allowing them to participate as much as their schedules permit.
Jones knows of no other university that selects classes this way, but she says it’s critical to the process at MIT. “The faculty has to believe that we’re admitting the best people. They have to have faith in us,” she says.
Her efforts to seek out faculty participation in the selection process have impressed John Hauser ’71, a Sloan professor of 22 years who has helped select three of the last four classes. He says the admissions staff “clearly cares and clearly listens” to what the faculty is looking for in students. Don Sadoway, chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, who participates in the selection process each year, says that that openness has made it easy for the admissions staff and faculty to build a cooperative spirit.
Faculty members have crowded schedules, but Sadoway says it’s not unusual to find them on the selection teams. For example, last winter, he was part of a three-member selection team that also included John Fernandez, an assistant professor in architecture, and Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize winner and professor of physics. “We were just three guys sitting at the table [admitting students],” he says. If Sadoway and his team had a particularly tough decision to make, they called other faculty members who have participated in the selection process and discussed the candidate.
Even President Charles M. Vest HM weighs in on the more general aspects of student selection by talking with Jones about them frequently. “We are completely simpatico that there are all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds who need to be educated at MIT for many important social reasons,” Jones says.
The selection process benefits enormously from the involvement of faculty and undergraduate students; after all, they can spot an MIT student a mile away. “There are literally tens of thousands of kids from all over the world you could admit, and any one of [them] would do fine here,” says Jones. So what does MIT look for? According to Jones, there’s been little change over the last 50 years in the qualities MIT seeks in its students. “The kind of students who flourish here are people with very high levels of self-initiative, who are intensely curious by nature, and who have that additional follow-through,” she says. “They almost teach themselves because of their insatiable curiosity.”
To be continued
) )Who Gets In?
A community effort ensures that the very best students come to MIT each year.
By Sally Atwood
November 2003
It’s 1:45 on a Tuesday afternoon in late July, and Sarah Wang* and her parents have settled into the theater-style seats in 6-120, waiting for the 2:00 admissions office information session to begin. Sarah fills out an information card that will become the basis of her electronic file in the admissions database, while her mother slowly goes through the materials they picked up at the door. Sarah’s father studies the campus map, preparing for the walking tour that will follow.
At 1:50 Bette Johnson, associate director of admissions, arrives. As she introduces herself, she circulates stacks of pale orange paper around the room. The stacks contain sheets titled “Your First MIT Quiz.” She then gives the group about five minutes to answer a set of multiple-choice questions, which include, What is MIT’s graduation rate? What percentage of undergraduate students are women? What is a competitive SAT I math score for MIT? How many students receive financial assistance?
At precisely 2:00, with 51 people present, she begins. “This is not a school for the faint of heart,” she says. “If we admit you, we know you can do the work.” Johnson then gives the visitors an overview of the Institute, using the quiz questions as a starting point: approximately 92 percent of undergraduates graduate; about 42 percent of the students are women; a 700 SAT I math score is competitive; somewhere between 55 and 65 percent of the students receive financial aid (it costs about $41,000 a year to attend MIT).
It’s important information, but when Johnson describes how MIT rates applicants, Sarah pays even closer attention. Johnson tells the group that MIT uses a ranking system that assigns students scores for academic style, personal style, and personal accomplishments. Academic style is more than just grade point average, test scores, rank in class, and other numbers, she says. MIT also looks for academic initiative. Personal style has to do with making good judgments, having a sense of humor, and motivating others to effect change. And personal accomplishments include those that demonstrate a student’s leadership skills: participating in extracurricular activities, receiving recognition at the regional, national, or international level, holding down a job, or perhaps even establishing a new group to address a problem in the community. Sarah wonders, as she looks around the room, how she will stack up against other applicants.
Every year more than 10,000 high-school seniors like Sarah apply to MIT. Almost all of them are academically qualified to meet the challenges of the Institute, but only about 1,700 of them are offered admission. Plucking the very best students from the mass of applicants is a daunting task that has become a community effort. Each year a team of 30 to 50 admissions professionals, faculty members, current students, and administrators who know the qualities required in an MIT student select the incoming class. True to the democratic character of the Institute, the opinion and perspective of every member of that team are as valued as the next one’s. And without fail, year after year the decades-old process brings to campus the very best mix of students who will fuel the innovative, creative engine that is MIT.
MIT culls those students—whose application materials fill 85 filing-cabinet drawers—through a selection process that has been in place since the 1950s. Faculty and members of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid can become involved, reading applications and registering opinions on summary cards that accompany applicants’ files, or by joining the selection teams that admit students. Marilee Jones, dean of admissions, is flexible about the time faculty members devote to selection, allowing them to participate as much as their schedules permit.
Jones knows of no other university that selects classes this way, but she says it’s critical to the process at MIT. “The faculty has to believe that we’re admitting the best people. They have to have faith in us,” she says.
Her efforts to seek out faculty participation in the selection process have impressed John Hauser ’71, a Sloan professor of 22 years who has helped select three of the last four classes. He says the admissions staff “clearly cares and clearly listens” to what the faculty is looking for in students. Don Sadoway, chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, who participates in the selection process each year, says that that openness has made it easy for the admissions staff and faculty to build a cooperative spirit.
Faculty members have crowded schedules, but Sadoway says it’s not unusual to find them on the selection teams. For example, last winter, he was part of a three-member selection team that also included John Fernandez, an assistant professor in architecture, and Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize winner and professor of physics. “We were just three guys sitting at the table [admitting students],” he says. If Sadoway and his team had a particularly tough decision to make, they called other faculty members who have participated in the selection process and discussed the candidate.
Even President Charles M. Vest HM weighs in on the more general aspects of student selection by talking with Jones about them frequently. “We are completely simpatico that there are all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds who need to be educated at MIT for many important social reasons,” Jones says.
The selection process benefits enormously from the involvement of faculty and undergraduate students; after all, they can spot an MIT student a mile away. “There are literally tens of thousands of kids from all over the world you could admit, and any one of [them] would do fine here,” says Jones. So what does MIT look for? According to Jones, there’s been little change over the last 50 years in the qualities MIT seeks in its students. “The kind of students who flourish here are people with very high levels of self-initiative, who are intensely curious by nature, and who have that additional follow-through,” she says. “They almost teach themselves because of their insatiable curiosity.”
To be continued
H
(hermes)
Guest
Cai nay lay o The Tech ha Vinh, hay la vao www.collegeconfidential.com/discus roi theo link cua bon no.
Tran Tuan Vinh
(tuanvinhtran)
New Member
Lay tu Tech Review
Phần cuối:
The growing number of applications—up 60 percent over the last 10 years—combined with a stable professional staff prompted Jones to add the triage stage four years ago. Starting in November, five of the most senior members of the staff read every application quickly, looking for the qualities that separate potential MIT students from the rest of the pack, and eliminate about half of the pool. The remaining 5,000 to 6,000 applications move on to the readers. Sarah’s is among them.
Over a three-month period, two readers will spend about 30 minutes apiece on each of the applications. They will summarize the student’s credentials on a large blue card and inscribe it with three numerical scores, based on carefully delineated criteria, for self-initiative in “cocurricular” (related to but not part of the curriculum) activities, extracurricular activities, and general personal qualities. Eventually the card, the student’s essays, and a few pieces of the application that detail test scores and activities will be the only information available to selection teams.
Knowing the ramifications of the opinions expressed in their summaries keeps readers on their toes. “We have a big responsibility,” says Amrys Williams ’02, who is now in her second admissions cycle. “I don’t want to skim an application, dismiss someone because I’m tired.”
MIT then creates a concrete way to rate students. Each applicant’s test scores, grades, rank in class, and GPA are entered into a computer that generates a “numerical index,” which ranks the applicant’s academic preparation relative to that of other applicants in the pool. A computer also averages the numerical scores provided by the readers, and then those averages are run through an algorithm that sorts the applicants into a grid of 24 cells, depending on their averaged scores. Students with the highest numerical index and personal ratings fall into cell one. About 95 percent of admitted students come from the top third of the grid. Sarah is in the lower part of the top third, but that does not guarantee admission. In one recent year, there were more students in cell one than there were spaces for the entire class. “It’s difficult to comprehend that even in a merit-based system, being qualified, being an incredible student, doing everything right doesn’t mean you’ll be admitted,” says Matthew McGann ’00, assistant director of admissions.
Starting in mid-February, the final selection stage begins. Teams of three, which are reconstituted every four hours to “spread the biases around,”according to Jones, admit students one by one. At this level, ascertaining the differences between candidates can be like splitting hairs, and disagreements arise over whom to admit and whom to reject. The process takes several weeks, but by the end of it, Sarah is admitted. Her 724 SAT I math score made her competitive, and she was ranked ninth in her class of 800 students. Her references were brilliant, and even though she was a bit shy on leadership skills, she showed initiative by organizing and running the first English tutoring group in her community of largely Chinese immigrants.
No one, including Sarah, is given preferential treatment in the selection process. Even minority students and “legacies”—children or grandchildren of alumni—who are often accorded special treatment at other schools, are judged purely on merit. “I want everyone to know there’s only one way to get in here, and that’s the hard way,” Jones says. MIT ensures a good ethnic balance in each class by carefully building as diverse an applicant pool as possible—not by imposing quotas. Nor does the Institute reserve spaces in the class for students from particular geographical regions. This ensures that only the best in the pool, not just the best in one region, are granted admission.
Invariably, there are more qualified students admitted during the selection process each year than there are spaces available. To whittle the field down further, the teams go through a second selection process, looking at students who passed muster the first time through and selecting only as many of them as there are offers available. The rest of the students go onto the waiting list. Each year the length of that list varies, depending on how many candidates weather the first selection and how many offers are available. Whether the Institute dips into the waiting list depends on how many of the admitted students choose to enroll. Last year, 59 percent—one of the highest percentages in the country—of admitted students enrolled. If the list is tapped, Jones says she looks first at the students who have made contact with the admissions office since receiving their decision letters. Generally the number and quality of the contacts a student makes become deciding factors.
At the very end of the selection process, Jones personally reviews every legacy file and those of other candidates who have been brought to her attention by members of the MIT community, to be sure the decisions on those students make sense within the context of the admitted class. And sometimes she reverses decisions. “We’re changing decisions right up until the letters go in the mail,” she says.
Reading and assessing thousands of applications is difficult and time consuming, but Sadoway, who teaches the largest course at the Institute, says finding the right students without compromise is what helps make the Institute a special place.
“The first day of class, when I walk into 10-250, and there are 500 students [and only] 400 seats, the energy level is palpable. It’s terrific. It’s a luxury that I think many people forget they enjoy, and that is to be able to walk into a room and teach people who are as smart as they are, some of them smarter. We’re in the same plane. The only difference is I’m older.”
Phần cuối:
The growing number of applications—up 60 percent over the last 10 years—combined with a stable professional staff prompted Jones to add the triage stage four years ago. Starting in November, five of the most senior members of the staff read every application quickly, looking for the qualities that separate potential MIT students from the rest of the pack, and eliminate about half of the pool. The remaining 5,000 to 6,000 applications move on to the readers. Sarah’s is among them.
Over a three-month period, two readers will spend about 30 minutes apiece on each of the applications. They will summarize the student’s credentials on a large blue card and inscribe it with three numerical scores, based on carefully delineated criteria, for self-initiative in “cocurricular” (related to but not part of the curriculum) activities, extracurricular activities, and general personal qualities. Eventually the card, the student’s essays, and a few pieces of the application that detail test scores and activities will be the only information available to selection teams.
Knowing the ramifications of the opinions expressed in their summaries keeps readers on their toes. “We have a big responsibility,” says Amrys Williams ’02, who is now in her second admissions cycle. “I don’t want to skim an application, dismiss someone because I’m tired.”
MIT then creates a concrete way to rate students. Each applicant’s test scores, grades, rank in class, and GPA are entered into a computer that generates a “numerical index,” which ranks the applicant’s academic preparation relative to that of other applicants in the pool. A computer also averages the numerical scores provided by the readers, and then those averages are run through an algorithm that sorts the applicants into a grid of 24 cells, depending on their averaged scores. Students with the highest numerical index and personal ratings fall into cell one. About 95 percent of admitted students come from the top third of the grid. Sarah is in the lower part of the top third, but that does not guarantee admission. In one recent year, there were more students in cell one than there were spaces for the entire class. “It’s difficult to comprehend that even in a merit-based system, being qualified, being an incredible student, doing everything right doesn’t mean you’ll be admitted,” says Matthew McGann ’00, assistant director of admissions.
Starting in mid-February, the final selection stage begins. Teams of three, which are reconstituted every four hours to “spread the biases around,”according to Jones, admit students one by one. At this level, ascertaining the differences between candidates can be like splitting hairs, and disagreements arise over whom to admit and whom to reject. The process takes several weeks, but by the end of it, Sarah is admitted. Her 724 SAT I math score made her competitive, and she was ranked ninth in her class of 800 students. Her references were brilliant, and even though she was a bit shy on leadership skills, she showed initiative by organizing and running the first English tutoring group in her community of largely Chinese immigrants.
No one, including Sarah, is given preferential treatment in the selection process. Even minority students and “legacies”—children or grandchildren of alumni—who are often accorded special treatment at other schools, are judged purely on merit. “I want everyone to know there’s only one way to get in here, and that’s the hard way,” Jones says. MIT ensures a good ethnic balance in each class by carefully building as diverse an applicant pool as possible—not by imposing quotas. Nor does the Institute reserve spaces in the class for students from particular geographical regions. This ensures that only the best in the pool, not just the best in one region, are granted admission.
Invariably, there are more qualified students admitted during the selection process each year than there are spaces available. To whittle the field down further, the teams go through a second selection process, looking at students who passed muster the first time through and selecting only as many of them as there are offers available. The rest of the students go onto the waiting list. Each year the length of that list varies, depending on how many candidates weather the first selection and how many offers are available. Whether the Institute dips into the waiting list depends on how many of the admitted students choose to enroll. Last year, 59 percent—one of the highest percentages in the country—of admitted students enrolled. If the list is tapped, Jones says she looks first at the students who have made contact with the admissions office since receiving their decision letters. Generally the number and quality of the contacts a student makes become deciding factors.
At the very end of the selection process, Jones personally reviews every legacy file and those of other candidates who have been brought to her attention by members of the MIT community, to be sure the decisions on those students make sense within the context of the admitted class. And sometimes she reverses decisions. “We’re changing decisions right up until the letters go in the mail,” she says.
Reading and assessing thousands of applications is difficult and time consuming, but Sadoway, who teaches the largest course at the Institute, says finding the right students without compromise is what helps make the Institute a special place.
“The first day of class, when I walk into 10-250, and there are 500 students [and only] 400 seats, the energy level is palpable. It’s terrific. It’s a luxury that I think many people forget they enjoy, and that is to be able to walk into a room and teach people who are as smart as they are, some of them smarter. We’re in the same plane. The only difference is I’m older.”
Nguyễn Thanh Hương
(huongpun)
Thành viên danh dự
có tớ thi nè, tớ thấy bài dễ hơn tháng 10 nhưng bản thân tớ lại làm tồi hơn. Vẫn nhớ bài tháng 10 có passage về architecture, đọc hoa cả mắt, chả hiều. Còn tháng 12, đề tớ code là XM, có bài Verbal ở section 1, đọc như đọc tiếng Lào, chả hiểu nốt.
Làm thế nào đề biết được phần nào là experimental?
Làm thế nào đề biết được phần nào là experimental?