<p>I’ve got my acceptances and I’m currently weighing my options. I found this article about MIT that has me a bit worried: [Questionable</a> Qualifiers - The Tech](<a href=“http://tech.mit.edu/V123/N21/alamaro_20.21c.html]Questionable”>http://tech.mit.edu/V123/N21/alamaro_20.21c.html) .</p>
<p>The short of it is that failure rate for the quals is estimated to be between 35% and 50%, with most of these failures due not to the written exam but due to nebulous qualities such as potential, office politics, and the prospects of the research project you were assigned upon joining your lab.</p>
<p>The thing is, the article is years old and I haven’t found much corroboration, either for or against it. So I’m hoping to hear some second opinions here.</p>